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cunparis

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Posts posted by cunparis

  1. I reserved a refundable room at Red Roof Inn (next to the Virgin hotel/casino) for the Saturday night.  I have kept an eye on rates for Sun-Wed on Cesar's website, I was hoping for Bally's which has a good pool with a deep end.  But Bally's was a bit expensive for what it is (a bit old and dated compared to the other newer hotels).  I used the BiddingHelper.com and since the hotwire promo code ends today, I booked the Venetian.  I love this tool, it takes the guess work out of it.  I booked a "hotel chooses bed type" for 2 adults & 2 children.  If we get a king with a rollaway bed that'd be fine, 2 queens would be fine too, so I think we can't loose with that one.  

     

    Total is :

     

     

    Price summary

    Room

    $207.00 ($69.00 per night x 3 nights x 1 room)

    Coupon applied$24.84

    Taxes & fees$46.77

    Promo code-$24.84

    Hotwire Total (USD)$228.93

    Resort fee$153.00 (Due at hotel)

    Trip total (USD)$381.93

    Trip total per night (USD)$127.31 (includes resort fee)

     

    Thanks for the site and the tools and all the help.

  2. Hi,

     

    I'm having trouble finding accomodations for our family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children).  We will arrive Saturday July 10 and this date is very expensive, while Sun-Tues are affordable.  

     

    My first question is trying to book for 5.  no casino hotels will take us.  Should we book for 4 and be descreet?  Usually (non-vegas) if I can pay for 5 I do so it's honest.  If the hotel doesn't allow it, I book for 4 and the 3 kids can sleep in the same bed.  It's never been a problem and I've done that at Bally's a few years ago too.  The risk at a small hotel is usually just an extra person charge which I'm happy to pay anyway so no downside.  For 4 nights in vegas I don't know what the downside is.  If they make me take a 2nd room it'd be very expensive. :)

     

    Next, I'm thinking of staying in a non-casino hotel the first night and switching to the Flamingo.  The flamingo looks like it has a nice pool which the kids would enjoy, and it's one of the cheaper options.  Suprisingly cheaper than off-strip casinos.  Last time we stayed at Bally's the resort fee & parking fee ate us up, so last time we were in Vegas we stayed off the strip.  This time we'd like to be on the strip so we can go out and play some slots and enjoy some time away from the kids (2 of the kids are teenagers so they're fine to watch a movie in the room).

     

    Any advice is greatly appreciated.  Before kids we'd priceline great deals but that was a long time ago and having 3 kids changes things a bit.

     

    Thanks

     

  3. Hotel Whitcomb was a disaster.  The hotel itself is below average, which I can live with.  But it's located in a very bad area.  Next to tenderloin which is dangerous, and near civic center on market which is a major homeless area.  It was shocking and we didn't feel safe with our kids.  We had homeless people come up and solicit us for money, one guy was urinating on the sidewalk, etc.  It was nasty.  The burger king across the street from the hotel had a full time police officer in the restaurant at night.  I can't believe HOTWIRE uses this hotel.  

     

    I complained to hotwire and asked for a partial refund.  We'll see what they say.  This is the first time I've been disappointed in a hotwire hotel.  I recommend people not use the civic center area when looking for rooms.

  4. After exhausting all possibilities we booked this morning through HOTWIRE. I didn't want to use hotwire because they often sell independent hotels that don't always have good reviews. So I really use the tripadvisor reviews to help decide.

    We got Hotel Witcomb which appears to be a new hotel for your hotwire list. I went to trip advisor and was shocked at the most recent reviews, including one complaining of bed bugs. so far I've never had a bad experience with HOTWIRE or PRICELINE so we'll see.

    i used your HOTWIRE link right before I booked so I hope you get credit. Thanks for your help. I may be booking more on this trip. :)

    Amenities:

    Free Internet

    Smoke Free Rooms

    Fitness Center

    Restaurant(s)

    Business Center

  5. The lower price choice is no longer available, so that leaves $172 for 3.5* in South Convention Center - Hayes area.  It seems to be a hotel that is not in the list.

     

    Amenities

    Free Internet

      Smoke Free Rooms

      Fitness Center

      Restaurant(s)

    Business Center

    Accessibility

    Accessible for the blind

    Accessible for the deaf

    Accessible path of travel

     

    my wife is trying to get an apartment but I'm not optimistic about that.  If we don't hear back about an apartment I think I'll book this room tonight (using your link of course!).

  6. I did some googling on this and we definitely want to stay inside the city if possible.  Your idea to drop the family at the hotel and then park in BART lot and come back to the hotel via BART is fine for me.  So this removes parking from the requirement.

     

    I found $128 for a 2* Lombard street.  Or 3.5* Civic Center South - Hayes Valley area for $172.  I'm not sure which is better.  Since we have 3 kids we'll probably spend more time in the room than we would if it were just 2 adults.  So a nicer room could be useful.  I'm leaning towards the $128 for budget reasons and rough it out.  Lombard street seems a bit better located.

  7. I updated the thread, thanks for the reminder.

     

    For SF, $40-60/day parking is quite high.  I'm not sure how to do this city on a budget.  Perhaps we should stay in a hotel a bit out of the city in a cheaper area and take public transport?  I don't know how public transit works there.  I think for a family of 4, the trains into SF will add another $20+ per day but that'd be an option too.  Or just get a cheaper hotel outside the city and drive in and pay for daily parking??   I like having a room in the city because we can go back to take breaks.

  8. Sorry for the late update, I forgot to update it after our stay last year.

     

    We kept the Quality Inn reservation (direct with hotel) for $189.  The hotel was not up to usual QI standards.  It was ok but for the price we were a bit disappointed.  However you're not paying for the quality of the room but the location.  We walked to town each day.  It was about 10 min walk and was very convienient.  The hotel pool was a bit cool but our kids had a lot of fun in it while my wife & I took advantage of the hot tub.  The pool was big.

     

    Overall it was a good stay and I recommend it as long as you don't need a super room.  There were lots of bed & breakfasts across the street that were very nice.  I don't know how much they cost though.  If they were similar in price they would have been worth it.

     

     

  9. I need some help with a hotel for the beginning of August.  our dates our flexible but we're planning July 31 for 4-5 nights.  I don't know anything at all about SF.  We will have a suburban SUV ("free upgrade from minivan from the rental car company, I'm not sure it was a good idea).  So we'll need a hotel with parking.  I guess some hotels may have paid parking, in the past I've seen around $20/day.  If that has in/out privileges that's fine.  I'll take it into account with the price.  But when I search on HOTWIRE it doesn't mention parking for most of the hotels.

     

    the other issue is we have 2 adults, 2 kids, and a baby.  For the baby we have an inflatable baby bed.  Last year with our trip with the baby we couldn't put 5 into the search engines because the hotel websites said we wouldn't fit in a room.  But in reality we just need a room with 2 queen beds and we never had any issues with that.  But that was reserving directly, I haven't done this with HOTWIRE.  I know PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy.

     

    Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have.

     

    PS: If hotel doesn't have parking, we could park in a lot and just not use the car for our stay in SF.  Last time I was in SF for a day trip the parking was $20/day.  That was many years ago. :)

  10. HOTWIRE doesn't have anything in our budget for Bar Harbor area (just a city 30min drive away).

    PRICELINE gave lots of options. We reserved at quality inn with a refundable/cancelable reservation for $189. It is walking distance from town and has a pool, our main two criteria. If I bid on a hotel with priceline I'm afraid it'll be far from the town center and we'll have to drive. I have no idea if there is free parking in bar harbor or not, and if so it'll probably be crowded in the high season.

    If I could get a great deal with bidding on PRICELINE then i'd be willing to sacrifice on distance, and probably get a better hotel. we need 2 rooms so the number of beds isn't a problem if we get stuck in a room with 1 bed.

    how should I bid on this? I'm thinking of bidding say $150 for 2.5*. We have plenty of time now, our reservation is refundable until a few days before our arrival. So we have time to try and get a good deal.

    Thanks

  11. We ended up reserving the Marriot in Burlington, I saw the price on priceline $82 and they had the same direct on the Marriot website but on the Marriot website they gave an option to add breakfast and wifi for $95. Breakfast for 2 adults and 2 kids for $13 more is a bargain.

    Burlington is a 20 minute drive. We added up the subway costs and since it's the weekend it'll be cheaper to just drive to boston and pay $9 for parking. more convienent too with the baby.

    hotwire is a bit of a ripoff in my opinion. they charge 36% taxes & fees and I believe they hide their 20% fee here so they can make their room rates competitive. When I added taxes & fees + parking it was $215/night. that's the price we'll pay for 2 nights with breakfast, wifi, and swimming pool. not the same as downtown boston but for us a better deal.

    Thanks for the help. Now I have to book bar harbor! :)

  12. Since we'd arrive late evening in Boston, we decided to just spend the first night in Plymouth. So our dates will be 8/10-8/12 for 2 nights. That makes it a lot cheaper. Boston is expensive!

    The $156 doesn't bother me, but adding taxes and $30/day parking.. it comes out to be $215/night total. and then reading reviews of the double tree (which seems more likely based on the amenities, you don't even get wifi in the room you have to pay $13/night for that. This is why I really prefer comfort inn, super 8, etc. over these fancy hotels. But in the city center we don't have much choice. Even comfort inn has a base rate of $140 and that's in Quincy / Braintree!

    I think I will bid a bit lower and see what I can get on PRICELINE and if that doesn't work I can book on HOTWIRE. I don't want to add areas because I'm afraid I'll get a less nice area. I don't know boston at all, I've only been there once for a single day.

  13. If it's the same price then it sounds like boston common zone is more interesting for us. I think with kids being in the city center is worth it. Last time we stayed in quincy it took a lot of time to get from hotel to downtown via the train. with kids we'd like to be able to quickly go back to the room to rest, take a break, etc.

    So how can I bid for this on priceline and try to beat the $158/night price of hotwire? Is it beatable? I've had great luck with priceline in the past, in fact I've always booked hotels through priceline (using your links!), I've never gotten a hotel from hotwire.

    As I said in my other thread, we would like to have 2 beds.. worst case kids can sleep on the floor. it's only for 3 nights. Unless the hotel wouldn't allow it and then we'd be in a a bit of trouble. :) Our baby has a portable bed that he uses so he's good.

    Thanks.

    PS: Sorry for late reply, we just got back from another trip.

    PPS: $30/day parking is outrageous but we're prepared for it. $9/day on weekend is nice but it'd require gymnastics because we arrive friday night and leave monday so I'm not sure it'd be cheaper overall.

  14. Sorry for late reply, I didn't get an email that there was an update for some reason, I thought I was subscribed. Anyway, we just got back from a trip so we have to get this booked. Worst case the kids sleep on the floor. We don't mind about that. I was using hotwire to get an idea of prices so I haven't done any bidding yet at priceline. But we leave thursday for the new york part of our trip so we need to get this booked asap.

    My mom (just 1 person) will now be joining us so we'll need two rooms. So I think we won't have any issues.

    We're on a serious budget because we're on a 6 week trip. So as long as it's not dirty, we don't mind. Usually we stay in comfort inn / super 8 type hotels and they're fine. I don't know the bar habor area at all so it's best to book it now and not have to worry about it. I have no idea if this is high season or not.

  15. We're going to spend 2 nights in Bar Harbor August 23 & 24th. I've never been. We're open to suggestions if we should stay in bar harbor or a cheaper area that's about 30 minutes away. Please let us know what we should try. We are 2 adults, 2 kids (5 & 7) and a 7 month old baby who will sleep in a portable fold-up baby bed.

    Thanks

  16. Hi,

    I'm looking for a Boston hotel August 9-12 (3 nights). We have 2 adults and 2 kids 5 & 7 years old, and one 7 month old baby. We have a portable baby bed for the baby so when I put the number of guests I put 4 otherwise they always try to get us to take 2 rooms.

    We're not sure where to stay. On hotwire (via the links here) we see waterfront is cheapest followed by quincy market and theater district. The last and only time I was in boston we took a comfort in for $89 near braintree and rode the train into town. I just looked at those hotels are over $120-$140 so I think hotwire's price of $157 for waterfront area is a better deal. But I think we'll have to pay $30/day parking right?

    I'm open to suggestions at this point. With young kids it'd be nice to be in the center so we can take a short metro ride to the hotel and relax. If we stay outside we'd drive to the subway, take that into town, and stay most of the day and then go back home. I'm not sure which is best.. this is part of a bigger trip so if we can save money staying outside that's fine but having to drive to the subway it ends up taking time. I guess what I'm saying is a hotel within walking distance of subway would be best for us, even if we have a 15-30 min ride.

    Thanks for your help.

  17. PRICELINE isn't cheaper with the named car companies. We can't name our own price because we're at 1 month and that's 3 days over the limit (July 28 - August 28 doesn't work, it only goes to August 25). So it seems hotwire's la guardia rate is the cheapest option. from what I see it's easier to get to la guardia than JFK.

    i'm using the links and will use it when I pay for the car @ HOTWIRE.

    next up is a hotel or rental house. we're comparing prices to decide..

    Thanks

  18. Hotwire isn't making much sense.

    I changed our dates to get our rental period smaller by staying longer in NY. the price is still around $1300. Then I wanted to see if a 3 week rental would result in a hotwire special rate (company unknown). It did for many car types but not for minivan. and the minivan was $4k!!!! Yes it was $1300 for a little more than a month, but over double for 3 weeks. Very strange.

    Getting the minivan inside NYC is about $800 extra. so We'll have to deal with the airport issue. Taking the public bus with 3 kids including a baby will be a bit challenging. that or I leave early to get the car and leave the family at the rental apartment. we'll pick up the car on a sunday so traffic should be minimal and a taxi not so expensive.

  19. I've been using this site for years now (using the links thank you) and I need a bit of help with a car rental:

    We fly into Newark on July 18th but we want to spend 5 days in NYC and don't want/need a car. We'll want to pick up our car in Manhattan if possible, on July 25th and return it August 27 in the evening, spend the 28th & 29th in Manhattan again, and then fly home the evening of the 28th. If we weren't staying in Manhattan and/or if parking weren't so expensive, this would be a no-brainer to get it at the airport. In the past I rented from a place directly and walked to the car rental place from the hotel and drove it away, and that was quick and easy.

    On Hotwire, if I put JFK I see a minivan for around $1300 with Thrifty. Why doesn't Hotwire hide the name like they do for hotels? If I go to Thrifty directly it's almost $2k. Why is it so much more? I'm confused. The hotwire price is for getting the minivan at JFK.. if I put Manhattan i don't get a minivan choice but a SUV is a lot more expensive (when normally it's cheaper) so apparently there is a premium for Manhattan.

    This means I will have to go from the hotel back to the airport to get the car.

    What are my options? What do you recommend?

  20. Hotwire gave me a price of $285. For some reason Hotwire showed the names of the companies and it wasn't a good deal. I rented a minivan in another city a few weeks ago and got about half price. Anyone know why it's not giving me a good deal & hiding the names?

    So I went to priceline and I bid $8/day for compact which I knew was low but I have plenty of time. It was refused. So I bid $10/day for a standard, which was still below hotwire's compact price. It was refused. I'll try again tomorrow and bid more, but I have a feeling the hotwire price and the priceline price are going to be the same and it'll also be the same as the rental car companies directly.

    not sure why I'm not getting a bargain here..

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