yankeegirl

Hi - wondering if you can help identify this hotel: Free Internet, Fitness Center, Business center, guest rating 8+ very good Thank you!

Started bidding at $100 with Midtown East, added Midtown West and raised to $110, got it.

Need a good PRICELINE bidding strategy for getting a 4* hotel for two nights. Would like to max out at $135 if that sounds plausible, our dates are also flexible too, so if there are better days within 2 -3 days on either side of these dates I'd be interested! Thanks in advance for the help! Oh yeah, area is not important, we visit a lot, but usually stay in the burbs w my family and want to treat ourselves to a couple of nights in the big city!

Just an update to this thread. Tried your strategy of bidding on Priceline up to $160 (using your links of course) but no go. Decided to book directly with Wyndham at the Sugar Bay resort for $186. Figured I may as well get the points/ credit for the stay if it was going to be that close. Not a bad price IMHO for that time of year. Oh well - better luck next time I guess! Thanks again for all your help!

Yes, I know it's going to be tough one, but figure I will go with the Wyndham for $186 w my aaa discount if it's a no go. Also, I did notice that there were 3.5* which would be OK too. So, let's go for it - 3, 3.5, or 4* up to $140... Thank you!

Sorry about that - thought since I was going to use Priceline I should post in that forum... Anyhoo - would like to get the cheapest 3 or 4* - don't care which. Good point about the different sides though - maybe there is a whole slew of different 3* hotels on the name your own price side, which is a bit scary I suppose since I don't know what they could be... Hmm, well, saying I don't care at all as long as it's a 3 or 4* what would you suggest for a bidding strategy? Thanks again for your help! Oh - since this is about PRICELINE maybe it should be moved to the priceline forum?

Hi, I need a strategy for bidding on a one night stay (decided to go the priceline route for this stay, not hotwire) on St Thomas. Priceline's retail side currently has the Wyndham Sugar Bay and Secret Harbour beach resorts at 3* and the Marriot Frenchmen's Reef at 4* listed as available. I would like to try to get one for $120 - $140. The Wyndham website has a room available at the AAA rate for $186 so I think that my goal seems reasonable at least for that resort (maybe not the Marriott which has AAA rate of $352). Any help or advice would be great, thank you!

Thanks for the info! I will update this when I make a choice...

Sorry about that - wasn't sure how to "bump" a thread, so thought I'd give an updated list of the hotwire options for my date in the hotwire forum...

Hi, I need some help identifing these hotels if anyone is familiar with this island. Dates - one night 3/26/09 - 3/27/09, one room, 2 adults. 3.5* hotel $209/nt : resort, beachfront, fitness center, pool, restaurant, tennis, spa, children's activities program, 3.5 out of tripadvisor rating. 3* hotel $244/nt : beachfront, pool, restaurant, 4 out of 5 tripadvisor rating 3* condo $249/nt : condo, suite, beachfront, one bedroom suite, kitchenette, daily housekeeping, a/c, in room laundry, 3.5 out of 5 tripadvisor rating Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Hi - I am just starting to research a one night stay in St Thomas (we're spending a week on St John's but wanted to stay one night on St Thomas after we fly in) Am not sure yet weather Hotwire or Priceline is the best bet. Visiting Hotwire I saw a 3.5* St Thomas Hotel with these amenities: Resort, Beachfront, Fitness Canter, Pool, Restaurant, Tennis, Spa, Children's activities for $209 - could this be the Marriot Frenchmen's? Also, there was a 3* St thomas Condo with: Condo, Suite, Beachfront, One bedroom Suite, Kitchenette, Daily Housekeeping, A?C, and In room Laundry for $249. Any ideas what these might be? If I decide to do Priceline these might help me make a realistic bid... Thank you for your help!

Just to follow up - I found a mid size SUV with Budget on their website for $249 for the week if you pre paid. We got a Nissan Rogue and since we declined any extra coverage (I used my AM EX to pay so I was covered) it ended up costing $249 total for the week with pick up/ drop off @ the Airport. Pretty psyched since this was only a bit more expensive then most of the weekly rates we were finding for compact cars.

Sorry it took me so long to follow this up - but we ended up spending the first night (10/25) in Half Moon Bay @ the Seal Cove Inn (highly reccomend this place if anyone ever needs a place in the area) and just one night in San Fran (10/26) @ the Parc 55 for $180 (did not particularly love this place - a step down from the Hyatt/ Hilton type of hotel IMHO). We were driving up from Monterey before flying out of SFO on 10/27 so this worked fine for us. Glad we broke the nights up as the prices that weekend in San Fran were outrageous and we ended up having a fabulous time in Half Moon Bay. Thanks for all the advice - and I guess I learned that if there's an event in a city driving the prices up think outside the box!

I think I'd like to try for the 3.5* (thank you btw slruud - good find on the Whitcomb), but perhaps not bid up to $185 (w priceline taxes that's really $210), so maybe I'd try going up to $150.

I was looking at the priceline list of hotels won at the 3.5* level and Fisherman's Wharf and USE are the only areas with 3.5* hotels that I would be comfortable winning. Specifically I think the best shot would be w the Hyatt & Sheraton in Fisherman's Wharf since they show availability (Marriot shows no availability in either zone). What do you think?

Ok, so I tried your strategy (thanks for working that out) to no avail. Now I'm thinking of trying for a 3.5* in Fisherman's Wharf or Union Sq East (don't want to risk getting the 3.5* in Financial). The Hyatt & Sheraton in Fishermans Wharf have availability according to their websites, so perhaps you could suggest a strategy? Thanks again for all your help!

Hi - I've never used HOTWIRE / PRICELINE for a car rental before so any advice would be great! I've found a rate of $349/week @ Hertz.com using AAA discounts (a bit confusing because they don't break it down into $/day) with taxes a total of $456. At Hotwire I found a rate of $45/day for a total w taxes of $404 (both rates for mid size suv). Any ideas for a PRICELINE bidding strategy (I can back up w the Hertz reservation)?

Back up plan - good question! I guess I was going to inch up my budget until I reached what some of the lower end hotels were going for that night - I could get the Best Western Fisherman's Wharf for $180 w a AAA rate - but not an ideal area for us. Any ideas?

Hi, I was hoping for some help with bidding on a 4* hotel in San francisco for these 2 nights. I have tried with no sucess over the past few days up to $105 including Financial, USW, and USE (my preferred areas) using the 5 rebid zones. Maybe there is something going on in town and rooms are scarce? Or am I unrealistic with the price? I would be willing to go up to maybe $120 a night... Any advice would be great, thanks!

Actually this was a 3 1/2* sorry. Bid on 2 rooms for one night - Oct 12, 2009. First bid of $60 was accepted - oops, guess I should have started lower, but a great price IMHO. Lowest rate on Hyatt website was $189 for this night so I'm psyched! Used the PRICELINE link from this website - thanks!

OK - tried again today and got the Sheraton for $80. I'm pretty happy with this since it seems like a nice property and is right on Canal St - at the edge of the Quarter. I checked the rates for the stay at Sheraton's (Starwood) website and the lowest rate is $229 so it's obviously a substantial savings. The bids: started with FQ 4* for $70 and added rebid zones with $2 increments until I got to $80. The reservation is for 2 rooms May 5 - 10, 2008, 5 nights. Note: I didn't add the Boutique level this time - realized you are right - it's a risk. Anyway, thanks again for all your help, got a nice hotel in a great location, oh - I used the PRICELINE link of course!

Thanks for the hotel info. I added Boutiques as a star level to give myself one more rebid - that level is only available on Priceline in the Downtown - CC zone. It seemed people who had won Boutiques in that zone in the forum had won the Wyndham Whitney - which would be fine with us - it seems like a nice property and the location is close enough...

OK - just to update - used your strategy adding Downtown, and also Boutiques giving me a total of 7 rebids upto $71 to no avail. I will try again after 24 hrs maybe going up as far as $85. In the meantime... Hotwire has a 3* in Downtown area for $69, Cutomer Favorite, Comp. Breakfast, Fitness, Pool, Laundry, Hi Speed Internet - any ideas what this could be? Also a 3* in the Convention Center - Arts for $54 which only shows Comp. Breakfast...???

I can confirm that - there is now the one Downtown-Convention Center zone. This and the French Quarter are the only zones with 4* so there are 5 re bid zones for that star level...

I did notice the $69 3* on Hotwire and I was thinking it could be the Holiday Inn... But I think since I have a bit of time before the trip I'd like to try for a 4*. Again being in the FQ isn't the top priority - I have stayed in the "Arts & Warehouse" district - what Priceline would call Convention Center - and it was fine. Risky I know - but I think for the sake of a "better" hotel it would be worth it. Thanks again for your help!