wcj1

I stayed here in January. I had previously called Hyatt to add my Gold Passport number. When I called 1-800-check-in, I requested a non-smoking king on a high floor in the tower. Also asked for a room on the end of the hallway, but the phone agent did not know which rooms were on the end. Got the other requests though and the room was fine. So my suggestion would be to enter a GP number in the res, and use 1-800-check-in to request a room in the new tower. (The towers actually have names besides new and old, but I cannot remember what they are now.) BillJ

My bid at $60 got a $17 counteroffer. Went up in $1 increments from $65 until acceptance at $68. Lowest rate on marriott.com is $239, which probably explains the higher acceptance rate. BillJ

I reported the Stanford Court on this board. When I got it last time (prior to the zone consolidation), I went back to look at the map, and Priceline drew a big loop to include the whole intersection at California and Powell. It was very obvious if you knew to look for it. Now the eastern border of the Union Square West zone does not cross Powell until south of California. Also, my old bid now says "Union Square West" when I look at it under My Trips on Priceline. BillJ

The Renaissance Stanford Court is in the 'new' Union Square West zone. (Should have never been in the West zone back when they were separate before anyway.) San Francisco Hilton is also West Boutique Villa Florence would be East Mosser Victorian is East BillJ

There is the recent zone realignment in Boston where the Theatre District was stripped from the Back Bay and added to the Downtown zone. I believe this affects the Park Plaza and the Radisson. BillJ

http://www.wyndhamnewyorkhotels.com/ I believe the back story on this is: there was already an independent hotel in NYC called the "Wyndham", so Wyndham the chain was forced/asked/agreed to make a separate website for the New York hotels. The going rate was as low as $92 for prepay on their website. Other rates were right around $100. BillJ

Previous bids 3 days ago were $45 (with +$13 counteroffer) and $48. Tried 3* at $50 and $55 today for kicks. Hotwire 3* Restaurant, Fitness (either the Wyndham Garden or the Crowne Plaza) was coming up at $79, and Wyndham Garden was coming up through Hotwire packages. BillJ

Re: the Roosevelt and Midtown East, see the other 2 threads about Midtown East that I have posted to lately. BillJ

I would suggest replicating the bid that I just did for your dates: 6/30-7/5 3* (do not do 2.5*) Midtown East + Upeer West Side (this way it is a new bid) $83 It is still coming up $111 through Hotwire for the 3.5* (see my bid for details), so I think this would work and you'll get the Marriott. BillJ

Bid history: 4/12, 3* MTE $80 4/13, 3* MTE + UWS $83 (I did not rebid on the 12th cause I got confused on my free rebid.) Background on this and why I bid now: Lately, I have been checking hotel prices via Priceline packages (Air + Hotel), Hotwire packages, and regular Hotwire. On 2/15, the PL package was $722 for the Marriott. On 4/12, the package was $586. Now some of that was probably airfare fluctuation as other hotels dropped too, but this one dropped at least $30/night more than others when doing the math. Also, I have been watching hotels on Hotwire and saw this in the MTE zone: 3.5* Restaurant, Fitness Center, Internet, Business Center 3/22 = 149 4/12 = 112 Now this Hotwire hotel could have been the Roosevelt, but the the amenities also matched the Marriott and the price drop was very similar to Priceline package drop. Since the Marriott has come up at $80 in the past, I tried that. Thought about going to $85 next, but I was thinking most $85 acceptances were overbids, so I just went up to $83, since I can bid again in 3 days and I still have a couple of months. So while this was only my 1st bid and rebid, I have been gathering data for a couple of months. Was trying to avoid the MTW zone and the Hilton Towers (had a fine stay there last time, but no longer HHonors Gold and I think that helped.) So was just watching and trying to find patterns. This info will hopefully also help for the Labor Day trip. Looking forward to this as this has had some good recent reviews, it is in a good location, and it will be more convenient for trekking to the East River for the fireworks. BillJ

Was a little disappointed to receive this hotel because of its location. The hotel is located at the corner of California and Powell. Far enough that you cannot walk easily from Market as with most other hotels I have stayed at. The most convenient option is any of the cable car lines, as all of the lines intersect at California and Powell. (The trick to this is to mostly use the California line. The California line runs from Market/Embarcadero to Van Ness. There is never a line at Embarcadero like there is at the Powell St turnaround at Market for the other two lines. However, the mroe frequent Powell lines can be better later in the evening in my opinion after the lines have died down.) We checked in early (slightly before noon) without a problem. I had called earlier in the week to request an interior room, on a high floor, non-smoking, king. At least I think I requested a king. When we checked in we got an interior room, on the top floor, non-smoking, but a queen (844). The front desk rep was very nice and said that the room was paid through Priceline, and then asked if I was a Marriott Rewards member and if I wanted to add my number to the reservation. That was a first. I asked for an interior room as the exterior rooms face the cable car lines and I wanted to avoid their bells. I did not make a deal about the bed, and while the bed seemed small and cramped the first night, we somehow got used to it. Overall, the room overall fairly large. The bed and 2 side tables, a decent sized round table with 2 chairs, a small desk and chair, and an armoire with the tv and a few drawers. Through a sliding door was a sink and small tv on the counter and a closet. Through another sliding door by the sink was the toilet and tub. Room was clean and comfortable. Have read other reviews that said the Stanford Court can be down at the heels, but I did not find it worn at all. TV has HBO and other typical cable channels. Free beverage delivery service in the morning (coffee, tea, and/or hot chocolate). That always seemed to be waiting at the door earlier than we ordered, so slightly cooler than ideal. Newspaper delivery included (USA Today at the door M-F, with extra WSJ in the lobby during the week and SF Chronicle on the weekend). Not much in the way of other things close to the hotel (restaurants, delis, etc.). There was a convenience store 1 block south on Powell, but we never used it. Overall, the stay was fine and the hotel was nice, but I would try to avoid it in the future. We often like to stop back at a hotel in the middle of the day to drop stuff off and rest for a bit, and the hotel location made that less convenient than the various Hyatt's for example. BillJ

Just adding a side comment since we were just in Belgium a few weeks ago. I would recommend staying in Brussels and taking the train to Bruges, Gent, and Antwerp. We found most everything closed up in all of the cities around 5-6pm, so you can use that early evening to either just eat dinner or take the train back to Brussels then. This may not work for everyone, but if I was going again, I would do the same thing (with a few minor modifications.) Feel free to ask if you have particular questions. BillJ

I have been working on a Philadelphia bid since mid-February (the stay is not until Dec, so I have time), and I have had the Trevose zone marked as 3* in my notes ever since I started bidding. BillJ

Airport PHL. PHX is Phoenix. BillJ

Sorry, no. I made that bid way before this Board was made. Are you going to remove the "BELIEVED TO BE" text in the Boston hotel lists? I went through and compared maps carefully, and Hotwire's specific zone maps are quite clear. BillJ

Here are some Boston hotel notes: The Swissotel is no more so it can be removed from the above lists. It was taken over by Hyatt, which is already on the list. The 3.5* Tremont Boston - A Wyndham Historic Hotel is definitely in the Boston Common - Theatre District zone as it is on the same street as the Wang. http://static.hotwire.com/web/static/image...mmonTheatre.gif The 4* Boston Doubletree Hotels Boston (my posted bid) would also be in the Boston Common - Theatre District zone. Also, the 3* Radisson Hotel Boston would be in the Boston Common - Theatre District zone as it is at the intersection of Stuart and Charles. The 4* Omni Parker House would be in Quincy Market - Financial District as School St is inbetween State St and Milk St. http://static.hotwire.com/web/static/image...ktFinancial.gif BillJ

Important note: If you try to book this through marriott.com right now, it says no rooms available. So for single night stays on a weekend in cities where that is problematic, checking hotel sites for availability may not be a definitive predictor. This has previously been reported elsewhere as a 2.5*, but I got this as a 2* bid. I do not know if it was an upgrade or not, since they do not show that anymore. However... Bidding history: 2/5 2.5* Convention Center + UNLV 60 (no counteroffers on bids leading to this) 2/9 2* Convention Center 30 ($56 counteroffer) 2* Convention Center + Airport 40 ($56 counteroffer) 2* Convention Center + Strip 45 (+$13 counteroffer) At this point I accepted one of the $56 counteroffers. At the last bid, I miscalculated how many bids I had left. I did not want to go any higher in the Airport zone since some of the hotels are further away than the hotels in the Convention Center zone, so I was balancing taxi fares vs bid amounts. I wanted to have a final bid of ~$50/51 in the CC zone, but ran out of zones I was willing to add. This is a final night to the Marriott Suites stay I posted on 2/5. BillJ

Been bidding this for months. I have bid less for London in previous years, but really wanted to be in this zone this time since the location is great and the hotels seem to be consistently better. Have been receiving $114/$110/$112 counteroffers since mid-January. Here are the bids I made since the $112 counteroffers started: 1/31 4* Mayfair 75 (counter $112) + South Bank 85 2/3 4* Mayfair 80 (counter $112) + South Bank 93 new bid 2/3 4* Mayfair 97 (counter $112) + South Bank 100 (counter +$22) 2/6 4* Mayfair 80 (counter $112) $102 acceptance While the Thistles sometimes come up cheaper, they haven't come up in awhile. The Royal Horseguards did appear in the Air+Hotel Priceline packages a few days ago, but at a fairly high rate. BillJ

No, it is not a linguistics change, since they still use both. If you look at my last bids again: 2/5 59 (+$17 counteroffer) 62 ($72 counteroffer) So I bid 59, they asked me to increase by 17. That is $76. Next bid was 62, they asked me to bid specifically $72. I have noticed the same thing for a London bid that I am working on. Most of the time they want me to rebid exactly $112. Sometimes, they will say "increase by $x", where my bid + x is higher than 112. I do think your proximity to the lowest bid triggers different counteroffers, whether it is bix $x or increase your bid by $y. BillJ

Bid history: 1/28 3* Convention Center 36 ($76 counteroffer) and then rebids: 43, 50, 56 (with $76 counteroffers along the way) 2/5 59 (+$17 counteroffer) 62 ($72 counteroffer) 65 acceptance This is making me believe that thay are giving counteroffers of a specific bid amount (e.g. $76) at lower bidding levels. (This is as opposed to when they give counteroffers of a specific raise (e.g. +$17.)) I do not know exactly how to describe it, but it is different. BillJ

Of course, after I posted this, I have done some more research and the Residence Inn Convention Center is no longer coming up in Priceline's air+hotel packages or even through the Marriott website for my dates, so maybe it is full again. It was there earlier when I was bidding. Suffice to say, that I may not be bidding up in 3 more days as I planned and will not find out what price would have gotten this hotel. BillJ

It used to be that if you bid $50 for a hotel room, Priceline might come back and say, "If you increase your bid by $30, we will get you a hotel." The smart bidder would usually take half of the difference (e.g. $15), bid $65 through a free rebid, and then get a hotel, as Priceline seemed to purposely pad and create an overbid through their counteroffer. However, Priceline has changed the system where if you bid $50, it now says "If you pay $80, we will give you a hotel." It is the same thing in essence, but they give you the price per night, instead of the amount of increase. Since they started doing this, I am finding that the 'take half of the difference' rule to be less effective. For example, I am trying to get a Las Vegas 2.5* near the Convention Center in early March. Based on previous bids not working and lack of hotel inventory availability, and then counteroffers and new hotel inventory availability, I am 99% sure that the hotel being countered is the Residence Inn Convention Center. Here is my bidding history: 1/19 2.5* Convention Center 36 (67 counter) + Nellis (free rebid) 46 1/24 2.5* Convention Center 48 (67 counter) + Nellis 50 1/27 2.5* Convention Center 52 (67 counter) + Nellis 55 Based on the previous 'take half of the difference', I thought the low-50's would definitely be accepted, but it has not. Has anyone else has noticed this same phenomenon? Does anyone have any ideas on new percentages to apply to the counter offer (e.g. instead of 50%, maybe it is 75% now.)? BillJ

Started at $25 and worked up slowly. Started a new bid at $34 and received a $9 counteroffer. At $36 got the Crowne Plaza. The Crowne Plaza was also being offered for $44 through Hotwire (3.5*). BillJ

Helping some coworkers bid for a conference. Have been working this for months and have gone as high as $90. First 3* bid today at $70 got the Hilton, and a 2nd new bid at $55 also got it. Not the best location, but within our employer's reimbursement limits at least. BillJ

So you are not considering other zones? BillJ