XP: Hotwire?

[marytini]

Are you trying to bid on it or just book it? Which hotel? Which area of Amsterdam?

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[hz80408]

Shoot; your hotwire link didn't work.

[basilosaurus]

Hotwire isn't generally that big overseas, so that's probably why there's minimal selection.

I don't think you'll get screwed with a 5* in the location you want. Unless you care about getting something unique, like a small guesthouse, I'd go for it.

[basilosaurus]

OK, I just did a quick search. Looks like it's hotel pulitzer. Is that what you found, too? It's got great ratings on tripadvisor, so I'd book.

[GilliC]

Jul 10, 2012 19:01:32 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Hotwire isn't generally that big overseas, so that's probably why there's minimal selection.

I don't think you'll get screwed with a 5* in the location you want. Unless you care about getting something unique, like a small guesthouse, I'd go for it.

Ditto this. Unless you want something specific, if the location boundaries are okay you should be fine with whatever you get.

I've found that the hotel lists on sites like BetterBidding aren't always complete for European cities, so it's a bit more of a gamble if you're after a particular hotel.

And you have to figure out what the star ratings mean for that particular city, because there is some variation. Checking the star ratings in the named hotel lists is good for this.

And a serious heads-up to budget travelers: Be very careful about booking 2-star hotels through Hotwire (both named and mystery). When we were shopping for a room in Stockholm, we thought we found a great deal until we realized that the room had a shared bathroom and no window.
ETA - I don't mind a shared bathroom and no window if I know that's what I'm booking, but Hotwire doesn't list those as amenities. I think they took it for granted that all hotel rooms have a toilet and a window. I even called Hotwire to ask, because I found the hotel on another booking site that listed it as no window and shared bath, but the Hotwire people couldn't answer the "Does it have a toilet or a window?" question.

[jaybird]

I'm not sure about Hotwire, but I've stayed at the Hotel Pulitzer and its a great hotel. Out of the Hotwire areas I'd definitely pick the Canal Belt section. I've been to Amsterdam quite a bit in the past year and I think the only 5 star corporate hotels (does hotwire deal with small hotels/chains?) in that zone are Hotel Pulitzer and Intercontinental. One thing it's easy to lose sight of living in New York is that Amsterdam is relatively compact. Walking from one side of the canal belt section (by Hotel Pulitzer) to the other (by the ICH) is less than a mile with the major attractions in the middle of the area.

[marytini]

Awesome! Enjoy your stay!

[GilliC]

Jul 12, 2012 20:19:02 GMT -5 v said:

We booked today and got the Hotel Pulitzer. For $183 a night. Yay! Thanks for the advice everyone!

Congrats! :Y: Have fun!