kershawrulz

Was interested specifically in the Hilton Irvine - Orange County Airport, for a conference. The conference rate of $116 was no longer available, but the Hilton website was giving me an even better rate of $109. Using your Hotwire link I saw a 4* hotel on Hotwire in the right area available for a rate of $93 with amenities: Pet friendly Airport shuttle Fitness center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business center Self-service laundry Internet access Golf nearby Tennis nearby In-room accessibility Wheelchair accessible which looked like it matched the Hilton Irvine - Orange County Airport, although the Self-service laundry threw me off. It was somewhat of a gamble since it could perhaps have been the Crowne Plaza Costa Mesa Orange County instead, but I felt the rate I was seeing was consistent with the one I'd seen on the Hilton website, just a few dollars less considering Hotwire's fees. I checked your Priceline Hotel Lists and saw that the Hilton Irvine - Orange County Airport is 3.5* and there are too many other 3.5* possibilities in the area to chance it, so I had to just accept the Hotwire price. Fortunately it was the right hotel! It came out with fees to $222.08 total, I guess with the Hilton website rate I would have paid about $8 more per night. Please update the hotel name to include the word Airport in your Hotwire list. You have it listed correctly with Priceline but not with Hotwire.

Using your Priceline link, I bid on 3.5* hotels in all of Manhattan except uptown -- zones 2 3 5 6 8 9 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 and I used zones 4 and 7 as rebid zones. I started at $100 and got an offer to increase my bid to $135, so I knew I was close immediately. I tried $110 with rebid zone 4, $115 with rebid zone 7, $117 with rebid zones 4 and 7, then waited 24 hours. I then tried $118 (still offered to try $135), then $119 with rebid zone 4 and was accepted by this hotel. I stayed at this hotel a few years ago for a slightly higher price, I think it's old but I was happy enough with it. I'm happy I had plenty of time to increase my bid by $1 to get the best price. The total is $741.95 for the 5 nights, so with taxes and fees it's $148.39/night

Looked briefly on this forum and on Hotwire, saw there's nothing cheap, especially given my long-ish stay. Decided to just start bidding. Using your PRICELINE link I bid on 3.5* on zones 2 6 9 10 11 12 15 16 and using zones 3 5 7 18 19 as "rebid" zones because they were acceptable but less desirable and, from eyeballing current Hotwire and recalling past experience, they tend to have fewer wins. I started at $130 and increased in $4 increments, using my faux rebid zones one at a time. Was going to give up after bidding $178 but won at $174. It came to $1269.96 total, which is $211.66 a night. I just stayed at the Yotel my last visit in January, only then the winning bid was $70. Can't be thrilled with $174, but due to season prices are much higher now, and I'm happy that I didn't have to split up my stay. I was quite happy with the Yotel a few months ago. Definitely nothing fancy, but a very practical modern hotel. They have these beds where the mattress converts to a futon (to create more daytime space in the small rooms) with an electronic switch; one can use the switch to go from lying to sitting like it's a hospital bed, which I thought was pretty cool. Plus among other things there's free (actual) broadband wifi and every floor has a fridge, microwave, and coffee machine.

I needed specifically this hotel for a conference. Using your HOTWIRE link I checked there and saw a 3.5* in Thousand Oaks-Agoura Hills for $74 (total $183.40) with amenities: Free Parking, Pet friendly, Smoke Free Rooms, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business Center, Self Service laundry, Internet access. From your Hotwire list, there are two 3.5*: the Sheraton Agoura and the Hyatt Westlake Plaza. The amenities matched up (although not an exact match) only with the Sheraton because of Smoke Free and Laundry, but no Spa, so I assumed the Hyatt Westlake Plaza is not looking to sell cheaply for this weekend. I confirmed on your Priceline list that these are the only two 3.5* hotels in the Ventura-Thousand Oaks zone and started bidding using your PRICELINE link. I had 2 rebid zones -- 1 Camarillo and 2 Port Heunene-Oxnard, allowing me to make 4 bids per 24 hours. My first run I bid $55, $57, $59, and $61 and was not accepted, but for my last 2 bids was offered to bid $79 so I knew I was getting close. Next day I bid $63, $65, $66, $67 and was again not accepted but offered to bid $79 each time. Then on the third day I saw the Hotwire rate had gone up from $74 to $77, so I bid $69 and was accepted for a total of $163.94. The $69 bid was accepted 6 days ago. Saved about $20 compared to Hotwire and over $50 compared to what I would've paid total otherwise, so I'm happy. I've stayed at this hotel before so I already know it's a good one and look forward to my stay.

Started with a HOTWIRE search for 1 adult using your link, saw that the lowest price for a 3*+ was a 3.5* for $73 with amenities Free Internet, Boutique, Smoke Free Rooms, Fitness, Restaurant, Business. This matched only the Yotel Times Square on your HOTWIRE list, so I checked the reviews and it looks decent. This was already acceptable coming out to a total of 193.38 for the 2 nights, but I figured I might as well try to avoid the bigger HOTWIRE fees. I got started on PRICELINE using your link. Was disappointed to see PRICELINE has changed its lists to get rid of the copious rebid zones NYC used to have for 3.5*+. I guess my plan became to just bid on the central zones in Manhattan once every 24 hours, increasing my bid by a few bucks. Unfortunately I didn't start low enough because my first bid got accepted. I bid $70 on 3.5*+ in zones 2 3 6 7 10 11 12 16. Still, this is by far the lowest I've ever paid in Manhattan. The total came to 178.02, 25 bucks less than Hotwire.

Used your PRICELINE link, was interested in Downtown Austin only, bid on 3* with rebid zones 1 7 9, bid in $7 and $6 increments starting at $100. Priceline counter-offered $177 pretty early in my bidding. It came out to $753.68 with taxes and fees (about 188.50/night).

I was interested in something adjacent to Old Town, meaning the Westin, Hilton, or Sheraton, which are easy to bid on as they are the only 3.5*+ hotels in this zone and there are five rebid zones (with nothing above 3*). I was fairly certain I'd get a rate below 90 based on previous experience, but it seems the long stay adversely affected me... I initially checked Hotwire two nights ago and saw a 4* available for 111. This had to be the Westin. I checked individual nights and saw the nights of the 12th and 13th were 167, while the other nights were all at around 100. I hoped to get a better rate on Priceline, and I considered breaking up my stay into three parts due to these two more expensive nights. Two nights ago, using your PRICELINE link, I first tried bidding from 65 to 90 in $4 ish increments on 3.5*+ for all ten nights and did not get accepted. I then tried bidding from 65 to 75 in $2 increments on 3/14-3/19 on 4* (to target just the Westin, as I didn't want to move during my stay) and did not get accepted, but got a counter-offer of 91. I then tried bidding from 75 to 85 in $2 increments on 3/9-3/12 on 4* and did not get accepted, but got a counter-offer of 103. At this point I gave up for the night and waited 24 hours. Last night I checked Hotwire and, much to my dismay, saw that the Westin had gone up considerably. Checking individual nights, it seemed that three of them were now 60-70/night more expensive. I panicked somewhat and decided to try to get something booked quickly. I started out by bidding on 3.5*+ for all ten nights in $4 increments from 94. I got a counter-offer of 125. 110 got rejected, 114 got accepted by the Hilton, to my surprise. I was actually going to give up at 114 and start trying to split up my stay again, bidding only on 4*, but I didn't wind up having to go that route. I'm not happy with the price, but it wound up basically being the same as the initial Hotwire Westin price I saw. I was surprised that Hotwire didn't have the Hilton for any price, since I noticed it's on your Hotwire hotel list. With taxes and fees it came out to $131.48 per night. Now, I have a question... I'm checking Hotwire now, I'm seeing that 4* Westin showing up. For 3/9-3/19 it's 173. For 3/9 it's 173, for 3/10-3/12 and 3/14-3/19 it's 100 ish, for 3/12-3/14 it's 224. Also for 3/9-3/12 it's only 113 (173 and 100 and 100 averages out to 124). Why is it so much for the entire ten-day interval 3/9-3/19? Breaking it up into three intervals gets a rate of around 130.

Used your HOTWIRE link, checked with Priceline and saw it couldn't beat Hotwire's prices for 3.5* (136) nor for 3*, so wound up booking on Hotwire. The amenities were: Smoke-Free, Fitness, Business, Internet, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility which didn't match anything on your hotel list. I believe betterbidding's name for this hotel is Milford Plaza, which is the same thing as what Priceline (and I think the hotel itself) calls it -- The Milford NYC. Came to 412.73 for the three nights with everything included.

Wound up being a no show. Figure I deserve the "fine" for my poor decision making. =) The Legacy Golf Resort was quite impressive. Very luxurious suites with jacuzzis for so cheap, wound up extending my stay (again used your HOTWIRE link) for another night, forgot to post the win, but the price was about the same. Only downside is this resort appears to be the only nice establishment in an otherwise questionable neighborhood.

Used your HOTWIRE link, saw a Tempe-ASU Area Condo with 95%+ Satisfaction and these amenities: Resort, Free Parking, 1br Suite, Kitchen, Laundry, Fitness, Pool, Golf, Tennis, Spa which perfectly matches the Legacy Golf Resort on your Hotwire list. Taxes and fees were 29.19 so for the two nights it came to 175.19. Quite a bit better than the $120 rate on their website.

So this is pretty amusing... I used your HOTWIRE link, I was trying to book specifically the Legacy Golf Resort and I saw two matches comparing to your Hotwire list: $52 Tempe-ASU Area Hotel with 80%+ Satisfaction and amenities Fitness, Pool, Spa $67 Tempe-ASU Area Condo with 95%+ Satisfaction and amenities Resort, Free Parking, 1br Suite, Kitchen, Laundry, Fitness, Pool, Golf, Tennis, Spa I was quite certain the second hotel is the Legacy, but I somehow talked myself into the hotel being really empty and desperate to sell for $15 less per night, while still leaving me the option to book a nicer looking hotel for more. I guess that wouldn't really happen, although who knows. To add insult to injury, the Legacy went up $6 from $67 to $73 next time I searched less than half an hour later, to really punish me. =) Taxes and fees were 22.13 for a total of $126.13. So just to re-iterate, the amenities here were only Fitness, Pool, Spa.

Ohh, actually I see from my bidding pattern, I didn't make a bid on zone 10 MSG - Convention between $205 and $243. So I may have overbid by a bunch. So when it kept offering me to increase my bid to $270 every bid, it had some other hotel in mind. If anyone is bidding on this last-second tonight, definitely start below $210! And in the email I was offered to extend my stay for further nights if I like the rate, which is worth mentioning.

Used your PRICELINE link, broke up a three-night stay with this being the first night and the next two being over $100 cheaper, so naturally not thrilled with this one -- it's the most I've ever paid in NYC, although admittedly last trip I wound up crashing with a friend for one night in lieu of paying this much. With taxes and fees it comes to $300.78. Tried to stay central to be close to my hotel for next 2 nights, started with 3.5* and zones 2 3 6 7 10 11 12 16 with rebid zones 4 8 9 13 14 17, bid from $110 to $220 and gave up. Then I decided to try going down to 3* upon seeing some hope on Hotwire, and used zones 2 11 12 16 with 3 4 7 6 10 14 as rebid zones (although most of them aren't real rebid zones for 3*, didn't mind being elsewhere in Manhattan and figured the win would be in one of my initial zones anyway), got an offer to increase to $270 as soon as I started at $170 and went up at $5 increments. At $240 I figured I must be close, switched to $3 increment. Happy with location -- the Hotwire alternative was going to be on the upper west side for $246, although at some magical new 4* which isn't catalogued on your site. With the Staybridge Suites, I'll just have to relocate less than one mile to the Sheraton Hotel and Towers tomorrow.

Used your PRICELINE link, actually had to break up my stay because tonight 9/5 is too expensive. It's been explained to me that these weeknights are usually worse than weekends in NYC due to business travelers. But I am pretty happy with this deal, since I was about to pay ~$165 on Hotwire for these two nights for probably the other Sheraton nextdoor. Comes out to $170.31 per night with taxes and fees. I was actually bidding on 3* and got upgraded to this 4*, starting at $110 and looking to stay central (zones 2 6 10 11 12 16), using zones 3 4 7 14 17 as rebid zones (although only zone 4 is a true rebid zone; I didn't mind ending up somewhere else in Manhattan, though) and increasing in $3 and $2 increments. From my first offer I got an offer to increase my bid to $155, so it was good to get it for $17/night less than that.

Used your PRICELINE link, bid on 3.5* in $3 increments starting at $120 using rebid zones 4 8 9 13 14 17 and bidding on every other zone in Manhattan. Got to $180 last night unsuccessfully. Checked Hotwire this afternoon, saw there were a lot of options for 3.5-4* for $199-217, so figured I was close to getting accepted. Bid $182 and got accepted. $120 in fees for total of $666, or $222/night. Not too thrilled with the deal, but it seems I wasn't going to get a great deal this week. Happy that the bidding process is over and looking forward to my stay.

Needed hotel 5/1-5/6 in Manhattan, used your PRICELINE link, bid from $120 to $240 on 3.5*, no success. Then I bid from $120 to $185 on 3*, no success. Decided to break up my stay and to find something just for tonight. Saw $113 for 4* using your HOTWIRE link with amenities Boutique, Smoke Free, Fitness, Business, High-Speed Internet, saw it matches On The Avenue on your Hotwire list, and since it's 10 pm, booked it. Taxes and fees were $31.79 for a total of $144.79. Not a bad deal for tonight.

Used your PRICELINE link. Initially looked for something more central, having seen 3.5* on Hotwire in SoHo for $157, bid from $90 to $165 on 3.5* around midtown in $5 increments, unsuccessfully. Then I bid on Downtown - Financial District and SoHo - Tribeca from $80 at $1 increments using all the above failed zones as rebid zones. At $128 I got an offer to increase to $169. At $139 I got the same offer. Eventually got accepted for $148. I'm content enough with the deal.

Used your PRICELINE link to bid on 4* hotels in this Riverwalk zone only using the many re-bid zones in the area. I believe I started at $80, went up in $5 increments to $105, at which point Priceline offered me to increase my bid to $137 and try again. So I decreased my increments to $3 and got accepted five re-bids later for $120 by the Hyatt Regency. With taxes and fees it comes to $290.46. Definitely not a great value for the area, but it's a busy time so I'm content with it.

Looking for a beachfront hotel on Ocean or Collins in South Beach for the food festival at the end of the month. I felt compelled to get a 3.5* or 4* hotel because a lot of the cheaper hotels in the area are really run down, dirty, there are reports of bed bugs, etc. Spent forever, using your PRICELINE link, rebidding on those two regions (13 and 14) at $2 increments using the re-bid zones 1 3 9 10 15 (cycling through 10 different pairs of zones), got all the way from $200 to $304 and gave up. Used your HOTWIRE link and noticed there's a 3.5* hotel on Ocean Dr. for $266, which suddenly looked like a good deal after the hours on Priceline. =) Its amenities were Boutique, Beachfront, Smoke Free Rooms, Complimentary Breakfast, Laundry Facilities (self-service), High-Speed Internet. I looked at your Hotwire list and saw that it's a perfect match with the Edgewater South Beach, which is conveniently a block away from where my friend will be staying! And indeed the Edgewater it is. The lowest price I saw for it (on BookIt) was $317 nightly average. I wound up paying $136.22 in taxes and fees for a total of $934.22 for the three nights. The BookIt total would have been $1105.65, so I guess I saved $170. I'm not thrilled with the price, but that's South Beach for ya. This hotel gets excellent reviews so I'm looking forward to my stay. Hotwire says 3 rooms at this price remain.

Used PRICELINE link, bid $100 for these three nights on Redwood City - San Carlos 4* to target the Sofitel, which was accepted immediately. From looking at other wins, it looks like lower bids are getting accepted for this property regularly, so I bet I could have gotten this for at least $15 less, especially if I was willing to gamble by including the two regions southeast of it.

Used your PRICELINE link, was trying to target the Millenium Hilton in Downtown/SoHo which I saw someone recently got a win with on 9/29 and 9/30 for $145. It seems including 10/1 keeps the Millenium Hilton from accepting that bid. I bid on 3.5* plus hotels and chose territories 2 3 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 (everything except upper east and upper west side), included territory 5 (Downtown/SoHo) in every bid, and left out one of each of the other territories in succession bidding 125, 130, 135, 138, 141, 144, 145, 150, and 155. Starting from the bid of 135 I believe, I was offered to increase my bid to 178 and try again (I saw this offer a few more times in my later bids). So the winning bid was for 9/29 thru 10/2 for $155/night and excluded territory 13. Taxes and fees were $102.66 for a total of $567.66.

Used your PRICELINE link... Bid $69 on 3.5* in Pasadena, rejected. Bid $75 on 3.5* in Pasadena + Monrovia, rejected. Bid $82 on 3.5* in Pasadena + West Covina, rejected, but offered to bid $102 Bid $90 on 3.5* in Pasadena + Monrovia + West Covina, accepted by Pasadena Westin. You guys have 12 minutes to try between $83 and $89. =P

Used your PRICELINE link, first bid $110 on MTE, then bid $111 on Downtown-SoHo, ESB, MSG, MTE, MTW, Times Square and that was accepted. Pretty happy with this price.

Used your PRICELINE link. The strategy if you want a good hotel in Old Town Pasadena is to bid on 3.5* hotels in succession in: Pasadena, then Pasadena + Monrovia, then Pasadena + West Covina, then Pasadena + Monrovia + West Covina. In my experience Monrovia and West Covina do not have 3.5* hotels and all three in Pasadena (Sheraton, Hilton, and Westin) are a few blocks from each other. I bid $68 because it's $1 less than my winning bid last time =), then $73, then $80, and finally $95. I wanted to make sure my last bid gets accepted since it's for tonight.

This isn't much help since about 3 minutes remain to bid on tonight, but I guess this is about what should be bid in Pasadena at around this time. I just bid $69 once on 3.5* in Pasadena and it was accepted. I used your PRICELINE link.