Priceline Hotel: London: Trying for the Conrad

[MikeBuck]

Good morning,

 

 I'm hoping to secure the Conrad at a cheap rate as it's a great looking hotel in a perfect location for the trip my wife and I are taking in August. I have seen it as an offer listed in the winning bids before around 200. I am happy with this or a touch lower! Any help someone could give me to secure this booking would be greatly appreciated!

 

Mike

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Are you referring to the Conrad London St. James hotel?

 

When bidding on PRICELINE you need to be willing to accept any hotel in the zone at the star rating (or higher) that you choose... there is no way to bid on, target, or avoid a specific property in the zone.

 

Both PRICELINE EXPRESS and HOTWIRE both give some clues about the specific hotel current being offered, and you may be able to use this information in order to identify the hotel being offered beforehand, but you may not guess correctly and receive a hotel other than the one that you're hoping for.

 

I'm not currently seeing any 5* hotels offered on PRICELINE EXPRESS that appears to be the Conrad (and the current PRICELINE EXPRESS is offer is beyond your budget as well) but on HOTWIRE on seeing this offer:

 

5* HOTWIRE Westminster - Victoria - Big Ben for $223.00
Free Internet
Smoke Free
Restaurant
Business
Hi-Speed Internet
Childrens Activities
==> i'm not 100% certain, but i believe this one is likely be the Conrad London St. James and would be my best guess

 

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

 

Let us know what you decide and how it goes or how we can be of further help.

[MikeBuck]

Thanks...I was under the impression the 200 would cover the taxes as well...

 

Prior to seeing the Conrad, I was split between the Rydges Kensington and the Nadler Kensington. Any idea about either of these? Which might be nicer? Any Hotwire or Priceline methods to them?

[thereuare]

57 minutes ago, MikeBuck said:

I was under the impression the 200 would cover the taxes as well...

To avoid any confusion always post your budget in terms of room rate per nite before taxes and fees.

 

As per my comments above, there is no way to bid on PRICELINE for a specific property, so if you are looking to know/guess the name of the property that you are likely to receive prior to your purchase, then PRICELINE bidding is out... and PRICELINE EXPRESS and/or HOTWIRE are your better play (both may cost you slightly more than winning a bid on PRICELINE, but it gives you more information about the hotel... amenities offered, review ratings, and the ability to guess the property being offered)

 

... so if bidding is not an option, and you're left with PRICELINE EXPRESS or HOTWIRE, under $200 (room rate or all-in) is not going to be an option since at this time the lowest priced 5* hotel in the zone thru either service is priced at $193/nite and is not the Conrad.

 

1 hour ago, MikeBuck said:

Prior to seeing the Conrad, I was split between the Rydges Kensington and the Nadler Kensington.

You're not really using PRICELINE or HOTWIRE in an effective manner... there are thousands of hotels in London, so to sift thru all of them and find the one (or two or three) that you want and then hope that one of them appears on PRICELINE / HOTWIRE is typically a waste of time (as these hotels may not even deal with PRICELINE / HOTWIRE, may be out of your price range if they are offered, and just from an odds perspective it's not very likely that 1 of the 3 that you do want of the thousands of possible hotels will be the one offered for your dates (although sometimes you can get lucky!))

 

A better approach is to first determine your budget and which locations are acceptable to you, then use our BiddingHelper.com tool to view offers from PRICELINE EXPRESS, HOTWIRE, as well as 'regular rates' of hotels in the zone at the same star rating (using our IS THIS A GOOD PRICE feature) so that you can have a sense of what price would constitute a good deal (rather than guess solely based upon what you want to pay)

 

So, based upon the information above, if you search using our BiddingHelper.com tool do you see any offers in any zones that you'd be willing to stay at that meet your star rating and budget requirements?

 

... or do you only care about the lowest possible price and would like to try to bid on PRICELINE for any hotel in the zone at the minimum star rating you choose?

 

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

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

[MikeBuck]

Thanks for this. I really was looking for just those hotels, but I understand the process. While it wasn't helpful to me this round because I was being selective, I will definitely use the tool for future bookings. Thanks...

[thereuare]

Confirm your dates on the landing page, but note that you could book the Rydges Kensington London for just $159/nite (and same price for the Nadler Kensington)

 

Please use the links above if you decide to book either of these hotels thru a 'traditional' booking channel.

 

Good luck and enjoy your time in London.