The hotel booking site, Hotwire.com, is one of my favorite sites to use when traveling. Among the deals I've received recently on Hotwire: InterContinental in Tampa, $99 over New Year's Eve; Westin Jersey City, $129, at the end of January (neither price includes tax)
Hotwire is better than Priceline, in my opinion, because you don't have to figure out what price to set. Both sites are "opaque" - meaning that you need to buy the room before you know exactly what hotel it is. But it's easier to figure out what hotel you might be getting on Hotwire - and you don't have to go through Priceline's bidding process, whcih can take a while if your original offer is rejected.
Here are some tips if you want to use Hotwire for your next trip:
1. Figure out what hotel you are getting before you buy. It's easier to do this on Hotwire than Priceline, because Hotwire offers more clues. Here's how to do it: Look at the hotel's amentiy list. That's a group of icons that appear under the hotel's location. Then open up another browser window to BetterBidding.com. That's a forum where frequenty Priceline and Hotwire users post recent buys and lists of what the different hotels offer.
For example, for my Tampa trip, I saw that the hotel I was considering had an airport shuttle icon on Hotwire. Of the four -star Tampa hotels listed on BetterBidding, only the InterContinental offered shuttle service. So I was 99% sure that I was going to end up there.
It may take a few extra minutes to do this, but if you are like me and you want to know where you are staying, it's worth it.
2. Don't forget tax. Priceline and Hotwire show their prices without tax, which can add $20 to $30 to your per-night rate. Factor this in when making your budget.
3. It's great for car rentals too. I've found car rentals on Hotwire for as low as $15 a day. What I like about Hotwire's car rental policy is that it's more flexible than their hotel purchases and they don't charge you until you pick up the car (hotel purchases are non-refundable and must be paid immediately).
4. Be realistic about the kind of hotel you are getting. Hotwire (and Priceline) specialize in getting rid of unused inventory - the rooms that hotels haven't sold. And generally, these hotels are going to be the larger chains such as Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton that often appeal to business travelers (which is why weekend rates can be so low). So you aren't going to find many boutique or independent hotels through the service. If your goal is to stay at the hippest hotel in town, you will be unhappy with Hotwire. Five star properties such as the Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental are usually not listed either.
But Hotwire is great if you are simply looking for a good deal on a city hotel with basic four-star amenities.
Get more travel tips at Chris Gray Faust's travel site, Chris Around The World: A Travel Journalist's Tips from the Road
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