Kahuna Travel Blog

quick question- im planning a vegas trip and i need a retal car ( i live in l.a. and i will be driving). has anyone rented a car through hotwire and if so, was it hassle free?? it was about $80 less than the actual rental car websites but it still seems a little shakey. with this "recession" we are all trying to cut back on expenses but its my birthday and i just want to do a vegas turn around

play it safe,hassle free drive to LAS VEGAS by checking reputable rental car,Enterprise usually have a weekend offer with reasonable price and unlimited mileage, it is hard to rent from the internet as the whole quotation is not explained, just remember that insurance is a must,tx and fees are also included, check for a weekend get away and that gives you a total package, hassle free!!! rather than getting it darn cheap and at the end you will end up paying for more, goodluck!!

I’m booking a hotel room in Toronto with Hotwire, and I’m not able to choose which hotel I receive… however, for Toronto I can choose the area. Which area would be the best area to stay in on New Year’s Eve? I’m hoping to go to Nathan Phillips Square, or at least somewhere else eventful. Which area is the closest to Nathan Phillips Square? Or, which area would be the best to stay on New Year’s Eve?

Here are the following areas along with maps:

Don Valley Area:
http://map.access.mapquest.com/mq/mqserver.dll?e=0&GetMapFromSession.1=SessionID:4aee47b5-03d6-000e-02b7-0649-00237d285ffc,DisplayState.1:0,72,1,Authentication.2:650d5Bg%7Bp%25P%2890bf,31120,,-363999406,&hwcb=1257129910019

Downtown Toronto West: http://map.access.mapquest.com/mq/mqserver.dll?e=0&GetMapFromSession.1=SessionID:4aee4899-030c-000e-02b7-0649-00237d285ffc,DisplayState.1:0,72,1,Authentication.2:30bf%2CcL6X%3B4%226efa,31120,,-1164195754,&hwcb=1257130137819

Downtown Toronto East:
http://map.access.mapquest.com/mq/mqserver.dll?e=0&GetMapFromSession.1=SessionID:4aee48d4-02f9-000f-02b7-0649-00237d285ffc,DisplayState.1:0,72,1,Authentication.2:9def%27dH6%5Eh%3Bd05e3,31120,,-1341447874,&hwcb=1257130196795

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Downtown East or West, all the way. Don Valley is complete suburbia..and not exactly tourist friendly.

I would choose Downtown West, more of the top hotels in Toronto are west of Yonge St.

East of Yonge still has some nice Hotels, but many areas are seedy.
(Nathan Phillips is West of Yonge)

But if you end up in booking in east, it would probably be no more than a 10 min. walk or 5 min streetcar ride as all the major horizontally running streets downtown have streetcars.

betterbooking.com has hints on what hotel u may be booking.

But as long as the hotel is downtown, it really does not matter..the west is more alive though.

Nathan Phillips is crazy busy on New Years Eve, but it;s so fun!

Some other places to visit:

Distillery District (east)
Kensington Market/Chinatown (west)
West Queen West ( Trinity-Bellwoods) (west)
Harbourfront (west)
High Park (west)
Eaton Centre (in the middle)
Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) (west)
the new Art Gallery of Ontario (west)

hope it helps!!

My friends and I are planning a trip to Europe(London,Paris) next summer and it looks like hotwire.com has good deals, but we’re not sure how it works. Do they choose the hotel for you after you pay for it? Has anyone experienced any problems using it?
Details would be appreciated!

You don’t get to choose the hotel, but you can choose the quality by the star rating you pick. Something greater than a 3 star rating is usually Hilton or Crown Plaza quality but it’s not guaranteed. It’s the best way to save money, but if you think your trip will be ruined if you don’t get the hotel you were looking for then you should use another site like Priceline.

What hotel are you looking for? there are a lot of sights to get good deals.

yes…they have

Has anyone booked a "mystery" hotel with them? Where they tell you the star rating of the hotel, along with the hotel amenities, but do not release the name and location until after booking? The prices are awesome but I’m a little nervous to do this. Anybody have good/bad experiences with this? Are the star ratings for real? Thanks!

I have done it before and come out with great results. What I do is search out the location I am travelling to and see what Hotels are listed there and if there are any that I like within 3-4 stars. I make sure to narrow the choice down to the smallest possible by clicking on a specific geographic area - like by the airport or downtown rather than the whole city.

Making your request as specific as possible can lead to you knowing which hotel will probably pop up. I have found that the star ratings on hotwire and priceline push 2 1/2 star hotels into the 3 star category. So be aware that while you think you are getting a Hilton you may be getting a nice Days Inn or something like that since it is a mystery.

No. Once you have purchased tickets, hotwire is OUT of the picture. you can call the airline you have the tickets from.If they will not give you a refund ( which they probably won’t) they will probably give you credit toward another flight at a different time. We all want to buy the cheapest tickets avail. These tickets are always NON_REFUNDABLE>>>then we whine when we need to change our plans! But, often, the airline will allow you to change your flight …for a fee.

sky pixie man says go for it

It is anonymous bidding for Hotels. Specifically, is their star rating accurate? A 4 star hotel–does it mean the same on this site as a normal 4 star rating? (Not artifically high.)

How have your experiences been.

yes

We’re planning a trip to Cancun this fall and need to stay close to the Convention Center. There is one four star hotel in Cancun that is listed on hotwire.com. Does anyone know which hotel it is?

Fiesta Americana Coral Beach is close to convention Center and is a 4 star resort.)