jo anne

Bidding for 3 star in Chicago suburbs,  started at 42.00. Won the Holiday Inn, 860 West Irving Park Rd,  Itasca at 45.00.  

You are probably right about st charles.  Very helpful Information, thank you.

Do you think the Hotel fee could mean that my 42 bid was likely accepted, if I completed the bid?  Why do hotels charge this fee and how likely is it that I would get stuck for it?

Thanks for your input.  The 15.50 seems pretty steep to me.

I started at 40 for Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Itasca, Elmhurst, Hoffman Estates, Bloomingdale, Oak Brook and Dundee.  Added Lisle at 41.  Added Naperville at 42.  Always 3 star.

So I chatted with Priceline.  Here is the response:  Charles: Whenever you place a request for a hotel, we attempt to disclose the average Hotel Fee for the area and star level you select. Once a hotel accepts your offer price, we will know the actual Hotel Fee and it will be displayed on your Accept Page. Please be advised that we did not charge you for these fees since the hotel will charge you directly at check out. In some instances, the Hotel Fee will be the same as what it is displayed on the Contract Page; however, it could be less or it could be more. 
 Jo Deppe: I have never encountered this before. How do I know when to expect it, so I do not accept it accidently? 
 Charles: Please make sure to review the summary of charges everytime you submit a request. 
 Jo Deppe: Is this something new? 
 Charles: Yes, it is. We are now trying to disclose the fee before booking so that this will not caught you by surprise when you get to the hotel. 

Early this morning 1/17/2017, I was bidding for a 3 star room in the Chicago suburbs.  On my third rebid I noticed an additional "hotel fee" of 15.50.  This is in addition to the 10.36 Taxes and Service Fee for my bid of 42.00, bringing the total to 67.86.  I am not certain if this fee was there for my first and second bid.  Has anyone else experienced this?  Shocking, to say the least.  Are there any other tricks I should be checking?  Granted I was bidding in the low $40-$42 range, but this seems like a very sneaky ploy.  So does this end my priceline shopping?

Jo Anne

I bid a few times, days before for 3 star in Schaumburg & Arlington Heights at 40-44 dollars.  Since I saw that the Extended Stay Hotels were 2 star on the Better Bidding Hotel list, I felt safe bidding for 2 1/2 star hotels.  I try to avoid Extended Stays.  Well I took a chance and bid 2 1/2 stars starting at 38.00 in Schaumburg and Arlington Heights.  Got the Extended Stay America in Rolling Meadows for 39.00.  Glad I only bid for the one night, as I am staying in the area for several days.  I am on a tight budget and the Extended Stay will be fine,  but sometimes those hotels have too many folks hanging around and smoking, too.