edalb

Definitely not a 4 Star hotel, more like a 2 stars:((

Beautiful hotel, very convenient location to buses, tubes. Room has different countries AC outlet(US..) Will stay there again for sure.

Hi Romelle, You guessed right. I went for a 5* @Soho Grosvenor House, Park Lane for $135 from 8/27 to 9/5 for 9 nights. It didn't have extension available. I have to work on 3 more nights. Except 9/8 which I already booked at LHR with points. 9/5 to 9/7 will lead me to consider out-of-town trips. I don't want to spend too much time traveling. Do you know how long it takes from Dockland to central London by public transportations(the last 3 nights). Sorry, I probably should look it up myself, hope you don't mind. Thank you very much for your help.

Hi thereuare, Did you send me a couple of messages ? I don't remember, please send it again. Sorry.

This morning I did the following: (all 4*, dates 8/27 - 9/6) 1. Regent Park $70, PL counter offered $107. 2. Added Kensington $75 3. added Bloomsberry $80 4. added Westminster $83 5. added Soho $85 6. added Nottinghill $87 7. added Finsbury $89 I stopped. EACH time it gave me the display that they are working on my deal and will have answer in 15 min. I think I was getting real close to my target. I almost want to counter back more but I thought I still have time and should check with you first:)) Please advise. I did the #1, #2 for 8/27 to 9/7 got $107 back too.

thanks willTravel. 3 different areas? Please be specific. We are flexible and open with our schedule for the 13 days. We just don't want to check-in/out of hotels too much. We have considered breaking the days into 2 parts - London major sites for 10 days and outside of London for 2 or 3 days. We are considering Greenwich, Bath, Cotswolds..I hope to be able to get to these places easily(best is one day trip without checking out/in, just go very early in the morning and return late at night). Edington may be far and takes up too much traveling time. So far, my schedule is London from 8/27 to thru 9/5 or 9/6. Go to Bath on 9/7 for one night, leave Bath in the evening of 9/8, back to LHR. I heard much about Greenwich, is it a place to vist for one day trip? and Brighton too?

Hi Willtravel, You do have a point about staying last night @LHR hotel. Our flight departs 10:05 am, not too bad. We hope to store our luggages somewhere (I'm not sure where) and only check in the LHR hotel till late at night. Currently, I booked the Sheraton with points and can cancel any time which gives us the freedom to change later. I also like to take a day or two days trip out of London. The last 2-3 nights may work out well as it seems that London hotel rates go up starting 9/6. I'd like to check if Dockland is a possible option. Did I see your postings in Fodors too? Thanks again.

Romelle. I have read some hotel reviews in BB, Hotwire, Fodors...etc a bit here and there. However, I wouldn't know which hotel I'll get thru PL. I guess that is part of the risk with PL. I just hope that we won't end up in an "undesireable" area, more reason to bid 4* and above. I will keep working on my bids. Is it okay to continue to bid everyday? does it have any "side" effect? I was advised that I should avoid Dockland and Hammersmith because of transportation issues. Are they? How about Finsbury & Islington?

Hi thereuare. I am not opposed to other zones. However, we just want to make sure that surrounding areas of the hotel are safe to walk, conviennent to tube/bus with a little walk is ok(15 min. +-). I have tried bidding ALL the zones, one at a time, just to see what kind of counter offer I get which gave me some ideas of the value/worth of the zone. The cheapest zone seems to be Dockland, is this a safe area? conviennence to tube/bus? How long does it take to get to city attractions, sites..etc. I searched PL hotels in the Kensington area, it pulled only 1- 5*, 11 - 4*, 6 - 3* hotels.... does it mean that these are the only hotels that have contracts with PL for bidding? Another interesting point is the Hilton London Olympia is rated as 4* with $138/night and many other 3* hotels rated as 3* and charges more per night. How does this rating work? I'm bidding Kensington zone only because I was advised that Kensington is a pretty good area for what we are looking for and prepare to pay. Thank you.

Thank you WillTravel. I only intend to stay in LHR the night before our departure back to USA. Follow your link, I checked the London Economic College Accomodation. I don't think we want to stay at places like that, same as YHA kind of places. I understand some of the benefits with kitchen, laundry... but NO. I'll stay with priceline 4*. Thank you.

Yes. I have the time and patience to bid lower price. We don't mind the outer areas, I just want to make sure they are ALL walkable distance 15 min.+- from the hotel to the bus/tube stations. I suppose staying at a 4* should not be too bad, right? Bidding for last night @LHR should be much easier. You are right, why not start bidding now since we are staying there for sure. Thank you much for your VALUALBE info and suggestions. I have one other question, do you know/think that bidding via Betterbidding.com or directly with PL makes any difference from the change of accepting offers?Commission to more parties?

Hi Romelle, Thanks for your input again. I will try again with your suggestion 8/27 to 9/6. Which leave 2 nights open for may be out of city trips with the last night definitely at the LHR. I was advised to stay away from Nottinghill, Regent Park, Finsburg/Islington, Hammersmith, Dockland due to inconviennence of public transportation. Your thoughts? Most importantly, we want a safe neighborhood, easy access to tube/bus(a little walk-15 min. is not a problem). Thank you for checking the dates for me. I have started my bid @ $75. Should I go lower for 4* leaving 9/6 to 9/9 out?

Thanks again Romelle, Yes, I have tried several times with 4* offering $75/night in Soho, PL counter offered $139. I ignored it. Later, I tried 3* with Bloomsberry, Kensington, Soho with $55/night. It took much longer time from PL to get back to me (does it mean that I'm closer to the target?). I tried it with differnt date range(spliting the dates) all @ $55/night. But all failed:(( I did checked YHA hostels as well. I don't think we want to go that route. I also check a few other links for flats, they are more expensive, seems to have more space than we need(usually sleeps 2-4 ps) So I still think PL may be the way for me to continue bid on it. I think I still have time to continue bidding. I will than consider up my price for the 4* to $90 or so. Yes, I maent the underground tube zone 1 & 2. I have read about the paper travelcard and the 2 for 1 offer. The suggestion of staying by the airport the night before departure is great. Do you know if there are safe places to store the baggages so we don't have to carry them around the whole day?

Are Priceline 2* hotels in London in safe areas? We are visiting London the first time. We just want to be in a safe, clean, convienent area. Should I check ALL areas except LHR. Are all areas within zone 1 and 2? Thanks.

Thank you GM Mike.

Romelle, Thank you for your helpful information. I follow your tips and got to the area, do I go to the top, type in London, click search then click "new topic" EVERY time I have a different question even when it's related to the first post I created? or do I just click reply from your/other post? We'd like to be able to stay in the same hotel to avoid check-in/out process and moving to different location, but it seems that we would have to split in order to get the good rate. I will try all different ways. Also, am I wrong? when booking via PRICELINE / HOTWIRE for hotel/airline/car, no points will be rewarded (airline frequent miles, hotel pts). Only get points from credit card charged points. Please advise. Thank you.

My husband and I are visiting London for the first time arrving 8/27 to 9/9 for 13 nights. We are not sure if we should stay in the same hotel or a couple different hotels in different areas. We want to visit all major attractions and see a couple of shows. We need your advice in how to get the best deals for the length of period we will be there. Is it possible to get 4 star hotel(s) for $70/night ++? Should I start bidding now or later? How much should I start? Thank you for your help. PS. I don't seem to find where I can get this post place in the correct forum(LONDON). Sorry