One of the criticisms of opaque booking sites like Priceline and Hotwire (and, as of last week, “Top Secret” hotels by Travelocity), which don’t reveal the name of the hotel until after purchase, is that you can’t choose your bed type up front. You’re typically left asking for your preferred room type at check-in. (I sometimes remember to call the hotel in advance and ask for my preferred room type.) If you’re accustomed to sharing a bed with a fellow traveler, it likely isn’t a big deal to have a king vs. two queens. But if you’re not that intimate, you might not like the king room.

Now, Hotwire partially overcomes this problem by letting you choose your room type. It’s not available for every hotel in every city. But it’s still an interesting twist on the opaque model. (It’s been available since late November. Somehow I missed this.)

Here’s a screenshot of the initial search results, indicating bed choice as a possibility:

And here are the options, on the next page. The price was the same for either option (though I am left wondering if hotels that feature this option charge a premium for it):

I haven’t seen the option on many search results pages, so it’s seemingly limited in its rollout, but it’s an interesting improvement on the opaque model.