camachinist

Any idea when Priceline separated this area into the Orange County 'South' zone? (it used to be included in Orange County itself) Only hypothesis would be the relative remote location. Via PCH, SNADP was about 35 minutes south of Newport in relatively heavy Sunday evening traffic. Likely, it would have been closer time-wise via I5 but we were already in Balboa. Dana Point, while lovely, is a good distance from the bulk of the action in OC. As I prefer it, after staying there, to the Marriott's in Newport and vicinity, I'm glad it's possible to target it. The DoubleTree doesn't seem to be coming up lately and there's a free re-bid in Laguna Hills. One can pretty much target the Marriott with a high 40's bid. I posted a review of the stay in the hotel review section. Pat

Stayed at Laguna Cliffs on 4/18/04. 50.00 + taxes and service fee. Stayed in room 209. 2 doubles. Nice partial ocean view. Away from pool, overlooking lawn area below Regatta Bar and Grill. Usual Marriott quality and service. No mention of PL. Valet park is 20.00 pd; self park is 16.00. Desk noted hi-speed internet is now 9.95 but as still in transition they comp people who ask for the free access. Local calls are free; no time limit. I got 45k consistently on dial-up. Room service prompt and courteous. Only had breakfast. Good smoked salmon. In-room coffee. Nice and quiet overall, but this was a Sunday night. Lots to see and do which we didn't check out. Did walk the park below the hotel and browse the shops down at the harbor. Be aware, if wanting to park on the street to avoid parking fees, that it's a good uphill walk to the hotel, nearly 1/4 mile from the furthest cars we saw parked. Total cost for night, including drinks, room service breakfast, valet parking, taxes, gratuities and bid, was approximately 120.00. Well worth it IMO. It appears we got MR points for stay and incidentals (wife is MR elite). We'd stay again. Definitely a place to stay multiple nights to really enjoy the ambience.

Stayed at the Stanhope 9/21-9/23/03; bid 145.00. Checked in early (shortly after noon) and received room 1010, which has been reviewed elsewhere before. Little has changed. Large room by NYC standards. Large walk-in closet and moderately large bath with tub/shower combo. Clean and crisp bed sheets with down duvet. Good channel selection on TV with one movie channel plus PPV (11.95). Noted no renovations or construction occuring during our stay. There was activity at some nearby buildings but it was not obtrusive. Did not use room service or hotel restaurants; too expensive for our taste. Ate at local coffee shop a couple blocks away and at a local Italian restaurant. Stored some small drinks in mini bar; not much room for more. Staff friendly, competent and unobtrusive; concierge helpful. Room stewardess was friendly and helpful and gave us a peek at a couple of the large suites facing the Met on the day we left. Very impressive. Used the Brooklyn express (#5 train IIRC) to get downtown and rode the #6 local back uptown to 77th (the Hotel is on the corner of 81st and 5th Ave.) About a 6 block walk (15 minutes or so) to/from the subway. 10.00 (plus 2.00 bonus) Metrocard took care of our rides for the days we were there. Easy purchase via credit card at automated kiosk in subway entrance. Subways very easy to use and very intuitive. We went all over the place, transferring thru Grand Central. Never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a train. This is a very rich part of NYC; the hotel may be gotten reasonably on Priceline but everything else is pretty expensive. The Met Museum of Art is across the street; plan a whole day for that if interested. It took us over an hour just to go through the gift shop (we didn't have enough time to see the museum). Overall, a good stay. I think if we go to NYC for an extended period, we'll likely look at more modest hotels in the UWS. We saw many in our wanderings.

Bid 48.00 Laguna Cliffs - Dana Point

Wanted to add a comment from a fellow Priceline traveller who just stayed at the Stanhope. He noticed major renovations going on and ultimately had to be moved from his 4th floor room due to construction. I'll comment further upon returning from our stay, in the hotel review section.

I recently bid a couple of times in the UM-CPS, UES and UWS (as a free re-bid) zones for 4* hotels. Dates were Sept. 21-23. ---Bid history--- 8/17/03 6:30pm PDT----- 100 UMCPS rejected Added UWS increase to 110 rejected Added UES increase to 115 rejected UM-CPS: Westin Essex 279; Intercont CPS 289; LeParker Meridien 260; Drake 259; UES: Stanhope 295; Wales 249 Bid history 8/20 19:47 PDT----- Bid 120 UES- rejected Added UM-CPS and 130- rejected Added UWS and 145 - accepted Your Offer Price: