Wally

For someone taking BART from the Airport the Marriott is one of the most convenient hotels you could have won. It's just a block from the Powell Street BART station. Good that you won't have a car as the Marriott's parking charge is now $50/night! :) Good luck with the two beds.

You can't presume ANYTHING from the dollar number that turns off Priceline's "small chance of acceptance" message. I've had several bids accepted after Priceline warned that my bid had "almost no chance of acceptance". OTOH, I've been rejected to $70 after the "small chance" message disappeared at $45. I base my bids on hotel rates for my travel dates and what other bidders are paying for dates with similar rates. I ignore any messages from Priceline aimed at trying to get me to bid higher.

I wouldn't risk a Hotwire 1* on Nob Hill. I think you're taking the right approach----reading reviews and booking a room with two beds conventionally. I'm not familiar with the Grant Plaza or Halcyon, so can't comment.

Since you have such a clear preference for two beds I don't think you should use Priceline for this. Too much chance of getting a room with one bed, especially Downtown, which is where most tourists prefer to stay. Look at Hotwire. Even if your party is is only two, enter your party as "3 adults". Hotwire will only show you options with two beds then. Do you see anything interesting on Hotwire for your dates?

For these dates Hotwire's vacation packages don't include any 2*'s in the Greater Downtown zone. My best guess is this will be the Days Inn City Center at 1414 SW 6th Ave, which has a pool and restaurant. No guarantee, of course.

I'm consistently able to win a 2.5* in South Natomas for $46 on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday nights, but never for Mon-Thurs. I've bid up to $55 for weekdays in South Natomas without success. Rejected bids for this Friday/Saturday stay: $60/2.5* University $42/2.5* Rancho Cordova $45/2.5* South Natomas I bid through the SavingsBarn.

Title says Hilton Financial and post says Westin St Francis. Which one did you win?

Some nights, not all, you can win a 4* in USW for slightly less than the Beresford's $87. Would you rather bid up to the Beresford's price for a 4* or pay less for a 3* or Boutique? If you're okay with a Boutique in USW then you should be okay with a 3* as well. The Rex is the 3* that's been reported on Priceline and the Rex is more or less a Boutique. Read the Rex reviews and if it seems acceptable to you then I suggest bidding 3*. If a Boutique has a lower rate than the 3* your bid will be upgraded. Some new 3* hotel other than the Rex could come up, of course, but I don't really see much potential for a disaster, especially as this is just for one night.

If your goal is to be near Union Square then you should just bid USW or use Hotwire. Any hotel in USW will be walking distance to Union Square. Whether you bid 4* or Boutique in USE you could win a hotel near the Embarcadero.

You know, I'm thinking that Ramada in Bell Gardens might work out just fine. :)

Universal Studios and SeaWorld are 130 miles apart. Finding a hotel less than 20 miles from both is a pretty tall order! :)

Are you still planning on visiting Disneyland, as you mentioned at the start? If so why aren't you looking at hotels in Anaheim? Most Anaheim hotels have free parking (not all) and primarily rooms with two beds. Woodland Hills isn't near any of the attractions you mentioned wanting to see. It's at least an hour drive from Disney. The Hilton is the hotel people usually win in Woodland Hills. It's a business oriented hotel with expensive pay parking, an expensive restaurant, plus high likelihood of winning a room with one bed.

Century City is in the West Hollywood/Beverly Hills zone.

coast, You'll enjoy Hollywood or West Hollywood more than Downtown or the Airport. You'll still pay to park Downtown or the Airport. You can find driving distances on Mapquest. Traffic is bad everywhere. My suggestion: Keep working on smaller pieces, trying to win any nights you can in Hollywood or WH for $90 or less. Next step: Still bidding for Sunday and Monday only, bid $75 for a 3* in Hollywood. If rejected add WH/BH and bid $90.

I'm sorry I don't have time to answer all your questions now. I think the five night stay is probably the problem. You need to break this up. I suggest you bid $90 for a 3* in Beverly Hills/WeHo for just your last two nights, Sunday and Monday. You don't need to wait 24 hours to do that because you're bidding for a new set of dates. Post whether that works and we can talk about the other three nights after. You'll feel much better about this if you get a couple nights settled now.

Winning a room near Sunset clubs came up in another thread yesterday. Brentwood/Westwood hotels aren't walking distance. About 4 miles. Easy to catch a cab. The concentration of Sunset clubs--House of Blues, Comedy Store, Laugh Factory etc--are at the east end of Priceline's WeHo/BH zone. The Mondrian (4* on Priceline) and Hyatt (3* on Priceline) are across the street from each other and best locations for Sunset clubbing. Whether you bid 4* or 3* on Priceline you could win something besides Hyatt or Mondrian though. Some of those other hotels are at Beverly Hills/Century City end of zone; good hotels but 1-4 miles from Sunset clubs, depending which you win. Again, easy to catch a cab. Best chance of winning something right on Sunset is bidding 3* level rather than 4*. Hyatt almost always comes up as the 3* while 4* wins are more scattered around the zone. Usually you can target the Hyatt on Hotwire by its amenities, but Hyatt also costs more with Hotwire than Priceline. Mondrian hasn't been reported on Hotwire yet.

Well I'm sorry but I don't think you can get a 4* near the clubs for under $100 on those dates. My suggestion is to go for the 3* in WeHo-BH, starting at $85 and bidding up to $100. Keep in mind that parking will be extra. More than 90% of 3* wins in that zone are at the Hyatt but no guarantee that's the hotel that will come up. Other possibilities under $100: Try $85 for a 3* in Hollywood or $70 for a 2.5* in West Hollywood.

4* hotels in the West Hollywood-Beverly Hills zone almost always require a Priceline bid of $110 or higher. The 3* West Hollywood Hyatt really does sound like a good match for you though, as it's right on Sunset and near a bunch of clubs. The 4* hotels are further west in Beverly Hills, a quieter area. You'd have to drive to the clubs (and probably pay a second time to park) or take a cab. Is there a reason you want to stay at a 4* hotel? The difference between 4* and 3* is pretty fuzzy sometimes. The only LA zones where you're likely to win a 4* for less than $90 are Downtown and the Airport and there's really not much to do in those areas compared to Hollywood/WeHo. Whether you're bidding for all five nights in WeHo, or two or three nights, or just the last night I would start bidding at $85 for a 3*. Then wait 24 hours and go $5 higher each day, until you win or reach your limit.

The West Hollywood Hyatt is across the street from House of Blues, where you're going on Monday night. Is it worth a splurge to stay there one night and economize on the other nights? You can get drunk as you want and not worry about driving. Even if you don't drink it would be a convenient arrangement. Hyatt charges $18 a night to park. If you stay far away and drive to House of Blues you'll still be paying to park because free street parking is virtually impossible to find near Sunset at night. You might even be paying to park twice---once at your distant hotel and again at HOB. Hyatt is $209 on April 30. Hotwire has a 3.5* hotel that appears to be the Hyatt for $151. (No guarantee though.) Priceline usually has the Hyatt for less than Hotwire, but there's no guarantee you'd win the Hyatt. The Hyatt comes up more often than anything else though. If you decide to try Priceline for that one night I'd suggest $90 for a 3* in the West Hollywood zone, starting your bid with the PRICELINE link at SavingsBarn.com. If you want to stay at the Hyatt all five nights Hotwire has that for $143/night, plus parking. Or you could bid $80 for a 3* on Priceline and go up from there.

Bell Garden isn't such a good area and it's not close to any of the attractions you want to see. If you're willing to change hotels it will probably work out better for your family to stay 2 or 3 nights in Anaheim, right near Disney, and the other nights near Universal or Hollywood.

If you want to be near the clubs on Sunset then you don't want to bid Downtown. That's nowhere near. West Hollywood-Beverly Hills and Hollywood zones are closest. Any hotel you win in those zones will charge to park. That's how LA is. 3* in West Hollywood-Beverly Hills is your best bet. If you win the Hyatt you'll be right where you want to be. You might win some other 3* hotel too, but none of them will be too far from Sunset.

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Is an Extended Stay America type of hotel okay with you? HOTWIRE has something that looks like ESA Tacoma for $42 per room for your dates. Only amenity icon is Laundry. Each room would have ONE queen bed. Just off the freeway, next to Tacoma Mall. About 15 minute drive to Ft Lewis.

This was a Monday. Before bidding I tried Add a Night for the Springhill Suites in South Natomas where I'd stayed Sunday night. No inventory. Rejected bids for Monday: $55/2.5* South Natomas $55/2.5* University $42/2.5* Rancho Cordova $32 for a 2* in South Natomas, University, Downtown, and Rancho Cordova---four zones in one bid---picked up by the ESA in Rancho Cordova, with its paper thin walls. Used the SavingsBarn. This is a new hotel for the Priceline List.

$45 rejected. $46 accepted. A new hotel for the lists.