Thanks for all the helpful information Scorp! It sounds like it may work out pretty well anyway. I
So I bid $65, $75, $85, $95 and got Holiday Inn Vancouver Centre on Broadway. I am VERY disappointed with this location. Before I started bidding I looked at the hotels others on this message board were getting and they were all nice hotels I'd be happy with and were located downtown proper on the peninsula. Well as it turns out, PL's central Vancouver zone extends to cover areas that are NOT downtown Vancouver! This particular hotel is across False Creek, and in practical terms is not even walkable to the downtown core. I've booked with PL for hotels downtown Miami and downtown Seattle and was very happy with the results, which were actually limited to the downtown area. Why on god's green earth would PL not do the same with Vancouver, which has a MUCH larger downtown than these other cities??? This is asinine! To have what is the logical downtown zone extend beyond downtown is absolutely unacceptable and they've lost me as a customer because of it. From now on I'm using Hotwire which not only limits their results to downtown but even lets you select a district from within downtown. I've talked to PL and the hotel manager and neither would or could do anything for me. PL is losing it!
FYI, before expanding to 3*, I searched for 4* up to $140 for this same weekend, which failed.
4* Toronto (Downtown) Westin Harbour Castle
in Priceline Hotels - Canada
Posted
The Westin Harbour Castle
4* Toronto (Downtown)
$87, 10/4-10/9
On my last unsuccessful bid priceline offered to do the exact same search if I raised my price by $22. Figured I must be getting close. :)
After seeing lower bids mid-August I'm surprised I had to bid this high for October; not sure what's going on, none-the-less I'm quite happy with the deal.
Also, a word of warning: on Priceline's Toronto grid of neighborhoods/prices, I noticed Markham did have a 4*, namely the Delta Toronto East, though it's not listed on Better Bidding. I'd stay away from that neighborhood if you're bidding 4* for downtown.
Here's the bid history:
42 - DT
47 - DT & Don Valley
52 - DT & Mississauga
57 - DT & Mississauga & Don Valley
62 - DT & Oakville
67 - DT & Oakville & Don Valley
72 - DT & Oakville & Mississauga
77 - DT & Oakville & Mississauga & Don Valley
82 - DT & Scarborough
87 - DT & Scarborough & Don Valley
Accepted.