Hotwire Deceptive and Misleading Hot Hotel Deals San Francisco Internet

I was searching for a hotel in Vail for the weekend for my wife and I to get away.  It was Oktoberfest in Vail and we wanted to find a place in Lionshead, a specific part of the town near the festivities.  After searching various sites, I cam across Hotwire.com's Hot Hotel Deals.  They listed a "4-Star Hotel in the "Lionshead Area" that was rated awesome.  As part of the enticement, they use hotels like Interconntinental Hotels, Le Meridien, etc., hotels that deliver 4 star or better service.  They even go as far to say that Hotel don't want to advertise such a low price to keep their good image.  And to add one more enticement, right before you click, they generate a pop up of a 4 star hotel in that area that is truly a hotel and 4 star mentioning that someone else just got this deal.

I clicked on the deal and agreed to the no refund policy.  I figured that there may be some variation of the hotel, but at least it is in the Lionshead area and should be decent. However, after locking me in, the reservation came back completely different from the promoting site.  Instead of a hotel, I was booked at a condo.  Instead of being in the Lionshead area, I was across the highway, nowhere near the festivities. And although I agree there is some latitude in ratings, this definitley is not a 4 start property.

Upon calling the customer service at Hotwire, I was connected to what I am sure was a representative in the Philippines, judging by the accent.  I do not have a problem with that.  She place me on hold to see what could be done.  After 3-4 minutes, she came back telling me there is nothing they can do as that is the policy and that she called the property and they said it was a hotel.  Furthermore, she said the property is within the area the designate on their map.  Had I looked at the map, I would have seen this.  Upon further diagreement, I was promptly disconnected.

Here are the facts...the property actually has its own website and lists itself as a condo (even timeshare driven), it is located a half mile outside of Lionshead with nothing else around it.  Vail calls the areas Sandstone.  As to the 4 Star, it is dated, lacks the warm and coziness of a hotel.  And to add insult, had I wanted to stay there, I could have booked directy and saved $75 off the two nights.

I called back to customer service and spoke to another woman (with the same dialect and hence the Philippines) and this time asked to speak to a supervisor.  This individual was even less pleasant and then began to argue that a condo is a hotel and that Hotwire lsits them interchangeablly.  Funny things is that I can now pull a similar search on Hotwire and they a property now as a condo!  Bottom line, they did not care neither about the listing, the representation nor the location.  IN short, a nice way of saying %$!#!! to me.  This is not a case of buyers remorse or setting too high and expectation on my part.  I can see someone doing this.  But the fact that it is not a hotel nor in the area, is just plain wrong!

I have disputed my charge with AMEX bu I am unsure where it will land even though the person on AMEX had mentioned a similar experience in which AMEX successfully denied the charge.

Hotwire, profited by the misrepresentation and fraudulant portrayal of the property at my expense.  I will not use them again as thier integrity is severlly lacking, their customer service is horrible, and the deals are not really "deals."