gleff

Check out the room details on that $119 rate, I've seen it before and I'm pretty sure it's for an irregular small room with only a foldout couch or a bed that folds out of the wall rather than for a regular room. Odds on you actually got a room that was otherwise selling for $199-$249 depending on the night.

Years ago living in New York this hotel had the best TV ads around (not sure why a NY hotel was advertising in NY, but there was surely a reason). I can still hear the jingle in my head, "the Lullabye of Broadway."

Here's more of a question than an answer. With Hotwire, hotels set a rate and Hotwire charges that rate plus a markup. Has anyone looked at whether Hotwire's taxes are based on the original (rate from hotel) or marked up (consumer price) rate? (I suppose I could look at my Hotwire bid from 2 weeks ago, but call me lazy at the moment, sorry :) )

Word up!

My guess is the way that the hotel 'suppresses' the Hotwire rate is by replacing it with another one, or it could just be a mistake. We know that Hotwire receives rates from a hotel and then adds a markup. That's why Hotwire doesn't want you to know the real price they paid -- because it's lower than what you paid. And that's why Hotwire requires in their contracts with hotels that the rate be supressed. It's unusual that any rate would be displayed at all, which is why what you report is probably a glitch. Likely bears no relation whatsoever to Hotwire's actual rate paid.

You mean that they would book the highest applicable rate, including non-opaque rates? Would that actually help them, since they swallow the overbid amount anyway? I guess it could if the rate they were booking was commissionable at a higher rate than the standard Priceline commission.

Given that the hotel is in Georgetown and Hotwire has a Georgetown zone, it would be really sketchy of them to list it elsewhere (e.g. "Kennedy Center"). I'd assume Georgetown. But hopefully the original poster would tell us if it were listed differently! The hotel is great. I've only been in one of their loft suites, not regular rooms, but the real gem of this hotel is Citronelle, arguably the best restaurant in the District.

Yahoo displays best fares from your home airport. I default to BWI. Airlines of the Web offers several class availability tools. SmarterLiving's Airfare Search Travelocity.com/dreamMap.ctl?dep_arp_name=BWI"]Travelocity's Dream Maps MSNBC has a good blog about travel deals, mostly packages but some standalone offers. More bookmarks?

I've recently become a fan of Mobissimo.com, which is like Sidestep -- only it's web based instead of an application and it searches various booking engines like Travelocity in addition to airline websites. It also searches international sites like Opodo and Zuji and consolidators like airfare.com and onetravel.com. ITA Software is indispensable for figuring out itineraries but unfortunately they don't book for you. Then there are useful tools like Expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=fpfl&&zz=1058751296746&&&zz=1084052231172&"]Expedia's Airline Fare List, United's 5% off link, Expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=cmpf&airp=&dair=&&zz=1057387736447&&&zz=1063908544979&"]Expedia's Fare Compare, Expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=cmpf&airp=&dair=&&zz=1057387736447&&&zz=1063908544979&"]Expedia's Lowest Fare Search, [url="http://dps1.Travelocity.com/lognlogin.ctl?tr_module=FARE"]Travelocity's Fare List, TravelstoreMaker, and FareChase. And Smile67's Availability Tool is indispensable. Others to add to the list?

Obviously Priceline and to a lesser extent Hotwire. But how do you research prices before bidding, to figure out whether a bid makes sense.. what to bid (based on prevailing rates).. or what the best deal may be when bidding isn't an option? I use Travelaxe (downloadable tool). Plus when searching on one of the standard sites like Orbitz, my Sidestep naturally pulls up. I also find Hotel Reservation Service to be useful. Occasionally Quickbook has good deals, but its reach is limited. What do y'all use?

Free Claritin Sample Free hot Sauce Free Dog Treats Free Dental Floss Free Cigarettes Free T-Shirt Free Points.com PointsPlus membership (usually $19.95): Sign up for the Fairmont President's Club and use your membership number to signup with Points.com.

Go to McDonalds.com and request their annual report. It includes a coupon for a free McGriddle sandwich.

Loved the movie. Great hotel to redeem a FFN at...

Presumably Priceline wants to start offering retail hotel bookings to customers whose bids aren't accepted. They're likely to book a hotel anyway, why let the customer leave for Expedia, etc?

FWIW, for the nights in question the hotel's corporate rate is $309, Orbitz wants $259, and the AAA rate is $249. So a pretty good deal. Put another way, the Midtown Holiday Inn is going for $169, so I nabbed the Millennium for about the same dollars. That's why I like Priceline, even though this is far from one of my best scores. (Why won't the Waldorf-Astoria come up for under $100 for me anymore? :) )

Intercontinental The Barclay Midtown East 111 East 48th Street New York, New York 10017-1297 212-755-5900 Your Offer Price: $105.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $105.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $21.98 Total Charges: $126.98 Started at $95 then bumped up by $10.

1 room(s) @ $154.00 per night x 1 night(s) $154.00 Taxes and fees: $28.95 Hotel Subtotal $182.95 Amenities: restaurant, fitness center, business center

Your Offer Price: $135.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $270.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $47.59 Total Charges: $317.59 Started at $105 and added zones. And then things got interesting. I needed to add a room, but only for (1) of the nights, and it was important that it be at the same hotel. Voila! This is the first time that BetterBidding added real value for me in my own planning. I was able to go to Hotwire and find that the property I had already won on Priceline was available for the other night, and I nabbed it for $154. Thanks!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...5-2004May3.html

I'm actually wondering whether I'll be banned, as I openly corrected TOBB's in a post today. She wrote that no Hilton brand offers free breakfast "other than to those guests who have paid for or have been upgraded to an executive level room which costs more than a standard room" which is, of course, absurd. (Hampton Inn offers free breakfast to everyone, as does Embassy Suites.)

I tell ya, I came across a silly rate on Hotwire the week before last (a 2.5* for > $400) and didn't even think of doing this. D'oh!

No luck here and I've played every day. Starwood's "State of the Game" contest should have taught me my lesson, alas.

Congratulations!

This, along with perhaps the Sheraton (also available on Priceline) is probably the best hotel in Sacramento proper. And it's right across the street from the Capitol, so perfect on political business :)

This hotel will only get better as the room renovations progress.