GM Mike

Eduardo, One major point is that a Motel 6 or almost any of the places you have coupons for are definitely 1* properties. The quality will vary WIDELY from location to location in the same chain. Of all the chains you mentioned, the only one I've had good luck with is Red Roof Inns, and still, those are hit or miss. For the other chains I've heard a lot of negative reviews. There is generally a noticable quality difference moving up to 2*, especially if it's something like a La Quinta or a Baymont. You should consider a fourth option: using priceline. With priceline, you'll bid a dollar amount + taxes and fees (roughly the same fees as hotwire) for a specific quality level. There's no way to know exactly which hotel you'll get. But for example, the La Quinta San Antonio (Medical Center or Northeast zones) has repeatedly been won for $27. Even with the taxes and fees, that would probably fit in your budget! It's almost certainly going to be nicer than your other choices. The best deals on priceline hotels are often near an airport. For example, the 3* Holiday Inn at the San Antonio airport has been won for $40 recently. Priceline also often offers 2.5* bidding, for places like an Amerisuites or lower level Holiday Inn. Some of these places will give you a free breakfast. Most 2* places offer free breakfast. You really should consider how much you're REALLY willing to spend, how important knowing EXACTLY what you'll be getting is, and what sort of location you want. When you know more, and have a more detailed plan, the people on this board can provide more specific advice for you. (And as for your other question -- travel guides: most of us use tripadvisor.com and also the hotel reviews posted on this website. Each review is a person's individual opinion, so you have to use common sense to know who is being balanced and who may be a little nutty.)

This is a 2.5* in the East bidding zone. It's no better than ok. Our room was a fairly big interior first floor room with a king bed. My girlfriend commented that it smelled like an "old lady" in the room -- musty and kind of... sweaty? But the room had a full size sliding glass door to the interior courtyard and aired out quickly. The carpet was worn and the couch was stained but everything had clealry been vacuumed and cleaned. It was just... old. The staff were friendly and helpful, and I got the feeling that if we wanted to try a different room they would have been fine with it. I really had the sense, though, that this was one of the better rooms. There was free wireless (fairly low signal strength but usable). The breakfast buffet had low quality scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits, french toast, fruit. It was decent but not overwhelming. Hotel was generally quiet. We arrived around 10pm and the parking lot was mostly empty. Went out to dinner, came back around midnight, and it was 2/3 full. They seem to get a lot of people from the highway. It's literally the first three right turns from the Kansas Turnpike toll booth into the parking lot, which is perhaps the best feature they offer. We got the room for $32 and rack rate on their website was $59. It was worth $32, and probably worth $59, but not much more than that.

This hotel features Tempurpedic mattresses... as seen on TV... :)

While I think everyone would agree that $77 is a fantastic price (and congratulations), you probably could have gotten it even cheaper. Generally priceline will sell the room to you for less than the "counteroffer" amount. From the bidding history posted here, you probably could have gotten it at $70. If I'm counting right, for 4* Baltimore Inner Harbor, you have 11 "free rebids". You could have increased your bid $1 or $2 at a time to get a better price. You might find this article on FREE REBIDS helpful. Regardless, you got a fantastic deal. Congratulations! (Wow, I sound like a moderator. I'm not! But I think thereuare would tell you the same thing. :) )

Bid $30 for 2* on 1/1/06 and was rejected. We used the $49 reservation at the Baymont. Nice hotel. Worth it to us than to try to bid more and get something not so nice without much discount.

Tried again on 12/31/05, up to $35 in 2*, was rejected. Ended up using a reservation at a hotel about an hour farther into California I forgot to cancel! :) Oops... But it ended up working out fine. Had to spend $65 but that's not outrageous.

Hey thereuare, what do you think of splitting out the New York bids into NYC and upstate, kind of like in California? I was just browsing through for my own curiosity for what hotels upstate were going for, but the vast majority of info was for the city. Just a thought. Thanks for all you do!

I believe it was a Best Western. I stayed there once years ago. It was fine. Not phenomenal but decent.

Posted on Tripadvisor, and I can post a review here too if you want. It was, as expected, very "eh". The room was clean but really worn down. The breakfast was ok but not great. It was a place to sleep for the night. Just ok. Of our entire trip, this was the worst hotel, so I think we lucked out pretty well, since this wasn't so bad.

We have a solution! We worked out a deal with the front desk at the Omni this morning to stay one more night at a rate between our priceline rate last night and the rack rate. It's more than we wanted to spend but we absolutely love this hotel and don't want to move. :) If you need a room in downtown Austin tonight, the Omni still has a few available. It'll cost you, tho. But maaaaaan is it ever worth it. I think this might be the best hotel in which I've ever stayed. Consider this thread closed.

Tried bidding again just now: 4* $55/60/70/73/75/80/90 3* $75/80 2.5* $75/80 No luck. We have a Cendant hotel outside of downtown on a free night from a best rates guarantee claim. We're going to check it out today and if we don't like it consider bidding 2* or 1* Downtown tonight.

This is a continuation of this earlier post -- I was looking for 12/30/05-1/1/06 and split the bid to get the first night at the Omni. I'm having no luck getting the second night. This morning's bidding history: 4* $45/$50/$55/$62/$66/$70 using free rebids (that's our max price right now) then 3* $50/$60 then 2.5* $55/$65 Nothing accepted, no counteroffers. The cheapest thing downtown is the Super 8 for $90. I've got a backup reservation there, but that's way way way more than we want to spend on a Super 8! We might stay at an airport hotel or with a friend, tho we'd REALLY like to be downtown. Hotwire has a 3* (probably the Holiday Inn - Town Lake) available right now at $95. There is also a 4* (probably the Hotel or maybe the Omni), and just now a 4.5* (probably the Intercontinental) was added. What I'm hoping is inventory will open up as we get closer and I'll follow a similar bidding pattern on the 30th. And maybe even get the Omni, since it is probably on Hotwire right now.

Let's give some closure to this thread! Signed on just now, first bid of $42 accepted for 2.5* Downtown: Holiday Inn Harbor View Downtown San Diego & Harbor Island 1617 First Avenue San Diego, California 92101 619-239-9600 Check-In Date: Wed, Jan 4, 2006 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Thu, Jan 5, 2006 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $42.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $42.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $12.01 Total Charges: $54.01 This makes us happy, if only becaue of the free airport shuttle. :) Thanks again for all your help, everyone! thereuare, would you please change the title of this thread? :)

Here's an update: For the first night, I ended up not using PL/HW and instead booked into the Surfer Beach Hotel at $80. It has mostly good reviews on Tripadvisor, guestrooms were renovated this year, is directly on the beach with balconies, and it delightfully kitchy, which will appeal to the GF. Definitely roughing it a little (no air conditioning???) but it's something she'd really like. Now aiming for 2.5* downtown. Must keep the price of the second night down. Just bid $38 and $40 on 2.5* Downtown + free rebid and didn't get it, so I'll wait 72 hours and try again. Thanks again for all your help everyone!

Bid today 3* $30 and 2* $25. Will wait 72 hours and try again. Backup plan is probably to stay in Phoenix instead.

Want 2.5* Wichita East zone for 12/29/05. Used SavingsBarn.com link. First bid $29 - rejected with counteroffer for $36. Closed browser. Added Wichita Central and rebid at $32 (if we get the 3* there at that price that's fine too) - ACCEPTED! Clubhouse Inn & Suites Wichita Wichita East 515 South Webb Wichita, Kansas 67207 316-684-1111 Check-In Date: Thu, Dec 29, 2005 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Fri, Dec 30, 2005 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $32.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $32.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $11.54 Total Charges: $43.54 Not very excited. Would have rather had the Residence Inn as the Tripadvisor reviews for this place are VERY mixed. Ah well. Just need a place to sleep.

FYI - just bid $25 for 2* Las Cruces and was rejected. Will wait 72 hours and try again, then update this thread. Back up is the Baymont at $49.

Looking for 4* Downtown Austin zone. All bids using SavingsBarn.com link. Bidding for both nights together (12/30-1/1): Bid $41 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $45 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $50 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $53 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $55 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $57 - rejected That's more than I wanted to spend. Closed browser, started again: Split the bid, night of 12/31/05 only: Bid $41 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $45 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $50 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $55 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $59 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $62 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $65 - rejected! Deep sadness. No more rebids available and that's more than we wanted to spend. Closed browser, started again: Let's try the night of 12/30/05 first: Bid $41 - received counteroffer for $53! Closed browser. Added rebid zone, bid $43 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $44 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $45 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $47 - rejected Added rebid zone, bid $49 - ACCEPTED! (finally...) :) Omni Austin Hotel Downtown Downtown Austin 700 San Jacinto Blvd At 8th St Austin, Texas 78701 512-476-3700 Check-In Date: Friday, December 30, 2005 Check-Out Date: Saturday, December 31, 2005 Your Offer Price: $49.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $49.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $14.83 Total Charges: $63.83 I think I'm going to wait my 72 hours and try again for 12/31/05. Stay tuned!

Hmmmm..... bbbb, you make some really good points. That Holiday Inn looks decent, as does the Hilton you mentioned, but the Radisson.... gah. And there's the almost sure thing, but it's just outside what I want to spend. Hrm. Ok, let's pause here. I can't bid until later in the week/next week anyway, until we know the trip is for sure. I'll update again before I bid. THANKS for all the help, guys!

Thank you photomikey, thereuare, and bbbb for advice so far. I've been learning about these areas and hotels for hours now. Here's my thinking: If we bid Coastal, the Islandia looks like a good pick. Their views look to be a $20 upgrade, so it could work for the right price. The problem is, I'm seeing what is likely the Islandia on hotwire for $128 right now. That's not going to work. It's also not been coming up lately on priceline, according to the bids posted. The other hotels reported aren't nearly as interesting. From pictures on their websites and on tripadvisor, the views don't look very interesting and some are quite far from downtown. Then I looked at the Downtown hotels. SOME have interesting views. Some don't. Some are in the middle of the action in downtown, some are by the airport. It's a very mixed bag. At this point, I'm thinking no matter what option we take, we'll be paying for ground transportation. Either into downtown from the coastal area, or to the beach and/or sea world from downtown, or to downtown from an airport hotel. I think, overall, I'd rather bid Downtown for BOTH nights on one bid. If I get the Sheraton, that's not a terrible thing. There's a chance of a decent view, right? And we could do something like airport shuttle then bus into downtown at least in one direction, if we decide to go downtown. The rooms have balconies, which I love. The other hotel choices look good from EITHER a view OR downtown location perspective, tho generally not both. And there's a big bonus to us staying in the same hotel for both nights, based on the timing of when we'll get in and when we'll leave. It just seems easier to "make the best of" the transportation situation using a property in the downtown zone. There is also a chance we may arrive on the 2nd and have 3 nights in San Diego. If so, then I still have the option of bidding one Coastal night, and if it's a dud, we have 2 potentially good nights downtown. The next issue is, Downtown bidding probably doesn't fit within our price range. I was aiming for $60/night including parking. Now that I know more about lodging in San Diego, there's no way that's going to work. But I'd still like to aim for a bid price no higher than $70. That would put us at about $90 since I've seen an average of about $20 for parking in the downtown hotels. That tends to indicate 4* is out, unless we get a free upgrade from priceline. So given that long winded explanation... I'm thinking of a bidding strategy along the lines of: Bid both nights together: Pick Downtown/Harbor Island zone at $60 for 4* and free rebid $65, just to rule out the possibility. Then bid Downtown/Harbor Island 3* at $60 and $65. Then go back and free rebid on 4* to $70, again to rule out the possibility, then use the last free rebid on 3* to $70. I need to wait until at least next week to make sure this trip is really happening, but I should have time to do a second cycle after 72 hours. Failing all of that, as a backup plan, develop a bidding strategy on a 2.5 star. I could live with that, I suppose, if I had to. What are you opinions?

Going to be in San Diego for the nights of 1/3 and 1/4. Here's the itinerary: Arrive by car around 4pm 1/3/06. As the GF loves the ocean, I'd like to aim for a strategy that gets us a nice hotel near the ocean, in a neighborhood that also has some inexpensive nightlife (tavern/pub style), for the night of 1/3/06. If you can think of some other way to incorporate the ocean into the day, and know of a neighborhood with better night life, that's also an option. She's also mentioned wanting to go to Sea World. The next night, 1/4/06, the priority is to be near the airport, preferably with a hotel shuttle, as we will no longer have the car. Price is rather important. We were targeting $60/night including parking. I'd be willing to go up to perhaps $75 for the first night, if it got us something really nice. I'm looking for advice on two levels: What areas (mapped to priceline zones) should I be looking at, and then probably some help with a bidding strategy to get the best bang for the buck. Thanks!

Posting this old win since it doesn't appear in the hotel list. I was trying to get Appleton for the night but, as I recall, there wasn't any priceline inventory at 3* or 2* that night (concert in town) so I took this on one bid in Oshkosh for 2*. Might have been able to get it cheaper but I didn't really have a viable backup plan. Bidding was either day-of or day-before. Congratulations, you got your price of $30 for a 2-star hotel room. Baymont Inn Oshkosh 1950 Omro Road Oshkosh,