Priceline Hotel: 4* Hotel in San Francisco (Union Square) Mid August

[teflontektro]

Hi, I'm looking to go to San Francisco from 8/12/15 - 8/15/2015. I want to stay in the Union Square area (and I'm OK with Union Square East or West in Priceline's map) and want a 4* hotel.

 

What is a realistic price to expect via the Name Your Own Price option? I don't really mind which hotel it is. And what price do you recommend that I start my bidding at? It seems like there are a number of zones without 4* hotels so that allows a decent number of re-bids. I have found a few 4* range hotels that offer government rates of about $219 per night (not including taxes), so ideally I'd like to pay a good bit below that.

 

Thanks in advance for any insights or tips!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Assuming you're eligible for the government rate that may be your best option at this time for these dates, as i think a 4* in the USE or USW zone will cost you in the $200-$225 range at the moment.

What hotel are you able to get the $219/nite rate at? Is it a 'good' hotel that you would want to stay in OR would you prefer to try bidding on PRICELINE up to the same price in hopes of a different hotel?

I will add that HOTWIRE has what appears to be The Scarlet Huntington for $216/nite which gets very good reviews, so although this is the same/similar price as you can get thru a traditional means, this property has a 4.5/5.0 TA rating so it may be better than your alternative. This is the description for what i believe to be the Scarlet Huntington:

Indoor Pool

Smoke Free

Fitness

Pool

Restaurant

Business

Hi-Speed Internet

Spa

Room Accessible

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

Let us know your thoughts as to how you'd like to proceed (or how it goes if you take the HOTWIRE offer) and we will assist further.

[teflontektro]

Thanks for the info! One of the hotels with the government rate was the Sir Frances Drake Hotel. I'm not sure if that would be actually be comparable to a 4* hotel on Priceline though. I forget the other one or two that had the government rate, though I did notice that many of the higher end hotels in that area had government rates of around $300/night.

 

Do you think that dropping to a 3.5* would change the price all that much? I'm not totally wedded to a 4*, but I have had an instance or two when I got a 3* via Hotwire or Priceline and it ended up being sort of mediocre, which is why I was thinking that I'd shoot for a 4* if I did it blind like that.

 

Also, how did you find the Scarlet Huntington for $216/night? I see a "Union Square West Area Botique Hotel" coming up on Hotwire with those same amenities in the "Secret Hot Rate Hotels" but it shows as $255/night for me.

 

Thanks in advance for your help, much appreciated!

[thereuare]

I had seen the Scarlet Huntington for $216/nite using the EASY VIEW tab of the BiddingHelper.com, but it's possible that the rate has gone up since then (or you are searching in CAD dollars?)

Unfortunately lowering your star rating to 3.5* on these dates will not likely drop your price that much, imo.

Let us know your thoughts as to how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

[rocko]

I got the Prescott a few days ago at $176/nt for labor day weekend (see my Priceline win).

[teflontektro]

I got the Prescott a few days ago at $176/nt for labor day weekend (see my Priceline win).

 

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I wasn't able to replicate that, I bid from $130 up to $204 in small increments over three zone combinations (Union East, Union West, and then combined) with 6 rebid zones, but no such luck. Maybe it is just too close to the date or August is a popular time.

Anyways, I went with the Sir Frances Drake with the government rate for $219/night, or $765 for the three night stay all in with taxes etc. I noticed that Priceline and Hotwire's taxes/fees are definitely higher than directly booking, so something to consider when bidding too. Thanks for the insight and assistance everyone!

[AaronJB]

Thank you for closing the thread.