a bit of a bumpy start
to a nice weekend...
Way back in February, I used hotwire for our hotel reservations in Austin. We've successfully used it many times in the past, so I was fairly confident when I clicked buy on the 3 star in the Arboretum for $55/night. There's a Holiday Inn in that area that we've stayed in several times and liked each time. But this time we ended up with Summerfield Suites. I looked it up... owned by Hyatt, looks decent. Yay. Until Thursday afternoon... then I pulled up the confirmation and the name of the hotel had changed... but it was still the same hotel, it just wasn't owned by Hyatt anymore.
When we got there, we figured out why. WHAT a dump! UGH. True, it was a roof over our heads, a seemingly clean room, etc... but the first room they put us in had a running toilet that was gurgling! Luckily they were able to move us to another room, but the next morning we could actually hear the conversations of the people in the room next to us. I'm not talking murmuring... I actually heard "That must be Jen calling, she said she'd pick us up at 6." So when we started talking, we then heard "sir, can you be quiet?" EXCUSE ME???
Matt and I were sort of stunned. Clearly this was NOT going to be a relaxing part of our weekend. Anybody that's ever used Hotwire knows it's non-refundable.. you get what you get... but this was NOT what they told me I was getting! So I called. At 6:45 am I was on the phone to SF, where it was 4:45 am, and after several minutes on hold I said "This has been one of the worst hotel experiences of my life... HELP!" Turns out they had recently "downgraded" the hotel to a 2 and a half star rating. I said "that's actually quite generous!" But he was very nice and gave us a refund of the remaining nights because I told him I'd rather sleep in our rental Kia! And since we did't have internet access there (I know... shocking!) he booked us into a 3 and a half star on the other side of Austin... and now, for just an extra $60/night, we're at the lovely and well-appointed Crowne Plaza, and I'm enjoying the free wi-fi in the very comfy king bed with fluffy pillows and a down comforter, and NO talking from outside our room!
WHEW. This is SO much better!!!
Way back in February, I used hotwire for our hotel reservations in Austin. We've successfully used it many times in the past, so I was fairly confident when I clicked buy on the 3 star in the Arboretum for $55/night. There's a Holiday Inn in that area that we've stayed in several times and liked each time. But this time we ended up with Summerfield Suites. I looked it up... owned by Hyatt, looks decent. Yay. Until Thursday afternoon... then I pulled up the confirmation and the name of the hotel had changed... but it was still the same hotel, it just wasn't owned by Hyatt anymore.
When we got there, we figured out why. WHAT a dump! UGH. True, it was a roof over our heads, a seemingly clean room, etc... but the first room they put us in had a running toilet that was gurgling! Luckily they were able to move us to another room, but the next morning we could actually hear the conversations of the people in the room next to us. I'm not talking murmuring... I actually heard "That must be Jen calling, she said she'd pick us up at 6." So when we started talking, we then heard "sir, can you be quiet?" EXCUSE ME???
Matt and I were sort of stunned. Clearly this was NOT going to be a relaxing part of our weekend. Anybody that's ever used Hotwire knows it's non-refundable.. you get what you get... but this was NOT what they told me I was getting! So I called. At 6:45 am I was on the phone to SF, where it was 4:45 am, and after several minutes on hold I said "This has been one of the worst hotel experiences of my life... HELP!" Turns out they had recently "downgraded" the hotel to a 2 and a half star rating. I said "that's actually quite generous!" But he was very nice and gave us a refund of the remaining nights because I told him I'd rather sleep in our rental Kia! And since we did't have internet access there (I know... shocking!) he booked us into a 3 and a half star on the other side of Austin... and now, for just an extra $60/night, we're at the lovely and well-appointed Crowne Plaza, and I'm enjoying the free wi-fi in the very comfy king bed with fluffy pillows and a down comforter, and NO talking from outside our room!
WHEW. This is SO much better!!!