simonkey

Bid $90 for 3 1/2 and 4 star quality hotels in Oakland-Eastbay (Berkeley-Emeryville). This bid was rejected. Added Oakland-Alameda area and bid $95. This was accepted by the Claremont Hotel. (used Better Bidding's PRICELINE link :)

Bid for 4* hotel for USE, USW areas of SF for August 13, 2010. Started my bid at $150 and increased by $5 increments, initially adding Financial District and SOMA areas (these were acceptable areas too) and then adding rebidding areas that did not have a 4* hotel. Finally got a win at $190 for the Mark Hopkins. From looking at PL's listed prices and Expedia, hotels are pretty darn pricey this Friday night or are sold out. Not sure if there's an event going on or what...

Bid for 4* in the downtown areas of SF for Friday, Aug 13th (i.e., USE, USW, Fin District, SOMA) up to $140 with no luck. Added a 3.5 star rating, bid $140 again and was rejected. Went to $145 and was accepted...for Club Quarters. Read some reviews and am very disappointed with this win. Not a first time PRICELINE bidder but it has been a long time since I've had to use it. No excuse for my mistake though...should have researched the hotel lists on BB to see the 3.5 star hotels for this area to make sure the possible hotels in that rating were acceptable. Did that after the fact and found a few disappointed people on here and on tripadvisor. Since this stay will be a special one, I went ahead and tried a new bid and stayed with the 4* level. I'm eating this cost of $145 + taxes + fees, so very expensive lession learned. Will post the 4* winning bid separately...

Bid $70 for a 3* in the Torrance/Carson area of LA using your PRICELINE link. Accepted on the first try...maybe I shoulda tried a lower bid :) Nonetheless, I'm happy with the price and location I got.

Bid $95 for a 3* hotel in JFK area for 08/16/08 for one night using the PRICELINE link from BB website; rejected. Added rebidding zone and bid $97 for a 3* hotel. Accepted for Sheraton JFK Airport $97 + $24.14 (taxes/fees) = $121.14 total

Well, I bid quite a bit without any luck. I bid up to $170 for a 3* room by keeping all my days together (08/16-08/21) and breaking it up into two stays (08/16-08/20 and 08/17-08/21). I can try to reconstruct my bidding history through Priceline and my rejection emails but there's quite a bit to wade through. My hotel that I booked as a backup (which now is my firm hotel choice) was the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City. I booked directly through their website and used a AAA discount to get a room for $161/night from 08/17-08/21. They are sold out of rooms through their website (and quite a few others) for Saturday the 16th. I have a friend who stayed here before who really liked it; the PATH train, for the most part, looks pretty convenient to get to WTC and onto the subway station. Just a little concerned about the WTC area at 1 am since I've read it's pretty deserted at night. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with the hotel. For the 16th, I just booked a hotel through PRICELINE (using your link) in the JFK area. I bid $95 for a 3* and got rejected. Added a rebidding zone and rebid $97 and was accepted for the Sheraton JFK. The two TripAdvisor reviews seem so-so but it's only for a night so I'm not too concerned. I hate that I have to pay for a room just to sleep in but my flight was free and I didn't have much choice in picking the time to fly in. So, I fly in late at night on Saturday, sleep at the Sheraton, and change hotels early Sunday morning. It works, I guess. I will post the win for the 16th as a separate topic so it's easier for others to view. Thanks for all of your help. I will be booking another hotel here in the next couple of days for the LA area. I think I'm going to have a lot easier time with that!! :)

Wow, this is the most difficult stay I've ever had to book through PRICELINE. I tried splitting the dates as per your recommendation as I realized what you meant by the possibility of having to split my stay into 3. I tried bidding up to $165 for a 3*/4* for the entire stay and then by splitting. (I understand this is a far, far reach anyhow) I tried bidding up to $155 for a 2.5* for the entire stay and then by splitting. (I did add Chelsea for this level) There are less rebidding zones for 2.5* so I've had to wait the 24 hours before starting my bidding process again. I plan on rebidding here in the next few days up to $180/night. I did just book a cancellable hotel in Jersey City at $161/night but seeing as this is my first time in NYC, I'm really striving to stay in the city. I'll check out your Quikbook link for anything there too.

Hi again, My stay in NYC has been shortened to 08/16-08/21. I used the strategy you've given and had no luck with 4* or 3* hotels up to $155 in those five areas (if it's helpful, I can post my actual bidding history). I would be willing to split my stay into two but need suggestions on when to split the date (i.e., 08/16-08/18 and 08/18-08/21). I may reevaluate my budget for this trip to see how much more I can pay for lodging those days (say $175/night). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

I was looking to stay in a 3-star hotel in either the Mission Valley or Point Loma areas of San Diego for 08/25/08-08/28/08. I started my bid for those two areas at $75; rejected. Added re-bidding zone and bid $80; rejected. Added another re-bidding zone and bid $85 and got the Crowne Plaza. Looks like it's going for about $153 on other sites so I'm happy with the deal I got. Thanks for all of the help I get from this site!

Thanks for the advice on the late-night travel. Yes, I'd to include MTE along with MTW, TS, CPS, ESB in my bidding strategy.

Sorry to be so confusing. My primary concern was if the area 'felt' deserted or (relatively) unsafe during the evenings because I'm traveling alone and expect to be out fairly late some evenings due to shows and the like.

Whoops, I meant 'not empty in the evening'...

Yes, I've been pretty remiss in not posting previous wins...will definitely be better about that in the future, starting with this stay. :) Any of those 5 areas (MTE, MTW, TS, CPS, ESB) seems acceptable. I've been told that SoHo-Downtown may not be the most preferable area so that's the only area I'd like to avoid. My only qualifications are easy access to subway (prob pretty easy to fulfill), and a neighborhood that's empty in the evening) Splitting the stay into two is fine by me. Thank you! :)

I'll be visiting NYC next month (08/16-08/23) for the first time. I'm fairly comfortable with the Priceline process...for California hotels, that is. I would very much appreciate any bidding advice for a 4* hotel within the 'usual suspect' areas in New York. Specifically, is $150 an unreasonable amount to expect to pay for a 4* hotel? Would a 3* hotel be more reasonable for my max price? Suggestions for starting prices/neighborhoods? My usual method is to view Priceline's regular hotel prices and then start at somewhere around 50% off those rates as my starting bid...is this a good strategy for NYC as well? Also, any advice regarding a good sports bar/grill/restaurant to catch some ballgames would be appreciated. (I'll be traveling alone as a female so I'm looking for a laidback place without a meat market feel :) ... I apologize in advance if I've posted these questions in the wrong area. Thanks!!

I used PL for the first time tonight and relied heavily on the information in this forum. Thanks for the great site! First bid for the SFO Airport area for a 4* hotel for $35 was rejected. Second bid for the same area for a 4* hotel for $40 was accepted. I would like to avoid paying the overnight parking fee and heard about some side street on which free parking might be found. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!