Review of Hotwire.com

I mainly use Hotwire for their discount hotel services so that's what I am reviewing. Hotwire.com has great rates in every city but you won't know what hotel it is until after you have paid. For example, let's say you want to stay at a hotel in San Francisco. Now San Francisco is a great travel destination and attract many visitors each year. To accommodate all the tourists, there are many hotels in all areas of San Francisco. So which one to pick?

Well, at Hotwire.com you would type in the city, the dates that you will be checking in and checking out, the number of rooms, the number of adults and children checking in. Once you enter your information you will get a list of available hotels by star rating, price per night, hotel amenities and area in San Francisco. Now at this point you will still not get the name of the hotel, you will find that out after you have picked one and paid for it up front. That can be daunting for some people, however, Hotwire.com only deals with well-known hotel chains and brands so that is a certainty that can help you feel comfortable in choosing one of the hotels on the listing.

Once you click on one of the hotels listed, you will get additional information. You will get the total price of your stay (including taxes and fees), the area that the hotel is located, the star rating of the hotel, check in/out dates, amenities, the hotel chains that qualify under the star rating and description of services that fit that star rating. Now that's a lot of information to comfortably choose a hotel. For example, a stay in San Francisco from July 31 - August 9 this year I am choosing a hotel that is rated 3 stars, is in the Fisherman's Wharf area, that has a fitness center, swimming pool, in-house restaurant, business center, laundry facilities, and high speed internet access for $143 per night. The 3-star rating means that the hotel chains that qualify are Holiday Inn, Radisson, DoubleTree, etc. With all that information, I feel very comfortable in choosing that hotel. And I've rarely been disappointed.

Actually, I experience a thrill once I click on my choice and paid for it and found out that I will be staying at a 4-star Hyatt for less than half the rack rate. The one time that it had disappointed me was when I chose to stay in small city. In a small city, there are much fewer hotels, so you can't actually pinpoint your area as narrowly and what I ended up with was a hotel that was not near the city center and I had to use a cab to get to it from the rail station. However, it was a short cab ride and the star rating of the hotel stayed true.

Depending on the season, the rates that you get through Hotwire can be unbelievable. Off peak, I have stayed in 4-star hotels for under $75. Hotwire has been a wonderful and reliable service and would recommend it highly.

Customer care: 1-866-HOTWIRE