Any zone is fine. Downtown is where the majority of our time will be spent though. Unless it is a substantial savings... than I would prefer downtown. There are 5 zones with 3* hotels, and 1 rebid without adding other zones with 3* hotels. I have the time to bid the downtown zone only. What would be a good starting point, and at what increments would you increase each bid with $75 as a cap? Thank you in advance for the help.
That is the information that I have found myself. Anything downtown would be fine, and I know that I can not compare last summer's prices with what winning bids on priceline might be this summer. I have plenty of rebids here as well as time. How should I start? Should I cut the rack rate in half and go in $3 increments?
I would like to spend $100 or less per night. I am hoping to save here if possible in case Chicago and St. Louis hotels average more than $100 a night.
I need a 3* room in, or close to downtown Milwaukee for the dates of July 21st-23rd. I would like to keep it under $100 if possible.
There are 6 zones on priceline with 5 of them with 3* hotels. I would like to know your strategys on bidding this area.
This past summer bids seemed to be won by the Hyatt and the Hilton for about $50 during the time I want to go. Priceline is showing the Raddison and Clarion at $109, and the Sheraton at $155.
I have plenty of time to secure a room. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I would like, and have budgeted for $100 a night for nine nights. I will be booking rooms in Chicago and Milwaukee as well so what I think I will save in Milwaukee I can use in the other 2 cities.
New summer...new set of baseball stadiums. I learned alot last year in the hotel booking process, and I hope that I have eliminated the rookie mistakes. Thank you all in advance for the site and the help.
I would like a 4 star hotel in the downtown St. Louis zone for 3 nights from July 25th-July 28th. It looks like Priceline has St. Louis with 9 bidding zones, and only the downtown area has 4 * hotels which would give me 8 rebids for the 4 * downtown hotel choice I want.
If I was to book outright on Priceline for those dates it gives me the choice of 3-4* hotels. The Hyatt is listed at $204 a night; The Hilton is at $169 a night; and the Westin is listed at 279 a night. In checking last July's winning bids it show that the Renaissance was the winning hotel with bids between $57-$65.
I have plenty of time to bid, and having gone through the process last year....alot more patience. Thank you for all the help.
Sorry........but I think that I did exactly what you suggested. If you were to reread the thread there has only been 1 strategy given me (Copley/Downtown 3*) and it was followed to the letter. I do appreciate the help that this site has given me. I definately have been impatient, but every suggestion has been considered and followed by me with the best of my understanding of the process.
Tried to bid the Cambridge area for a 4* hotel. I bid as follows.........
Bid Cambridge.................$75..............................rejected
Add Medford....................$80..............................rejected
Add South Boston............$85.............................rejected
Add Downtown................$90..............................rejected
Add Copley......................$95..............................rejected
I realize I could have bid this differently, but chose to do it this way. I will wait awhile and try it again.
Any strategy in how to bid it up to $110? I will do the 3* next if need be. As always I tried through savingsbarn.com
I went for $110 a night and was turned down in both Downtown and Copley. I would consider that amount in Cambridge as well. The Hyatt does not bother me except for the access to public transportation. If I paid extra for the hotel room and did not have to pay for cabs to the "T Line" I would think that it would be a wash financially.
I did not realize that the Radisson-Cambridge was accepting bids for a 3* hotel. I did not see it on the list of hotel listings for Massachusetts even though that it is not a complete list and is only to be used for reference. The only place I see it coming up accepting bids is on page 4 of the Priceline-Massachusetts listings and that really was a Doubletree that accepted that bid.
Not being from Boston I could only assume that a 20,000 person convention in downtown could also effect the prices in Cambridge as well. I would go as high $110 for a 4 star in Cambridge, and if that doesn't work then I will risk the 3* in that location. I will get what I get and do the best with it. Thanks for the help and as always it will be booked through savingsbarn.com
20,000 people at a convention for two of the days I want to stay. Probably why I could not get Copley or Downtown for under $110. I will try Cambridge this time and hope I don't get the Hyatt Regency. Here are the prices that are shown at the hotel's website on 3-31. If there is more than 1 rate during my stay the average of the night are shown.
4*
Hotel@MIT.........................................$209
Hotel Marlowe...................................$269
3*
Doubletree Guest Suites....................$129
Hyatt Regency....................................$176
Marriott-Cambridge............................$199
2.5*
Courtyard by Marriott.........................$179
2*
Holiday Inn.........................................$74
I still would like to stay under $100 per night. Should I use the same bidding pattern used in Downtown and Copley? Please let me know what you think. Thank you all in advance.
Approximately how far is the Radisson and the Hyatt from the T Line? Also I am guessing that Fenway is not walking distance to Fenway. Cab would cost how much? Thanks.
Sorry.......Cambridge to Fenway Park.
Thought I would try 1 more time for a 4* before I had to resign to the fact that it was out of my range financially.
4* COPLEY
bid and rebid to $110.......rejected
4* DOWNTOWN
bid and rebid to $110.......rejected
I then went to bids on 3* hotels with no luck as well. Here is how that went...
3* COPLEY
bid and rebid to $80..........rejected
3* DOWNTOWN
bid and rebid to $80..........rejected
3* DOWNTOWN AND COPLEY
bid and rebid to $95..........rejected
I think I found out the problem I am having.....There is a convention being held at the BCEC (?) during 2 of the days I plan to stay in Boston. This did not show up (or I could not find it) on the Boston Chamber of Commerce Website when I looked in the past, but it did show up on the Convention Checker link on this website. Nice bingo. If the BCEC is downtown then I may need to start looking in the Cambridge or the Revere area. Any suggestions? Thanks for everything.
The concern is getting the Hyatt Regency-Cambridge. Everything I have read on trip advisor says that the public transportation around that hotel is not very good. The Hyatt seems to accept alot of the bids from Priceline. If I stayed at 4*-Cambridge the public transportation from both the Marlowe and the MIT seems fine. Also everything I read about the other 3* hotels are great for public transportation as well, but not the Hyatt.
For the time being I will bid Downtown and Copley and maybe even 4* in Cambridge. Thanks for the help, and I will let you know what happens.
Last time I bid was March 14th so I am ready to try again.
I checked out all the hotel websites for the hotels that have won bids on Priceline, and are listed in the Massachusetts hotel section of this website. It is a 3 night stay from July 29th through August 1st. If there was a rate change I took the 3 nights and came up with an average nightly rate. This is based on double occupancy for 1 room, and the cheapest price listed. Here is the results of what I found for any help it may give you for a bidding strategy.
COPLEY
4*.....................Colonnade Hotel...................................................$279 a night
4*.....................Fairmont Copley Plaza..........................................$379 a night
4*.....................Marriott.................................................................$233 a night
4*.....................Sheraton-Boston...................................................$369 a night
4*.....................Westin Hotel..........................................................$399 a night
DOWNTOWN
4*.....................Hyatt Regency-Financial District.............................$312 a night
4*.....................Millenium Bostonian...............................................$233 a night
4*.....................Onyx Hotel.............................................................$279 a night
4*.....................Wyndham Boston...................................................$493 a night
3*.....................Boston Park Plaza..................................................$355 a night
3*.....................Club Quarters.........................................................$130 a night (no hotel website found)
3*.....................Doubletree Hotel....................................................$209 a night
3*.....................Holiday Inn Select...................................................$179 a night
3*.....................Radisson-Boston.....................................................$219 a night
2.5*..................Residence Inn Boston Harbor on Tudor Wharf........$299 a night
I would prefer to stay in Copley first, and then the downtown zone. I would be willing to bid up to $100 a night in these 2 zones, and if that means I get a 2* instead of a 4*....so be it. Thanks for your help.
Where would you like me to get the rates from for the time I am staying in Boston so you can figure out a strategy? I can go to hotwire and get the * rating plus the amenities from the hotels in the area I want. I can get the hotels from this site that have accepted bids and get their rates from priceline, or from their websites. What is most advantageous for you to build a strategy? Thanks
Thanks for the help. I will give it a try. The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can pay for it, plan transportation, plan an agenda, etc. I try to cover every angle possible in advance so I have few surprises when the time comes. The other cities came so much easier even if I may have paid more for the room. That is why I trying to get this done as soon as I can.
Please give me a bidding strategy that I can use every week until I get my room. I would like to bid for a 2.5, 3, or 4 * hotel room for under $100 if at all possible. I would like for it to be in the Downtown or Copley area for the time being. I am afraid if I keep bidding a little higher each time I bid that when the inventory of rooms are released that I will win a bid much higher than I need to pay. Thanks in advance.
So far I have increased each bid and rebids by $5-$7. Should I back off on the increases of my bid? If the inventory is released, and I keep raising my bids I would guess that I would get a room for much more than I could have. Any advise?
Any help, or stay the course?
Well here is the latest set of bids that I did for " fun and relaxation ". Still have not had any success. It seems that the time of year may force me to bid much more than I want to, or stay where I may not have chosen as my first location.
Downtown-bids and rebids
4*................up to $97...............rejected
3*................up to $97...............rejected
2.5*.............up to $83...............rejected
2*................up to $71...............rejected
Copley-bids and rebids
4*................up to $90...............rejected
3*................up to $90...............rejected
2.5*.............up to $83...............rejected
2*................up to $71...............rejected
I have started to look into the Cambridge zone, but I have one concern. Access to public transportation in one of the hotels that show up with winning bids (Hyatt Regency-Cambridge) is not close enough to make it worth the risk. I guess I could take a cab from the hotel to the subway, but am concerned about the return trip from Fenway to the hotel.
As always.....any help is much appreciated.
Copley seems to have the best access to the subway and the sights downtown.....so I gave it a shot. Here is how I bid-
4* and 3*
Bid..........Copley.........$70..........rejected
rebid.......Medford........$75..........rejected
rebid.......S. Boston......$77..........rejected
rebid.......Downtown.....$79..........rejected
Didn't think I would get it, but I thought, "What the heck."
Checked the Boston Chamber of Commerce's website and saw nothing special listed for the 3 days we will be staying there. Must just be summer and too early to get the kind of deal I would like. I will take a look at Cambridge and some of the other zones for good public transportation.
Not that I know of. I will check the chamber of commerce website to see if anything is going on. Looks like just a summer 3 days in July. You might be right. It might be too far in advance for the inventory of rooms being released. I just didn't have this trouble in the other cities I am visiting, but had I been more patient maybe I would have gotten better rates. I figured that like the baseball tickets.....the sooner I got them the better choices I would have.
3* St Louis (Downtown) Holiday Inn Select
in Priceline Hotels - Missouri
Posted
I did the bids as shown, and all were rejected. I would have been suprised if one would have been accepted, but I liked the idea of trying to catch the "low fruit". Plenty of time. My next round of bids where would you suggest that I start from using the same rebid format?