Micah

Note that 9/6 seems to be a particularly busy night at many Manhattan hotels, possibly due to the Madonna concert. If you don't mind moving hotels during your trip, you may do better if you bid for the stay starting 9/7 separately from the first couple days. Edited to add: the weekend after that looks pretty bad too, so what I said above may not be perfect advice. Splitting up your stay may help your chances, though.

Rejected for 3.5* at $60, 63, 65, 68, 70 and 75. Hit it with my last free re-bid at $85 ($110.20 all-in). Still a fair price especially considering that what appears to be the same hotel is $107 on Hotwire and booking this hotel directly would cost something like $180++.

Tried Central Park South 4* up to $115 to no avail. Started over in Midtown West, rejected at $88 but accepted at $92. Darn good deal.

Saw the Marriott hotels (Fairfield, Courtyard, Residence) were all $59 on Expedia, and Hotwire had a $49 3* available. Just needed something with an airport shuttle, which all the possible 3*s seems to have. Accepted on first bid of $39. $51.76 all-in. Probably should have started lower, but with only two free re-bids and nothing in the archive less than $43, I was playing it safe. Please add this hotel to the Priceline list for this zone.

A family member reported the following: 2* was available on Hotwire for $35 ($47.59 all-in). She bid the following on PRICELINE: 3* $33, $35 rejected 2.5* $33 rejected 2* $33 accepted ($45.28 all-in)

As noted in my Hotwire Knoxville thread we just got a 2.5* in Knoxville West on HOTWIRE, but the amenities appear to be slightly different from what the OP here saw (ours didn't have laundry, but had a fitness center and business center), so it's probably a different hotel.

2.5* Knoxville West $35 ($47.75 all-in) Amenities: breakfast, fitness center, pool(s), business center, high speed internet I had tried bidding 3* on priceline for $35-43 in the West zone with no results. I then tried bidding 2.5* on priceline for $29-32 in both West and Papermill zones, also with no results. So we settled on this for $35 at Hotwire. A pretty good deal, I think.

Looking for a last minute room for some family members. Got this on the first try. Looking at other recent bids, it looks like I probably could have done it for a few bucks less, but it's a good deal for a good hotel so the relatives should be happy.

Bidding for two rooms for one night. First bid $41 for 3*, received $12 counteroffer. Added 2.5* and lowered bid to $39, rejected. Next day came back, bid $43 for 3*, rejected. Added 2.5* and raised bid to $44, accepted. Total = $108.66 ($44x2 + $20.66 in taxes/fees)

Was in a hurry when I posted this, sorry. 9/13-9/14 (one night, bid around 7pm on 9/13). My apologies for neglecting to use the savingsbarn link. I usually use it but was in a hurry last night. Next time.

Tried quite a few re-bids for 4* (up to $75) and 3* (up to $55). Then tried 2.5* at $35 (rejected) and $44 (success: Hyatt Place). Bid was for same-night stay.

Went back and kept bidding it up. Bid in $1 increments (love those free re-bids) to $104. All rejected (although I did get a couple of "increase by $22 and rebid now" messages, which I ignored as always). I ended up just booking the Heathman for $127 through my wife's employer.

Bidding for 4* downtown only, 3 nights 8/10-13/06. Started bidding through savingsbarn at $60 and increased in $5 increments to $95 using free re-bid zones. All rejected. Elsewhere it looks like some folks have recently been successful with the Westin for $99. Maybe I'll wait three days and try again Or maybe I won't wait, as I can get a room at the Heathman for $127 throuh my wife's employer (negotiated corporate rate). If the stupid Holiday Inn wasn't in the DT 3* list, I would consider bidding for 3*, too, but I don't want to be at that HI.

Bid 3* on PCLN at $61. Rejected. No re-bids available without changing dates or * level (peoria isn't adjacent to other zones). We don't want less than 3* (were hoping for the Radisson, where we already have a reservation at $96), so we're not rebidding. Oh well. It was worth a shot.

Monday-Friday stay (4 nights). Previously tried 4* @ $62, 3* @ $40, 2.5* @ $41 for the same dates. All rejected. Tried 2* @ $35 and was accepted. $168.41 all-in. Great price, plus it has a kitchen and is right by Whole Foods, which will help save even more money on this trip. Priceline is also offering the option to extend the stay at the same rate, which I don't think I've seen before. The only downside is that this property charges a fee for internet access. Made bid through savingsbarn link.

Radisson.com says this hotel is no longer represented by Radisson. Anybody know under which flag it's operating now? Or did it close?

Bidding same-day for 1-night stay in Princeton, Saturday, January 14. Bid 4*, which is usually only the Westin (I haven't seen the Doral Forrestal pop up in a few years) Best rate through Westin.com was $119+. Through SavingsBarn.com, I... Bid $45, rejected Added non-4* zone, bid $60, rejected Added last non-4* zone, bid $75, accepted for Westin (as I'd hoped) My guess is that the actual minimum price was somewhere between $60 and $75, but $75 ($93.49 with taxes/fees) is still a pretty good deal for this hotel at the last minute.