lcf76

Yeah! Won at $88, 3* Coast Plaza Downtown. Bid $86 3* DT-rejected and received a counter offer of $111/night Bid $88 3* DT+GR and won.

Rejected for both: $80 3* DT $84 3* DT+GR had a closer look at the likely possibilities in DT-south and have decided to limit the search to DT + GR. And, when I went to add Langley for a free re-bid, the average price of a 3* hotel in those areas dropped by $60. I didn't think Langley had 3* hotels and PL doesn't show that (it only lights up 2.5* and below for Langley) but I didn't want to take the chance that I'd win a 3* in Langley so I'm passing on the rebid. Any thoughts on what I should be bidding up to for 3* -4* in DT and/or GR? I'd take either one and would be willing to pay up to $10 more for a 4* over a 3*. PS. I used your PRICELINE link.

Looking for Downtown (DT), City Hall Downtown South (DTS) or Granville (GR) Rejected for: $80 4* DT $82 4* DT+GR $84 4* DT+GR+DTS $80 3.5* DT $82 3.5* DT+GR $86 4* DT+Coquit. $88 4* DT+GR+Coquit+Langley $90 4* DT+GR+Coquit+Langley+Surrey Going to try 3* DT & GR shortly

Won the Red Lion (3*) at Portland's Convention Center. I started at $45 and used the following zones: Convention Center/Lloyd Center, NW Portland, 3* Rebid at $50 NW Portland, SW Waterfront, CC/LC. 3* Rebid at $55 NW Portland, SW Waterfront, CC/LC, DT, 3* We've stayed there before and it was fine. Used the PRICELINE link from this site.

Thanks for the tips. Hey--I have some general questions about Sonoma Co. I've never been down there and don't know the options that I might want to pursue. It seems the wine made napa & sonoma famous but there are a lot of other communities in the county that are big on wine. My partner and I do want to do wine tasting although neither of us our connoisseurs of wine and I'm a bit of a cheapskate so I probably want to stick with affordable wine venues (the $20 wine tasting fee does not appeal). Further, we are renting a car but I am very uncomfortable driving around much for this activity. I think I could safely go to one wine tasting and drive but that would be the end of it. So, I was sort of hoping that I could find a place to stay that was near wineries so I could walk or was near tasting rooms/wine bars that we could walk to that do tastings. All of the Sonoma & Napa hotels that I'm finding online seem to be a bit out of town (or right in town and $400/night) and Priceline is such a toss-up for location, it is anyone's bet. So, my question is: Is there a community up in Sonoma County that might have less expensive but nice accomodations and might have these accomodations near all of the wine action? -Laura

Yes, I did leave off some info, didn't I? I'll be staying in Sonoma County Sept 29, Sept 30, checking out Oct 1. I know the other spots are a bit cheaper but we would prefer to stay in Sonoma or in Napa (even this isn't perfect when you look at the boundaries for each of these zones on PL). I bid last week just as I described and did not use the re-bid zones because I'm not sure that I'll use PL if I need to go much higher that $70. I think I can find a better deal on another website if the PL bid is more than $70 (when you consider the fees). Unless someone has a better strategy, I'm going to keep bidding at $70 every few days and hope that I get lucky. -Laura

Bid $70 each time on the following combos: Napa 4* Napa + Sonoma 4* Napa + Sonoma 3.5* Napa + Sonoma 3* I see Expedia has the Doubletree and Hilton Sonoma for $111/$112 respectively. HOTWIRE has Santa Rosa/Petaluma 4* for $99 and a 3* for $46. Hotwire's cheapest Napa is $115/3* I can't be that far off. Any thoughts? I'd like the least expensive 3* or better in the Napa or Sonoma territory.

Just wanted to give an update on what I'm doing for my stay in San Fran. I ended up booking via lastminutetravel.com. The hotel I got was the Hyatt Regency San Francisco 5 Embarcadero Center San Francisco California 94111 for $112/night including all taxes and fees. I figured that I could bid up to ~$89 on PRICELINE to get a price that works out (with the taxes/fees from PL) to about the same amount. Still trying to use PRICELINE to get a rental car and possibly a hotel to go to Sonoma from 9/29-10/1. I'll post details of that on another thread. Thanks for everyone's help!

Bid the same on Aug 14 post and struck out again :)

There is a big free concert in the weekend of Oct 1-3 in Golden Gate Park. http://www.strictlybluegrass.com/ (a bunch of really major acts...should attract a BIG crowd)

Sorry, that was a typo. It was Hotel Vintage Court. Of course, I am willing to go higher on my price for a hotel but I thought it would be nice to stay under $80 if I could get it. We are going to SFO so we have to sleep somewhere. Since I have a month+ before we depart, I thought I'd try my luck (with all of your help) at a low price. Plus, if I go higher, I might end up booking directly with a hotel rather than shopping through PRICELINE. At this point, my max bid is $80 on PRICELINE. I also figured that since I could find a hotel on HOTWIRE for $89, I should be able to get it on PL for less. At least that has been my experience in the past. Is this not playing out any longer this way? -Laura

I see this hotel for $89 for 10/1 - 10/3. Any thoughts on what it is? 3* - Nob Hill Area Hotel Non-Smoking Fitness Center Restaurant Business Center High Speed Internet _______________________ Never mind...I clicked through and HOTWIRE told me: Hotel Vintage Plaza. Hmmm....I haven't used HOTWIRE in a while and I didn't realize it told you the hotel now. Anyway, the description on the pinned list is a little different so you might want to update it.

Bidding history (all bids $80): USW 4* -rejected USW + USE 4*- rejected USW + USE + Wharf + Financial Dist. 4*- rejected USW 3.5* - rejected USW+USE 3.5* -rejected USW + USE + SOMA 3.5* - rejected USW+USE+SOMA+Wharf+FD 3.5* -rejected USW 3* - rejected USW + USE 3* -rejected USW + USE + SOMA 3* - rejected USW + USE + SOMA + Wharf + FD 3* - rejected. There is a Hotwire hotel in Nob Hill Area 3* for $89 so I'm a little surprised my bid wasn't accepted. I'm going to see if your hotwire pages can clue me in on the property.

Thanks for the tips. We will be car-less in SF so life should be good. Do you think I should take CC off my list (or just for the below 4* hotels)? I'm going to give it another go this evening. Anyone want to chime in on a strategy that might yield a hotel per my description above?

$80 is my max bid for a 3* in these zones. I think that I'm okay with a 3* from any of these zones but it is hard for me to tell since I'm not that familiar with SFO 3* hotels. Are there any zones on my list where a 3* isn't desirable? We don't care about the size of the room...just that it is clean and hospitable.

I'm not willing to pay more to stay in one area over another (within those 6 zones) so the goal is the least expensive 3* or better in any of those zones. You can see by my bidding so far that I was just trying to win in the preferred zone before the less preferred zone although any would do. In some cases, the 3* options that have been won are better in one zone over another so I switched up my preferences based on that for the 3* hotels.

We are traveling to SFO in October and need a room for 10/1/10 (check-in) - 10/3/10 (checkout). We are really flexible about the zone. I would take USE, USW, Financial District, SOMA, Wharf, Civic Center (in that order of preference). I'd like to stay in a 3* or above. We are going to an event at Golden Gate Park so I'd like to stay in the downtown area. I took a cut at bidding 3*, 3.5* & 4* at $80 and struck out. I see the best deal on Hotwire is $105-3*-Nob Hill for those dates. Here's the order I bid if that is helpful (all bids were for $80)l: 1. USE 4* 2. USE+USW 4* 3. USE+USW+Financial 4* 4. USE+USW+SOMA 4* 5. USE + Wharf 3.5* 6. SOMA 3* 7. SOMA + USE 3* I realize there are a few more permutations that I could try but I thought I'd see if this forum could help before I got too carried away. So, any suggestions? Am I too early in my search? PS> I used your PRICELINE link.

I started at $48 and worked up to $54 in $2 increments at which point I won the Red Lion at the Convention Center. I've never stayed at the Red Lion. PS. I always use your PRICELINE links.

I haven't tried to figure out what HOTWIRE has offered. I think tonight I'm going to get into the $50 range since folks have won elsewhere with that offer. $50 isn't too shabby.

I started at $40 and bid up to $48 using your strategy and adding active zones NW Portland and SWD and was rejected (3* for each bid). This is a little surprising to me since Hotwire had a 3* Convention Center for $57. :)

I would rather start by trying for the least expensive 3* or better in either zone.

I would prefer a higher star rating over a lower one. Both DT or LC are acceptable, LC by a slight margin as the folks I'm visiting are staying at a hotel in LC. I think my max bid would be the same for both areas which would be about $60 (Although technically I have to go to Portland so my max bid would be larger if I thought it needed to be). I'll pay up to $60 for either 3 or 4* but obviously I'd feel better about getting a 4* for $60 than a 3*. I guess I would lean toward the least expensive 3* over paying a little more for 4* to answer your question.

Okay, here's the update from today's bids. I did the same strategy for Lloyd Center as yesterday and bid up to $44 for a 3* and was rejected. I started over again at $40 for DT 4*-rejected $42 for DT 4/3.5*-rejected $44 for DT 4/3.5/3* - rejected. One question I have is can I go in the reverse order where I bid 3* then 3/3.5* then 3/3.5/4* as that would make more sense than increasing my bid and lowering my standards each time. I'll keep trying. PS. What other permutations of bids can I try to keep bidding on the same day? I thought it was interesting that I could bid LC + SWD, LC+NWP AND LC+NWP+SWD all in the same day.

You are correct. I didn't bid DT yet--wasn't sure what a reasonable bid might be. I think I'd like to stay for under $60/night so that should be doable. I'll keep trying for around $40 for a few days and see what happens.

I'm headed back to Portland later this month and after winning the Doubletree Lloyd Center for $40/night last weekend, I'm looking for a similar deal. My dates are 9/19 - 9/21 (Sat/Sun nights). I just bid the following strategy and was rejected. Give me an idea of where I should start for the DT hotels? Bid $35 for 3* in Convention Center. rejected, added South Waterfront District and bid $39. rejected, exited the bid and started a new bid of $41 for 3* Convention Center + Northwest Portland. rejected, added South Waterfront District and bid $43. rejected. I used your PRICELINE link.