Romelle

Venice Hotwire hotels - July 11-14, 2 people #1 San Marco - Dorsoduro 3 1/2* $99 80% recommended FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Airport shuttle, Smoke-free rooms, Restaurant(s), Internet access #2 San Polo - Santa Croce 3* $99 90% recommended FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Smoke-free rooms, Internet access #3 San Polo - Santa Croce 3* $109 90% recommended FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Internet access #4 Cannaregio 4* $115 90% recommended FULL AMENITIES: Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access I'm planning to take a 16-year-old grandson to Italy this summer. I would really appreciate some identification help. It looks like Hotwire has renamed and probably re-drawn boundaries for Venice. Thank you!

I hope that in addition to your complaint directly to HOTWIRE you also filled out their actual review? That process can help change Hotwire's ratings and give future bidders a warning as to what they may encounter.

Again, as a member not a board official, I can really recommend that MAPS and HOTELS.com tool. Thereuare put links in several of his posts and it also can be accessed via "Research Tools" up in the header. When one puts in a central point (city name or even address), a radius (so many miles out) and dates, it returns a map marked with all hotels within that radius. Then one can filter by star level, price and other things. By clicking on a specific hotel, lots more detail is supplied. One of my favorites is "Walk Score" which rates a hotel based on being able to walk to interesting and good things - restaurants, coffee shops, etc. It does take a little fiddling to get comfortable with it, but I'm sure you will purely love it then.

I'm a member, not a board official, but I can personally vouch for the fact that one can get as-yet-unreported hotels. It has happened to me quite a few times over the years. Pleasant surprises, but surprises nonetheless. Those lists are only as good as member reporting. In fact, if you happen to have details on any of your previous "seasoned veteran" Priceline wins .... ? Every scrap of info is appreciated by the next bidders. Romelle

FYI - you now can bid every 2 hours. And you could work two streams at once every 2 hours, the 2* and the 2.5*, if you started with the 2.5*. For your second bid, you can do the 2*, lowering the dollar amount appropriately. A hypothetical example: Hour 0 2.5* - $50 2* - $40 Hour 2 2.5* - $55 2* - $45 Etc. Just make sure you start a full 2 hours from the LAST thing you did. I drink wine too. Earned the hard way sometimes. Romelle

Your bidding strategy for a London 5* will involve the use of "free rebid" zones. Are you familiar with/comfortable with the concept? There currently are 14 free rebid zones available for London 5* bidding. It is a good idea to post back here the list you believe is right, and somebody will double check them for you. Romelle

I'm a long time member, not a board official, but I hope you reconsider going elsewhere. You mentioned "last person got" in your first post. No, that is not a good predictor of what you might get. Just something Hotwire posts that is best ignored. HOWEVER, if you go through that EASY VIEW TAB on Biddinghelper and pick up the full amenities, the "educated guess" you get from the experts here is an excellent predictor of what you might get. The policy about having people close out prior requests with fuller information is very firm for good reasons. The information provided by the users of PRICELINE EXPRESS and HOTWIRE is part of the data base that allows the above "educated guesses" to be so accurate. It also goes into the Calendar of Wins and provides information for other bidders. And even if one didn't go through those venues, the end of the story can be helpful for other members here. I once struggled with Key West bidding for a long time. Very expensive dates. Eventually gave up and stumbled upon a rather odd property after an extensive search elsewhere on the web. I posted that property to save the next person here from my web search. Posting both the goods and bads about the property so they wouldn't have to take the risk I had taken. If you are having trouble using one of the tools, you'll find the moderators here extremely patient with talking you through the process. Some of the tools are admittedly a little tricky, but that is because they are so powerful when you get the hang of them. Nice - wonderful place for a visit. Don't miss the very colorful local farmer's market, for both strolling and eating. And if you want to go further afield, public buses run all along the boardwalk and in either direction take you to a number of small towns/cities. It has been a while since I was there, but the fare was just one Euro. Trains are good also, with Monaco being just a nice scenic ride away. When you first posted, I looked at the Nice map to see where the hotels were situated. The single Priceline zone is admittedly long, but it is spread all along the water and for most hotels one would just have a nice stroll along the promenade. I did see a Novotel up the hill that would be a possibility though. HOTWIRE has 4 separate zones that would let you have a little more control over where you landed. Romelle

With a whole eight nights, I personally would be inclined to try a couple different hotels in the area. They can be quite different and provide different experiences. Also, you could check the rates out across the different days and opt for a more fancy one when rates were lower, stepping back to more of a budget one on the more expensive days. Just to give you an example, from Hotwire the lowest priced 5* by individual nights: 3 - $396 (Friday) 4 - $396 (Saturday) 5 - $194 6 - $317 7 - $255 8 - $205 9 - $205 10 - $235 The above does suggest skipping the 5*s at least the 1st two nights, and maybe the first four. You can play the same game at the 4.5, 4* and lower levels, and also with Priceline Express. It just depends upon your budget, taste, and inclinations. I understand those internal head fights. FYI - I'm a member, not a board official.

Yes, the costs are per room, rather than per person. Rates are particularly date-specific in Las Vegas. Just to give you a benchmark, I used QuickQuote (above left) for your dates. In Hotwire, for a South Strip 4* (the area in which Mandalay Bay is), there are three choices - $93, $91, and $84. Of course one has to add in the Hotwire fees and taxes, plus resort fees at the hotel. With a tighter budget, there also is a 3.5* at $59. "Near by" Mandalay is subjective, but the South Strip isn't a particularly large zone, so one can't get REALLY far away from anything in it. It is a little over a mile in one direction, and less than that in the other. I didn't look at Priceline Express, but there undoubtedly are offers there also. If you look over the Hotwire and Priceline Express possibilities and see something you like, you can post back with the details - date, rate, area, and amenities. The experts here can give you an educated guess as to what hotel you might get. With Priceline bidding, you have to accept anything in the zone at or above the star level you bid. At the moment there are 6 Priceline zones that don't have 4* or higher bidding. If you want to try bidding the zone you want, these are available for giving you additional bids. As a general rule, one can do a little better with bidding, but one gives up the educated guess as to what you'll be getting (Priceline Express and Hotwire).

Have you looked at what is available via Hotwire and Priceline Express? Those deals show the amenities, and Parking could be one of them. An easy way to reach both of them is via QuickQuote up in the left hand corner. Lots of options show up on Hotwire. You can select on "Free Parking" amenity to thin them down. Romelle

One can only extend a bid as many nights as one originally bid. Assuming the extension if offered, if you only bid the Thursday you can't extend to the Friday and the Saturday, but just to the Friday. Sorry to be the "bearer of bad tidings".

The beauty of a country like Austria is that lower rated hotels are indeed charming, and wonderfully clean. Good luck.

As you go through the bidding process, Priceline gives you statistics on the probable layovers. I started through on MSP(Minneapolis-St.Paul)-MAD (Madrid) and got this: "75% of international connections are 3 hours or less depending on the best available routing." You may get some different numbers with your origin and destination, but this will give you the general idea. You get this information before the point of placing a bid. Romelle

What dates are you using? Rates are very date specific. Have you tried using the QuickQuote feature up in the left hand corner? It will show you the rates via Hotwire and Priceline Express for your dates. You'll be able to see if what you are bidding is in the ballpark. Also, in "Research Tools" is "Maps and Hotels". If you haven't tried it yet, I hope you do. You can search using something like the train station as a central point and see what hotels are going for on your dates. You can select on star levels, rate range and lots of other things. It is definitely worth the climb up the earning curve. Romelle

The hotel web site has shuttle rates at 5 Euro - surprisingly reasonable.

PRICELINE has now divided the MUC airport into two separate zones : Munich Airport Munich Airport-Shuttle Access I tried Priceline bidding first, using both airport zones, at $10 and $5 less than the PE offer, but that didn't work. So I opted for the PRICELINE EXPRESS $61 4* offer in the Munich Airport-Shuttle Access zone. The amenities shown were: Pets Allowed Business Center Restaurant Free Internet Indoor or Outdoor Pool Fitness Center (Plus the shuttle service implied by "Shuttle Access"in the zone name. The hotel web site says there is a fee for shuttle service, but some research on www.rome2rio.com shows a bus stop 89' from the hotel and line #512 running regularly to/from the airport. I saved $20 over the direct purchase rate on PRICELINE. Not huge, but satisfying. I'm happy with the deal, and pleased to be offering a new hotel for the Hotel Lists. i'll review the hotel after the trip. Romelle

There is no danger in also using zones having a maximum bidding availability of 3 1/2*, as long as you correctly check which ones are good just before you bid. Checking on Priceline. I count 15, the 7 with 3* and lower availability plus an additional 8 with 3 1/2* and lower availability. If priceline doesn't show bidding availability, there won't be an "unreported or new hotel" at that star level. However, if I'm bidding a sequence that takes me quite a while to do, I sometimes open a second screen on my computer and re-check those rebid zones maybe halfway though the sequence just to be extra cautious. Romelle PS - for this different stay, you will want to open a new thread and keep it separate from your longer stay above.

The messages one gets from Priceline seem to be pretty random. Don't read any significance into either of the two you got. I've had the next higher bid accepted after seeing either of them appear. And you can now bid ever 2 hours, rather than 24. Romelle

Bidding is free, so just start lower than you think could possibly be successful. The only loss is wasting a little time. Checking PRICELINE EXPRESS and HOTWIRE can give you an idea of the higher end of the range. You likely can do a little better via bidding, so something below that - 15%? Thereuare suggested your original $150-$200 is a stretch, so $150 could also be a good point to start. Romelle PS - I'm a member, not a board official.

In the Hotel Lists (above) select Hotwire. Then Other Countries. The list is organized by city. On a quick scan I saw Beijing and Xian, although there might have been more. Or just search on the specific city name to see all posts for it. Winning Bids (above), and then select Hotels and Hotwire can work for specific states, but is unruly in this case because you get all non-US. Romelle

You can bid on PRICELINE every 2 hours now.

I'll do the easy question. Via bidding on PRICELINE you have to be willing to accept any hotel within the zone boundaries of the zone or zones you are bidding, at the star level you are bidding or higher (an upgrade). You can't count on your bidding to get you an specific hotel. Besides the hotels members have posted as receiving, it is always possible to get a completely different one (speaking from several experiences). Via Priceline Express, with the help of the board experts identification, you have a good chance of getting a specific hotel, but even that isn't for sure (again, speaking from experience). Some of the identifications are more confident than others, but none are 100% guarantees. I'm a member, not a board official. Just thought I'd help a bit. Romelle

You can't depend on that "...last person got..." in the Hotwire ads. Have you looked at posted results from other members on this site? Try from the heading: Calendar of Wins (where you can check your dates, but also others) Hotel Lists (list of all reported hotels) Winning bids (with discussion about the bidding) And of course there is always the possibility of getting a hotel as yet not reported. Or one from a different star level that just had its rating changed. Or one that was in a different zone, but the zone boundaries just got changed. Or ....? There aren't any guarantees, but the educated guess here has the best probability of being right. Romelle

You can use Winning Bids and/or Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins up in the header to see recent reported results. Romelle

If you look at the Priceline Express and Hotwire rates, you can get a good idea as to the point where bidding might be successful. For that matter, if your bidding gets to that level without success, you might consider just taking one of those deals. Lowball bids do occasionally work, and I also always explore the area first. The exercise is free. I'll let thereuare respond to the safety question (he is a native NYer), but you do need to pose it in using the actual zone names. The numbers can change rather frequently, and the answer would be meaningless to someone reading at a later date. Romelle FYI - I'm a member, not a board official.