mcgervey

First bid 3* $35, declined, added 2.5* and rebid at $35, declined, added 3.5* upped to $40, successful. Attempted to add the following day using the provided PRICELINE link, was declined. There was a major concert in Heinz Field that following day, which is likely why. See next post for my Hyatt Airport Priceline win for that night. Actually very pleased. This particular SH Suites by Marriot is a great deal and compares favorably to many of the 3* properties. It is surrounded by stores and strip malls, but that just makes it walking distance to Quaker Steak & Lube or Buffalo Wild Wings, both of which are on the same side as the hotel and about a 2 minute walk from the front door. Very convenient to all the Robinson Town Center shopping and IKEA, 10 minutes to downtown, and 5 minutes to the airport (as are most of the properties in the Pittsburgh Airport bidding area). Parking was close and convenient to front door. This is a well kept property. The rooms are typical SH Suites, on the smallish side, but still nicely appointed with flat screen TV, fridge, microwave, fold out loveseat bed and chair, desk, free WiFi, free computer and printer access in lobby, very nice pool and spa area, friendly staff (provided milk free of charge in evening for my baby's bottles), free morning newspapers, free continental breakfast. Had me booked into a King, which was just fine as the baby slept with me and the kids on the sofa bed, which they said was fine. The free continental breakfast was also very nice. Cereals, Belgium waffles, yogurt, fruit, muffins, bagels, eggs, cheese, sausage, juice, milk, coffee/tea (which I think is available 24/7). I frequent PRICELINE in this price range in the Pgh Airport area. This is a new addition to my bid wins. I would be happy with more wins at this hotel for the $35-40 bid range.

Used the PRICELINE link in the moderators message to one of the recent other Pittsburgh wins... Started bidding $40 @ 3.5* Airport... Declined. Added 3* (Courtyard used to be listed as a 2.5*, but apparently was upgraded...) Rebid adding 3* at $35 and was accepted. $35 is what I always get for the Airport area and a $35 bid. Total was $47.14 with taxes and pl fees. Great hotel at a budget hotel price, and tax incl!. One of best deals on PRICELINE.

Not at all impressed with this hotel. Average maintainence, bathrooms smallest I've ever seen, excessive costly fees ($16 parking, $10 Wireless Internet (!!!)) $10 for a bloody mary in the bar. Has a nice lobby, but that's about it, the rest of the hotel is somewhat dated and not very comfortable. I wouldn't rate it a 3*. For the money it was an OK deal at $62, but I would rather choose a different area than ever pay $62 for that hotel again. Wyndham University Place Pittsburgh 3-star University Center 3454 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 412-683-2040 See Hotel Website View Map and Directions Check-In Date: Sat, Jul 26, 2008 / After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sun, Jul 27, 2008 / 12:00 PM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $50.00 Subtotal: $50.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $14.44 Total Charges*: $64.44

Usually start at $30... for whatever reason I started at $33 this time, won on first bid, selected only airport area and 2.5 stars. This selection, Airport, 2.5 stars and $30 to $35 almost ALWAYS gets me the Courtyard Marriott. I like the hotel, good location but quiet, nice pool, comfortable rooms, very accommodating to requests, WiFi in the lobby, high speed ethernet in the rooms, washer/dryer (coin op) available, courtyard is always well maintained and peaceful (several years ago even hosted nesting migratory birds and their young). One exit removed from Denny's, Wendy's, Sheetz and convenience shopping, 5 minutes to Robinson Town Center and IKEA, 15 minutes to downtown Pgh. We really like the late 1pm checkout too when we're staying on the weekend. Courtyard By Marriott Pittsburgh Airport 2

EDIT: I see Priceline calls it a 2*, the hotel told me they are 2.5... so there might be some argument... I will report on the hotel after my stay. Internet reviews look decent. Not one of my most successful priceline bids, but acceptable for what I needed, a decent hotel in short walking distance to Times Square. Hotel staff just informed me that its only a few blocks walk. They also said they are nice rooms, bigger than the Paramount TS (That I got the last two years). But that they are queen size quites but they would put in a request for a king room for me. I started out TS 3* @ $65 per night --- failed. Added MTW @70 per night for 3* & 2.5* failed. Added Upper MT-CP South, 3*, 2.5* and 2*, @75, failed... Added MTE @ 85, 3*, 2*, 2.5*, failed... Added MTS @90, win... Murray Hill on Priceline and Hotels.com lists for around $165, so at $109 per night inclusive I guess I did ok. I have a feeling getting the Paramount for $100 inclusive is probably a tad better deal, but the reviews for the Murray Hill looked decent, and we're really only sleeping there after a long train ride, hitting the town, going to a show, sleeping, and leaving on a train at 6:45 in the morning, so it will serve the purpose well. If we get a king bed, with my wife being pregnant, it will be a bonus and will probably be great. By the map, it does look like an easy walk to TS and Central Park, so I'm content. If that one failed I was about to go for the Midtown hotel on Hotwire for $240 inclusive for 2 nights, so I saved $22 off that, and may have gotten a better hotel for our situation. Murray Hill East Suite Hotel 2-star Midtown South 149 East 39th Street New York, New York 10016 212-661-2100 View Map and Directions Check-In Date: Wed, Feb 20, 2008 / After 01:00 PM Check-Out Date: Fri, Feb 22, 2008 / 12:00 PM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $90.00 Subtotal: $180.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $38.33 Total Charges*: $218.33

First bid win. Usually get the Marriot Courtyard for $35 bids. Hyatt Place is a new player in the Pittsburgh area. Used to be an Amerisuites, still in process of renovation process. Room is very nice. Separate living room and bedroom "areas" (Separated by small 6 foot wall).. Very stylish room with kitchen area with sink and fridge, no microwave. Has 42" plasma HD screen in middle that tilts towards bed or living room... Living room has large sectional couch, very comfy, with pull out queen bed. Gave us a king room with no problems, and our boys slept on the pull out comfortably they said. Shower and toilet are in small room, but functional, and bath sink is just outside br door with large counter area. The big plus is a very large pool for this size and genre of hotel, within a large atrium area surrounded by tables, chairs and chaise lounges. Very convenient to Robinson Mall, IKEA, and about 5 minute drive from the airport, 15 minute drive into downtown (We're here for the Pirate's games this weekend). The hotel is still under renovation. But the wireless internet is working, the continental breakfast is being held in a conference room as the main kitchen isn't done yet (rumored to feature 24/7 dining for pay, but with free continental bf.) Continental BF featured Deans sausage egg and cheese, ham egg and cheese, muffins, bagels, cereals, juice, danishes, bananas, apples, yogurt, etc... There is going to be a TV lounge in the lobby (done, but no TV yet though you can see where it's going)... The kitchen is there, but not finished yet. Looks like it's going to be a very nice, compact but full feature hotel. HD TV is very nice, and they have the Football Package. For $47, this hotel would be tough to beat. Rack rate online is listed at $120 for both room types (2 doubles and 1 king are the only offerings. All suite style with pull out couches and 42" TVs in every room). Location is just off the expressway to the airport, our room has a view of the back of PepBoys strip mall area, other side of hotel views the interstate. We're not here for the view though. There is a bit of new carpet smell throughout the hotel, so those sensitive are forewarned. My wife is pretty sensitive to things and pregnant, but it didn't bother her as much as she thought it might. Good luck all...

Have tickets to a show downtown saturday night, and have the William Penn for that (see previous post)... Since I'm going to be arriving in Pittsburgh late friday if I chose to drive up friday, and didn't really need to be dealing with going downtown yet, experimented a bit. First bid $40, downtown 3* -- rejected Added University Center 3* -- rejected Added Pgh north, lowered bid to $30 -- rejected raised bid to $32, added Greentree (saw someone get the Radisson for $32 and we've gottent that before at $40, like it, so...) -- rejected Added Pgh airport, selected 2.5* (and held my breath they wouldn't upgrade me to the 4Points Sheraton 3*) -- successful. I enjoy the Sheraton 4 Points at the airport too, but at a half star lower, I prefer the Courtyard for easy in/easy out... and it has an indoor pool whereas the 4 Points is outdoor and won't open til memorial day. Thought about just extending my bid on the William Penn to Friday, but that extra $30 saved will by us a nice dinner out in the Robinson Mall area... Courtyard By Marriott Pittsburgh Airport Check-In Date: Friday, March 30, 2007 Check-Out Date: Saturday, March 31, 2007 Pittsburgh Airport (PIT) 450 Cherrington Parkway Coraopolis, Pennsylvania 15108 412-264-5000 Check-In Date: Fri, Mar 30, 2007 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sat, Mar 31, 2007 Check-Out Time: 01:00 PM Your Offer Price: $35.00 Extend Your Stay Subtotal: $35.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $12.18 Total Charges*: $47.18

Looks like the William Penn is snagging all the $60 bids... "Net-savy" best rates on the hotel website are $170 all inclusive, so $76 isn't too shabby... I just started at $60, based on the other successful bidders... Check-In Date: Saturday, March 31, 2007 Check-Out Date: Sunday, April 1, 2007 Priceline Hotel Request Number: 424-926-911-68 Priceline Customer Service Number: 1-800-657-9168 Hotel Name: Omni William Penn Hotel 530 William Penn Place Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219 412-281-7100 Your Offer Price: $60.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $60.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $16.10 Total Charges*: $76.10

Failed at getting Lakeview in Morgantown again for an indoor pool, so again went up the road to Uniontown. Very pleased to get the Holiday Inn again and not the Fairfield, as we had both our boys with up. The pool was up and running this trip up, and it's a great hotel for family weekends. Although the pool was QUITE full of kids most of the day. This is not a hotel for people wanting a peaceful time away from people... We had a nice time at Creation Station downtown watching the boys paint clay pottery, and then to Laurel Caverns for a cave trip. Uniontown is a nice place for a family weekend, and the HI is a great home base. We repeated this with my wifes mom's account for saturday night, and she also got a room here, so apparently HI is quite active on Priceline, but must be pretty full some weekends (we've had some unsuccessful bids for HI here too, and once ended up with the Fairfield Inn (also a nice hotel, just much smaller, including the rooms)... A recommendation for food, skip out on the hotel restaurant (Pricely, average quality) and head down Main St (US 40) into town, go around the block and back to West Main Street (US 40, but one way in town) and go to Meloni's... The 57 year old italian restaurant. Steaks under $15, most dinners $9 to $10, and unbeatable quality at that price point. Across the street is Creation Station, if you have kids with you, let them kill and hour and paint some pottery. They fire it for you and you can pick it up next week, or they'll mail it to you. Uniontown also have the lovely State Theater reopened if you care to check out a nice play or off-Broaday... They have Niel Simon's Lost in Yonkers coming soon. Check-In Date: Saturday, March 24, 2007 Check-Out Date: Sunday, March 25, 2007 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $45.00 Subtotal: $45.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $10.55 Total Charges for Original Reservation*: $55.55 ============== Here is the itinerary for your additional nights reservation. Check-In Date: Friday, March 23, 2007 Check-Out Date: Saturday, March 24, 2007 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $45.00 Subtotal: $45.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $10.55 Total Charges for Add. Night Res.*: $55.55

I first bid 4* MTW at $115. Wanted Times Square as we are attending a show at the Nokia Theater on Friday. Rejected. Rebid at same level, $115, added 3*. Successful. Might have gotten the Paramount a little cheaper, as I see someone got it for $100. That would have been my preference, but I'm pleased, as the Paramount is a block and a half from the Nokia Theater, and I understand it to be a nice hotel. I hope to upgrade to a king for free too, as another poster mentioned. Will post back on my experience at the hotel next week. Called to confirm reservation and inquire as to parking. Standard size car, valet, with no in and out priviledges (I think think it's $10 per in/out) was $50, $60 for large car. My Toyota Solara better be a standard size/small car or they will get an earful! :) Cheers, Rich Check-In Date: Friday, March 2, 2007 Check-Out Date: Sunday, March 4, 2007 Priceline Hotel Request Number: 420-284-931-12 Priceline Customer Service Number: 1-800-657-9168 Hotel Name: Paramount Hotel New York 235 West 46th Street New York, New York 10036 212-764-5500 Summary of Charges Billing Date: February 25, 2007 Your Offer Price: $115.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $230.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $47.93 Total Charges*: $277.93

Again my attempts at 3* in Morgantown, WV to get a pool failed, at up to $55 bids. So I went to Uniontown. Over several days, had attempts at $45 and $50 for 2* fail. Tried again at $55 and was successful. Although I had hoped to get the Holiday Inn for the indoor courtyard "Holidome," I got the much smaller Fairfield Inn instead. I guess HI is wanting more money now that the pool is actually working. Anyway, the Fairfield is nice, the rooms are a bit smaller than the HI, but it is a fairly new property and the pool and spa were very nice, and the hotel is sparkling clean. The $66 with taxes and fees is just a hair under the regular discount rates that can be obtained without Priceline, which I think was about $75, but factor in tax savings and it was probably a bit more savings. Fairfield Inn Uniontown Check-In Date: Saturday, February 17, 2007 Check-Out Date: Sunday, February 18, 2007 Uniontown 283 Mc Clelland Town Road Uniontown, Pennsylvania 15401 724-434-1800 Check-In Date: Sat, Feb 17, 2007 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sun, Feb 18, 2007 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $55.00 Extend Your Stay Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $55.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $11.42 Total Charges*: $66.42

Was coming up to the Morgantown area with the kids this weekend and wanted a hotel with a pool. My attempts at 3* in Morgantown (Waterfront Place or Lakeview) we unsuccessful in what I wanted to bid, so I expanded my search to Uniontown, which is only 20 minutes away, and the only 2* hotels on Priceline in Uniontown are the Holiday Inn and Fairfield Inn. Got the HI, as you now know. Unfortunately, the pool was out of service for these dates. The HI is pretty nice though, and is one of their featured "Holidomes" with an indoor courtyard and play area. So the kids got to run around, play frisbee and use remote control cars, and play ping pong and pool, they just couldn't get wet. It was a rather nice time, being in the indoor courtyard on a 10 degree snowy weekend. And letting the kids run wild with other kids while my wife and I had some private time in the room just off the courtyard. Holiday Inn Uniontown Check-In Date: Friday, February 2, 2007 Check-Out Date: Sunday, February 4, 2007 Uniontown 700 W Main St Uniontown, Pennsylvania 15401 724-437-2816 See Hotel Website View Map and Directions Check-In Date: Fri, Feb 2, 2007 Check-In Time: After 03:00 AM Check-Out Date: Sun, Feb 4, 2007 Check-Out Time: 11:00 AM Your Offer Price: $45.00 Extend Your Stay Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $90.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $14.48 Total Charges*: $104.48

First bid Greentree, $40 bid, 3* (trying for Radisson based on previous success) -- bid failed Second bid, added Airport to Greentree, so Airport and Greentree, 3* still, took bid down to $30 -- bid failed. (I always go low on airport bids) So, knowing that the Courtyard airport was 2.5 star, added 2.5*, bid $35 (I've gotten the Courtyard Marriot MANY times with the same $35 bid). Success... We are most pleased.. We've been getting the Sheraton 4 Points a lot for $30 bids... We like the Courtyard better. It has better access, a small but nice indoor pool and sauna (4 points is outside, and will be closing this weeked, thus in 2 weeks, no pool at the Sheraton). The Courtyard always accomadates our bedding requests as well. I don't know how the star system works (as in why 4 Points is a 3 and Courtyard is 2.5), but I think the Courtyard is a better hotel. For business or family travel. Sheraton 4 points did add high speed internet recently, which it never had before, while Courtyard has always had it. I imagine 4 points gets a 3 star because it has a hotel and bar, which is the only thing 4 points has that courtyard lacks. 4 Points did recently add very nice bedding, but the Courtyard has good beds as well. But to sum it up, I think I've gotten the Courtyard Marriot airport EVERY TIME I've bid $35 at 2.5* for the airport. Courtyard By Marriott Pittsburgh Airport 2

Needed a second room... $48 bid failed. Waited and bid again, $50 bid accepted (~$63 with tax and fees). Decent price with lakeview being in their golf and busy season. Couldn't upgrade to king suite (much bigger room) as we have in the past for $10 because there is a wedding party or something in the hotel and the place seems PACKED. Surprised we even got rooms here off priceline because from the zoo checking in, I overheard that the hotel is pretty much full. I guess lakeview probably keeps a certain number of rooms on priceline to make sure they stay active on priceline, because they rely on priceline a lot for off-season business when the summer season ends out here. We always enjoy our stay here. Nice pools. Older property but updated many times. The new main restaurant overhaul looks attractive enough. Legends is still a good sports bar.

Two days ago bid $45, 3*. Bid failed. Offered to let me rebid for $13 more, refused that offer. Gave no options for changing bids to anything other than Morgantown, or lesser star ratings. Priceline used to let you add Fairmont or other areas close to Morgantown. That option seems to have been eliminated. Since I wanted either Lakeview or Waterfront Place (The former Radisson), and those are the only 3* hotels in Morgantown, I decided to wait a few days. Today I bid $50, first bid, accepted... Came to a few cents under $63 with taxes and priceline fees. Not bad for July at Lakeview. It's the heart of golfing season, so I wasn't sure if I would get in Lakeview for this price. I was about to just book the Super 8 for $60+tax, etc. I have a connection there for queen business suites. But we are more than happy with Lakeview (though Waterfront would have been nicer!) Lakeview was in the middle of a million dollar restaurant (the former "Reflections" was being drastically changed) so it will be nice to see the end result now that (hopefully) the construction has finished.

This room was for my sister. She was trying to get the same hotel I got. She bid $35 on Pittsburgh Airport, and was rejected. She added Pittsburgh downtown, and bid again at $40 and was successful getting the Courtyard Inn and Suites. I wasn't with her. I think the reason she got Country instead of Courtyard was she didn't downgrade the hotel to 2.5 stars... I think Country is 3* while Courtyard Marriot gets a 2.5*. As an interesting side note, she originally bid the Pittsburgh Greentree area, $40, and used 2*. She got the Extended Stay Suites. Crisi and I had stayed there and weren't impressed. My sister called, since she is going to be travelling with my mom and her two kids, she was trying to get 2 beds. Extended stay has very limited bed choices, so she could only get one queen. She called priceline, explained the situation to her, they verified that Extended Stay has very limited bedding options, so they CANCELLED HER BID! I had never heard of that happening before. The girl at PL told her that in VERY limited circumstances they are allowed to cancel the stay. So she tried again, in the Airport area per my suggestion, and the above resulted. I am unfamiliar with Country, but will check it out tomorrow. The website reports internet access, outdoor heated pool, etc.

I bid on 6-21-06... My first bid was for 3* only, $30, Pgh airport. Was trying for the Holiday Inn... No dice. Added Pittsburgh Downtown area, (knowing I wasn't going to get a downtown Pgh hotel for this bid, but more than happy to stay downtown if a hotel took $35!) and I added 2.5 stars and upped bid to $35. Success. This is the fourth or fifth time I've gotten the PIT airport courtyard for exactly a $35 bid. I'm pleased, as it's a nice property. It's not quite as nice as Sheraton Four Points (mostly because 4 Points now has sweet pillow top beds) or the Pittsburgh Holiday Inn, because those hotels have recently had million dollar renovations. But I like it better in some ways because you can park a lot closer to your room, and it still has a nice small indoor pool, gym, and hot tub... It really should be the equivalent of a 3*, but probably isn't because the restaurant is breakfast bar only. So to sum it up, 3 star bid, $30, rejected. 2.5 and 3 stars checked, $35 bid, successful.

I first bid on one night, early in the week. $30 first bid accepted for 5-20-06 SHORT SUMMARY: Nicely furnished, comfy beds, FREE Wifi in rooms, shower not impressive, nice restaurant and bar, free parking and airport shuttle, updated and modern. I have been here before, so had no problems, but if you're a first timer at the 4 Points, it is highly visible from the highway (22/30), but somewhat more difficult to find. I come off the Montour Run exit and take the second right up the hill past the Marriot, up to Industry Drive, then winding down Industry Drive until you see the SMALL but lighted Four Points sign. It's kinda buried down in the hill above the highway, and deep into a business park with no other hotels or stores around. It's surrounded by corporate headquarters type office buildings. Once you know where it is, it is fairly easy to get in and out of. The long version: While on the road we decided to drive all the way to Pgh friday night, so I called my friend and had him get on Priceline friday night around 11pm, and was successful in getting, thankfully, the same hotel, for the same bid. So we got the Four Points for both nights for a total of $82 and some change. Very good deal. The hotel is a little nicer than the last time I was here. They are in the middle of some significant renovation, and they have added free wireless WIFI internet as a feature, which I am using right now waiting for the kids to shower. We were given a king bed room per our request, and booked into the same room for both nights. The only complaint I have is the shower leaves a little to be desired.... The shower head isn't great, and they made the bathrooms look prettier, but there's no shelf or ledge in the shower to put anything on. And I'm 6'4" and the showers are designed for people 5'2". I had to crouch significantly to wash my hair. Other than my shower complaints, very nice hotel deserving of a three star. The bar and lounge are nice, comfy and upscale. The restaurant has a good menu and high quality food, but very traditional hotel food (steaks, ribs, soups, etc.). They just redid the bathrooms with some marble and tile. Conservative but nice. Decent furniture. VERY COMFORTABLE king bed. They have apparently signed with some good bed manufacturer, because they have a little flyer in the rooms offering to sell people any size bed they want, conceivably out of the hotel storerooms I suppose. They have a small desk, 26" Zenith TVs in a fairly nice amoire/combo dresser, our king suite has a nice office chair with the desk and a nice armchair and ottoman, with a sitting bench as well. There is a pool, but it is outdoors and only open from memorial to labor day, so we couldn't partake in any swimming. It is a nice pool though, and is heated. It's surrounded by the rear parking lot though, so simply a utilitarian pool for swimming some laps, and not conducive to casual atmosphere lounging. All told, I would have rather had the Airport Holiday Inn for my $30 bid, which I was used to getting about every time, but we have enjoyed our stay at the Four Points.

My sister-in-law got the Marriot for 2 nights off Hotwire, for the Airport 3* hotel listed at $54. Came to $67.36 after taxes and fees. We got a much better deal for the same nights on priceline, getting the Four Points Sheraton for $41 all inclusive, per night. See my priceline win for these dates.

Looking for any information from folks that have bid on Ireland or UK airfare. Cheaptickets.com scouting looks like my best deal for my dates of travel in October comes out to $950 total for two. That's not bad, but I plan on trying to improve on that through some priceline bidding next week. Has anyone been very successful on Priceline off Cheaptickets.com prices flying across the pond? If so, when and where did you bid and what was your bid and destination? Aer Lingus will be the carrier out of Boston or JFK, that much I know. The only variability in price I see depends on which carrier I take from Pgh to Boston or NYC. If there isn't anyone on here that has done it, check back, as I will be and I'll let you know! I'm hoping I can shave a few hundred off that with priceline, but I have to admit that less than $500 per person included still isn't bad to Ireland, as my friends did it and paid $900 each. Of course they paid somebodys regular rate knowing them, and also travelled in June when it's a little warmer on the Emerald Isle. Ireland airfare tends to vary with the mean temperature there too (which, of course, directly affects the number or tourists). So, anyone with Ireland experience out there?

We had the same experience with Courtyard Marriot at the Pittsburgh Airport. We will always call ahead and they will book us into a king room right when we call. Once we showed up and they had sold out all the king suites, but had just put us back in the last available room, which was a handicapped king room that ended up being HUGE with a huge bathroom. Apparently if they are booked, they don't have to keep a handicapped room available. They just have to keep one available until they are sold out. The ADA apparently doesn't guarantee you a room in sold out hotels, it just guarantees you an ADA accessible hotel if they have room available. Which makes business sense because I'm told the ADA accessible rooms really don't get that much use year round, and most handicapped travellers have their plans laid out before they travel.

I posted my thoughts and experiences on family travel under the 3 adults topic in this forum a little newer (Feb 06) than this post. I have also gotten lucky and gotten a "suite" upgrade for as little as $10. You can see my other post in the 3 adults topic for more from me, but the biggest tip is to simply call the hotel and ask them what their policies are generally, then sometimes you luck into just getting a good deal depending on the mood and what leeway or authority the person you check in with has. We have had no significant problems travelling with kids though, and using priceline and hotwire to do so. Several Radissons have let us get adjoining rooms as well, when my brother and his girlfriend have travelled with us and her young girl. It's very variable between hotels though, and sometimes just depends on what's available when you check in.

Oh, I forgot to mention, we often have called the hotel the day or the day before travel to verify what kind of beds were available. Often, even with Priceline rooms, I've asked nicely and been locked into my choice of beds (usually king) by the staff. Often with a lot of hotels the "default" room can even be two double beds. You can often see the choices offered on the hotels web site to scout out what's available, and being educated on what they have to begin with never hurts when you're talking to the hotel staff either. I travel for business occassional, as just a couple sometimes, and sometimes as a family (2+2 kids+ 1 or 2 larger dogs), so my room needs vary drastically with what kind of travel I am on, and whether I am there for city activity or vacation or outdoors adventures. We do all of those with all combinations and not of dogs, kids, or just as a couple. So, I have gone as far as calling weeks before, when I have won the bid, to ask if it's possible to get this or that bed choice with a priceline win. Usually the staff tells us we can have a queen or a king, and more often than not, the choice is between two doubles or a queen/king. The only time we have EVER paid for an upgrade was a resort, that charged us $10 more to upgrade to a king because they were only available in suites, which turned out to be MUCH nicer huge rooms, in that particular hotel than their run of the mill queen and double rooms. If that's the case, you may WANT to spend a few extra bucks if you're going to get a suite or a big room upgrade. Depends on what you're there for and how long I guess. If I'm just going to be there to sleep, I'm not as interested in room size. Cheers.

I know this link is a few months stale, and may no longer be applicable to the folks who were travelling to NYC. But, if you want to assure you will have enough beds without having a surcharge, a suggestion is to bring a decent single or double height air matress with you. We often do this when travelling with the kids, so we can get a king sized bed. Of course we carry a comforter and sheets with the air matress. It all depends, I guess, on how much you want to carry with you and the space you have, and your method of travel (air or personal vehicle). But if you're driving into NYC, and the room is big enough, you might consider the air matress solution. The room photos on most hotels websites will usually give you a pretty good idea of what is possible. We have also, when we haven't had air matresses, sometimes requested a cot. In that case, sometimes they hotel staff will just get you one or comp you one, depending on their mood, but we have also been charged $5 and $10 to get a cot. I'm not crazy about air matresses. But we have a few higher end air matresses that are more comfortable than some hotel beds. We often carry it even when travelling alone, if we end up in hotels that don't have big enough beds, or beds that just aren't that good. Crisi loves our double high queen, I can deal with it. It has a built in pump. We grab it out of the bag, flop it out, and plug it in. It pumps up with a finger on a button for about 90 seconds as we figure out what channels the tv gets, and it's ready to go. We pull the big valves to deflate it before our showers or a bit before we check out, and by the time we're ready to go it's completely deflated and rolls up easy. It has been more comfortable than some beds I've had in better hotels though. Across the board, since I broached the topic, I prefer Radisson and Hyatt beds. They bigger nicer chains are getting more competitive on bedding finally, and we are seeing across the board better beds as the bed "competitions" heat up in the nicer franchise hotels.

The Radisson is a nice hotel, and it's dog friendly, with one of the cool indoor/outdoor pools that, in the summer, you can swim inside out and vice versa. Decent work out area, dry sauna, and locker rooms with showers too. I don't recommend paying for their internet service though, it's not that good and $9.95 a day. If you need to use the net go down to the lounge and use the free plug in connection below the HD tvs. It's nice to know the Radisson is still in play. I bid $40 for a 3 star in greentree for 2 nights back over Christmas and ended up with the Holiday Inn right next door, and was disappointed. I had always gotten the Radisson over about 12 nights total for a $40 Greentree bid. My sister had gotten the HI for $35 before, which is why I always bid $40. The HI isn't bad, but it's nowhere near the quality of the Radisson in the winter, when the outdoor pool is unavailable. The HI and the Radisson Greentree are both DOG FRIENDLY though, for those who need to know. I'll be sure to try Greentree again to get the Radisson, thanks for the post!