Other booking and travel booking websites that are better than hotwire are Kayak.com, Travelocity.com, Priceline.com and orbitz.com
Hotwire is a good service for booking hotels and flights etc as they can get you some of the cheapest rates.
Hotwire prices do sometimes go down closer to the date you're traveling although the prices can rise again sharply in the last few days prior to your travel day.
Hotwire is so cheap as they use a practice called opaque pricing which allows hotels to sell rooms at hidden and lower prices.
Hotwire Hot Rates are just the low prices that Hotwire specially negotiates with hotel suppliers.
Hot Rate deals are deeply discounted bookings on rental cars, hotel stays, and flights through Hotwire.