Has anyone booked with HOTWIRE HOTRATE HOTEL?

[Drew Perri]

Hotwire has the feature were you get a great discount off your hotel but you don't know what you are booking until it is booked and its usually non refundable (I think you can pay $40 to have trip protection)

Usually it list 1 of 4 hotels you will get sometimes it won't.

Has anyone used this feature and if so was it worth it?
I am going to leave a link to what I am currently looking at
https://www.hotwire.com/hotels/details/MjEyOTc5MzIxNjE6MTcwMzYxNzA0NzM4Nw--

Seems like even if I get one of those 4 its not a bad deal, all those hotels are usually $100- $150 a night.
Those are all listed at 3 Start hotels.
They have a 3.5 start hotel listing for the same price per night, the difference with this listing is it doesn't list one of four guaranteed hotels. I will leave that link too for anyone to see.

https://www.hotwire.com/hotels/details/MjEyOTc5MzIxNjE6MTcwMzYxNzA0NzQ2NQ--

Would love feed back, I am planning a 10 day trip and finding a place within my budget has been a nightmare.

Thank you

 

[smartlabelprint]

I’d read up at betterbidding.com

Have you checked desert inn?

 

[smartlabelprint]

That price it’s probably peacock. Yes quite a walk and not great.

Why 10 nights in Anaheim?

 

[Drew Perri]

I also think its peacock, i have refreshed and the only hotel thats always there is peacock.

And its a 10 day trip because its a suprise trip and proposal at disneyland with my long time gf.

 

[smartlabelprint]

That would be a terrible place to stay for an engagement.

 

[smartlabelprint]

are you going anywhere else? San Diego? lA?

 

[Drew Perri]

That would be a terrible place to stay for an engagement.

Peacock or anaheim?

 

[Drew Perri]

are you going anywhere else? San Diego? lA?

We are going to spend 5 days maybe 6 at disneyland and 1 or 2 hollywood horror nights and 1 day in LA

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Since this is for an engagement, it really would be worth trying for a hotel you can be sure about. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it should at least be someplace your GF will remember without getting the heebie-jeebies. There are budget places near the parks that aren't horrible (really!). Have you looked at the Motel 6 Maingate, Super 8 (on Disneyland Dr.), Magnolia Tree Hotel (on Katella, behind PPH -- someone here will be staying there next month with her daughter, so I don't think it's creepy). There are places in Garden Grove that are less expensive because GG doesn't charge the Anaheim resort tax/fees -- some of these hotels are only one mile or so from the parks. Agree with the above posters -- I wouldn't stay at the Peacock for an engagement.

 

[FCDub]

Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t use Hotwire for something special like that – especially for that long.

 

[tarheelalum]

If your booking through hotwire, don't book anything less than a 3.5. Even the 3.5 can at times be not so great. 3 star properties are usually dumps or in bad locations.

To know you are getting a good place only book a 4 star property. As smartlabel said, check out betterbidding to find out where the property most likely is located and its name.

 

[smartlabelprint]

I’d spend the nights you’re planning to do Hollywood and LA stuff in LA.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Peacock or anaheim?

Peacock

 

[Drew Perri]

Anyone have any positive or negative experience with the Ramada At Main Gate?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Anyone have any positive or negative experience with the Ramada At Main Gate?

I don't know anyone who stays there because it is a bit "far" for walking by DIS standards, i.e. it's even further north than the HOJO. Are they on an ART route (and is that in the budget?) or will you be budgeting for Uber/Lyft? It's not super far away, but once you get north of Ball Rd. on Harbor, there isn't that much else around there. But, to be fair, I don't remember hearing anything horrible about that property, just that people thought it was rather far for walking (part of the way on an incline), especially at the end of the day.

 

[Drew Perri]

We have rented a Turo (AirBnB of Cars). So we will have a car all 10 days.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

We have rented a Turo (AirBnB of Cars). So we will have a car all 10 days.

Will the $20/day parking fee for the parks be fine for the budget? (Parking in the Disney lots will also add more time if you'll be trying to make rope drop each morning -- so there's the time budget to think about, too.) Some people here have reported that Uber/Lyft round trip works out to less than $20/day and saves lots of time when making RD. Just some things to think about.

ETA: Have you looked at the Kings Inn on Katella (https://kingsinnanaheim.com/#_ga=2.256379657.304460096.1534066198-1388771970.1534066198)? Rooms there can be under $100/night, there is free breakfast and free parking, and the reviews on TripAdvisor are good. I think it used to be a Super 8.

And what are your trip dates? October is a pretty busy time at DLR, so that could make it harder to find low rates. Since you will have a car, then I really would advise taking a look at hotels in Garden Grove on Harbor -- just one mile south of the parks can make a significant difference in price.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

What do you want to do on your day in L.A.? Depending on your plans, it might make sense to do a split stay--5 or 6 nights in Anaheim and a couple of nights in L.A. near Universal Studios. I'm not sure how familiar you are with traffic in southern California, but otherwise, you'll be spending far more time driving than would be enjoyable.

What's the max. per night you're willing to spend on a hotel? That might help.

 

[Winnowill]

Anyone have any positive or negative experience with the Ramada At Main Gate?

We stayed there last year. It's too far to walk, and it's not particularly nice. The Peacock is quite a bit nicer, actually - the Ramada had exactly nothing to recommend it other than that it was affordable for what we wanted.

 

[Drew Perri]

I would like to be no more than $100 per night. I don't want to do a split stay if I can help it, we wont be in LA that long. I was hoping to find a friend or a family member or someone who gets a hotel discount, if I could get super lucky. I have literally spent countless hours researching and trying to find the perfect place and its not been easy to say the least haha.