Thanks a lot, Hotwire! I’m stuck with the worst room in the house

Here’s a phrase you hear a lot in my line of work: You get what you pay for.

Helene Goldberg thought she’s found a bargain on a hotel room at a Country Inns & Suites property in Phoenix last month. But there was a catch.

I’ll let her explain:

When I arrived, I was told that when you book through Hotwire, you can only get a smoking room and one bed.

First of all, my husband and I don’t smoke and would hate to stay in a smoking room. The girl at the desk then said that she had two rooms to show us. When we got to the room, it was under a stairwell, it was dark and deary with one double bed and extremely small.

We told her that it was unacceptable and would not stay there. She then gave us the key to the other room, which turned out to be next door and was exactly the same as the first room she showed us.

Mind you, it was 2:30 in the afternoon and people had not checked in yet. We told her that the second room was unacceptable. She told us that those were the only two rooms available.

Hotwire told her the room was nonrefundable. What now?

We have a couple of issues here. Let’s start with the hotel employee’s statement that Hotwire only books smoking rooms. Although Hotwire can only guarantee a non-smoking room if the property itself is smoke-free, it doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be stuck in a smoking room. So she was wrong about that.

The second matter is the room selection. We know that hotels sometimes reserve the worst rooms for guests who book their accommodations through discount Web sites, and that appears to be happening here. But we can’t be sure. Maybe the hotel was booked solid with a wedding party, and these were indeed the only two available rooms. I wouldn’t be so quick to assume Country Inns & Suites was punishing Goldberg for booking through Hotwire.

Hotwire shouldn’t have thrown the book in her face. Instead, it should have worked with her to make sure she had an acceptable room. Although there are no specific terms that would guarantee this, the site implies she would be taken care of in this kind of situation. (“Our hotel partners will do their best to make your stay as comfortable as possible.”)

I contacted Hotwire on Goldberg’s behalf. Here’s what it had to say:

As an opaque booking provider, we’re able to provide customers with substantial discounts by helping our partners fill unsold rooms. By the nature of that model, guests booking through Hotwire will be provided with a room that can comfortably accommodate the number of guests specified, and will also be “run-of-house”. That means the specific type of room will be determined based upon availability at check-in.

Whenever possible, we do request that a non-smoking room be provided for our customers. Our partners are also very good about accommodating special requests from guests when they can. However, there are rare cases where the only room available on a particular night could be a smoking room. For customers looking to avoid smoking rooms entirely, they should keep an eye on the amenities list for each property. We provide a notation for properties that don’t allow smoking. By selecting one of those, you’re guaranteed to get a non-smoking room.

In this case, we did understand Helene’s concern, which is why we offered her the total cost of her reservation in Hotdollar credits with our site. Those can be used on any future bookings with us. However, we can’t work on her behalf to get a full refund because the property did not violate the terms of use.

We’ve re-contacted Helene to explain our terms of use, and to walk her through how to find non-smoking hotels. Hopefully, she’ll use her Hotdollars to book a great trip with us in the future.

This wasn’t the outcome Goldberg was hoping for, but at least she’ll be able to book another Hotwire room in the future, at no extra charge. Hopefully, she’ll get a room she likes.

(Photo: Justin Shearer/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • larry

    Hotwire was generous in my opinion. When I book thru priceline and hotwire, I expect the worst room in the house and anything above that is a gift. It helps sometimes to be a member of the hotels loyalty program You won’t accrue points, but will sometimes be placed in a little better room. It is no guarantee however. Once I was at a Hilton on a priceline reservation and was put is a room the size of a broom closet with a single bed. The fact that I was a Hilton HHonors Gold member made no difference. Since the room was 65% off Hiltons lowest web site rate, I never considered complaining.

  • barbie45

    The OP in this case has no sympathy from me unless she was a totally inexperienced traveler which I doubt.Firstly she should have researched the site via Trip Advisor or another source. Secondly she should have opted for for chain that is non- smoking. Often when I travel I am placed in a non- smoking room. When I have requested a smoking room often the hotel will give me an ashstray and designate as smoking. The room she received was clean , no bugs, etc. It just was not first class. The hotel depending on season could have been booked solidly. Hotwire was more than generous. You usually get what you pay for unless you are very lucky or very savy.

  • SirWired

    All I can say is that it should come as no surprise that if you book through a site that pays far less than the cheapest non-opaque rooms, you end up with the rooms they don’t want to give to anybody else.

    Country Inn and Suites corporate was truly thinking long-term, they would realize it does their brand no service to even offer such rooms to anybody. But certainly, if they feel comfortable allowing such rooms to represent their brand, it makes sense to offer them to consumers that are so price-driven they don’t even care which hotel they end up in.

  • Jack Bauer

    yeah, yeah, yeah, coulda, shoulda, woulda…try becoming a self-proclaimed “travel expert” overnight…not so easy, huh? I’m glad for the outcome of this story

  • Carver

    I must concur with the other posters. It seems fair that the person who spends the least at the hotel should get the least room; The alternative would be to give the crappy room to a guest who specifically chose the hotel and paid more. Hardly a correct result.

    @Sirwired

    I think you characterization that they are so price driven is not accurate. Even within hotwire and priceline, there are categories, suggesting that price is not the only criteria of these users

  • J C

    The question here is, did the OP get taken or did she simply get what she paid for.

    Larry’s thinking of expecting the worst room in the house and anything above that is a gift is right on. I don’t use these Opaque Sites because I don’t like SURPRISE PACKAGES. Even an inexperienced travelor has to realize that you do indeed get what you pay for.

    A bargain is great until it turns into — SURPRISE

  • J C

    @ Carver – It does indeed seem fair that the person who pays the least should get the least room. If I paid top dollar for a room, I would be livid to get the worst room in the hotel.

    Discounts usually come with some strings. If you want the discount you have to be ready to accept the strings.

    Larry’s “Broom Closet” still says it best.

  • Josh

    I think people are being a bit harsh here (though I agree with the risks of booking through an opaque site) — there’s a difference between the “worst room” in a class (near the ice machine, etc), and what I would consider a room of a completely different class (smoking). It’s too bad she couldn’t get the hotel employee to write or confirm to Hotwire that they were intentionally restricting HW reservations to smoking/1 bed/worst rooms; I imagine HW would want to know of that violation of their agreement with the hotel.

    I understand even a direct hotel reservation doesn’t guarantee a smoking/non-smoking room, but I’d put that into the category of an airline not guaranteeing flight schedules, where the recourse is to get a refund for the unused product — if I arrive and they don’t have a non-smoking room, I’d insist on being able to cancel and find another hotel without penalty — and I believe the credit card company would support this in a dispute. This isn’t as feasible with Hotwire/Priceline (though per Hotwire’s guarantee, they should consider offering such if they want people like me to use them).

    As far as the bed count, that I can understand — I imagine the way to game the system is to specify 4 people when booking (it doesn’t ask for names, does it?) and see if the rate Hotwire finds is any higher.

  • Stoyko

    I’ve booked through Hotwire only once, but can’t say that I got the worst room in the house. In fact, they treated me quite well – even though I checked in around midnight before the long Labor day weekend, they accommodated both my requests (non-smoking and facing the yard) and even let me use the reception desk computers for free since the ones for charge were out-of-order. In this economy with many hotels at half capacity or worse, I don’t see a reason why they shouldn’t accommodate your requests if they can, even if you book through opaque sites.

  • Mike

    As long as the room fit the description offered on the website AND the guest was offered all the amenities that was described by the website for being that specific star level then I don’t see anything wrong with the room as given. However, if the rest of the rooms all has small fridges and those two did not, then that would be unacceptable.

    Paying the smallest amount of $$$ for a room should lead to expectations that you may not get the penthouse room with the best view. but the expectations should be that you will still get everything the hotel offers.

  • barbie45

    Josh, get real. If you travel , or even read you have to be aware of the fact that some chains are non- smoking. These chains impose obscene fees on those who violate their policy. Even if a hotel has smoking and non smoking there is no guarantee that a non- smoking room really is. Perhaps there are residues from someone having smoked there before that has not been properly fumigated. These people were just cheap, demanding people . Hotwire was more than accomodating.

  • Joe

    I think the she should have been charged a IDIOT tax. This the gamble you take when you get a super reduced rate. Next time pay retail and get a better room.

  • y_p_w

    My wife and I have gotten some remarkable deals using opaque booking websites – usually Priceline.com.

    Sometimes I did get the feeling that we might have been directed to the less desirable parts of the property (i.e. closest to freeway noise) but the standard has always been a room that’s as well maintained as any other at the same hotel. What we have gotten used to is fewer amenities (sometimes a breakfast voucher wasn’t included) or that they charge an optional “resort fee” for amenities that would otherwise have been covered had we booked through the hotel chain. Still – we estimate that we saved well over $100 at a particular resort hotel, and the service and quality of the accommodations was top-notch.

  • Chris in NC

    Wait a minute! Some of you are being unnecessarily harsh and some of the comments here are ridiculous. I have used Hotwire numerous times and have never been assigned to a “substandard” room. My main complaint with Hotwire is that it does a poor job disclosing parking fees and resort fees, but never the “quality” of the room assigned.

    EVERY room in a property (even the “worst” room) should be CLEAN, SAFE and COMFORTABLE, regardless of the price paid. A property that has rooms that are sub-standard, should not “sell” or “assign” those rooms to be public. The same argument can be applied towards star ratings. A 1-star property should still provide clean, safe and comfortable accomodations. It just doesn’t have the same level of amenities as a 5 stay property. (A side note, unfortunately too many 1 star properties are dumps, but thats a different story).

    I consider myself a saavy traveler. Yet, I was surprised that Hotwire didn’t guarantee a non-smoking room (unless the property was 100% smoke free). I guess I have been lucky because my request has always been honored.

    However, I’m not 100% supportive of Ms Goldberg’s complaint. In reality, the only issue out of the plethora of complaints that I find legitimate is that the room was “non-smoking.” Everything else from the size of the bed to the location under the stairway is subjective and may not bother other travelers. In my opinion, the only thing that Hotwire may have done incorrectly is by not adequately disclosing that “unless you select a property that is 100% non-smoking, a non-smoking room is not guaranteed.” Thus, the offer of Hotwire bucks is appropriate compensation.

    Every hotel has “good” rooms and “not so good” rooms. Just like hotels reserve rooms for its VIP and elite customers, I’m sure some rooms are reserved for “bargain” rate customers. I’m OK if the so called “worst” rooms are small, the window faces an alley with no view, or if it is located down the hall around the corner. Thats fair. But I’m not OK with malfunctioning equipment, dirty rooms, uncomfortable beds, or obnoxious odors. Thats where I draw the line.

    I think it is ridiculous to blast customers who take advantage of super reduced rates. After all, hotel rooms are a “perishable” item and are subject to the forces of supply and demand. Hotels will slash their rates during slow periods just to fill rooms. Once the night has passed, the revenue CANNOT be recovered. My wife and I stayed at an oceanfront suite in NC in January for $58 + tax. The same room would have cost $250 + tax during the summer. So, explain to me why the January rate isn’t a win-win situation for both parties?

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    IMHO, I think that Hotwire was more than generous with their resolution.

    Unless the hotel was 100% smoke-free, there is always a risk that you could get a smoker-room. Mrs. Goldberg should have selected a smoke-free hotel to guarantee a smoke-free room.

    Mrs. Goldberg sounds like the Hotwire and Priceline posters who have posted reviews at Trip Advisors such as “We were able to get a $ 200 room at $ 80; however, we think that the hotel sucks because they won’t upgrade us to a different room unless we paid an extra $ 10 per night” or “The normal $ 250 room rate included a free breakfast at the hotel restuarant but our $ 100 rate didn’t include the free breakfast so we think this hotel sucks.”

  • Chris in NC

    Oops correction on paragraph 4

    Instead of “In reality, the only issue out of the plethora of complaints that I find legitimate is that the room was “non-smoking.” it should read

    In reality, the only issue out of the plethora of complaints that I find legitimate is that the room was “smoking.”

    @ Barbie

    Even if a hotel is 100% non-smoking, there isn’t a guarantee that the room is totally smoke free. So far this year, we have stayed at 2 properties that were 100% smoke free where we had to be moved to a different room because of residual smoke.

  • Carver

    @Josh

    I’d agree with you if the hotel guarantees a non-smoking room. However, when you book with hotwire, they specifically state that non-smoking is not guaranteed. So I don’t see the grounds for a credit card dispute. Additionally, if the hotel gives the smoking rooms (i.e. less desirable) to the hotwire customers, where is the violation with the hotwire agreement? All the hotel promises is a room with certain amentities. As long as it deliver what is promised….

    That’s the chance you take when booking with an Opague Site.

    @Joe

    Are you suggesting that booking with an opaque site is idiotic? That’s overly harsh and demonstrably not true.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    “She told us that those were the only two rooms available.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
    That could have been true since she booked her rooms in March. Before moving to PHX, I used to travel there on a regular basis (over 30 days a year) and sometimes it was hard to find a room at my regular hotels at the last minute during the spring time. Since moving to PHX, I can tell you that it is a pain in the butt to travel at the PHX airport in the month of March (the height of spring breaks, MLB spring training in PHX and etc.)

    I wish that Chris contacted the hotel to get their side of the story. Did Mrs. Goldberg misunderstood what the front desk clerk told her? Did the front desk clerk said something incorrectly? Was the hotel actually trying to punish the Goldbergs?

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    “When we got to the room, it was under a stairwell, it was dark and deary with one double bed and extremely small.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
    How can a room be under a stairwell? I have seen hotel rooms next to stairwells but I have never seen a hotel room located under a stairwell and I have stayed over 1000 nights in hotels (North America, Europe and Asia). Was the room in the basement under the stairwell and had no windows?

  • Elle

    I too made a reservation through Hotwire for the Country Inn and Suites chain (different location). Although the confirmation said three people we were given a room with one bed and was told that that was all they had to do with their deal with Hotwire. The hotel manager was no help but I did call the customer service line for the chain and was immediately given a room with two beds.

  • Bill

    I stayed in a Country Inn and Suites once. It was years ago. I’ll never stay in one again. Items in room were in poor repair, it was noisy and it earned them a place on my “do not book” list.

  • barbie45

    Chris in NC.I emphazize with you aboutyour difficult in getting a non smoking room in a chain that claims to be non smoking. I know my fiance detests smoking; therefore I do not smoke in our condo in Virginia Beach. I do not know answer both sides of the issue. Legally and morally it is unacceptable to smoke in a non – smoking chain. I know I would not. It is quite a bit easier in some countries than here.

  • SRB

    After working as the front desk supervisor at a hotel in Phoenix when I was in college, I can tell you that we almost ALWAYS put the people who book through a 3rd party at the bottom of the list when it came to rooms. If we weren’t full and a room that they wanted was available, no problem, but if we were even slighty full, they were put in a smoking room or near the elevator or in the back corner of the property. As we would tell the people who complained “When you book through a third party, they don’t know what kind of rooms we have available. You can certainly request a non-smoking room or two queens instead of a king, but that is just a request.” I NEVER book through third party sites anymore after working there… you get what you pay for!

  • Bearsd

    If those rooms were the only ones available, then fine, she should have accepted them. But she checked in at 2:30, and was basically told “This is what you get for booking Hotwire.” I would have said “Hold my bags, I’ll check in when another room becomes available.” If the employee balked, I would have taken the room, along with a number of pictures to post on TripAdvisor with a scathing review. I would not have mentioned in the review I booked with Hotwire.
    Unfair? No. If there TRULY weren’t any other rooms available, it didn’t matter if I booked with Hotwire or not, that would have been the room I received. And the hotel should be reviewed as such.

  • Truax

    When I book thru priceline and hotwire, I expect the worst room in the house and anything above that is a gift.

    Ill conceived comments like the above are the problem.
    This licences the opaque industry to treat us like 2nd class guests.
    No one forces Hotels to participate and this ‘lay down’ attitude is exactly what they love to hear. This fosters and confirms the impression that PL and HW customers are a sub class of guests with low expectations who will accept anything.
    You folks who have no idea about strategic guesting. Do us all a favor and stay home or book direct.

  • CF

    Please note, I’ve used Hotwire for booking hotels numerous times and when checking in, I’ve asked from a different room, most hotels have been accomodating and have even upgraded the room. What worked best for me was that I nicely commented about the flaw versus a full out assualt on the room itself (i.e. smells like smoke, air conditioning not working, do they have a better view of mountains/city/beach, etc.) Additionally, I had one situation at a Westin in Indianopolis when I had a Gen Mgr state that if you book through sites such such as Hotwire or Priceline, you can’t expect much. I explained to the GM that just because we’re using Hotwire today, there will be occaisions in the future that we may need to book directly with the hotel we previously stated at via a Hotwire booking and may think twice before using that specific hotel as a result.

  • Karen

    2:30 is rather early for checking in- what time was check-in for this hotel. I worked for Marriott Hotels for 3 years, and most hotels have a check-in time of 3 or 4pm. Housekeepers start cleaning rooms in the morning, but they normally will do the “stay-overs” first, and then clean the empty rooms as people who are checking out depart, some of whom request late check out times and don’t leave til well after noon.

    When people show up early, reservation or not, there may or may not be quality rooms available. This could have been the case. The rooms described were probably the last to sell on any given night and may have been empty the night before, being the only clean rooms available to offer to someone showing up for an early check in time.

  • Carver

    @Truax/CF and others

    Someone has to get the worse room in the house. Who would you suggest the GM assign those rooms to?

  • Jason from Best Western

    As a hotel front desk associate, I would like for everyone to know that dealing with third-party websites are a pain.  Although hotwire claims that they will give the guest what they want based on availability, when the initial reservation comes through, it is more often than not as a smoking room whether or not we have non-smoking rooms left.  The reservations come through automatically through the net and the room type is already selected by the time we receive it. 
    I’ve had it happen on many occasions where we will be sold out and have no rooms to move the guest to.  Hotwire has a tendency to blame the hotel; however, it is the hotel that tries to remedy the issue with Hotwire refusing to assist the property to assist the guest.  Just a few weeks ago, I had an issue on a Friday night.  The guest called Hotwire who then called me.  She said that she would not be able to assist me as it was not her department and that I would need to contact their property help desk, which is only open on weekdays. 
    My advice to travellers is to always call and confirm the room type with the hotel as soon as you know where you will be staying.   Make sure that the room type is correct and this will allow the hotel to show off their customer service skills at the beginning.
    Another word of advice…don’t always trust these third-party websites.  The hotel only gets a percentage of the profit made while the websites make things more challenging.  Cut out the middle man, I say!  And if you have a particular hotel you like, call them directly.  Chances are you are paying the same amount on these sites than if you would deal with the hotel directly. 
    Thanks for reading and have safe travels!

  • Nono

    I have NEVER seen the hotels offer the same rate to guests as they can get on opaque sites. Just the way it is. I have tried to negotiate with hotels that I have gotten several times on Hotwire or PL and they never want to budge. SO…while I am elite level at several brands, when I need a throw away night…IE an overnight at an airport, etc…where i have no real concern for the type of bed….it works well. I will however do evertyting I can to choose Hotwire and get a non smoking property.

  • traveler

    Doesn’t matter how much a percentage the hotel is making…it’s better than letting the room sit empty. It sits empty because the prices are so high to start with that people can’t afford to book them, so cutting out the middle man isn’t even a possibility.