Daniel1978

Thanks for all the help here. Note: The Boston Park Plaza is a 3* property. Regards, Daniel

Hi everyone, I got a great deal (in my opinion) for one night (6/5/2006) in Providence, RI on my way from NYC to Boston. Hotwire showed a 3,5* Hotel as "Best Value" for $55, which could be identified as Mariott Providence with the Hotwire hotel list. Was formerly a 3* hotel when looking at the booking history here. Bidding on Priceline seemed too risky for me, as the Radisson Providence Harbor often comes up with much lower rates, and it is on an inconvenient location (as far as I read here). Amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Fitness Total price of $68,56 incl. taxes and service fees. Went through Savingsbarn link, hope it worked out. Thanks again for this great board. Kind regards, Daniel

Finally got my hotel room in Boston. Followed strategy from thenewbie and bid up to $75 both for Copley and Downtown. Selected $79 and bid Copley AND Downtown, got counteroffer, telling me to increase by $22 in order to try again. Declined, tried then $81 and $83, rejected both w/o counteroffer. Then bid $85 and got accepted at the Boston Park Plaza. Hotwire showed this property for $100-$110 in the last few days, so it was likely to get this property. Note the new period: 6/6 - 6/8 Your Offer Price: $85.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $170.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $30.80 Total Charges: $200.80. Went through Savingsbarn link. Thanks for all the help and patience here - you are great ! Hope the hotel will not be as bad as some reviews are. Regards, Daniel

Thank you, thenewbie I will try this strategy tonight when my lockout period expires. Generally speaking, does it make sense to downgrade to 3* hotels just because of the price or is there any risk to get a bad hotel ? Since I am not local to Boston, I'm not quite sure what I can expect, apart from those hotels listed in the Priceline/Hotwire hotel list. Would you expect the 4* rates lower if I wait a few more weeks, especially at the Logan Airport zone ? I found out that the Hilton Boston Logan has a nightly rate of $249 in the entire week 6/5-6/10. Amazing to me, when using Hotwire and selecting a different check-in date (e.g. 6/3 instead of 6/5), but the same check-out date (somewhere between 6/5 and 6/10), the nightly rate for the Hilton is shown at $108. When selecting check-in date 6/5, the rate goes up to $234, no matter what check-out date you select. Daniel

@all What would be a reasonable bidding strategy to catch this hotel (hopefully) on Priceline ? I started at $51 and bid up to $70 with no success. Hotwire is showing $100 for those 3 nights now. The hotel is definitely NOT the Club Quarters, Holiday Inn Select, Radisson or Park Plaza, since all of those hotel are within the Quincy Market-Financial District zone (Hotwire) or have a pool or different star ratings at Hotwire. I could not figure out which hotel this could be. By the way, it is signed as "Customer Favorite!". Can anybody help ? Thanks ! Daniel

Correct. If there is any possibility to save money I would stay there on different dates.

No, they do not replace the other dates. I have tried to find the least expensive period within this week via Hotwire. Although those dates are not preferred, I would take these instead of paying $100+ for a 4* hotel for 6/8-6/10. Regards, Daniel

Hi everyone, since I have no success with my Boston stay at all, I am trying to lower my hotel level for I hope this is more affordable. When entering 6/5-6/8 into Hotwire, it shows a 3* hotel in the Boston Common Theatre District area for $102 with the following amenities: Restaurant, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business Center. This hotel is not listed in the Hotwire hotel list. I thought of the Club Quarters, but they have no business center. The Radisson downtown is a 3,5* on Hotwire. Does anyone of you have an idea which hotel this could be ? Regards, Daniel

During the research for my forthcoming trip to Boston I found out some changes in Hotwire for the 3,5* hotels in the Boston Back Bay - Copley Square area. 3,5* Customer Favorite with amenities Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet and Business is NOT supposed to be the Hilton Back Bay any more, but the Sheraton Boston Hotel. The Hilton Back Bay is NOT showing Hi-Speed Internet, although the description on the Hilton.com site says it has hi-speed internet (other amenities Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Business). I found this out when scanning the packages, where both the Hilton Back Bay and the Sheraton Boston were listed. So long, Daniel

Did you get the nights you extended for the same price of $80 ? Your grand total of $495 seems like you got the extended nights for a higher price, certainly aroud $120 to $135 (which still yould be a great price for weekdays on the Hyatt). Kind regards, Daniel

I have tried bidding for Boston Copley, Downtown and, in the meantime, Revere/Logan for the period 6/8-6/10 (one week earlier). For Copley 4*, up to $95, for Downtown 4* up to $89, for Revere/Logan 4* up to $70. Without any success. I truly believe that there still is no inventory on Priceline for those dates. This explains the extremely high rates shown on Hotwire for your dates. I would wait a few more weeks and look into Hotwire every few days to see how prices develop. As soon as rates go down there, I would place my bids again. With a fully cancellable backup hotel, time is on your side. Please inform us of any success, since I am very curious about my stay as well. Regards, Daniel

Seems like the Hyatt Jersey City released some inventory to Hotwire & Priceline for the spring and summer months. Today, Hotwire showed "Best Value" at a rate of $77 for Jun2 - Jun5 - for the first time since I am watching the rates (approx. 3 weeks now). So I started Priceline, selected 3* Jersey City and bid $59. Accepted on first try. Your Offer Price: $59.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 3 Subtotal: $177.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $35.11 Total Charges: $212.11 To me it seems logical now that there is a causal connection between good Hotwire rates and Priceline wins at extremely low rates. In my opinion, this is a good deal for the summer. Thanks to all of you, I now focus on my Boston stay Kind regards, Daniel

Hi everybody, new post because of different dates. I wanted to fix up the last night of my forthcoming holiday on the east coast. Coming back from Boston on Saturday 6/10, I wanted to stay in JC before departing from EWR on Sunday 6/11. I feel safer not to have the 250mi drive on my departing day. First I selected Jersey City 3* and bid $72. Counteroffer came up, saying if I would increase by $22 I could bid again. I declined, added Elizabeth and bid $73, which was rejected w/o counteroffer. Then I started over, selecting Jersey City 2,5* (hoping for the Courtyard) and bid $74 which was immediately accepted and I received an upgrade to 3*. Your Offer Price: $74.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $74.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $18.58 Total Charges: $92.58 Kind regards, Daniel

Something seems to be happening at Priceline right now. After my unsuccessful bids for Jersey City 3*, today I tried again starting at $65. Immidiately, a couteroffer came up, saying that I could bid again if I increase my bid by $17. Since I am in no hurry, I added my free re-bid zone and bid $66. Then the same counteroffer came up, which I declined. Does this have to say anything ? Two weeks ago, there were no counteroffers at $65, and today I received 2 of them. For this period, Hotwire is showing a 4* (Hyatt) for $148 per night, Hyatt website shows $161 (AAA) and Doubletree website $159. Kind regards, Daniel

I have seen those terrible rates, although the Hyatt offers a rate around $280 per night - still too high. The problem is that there have no wins been reported for a future period. If there was, I would immediately check at what rack rates those wins were successful. I will keep on trying. So long, Daniel

Hi again :) I decided to include the Revere/Logan airport zone in my bidding strategy, since there was no success neither in Copley nor Downtown up to $95 per night. I've read that both the Hyatt Harborside and the Hilton Logan Airport are 4* properties with convenient connection to the T with a total traveling time to the city center of about 15 - 20 minutes. I think this is worth giving a few shots on the Revere/Logan zone. With several combinations, including the free rebid zones but also my preferred zones Copley and Downtown, I tried $50, $55, $60, $63, $65, $66, $67, $68 with no success at all. I've seen that the Hyatt Harborside regularly comes up with rates between $60 and $70, sometimes even below, and the Hilton with rates beginning at $75. My conclusion on this late hour (12.24 am local time) is that there are no inventories for my travel period yet. Otherwise, I can't explain that even the Revere/Logan zone does not show up at rates up to $68 per night. I could understand that my current limit of $95 might be too low for Copley & Downtown, but I do not know what to do now. I think waiting for one or two weeks and trying again should be the best. From the beginning of April, it's only 8 weeks to go and maybe inventories will be released at that time. Do you agree ? Or would you even raise the bids for the Revere/Logan zone ? If so, to what limit ? Thanks a lot for your patience and great help ! Kind regards, Daniel

Thanks for your quick responses, thereuare and thenewbie ! I'm sorry for this misunderstanding, but previously on this post I changed my travel dates to 6/8 - 6/10, just because of the low hotel availability in the other period. Unfortunately, I did not figure out how to change the subject title :) Anyway, in my yesterday's post I talked about hotel availability for the period 6/8 - 6/10. And for this period, things look much better. I'll keep on trying and inform you. Thanks for the useful information about Revere/Logan, I'll keep that in mind. Kind regards, Daniel

Thanks to both to you, thenewbie and thereuare @thenewbie I have looked on several hotel homepages directly, so as Mariott.com (Mariott Copley Place), Sheraton.com (Sheraton Boston Back Bay), Onyxhotelboston.com (The Onyx, Downtown), and none of them was sold out when trying to book directly. The cheapest price per night w/o tax is $279 for The Onyx and $256 (AAA-Rate) for the Mariott Copley place. Those are the hotels I am actually hoping for. Hotwire is showing a Downtown 3* for $102 (supposed to be the Doubletree) and a 3,5* in Back Bay for $169 (supposed to be the Hilton Back Bay). So I think availability is not the problem - rather the high rates on 4* level. How's it working with Easyclicktravel.com - are hotel rooms purchased there cancellable ? If so, what is the cancellation fee ? I would at least give it a few more shots on 4* Copley and Downtown, maybe the contingents for June come up later on. Bidding higher than $95 is not an option for me right now, since I am afraid to overbid and later read about many other bargains made for that period. I thought of rising my maximum bid approx. 4 weeks in advance, maybe to $120. Talking about the Revere/Logan zone - what are the commuting times to the city center (where to find bars, restaurants, shops etc.) besides the waiting time for the shuttle ? I've read that the distance to BOS is only about 4-5 miles. So long, Daniel

Since I don't know the city at all, I am quite unsure if I should take another zone into consideration. It's important to me that the hotel is in a safe area where I don't have to be afraid of getting robbed, killed or something :) Seriously, I have many times thought of bidding for the Boston Revere / Logan zone, for I learned that hotels there are very good as well and often offer shuttle services to the next T station. The same applies to the Cambridge zone. Have you ever been to Boston and have a good hint for me ? Thanks as always Daniel

Since I had no luck yet with my maximum rate of $95, neither in Copley nor in Downtown, I would like to ask if anyone has ever reported a successful bid in Copley for a 3* hotel. When using the "normal" Priceline booking engine, I can see only a few 3* hotels in the Boston - The City area, which are Doubletree, Mariott Long Wharf, Boston Park Plaza, Radisson, Holiday Inn Select (all supposed to be in the Downtown area) AND the Hilton Back Bay, which I suppose seems to be the only 3* hotel in the Copley area. Actually, I wonder if I should make a bid on a 3* hotel in the Copley area - hoping to "win" the Hilton. I know that I could be the first one reporting a NEW hotel in this area, but right now it seems like a chance to me. What do you think ? Kind regards, Daniel

Now THAT is an interesting information :) I'll come back later ... Regards, Daniel

Thanks a lot for your help, I will try this when my lockout expires (Thursday 4pm ET). Apart from this, would you think that I am bidding too early for a stay in June ? What about considering bidding on a 2,5* hotel - is the Courtyard still the only 2,5* in the Jersey City area ? I was wondering about the chances for an upgrade to 3* ... and as far as I have read the Courtyard is not too bad. A NYC hotel would be nice as well, but since I will continue my journey on Monday 6/2 by renting a car at EWR (see my Boston thread in the Massachussetts area), Jersey City would be most convenient for me. Anyway, I am just staying there for one weekend, so I dont mind taking the PATH to/from Manhattan. Regards, Daniel

Hi everyone, I have planned my vacation on the east coast for this summer, and I have planned a 3 day visit in NYC at the very beginning. Again, I would like to stay in Jersey City in a 3* hotel, like I did several times before (but with no luck at Priceline). I have already started bidding for a three night stay from 6/2 - 6/5 (Friday-Monday), knowing of my free-rebid zone (Elizabeth). Here is what I did: Selected Jersey City 3*, bid $59, rejected, added Elizabeth, bid $65, rejected. 72 hour lockout runs now. Do you have a better strategy for me ? The price per night w/o tax should not be higher than $85. Regards, Daniel

Hi and thanks for the replys so far, since the big "TechEd" from Microsoft will take place in Boston Jun 11-16, I don't think that I will have a realistic chance of getting a hotel room for my desired price, which is at $95 w/o tax. Many hotels do not even show a rack rate for my dates, which I think means that they are sold out. Anyway, I changed my plans for the Boston visit and I am now planning to come one week earlier, which means Jun 7-10 (3 night stay) or Jun 8-10 (2 night stay). Hotel situation looks much better in this week, but my bidding strategy did not work so far ... Here it is for Jun 8-10 (2 nights): Downtown 4* bid $62, rejected, added Medford bid $67, rejected, closed browser, restarted Downtown 4* + South Boston bid $72, rejected, added Medford bid $76 (hoping to get the Wyndham), rejected. Copley 4* bid $62, rejected, added Medford bid $70, rejected, closed browser, restarted Copley 4* + South Boston bid $76, rejected, added Medford bid $80 (hoping to get the Mariott Copley, seen at $79 and $80), rejected. Copley + Downtown 4* bid $81, rejected. On my counts I have three more rebids left. What do you suggest ? Regards, Daniel

Hi everyone, I am planning a vacation for this summer which includes a stay in Boston. I have already tried my luck at Priceline for a 4* hotel in the areas Downtown and Copley, including all combinations with the two free-rebid zones (Medford & South Boston), both for the above mentioned dates and from 6/15-6/17 (hoping to expand this via "add one more night"). For 6/14 - 6/17 (3 nights) I bid seperately for Copley + rebid zones $60, $65, $70, $76 and for Downtown + rebid zones $60, $65, $70, $75. For Copley + Downtown + Medford I bid $84. With no luck at all. There is one try left for these dates. For 6/15 - 6/17 the same, with the difference that I used all combinations from $60 up to $85. No luck either. What do you suggest ? A two night stay would be OK, since I can add one more night on my previous station. Regards, Daniel