Lorelei03

Won at first try for 4* in USE at $74 (via savingsbarn, of course!) My trip is completed - thank you all!

All done! Okay, I got $75 at the Hilton Towers from 9/12-9/15 (via savingsbarn!) Bidding went as follows: 4* at $102 in USE 4*, 3*, and boutique at $70 added USW 4*, 3*, and boutique at $75 added Cathedral Hill - success! I'm really happy with this - although very mixed reviews for Hilton Towers on tripadvisor, seems like a great deal! Thank you all for your help! (Just one more round of bidding left to finalize trip: must decide if I need a room from 9/3-9/6 or just for 9/5. Will work that out and report back in a seperate post)

Success (partial)! I won at $99 for the Omni (USE) from 9/9 - 9/12! I followed advice for the full stay below, but could only place one set of bids for the 4* and one set of bids for the boutique. I bid up to $98 on 4* and $75 on boutique. Then I began reducing my stay by one night and won at three nights! Now I have to find a place for the 9/12-9/15 portion of my stay. So far no luck. I have bid a number of combinations - started at $100 for a 4*, $80 for a boutique and ending at $65 for 4*, boutique, or 3*. Sigh. (all on savingsbarn link)

Thanks - that'd be great!

Just got a note from priceline - I am eligible to bid again now

Thanks for all the help! Yes, splitting my bid is definately an option. So I'll try 9/8-9/11 and then 9/11-9/15. My last question before I embark on this next round is about timing. I would like to give it one more shot at a solid stay for all dates. That will mean that the next time I can rebid using this split strategy will be Sunday or Monday. Would that be cutting it too close?

I just checked hotwire and found a $100 rate for a 4* in USW (with restaurant, pool, fitness and business centers). This was rated a "best value" Also found $75 for a 3* in the civic center Also found two decent boutique quotes (each rated 3*) - $74 for a boutique in USW (ratd a "best value". $83 for a boutique in USE (with fitness and business center and restaurant). Not sure what this means to my strategy, though. Any ideas?

I think max for a boutique would be $75 and max for a 4* would be $95. Though I'm beginning to think that perhaps I should go to a 3* and try for $70-$75 max there.

Thanks for all the advice so far - I know I'll get there! I'd prefer a 4* because I would like to have a gym, but would be happy with boutique as well (especially if it could save me a few bucks!). In terms of location, I would like something close to where I'll be hanging out during my stay - which is absolutely very diverse as I'm trying to make my husband fall in love with SF and I want to cover all bases! So, USE will probably be best, but also USW, Cathedral Hill, and Fisherman's Wharf. (I'm not yet firm on the dates for the beginning portion of my trip and so am waiting till I know what I'm doing to post a followup)

Thanks! I checked out the boutique hotels I could identify from the sources you mentioned and liked them (Villa Florence, Habor Court, Galleria Park, Serrano), but thought I would lower my bids for this lower group of properties. So I tried unsuccessfully with a boutique select for the same dates - 9/9-9/15 USE at $60 added Cathedral Hill added Fshman's Wharf added USW at $61 I wonder if - after my 72 hours are up - I should go higher? I was really hoping for under $100 for the 4*, though...

I posted to this site under hotwire and folks suggested I could do better with priceline, so I read the strategy post you all directed me towards and gave it a shot (unsuccessfully) today as below. All bids were for a 4* USE $65 added Cathedral Hill for $75 added Fman's Wharf for $85 added USW for $90 added cca for $91 added ssf for $92 added sfo for $93 I'm wondering what would happen if I added boutiques to my search - not raising the price but including them as possibilities. How can I see what boutique hotels are in what areas of sf? Thanks!!

Hello - I am new to this site and to priceline/hotwire, so was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction. I will be in SF for 4 nights (9/3-9/7), then wine country for 2 nights (9/7 & 9/8), then back to SF for 5 nights (9/9-9/14). Was hoping for a four star under $100, but that may not be reasonable...? Would also need a rental car for the 2 night in Napa and Sonoma. I gave it a shot on hotwire based on the advice I read here - and it looks like my best bet is a 4* in Union Square East at $93. Does that make sense to folks? And should I now try to underbid it a priceline before I purchase on hotwire? Will of course post details when all is done - thanks!!