borisbear

Bid on the new Westin Arlington Gateway in Ballston, which is almost certainly the only 4* in the Arlington zone. (I live down the street but need a room for one night for visiting family...) Best website price was a non-refundable web special of $144. (Rack rate is about $350) Hotwire showed a 4* in Arlington for $90 (I don't remember the amenities but they were pretty standard ones). So I tried Priceline with just the "Arlington" zone and 4* for $61. It came back with an immediate counteroffer of $79 but wouldn't let me change anything else, only accept $79 or cancel the bid entirely. So I opened another PL window and tried again. Since I was in a bit of a hurry I just tried $72 and it hit. Subtotal: $72.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $17.62 Total Charges: $89.62 Now if I had more time I'd have tried to use the free rebid trick to fine tune it a little more. My guess is the sweet price was probably $68 or $69. This hotel opened back in February, is all non-smoking (as are all Westins now), and is only about 2 1/2 blocks from the metro station in Ballston. It's not as convenient as the Hilton (which is a 3* presumably), but that's only because the Hilton is ON TOP of the metro station. I haven't been inside it yet, but it's supposed to be quite nice. I'll try to post a review afterwards. There's no question this is a deal, even with such high taxes and fees.

So I see noone has posted a review of this hotel in the section, despite it being a frequent Priceline hotel. So OK, I'll start. I've stayed in this hotel probably 20 times over the years--but noone cares what the hotel was like 12 years ago, so I'll focus this based on my current stay. This is a classic Jay Pritzker/John Portman Atrium Hyatt from the 1970s, complete with revolving restaurant on the top, glass elevators, and lots of brass and glass in the 24 story atrium. It's not quite as exotic as the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco, but it's clearly related. It's a huge hotel--it's got about 20 floors of rooms (above all the ballroom floors) and about 50 rooms per floor. So it's no surprise that when they are not hosting a convention they've got a little inventory unsold and released to priceline. The rooms were re-done about 5 years ago, as was most of the hotel public area cosmetics (the restaurants were all re-configured). The rooms are oddly shaped with a dog-leg near the window. There are a few wedge-shaped rooms in the corners that I have had in the past, but the fittings are pretty standard. Beds have a featherbed on them, but are otherwise not overly comfortable. The TV is far away from the bed, on its own little table, not one of those ubiquitous "hotel tv armoires". The bathroom was redone a few years ago with new tile, but the shower is still the old tiled shower. Everything is fine, and clean (and I have a good chambermaid on this stay...). The hotel has only an outdoor pool, on the 6th floor on the top of the ballroom areas (which are themselves atop Polk Street. Parking in this hotel has always been a pain, although now it's even worse because the adjacent garage is all valet (or monthly contract parkers) at $22/night. There are surface lots within a few blocks which are a much cheaper option, by day or night. The hotel is in a convenient location to things on the west side of downtown, but since the blocks are small in Houston, it's an easy walk to the theater district and market square areas for restaurants and other entertainment. (It is farther from the ballpark than the Hilton, though). It's about a 4 block walk down Dallas street to the Light Rail statiion. It's convenient to any of the downtown office buildings as it has its own connection to the Houston Tunnel system. You are certainly not going to go wrong with this hotel, assuming you want to be downtown, and especially if you can get it for under $100 as the regular rates are nominally about $200. The rooms are nothing special, but they are clean and reasonably standard. I would say they are starting to stretch a bit for the 4* priceline rating, especially since the Hilton is much much nicer for the same rating. When I first started staying here this was one of only 3 open hotels in downtown Houston (the Sheraton across the street is still empty and abandoned...), and nothing was open after dark. Downtown's changed a bit since then--there are restaurants and plenty of downtown hotels to choose from.

I have parked on the surface lots many times over the years and have never (yet, knock on wood) had a problem. The lot across the street does take credit cards, so it's relatively easy. If you are willing to walk one block further, the lot on the other side of Milam is only $5 after 5pm until the morning--one of the "fold up the dollar bills and stuff it in the numbered slot" type parking areas. (This is also a good lot for the Residence Inn or the Courtyard) Of course, if you are real cheap, you can park on the street for free after 6pm as long as you move or feed the meter by 7am. Polk street has some metered spaces between Louisiana and Milam where you don't need to feed the meter until 7. There are also a precious few meter spots on Smith (the street on the backside of the hyatt). I agree that the Hilton has a better parking setup and is a much nicer hotel...

WHat a difference a month makes. I have to go to Phoenix next week--tried to game it to stay in the same hotel as last month. 3/8-3/9 Started at $50 (hey, you never know), 3* Downtown only. Rejected $57, 3* Downtown + West Phoenix. Rejected $67, 3* Downtown + Glendale/Peoria+ West Phoenix. Rejected $70 (what I won last month with), 3* Downtown + Glendale/Peoria+West Phoenix + Fountain Hills. Rejected. <grumble> Start again in a new window. $78 3* Downtown and Fountain Hills. Rejected. $86, 3* Downtown, Fountain Hills, and Glendale/Peoria. Rejected. $90 3* Downtown, Fountain Hills, Glendale Peoria, and West Phoenix. Accepted. I wanted to stay downtown, since I have a meeting downtown, and wanted to avoid renting a car. Especially since the new consolidated rental car center is halfway to downtown anyway... Of course, the "Downtown" zone includes some properties that are pretty far away from what I would call downtown Phoenix, so one needs to be careful. This is still a good deal for a downtown hotel like the Hyatt, but it still gets me. Of course, noone could say I didn't earn it smoking the deal out...

Rate Arcana: Just logged on to Hyatt's website. My rate is shown as $53.65 per night, (I paid $55), so it looks like PL is getting $1.35 per night commission/fee on this one on the room. (I didn't overbid because $54 was rejected)

Stayed Here 2/2/06 on a PL stay for $70. Used 1-800 CHECKIN since I was arriving late. When I arrived at the hotel, desk clerk admitted that I was only the third person in several months to use 1800 CHECKIN and that she didn't really know how to check me in. No matter, a quck check with her manager and I was on my way to my room. Other than acknowldging that it was a prepaid reservation, there was no special "Priceline" treatment. Hyatt provides an email address for use in adding your Gold Passport number to reservations. This Hyatt Regency is not as "intensely hyatt" as some of the other ones (Houston, San Francisco, Atlanta), although it does have the revolving restaurant on top. It's quite a nice hotel--actually pretty good room service at 10:30 pm. It's Phoenix so people are pretty friendly, but the hotel staff does make it seem like it's a smaller hotel than it really is, which is a plus. I'd concur with the others regarding the hotel rating and location. I'd stay here again at $70, although there are probably plenty of other hotels in the Phoenix area which could be had for that. One note for 2006: THere is a lot of street construction going on around the hotel which makes it difficult to actually get to the front of the hotel in a car. I came in a cab and he had to go around the block a bit before he found the secret way in.

Houston 3/20-3/24. Started bidding at $45 for 4* in the Downtown zone. Rejected Added "Conroe" at $49. Rejected, counteroffer for $14 more ($63). Declined that and added "East Houston", bid $52. Rejected Added "Humble" and bid $54. Rejected. Added "Cyfair" and bid $55. Accepted. Hotel Name: Hyatt Regency Houston 1200 Louisiana Street Houston, Texas 77002 713-654-1234 Your Offer Price: $55.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 4 Subtotal: $220.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $46.86 Total Charges: $266.86 I once got a $49 rate in this hotel, years ago, back when there was nothing else downtown after dark, staying the week between Christmas and New Years. So, I haven't yet beaten that, but $55 for this hotel is a steal.

Got to see the "actual to hotel" price using the TV folio trick. Here's what PL paid the hotel: Room 59.80 Taxes 10.17 Total 69.97 3 nights ==> 209.91 Here's what I paid PL: Room 68.00 Taxes 14.65 Total 82.65 3 nights ==>247.94 I paid priceline 247.94, so it looks like PL pocketed about $38 for the three nights, or about $12.67 per night. From this there was about $4.50 per night commission/fee embedded in the taxes, and about $8/night profit off of the room rate. Did I overpay? I certainly didn't overpay on the room rate by $8, since I was rejected at $60 and accepted at $68, so maybe the "go" price was $61 or $63. I guess they have commissions and service fees built into the room rate as well as the taxes. My "cheap bone" is getting more calibrated to this stuff every day...

Have stayed at this hotel many times over the past 10 years. This is my first time here on a PL stay. PL calls this a 3* which is accurate, although its nice for a hotel its age. Hotel is an early 1980s "atrium" style hotel in the Hobby hotel zone just to the east of the airport along the gulf freeway. Marriott allows you to go to their website and pull up your PL reservation, and add in your Marriott Rewards number and change the preferences (i.e. change the res to a non-smoking room, etc.). It also reveals the rate to be "Priceline/Worldspan Prepaid" rate, but they block out the actual rate paid. Priceline-specific treatment: Arrived at hotel late, around 10pm. Check in was no different then any other time, except for her mentioning that it was a prepaid rate. I did get a room only on the 3rd floor (I usually prefer higher), but it was 10pm and I don't really have any clout with Marriott anymore. By the way, this hotel has an unusual front desk--they use a couple of individual podiums for the check-in area, like a restaurant, instead of a big front desk registration area. Only place I've ever seen that. The hotel is in good shape. It has a nice indoor pool/hot tub and workout room. The yukky "Damons" restaurant/sports bar has been replaced with something that looks more normally like a hotel restaurant--haven't tried it yet. Room is typical Marriott (foam bed and all!), but in good working order and clean. Internet is a little expensive at $12.95 per day, and like all hotels, there are not enough plugs for all of our modern-day chargers. Parking is free. The entrance to the hotel comes up quickly--it's immediately after the Discount Tire store, and don't miss it, because it's two "texas turns" (under-freeway u-turns) and a long way back around again. Ask for a room on the back side of the hotel--there is definite road noise which carries up from the freeway. In my opinion, this is the nicest traditional hotel around Hobby, with the Hilton second, and a succession of other hotels third. It is much nicer than the courtyard down the street, for example.

Tried bidding rental cars for the first time. Bid compact car at $20. Rejected. Upped it to $25. Rejected. Upped to $30 changed to midsize. Accepted by Budget. Tried to scam my "Fastbreak" number into the reservation (as this is one of those "choice" locations where you can pick which car you want). No dice. Tried again at the counter and she clearly had no intention of giving me anything. No line at the counter when I got there. Got a bit of hassle at the counter (I usually do the fastbreak things so I usually am spared most of this)--all the BS about "so you'd like all the insurance, right?" "can I interest you in a full-size for only $20 more a day" and such. That said, everything else went fine--we'll see when the bill is totted up upon return. Wound up with a Chevy Malibu. Probably wouldn't do PL for cars again as the regular budget rate was about $42 a day and saving the hassle at the rental car counter would have been worth it. Live and learn. Your Rental Car Receipt Pick-Up/Drop-Off: George W. Bush Intl Airport Rental Car Company: Budget Car Class: Mid-size (unlimited mileage) Pick-Up Date: Monday, January 30, 2006 Drop-Off Date: Thursday, February 2, 2006 Your Offer Price: $30.00 (per day) Total Rental Days: 3 days (2 days and 21 1/2 hours) Subtotal: $90.00 Taxes and Fees: $41.70 Total Charges: $131.70

After being unable to find anything 4* downtown (i.e. the Hyatt or the Hilton Americas) for less than $100, I decided to try the Hobby zone for a 3*, hoping I'd get either the Marriott on the gulf freeway or the Hilton on Airport (Personally I prefer the Marriott a little bit because of the indoor pool). Bid $50 for 3*.Rejected. Added "East Houston" and rebid $60. Rejected with "suggested bump" counter-offer of $74. Re-bid with $68 and was accepted, at the Marriott. Your Offer Price: $68.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 3 Subtotal: $204.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $43.94 Total Charges: $247.94 I like this hotel. It's one of the better managed franchise Marriotts out there. I actually don't mind staying down towards Hobby (if I can't get into the Hilton downtown), and they have a nice indoor pool/hottub. I've gotten better rates here in the past not through Priceline, but this seems to be about as good as I'm going to get this week. Must be something going on in Bayou City.

Started bidding for 3* Downtown Phoenix at $50. Rejected, added areas selectively up to $70 when I was accepted downtown ($66 was rejected). Got the Hyatt downtown anyway. Thankfully Phoenix has a lot of Priceline areas which don't seem to have any 3* hotels (carefree, West Phoenix, etc. Your Offer Price: $70.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $70.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $16.37 Total Charges: $86.37 Not a bad rate for this time of year. Just a 1 nighter anyway.

OK, completed my stay at this hotel. Priceline specific treatment: I was welcomed to the hotel, no "ewww, a priceline stay, I'll give you a room next to the trash compactor". Gave me a room on one of the renovated HHonors floors. Had to switch since the room was a smoking room (complete with ashtrays) even though their room computer said it was nonsmoking. No matter, wound up with another renovated room on the 9th floor, which has been renovated. Make sure to ask for a renovated room (they seem to be renovating from the top down, and have at least gotten as far as the 8th floor (looking into the hotel one evening from the parking lot I'd say that they are working on 6 and 7 now as those floors were completely unlit at night). Staff was friendly to me throughout my stay--even began recognizing me on sight by the third day. As an airport hotel, I don't think they get many multi-night stays, so perhaps I was a curiosity (who would voluntarily spend 3 days at Newark Airport?) Make sure to get a renovated room (higher floors--they are going from the top floor down). It's an old tired looking 1960s building which has been reasonably well renovated, although things which are hard to change (elevators, doors, plumbing,etc..) are showing their age. Staff was surprisingly friendly for an airport hotel in Newark. The notion of "convenient location" in and around Newark Airport is a fallacy, as the roadways there are screwy enough to make anyone cry. But that said, the hotel is about as conveniently located as any, although getting back onto 1-9 south is a bit of a challenge (getting back to the turnpike exit 13A requires some back-neighborhood trickery). Rooms are well soundproofed--little outside noise comes in, and unlike hotels built later, the windows DO still open, if you desire. Guest parking is currently $8 with in/out privileges. This is cheaper than the Wyndham/Doubletree down the street, which is currently $12. Didn't use the restaurant or the pool, but they were there. HS Internet worked well, although it cost the Hilton-standard $9.95 per day.

Bid $61 for 3* 1/9-1/12 using the Newark Airport zone only. Accepted instantly. Hoping for the Doubletree, hoping against the Sheraton. Landed somewhere in the middle with the Hilton. Your Offer Price: $61.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 3 Subtotal: $183.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $36.08 Total Charges: $219.08 Will post a follow up report on the room/treatment I receive.