fishbudgreg

Bidding up to $55/night was not successful so I just went with the PRICELINE EXPRESS deal for $59/night. Still a fantastic price for this area and oceanfront to boot! Thanks for all your help!!! I know I read this is other posts but thought I'd report that there is a mandatory additional $26 (total for 2 nights) "Hotel fee" or resort fee that will be added to the cost on check-out form the hotel. --Greg

Hmmm...just tired it and was rejected for the $48 and $50 bid. Closed my browser and tried the $53 bid but am told "We were not able to process this request since our records indicate you have already made a request for this same trip". Tried the same thing in IE 11 and Firefox 34.0.5 with the same results. When I click the Priceline... link in your response below should I be choosing the "bidding" option from the resulting screen on Priceline, it doesn't take me directly to a bidding screen? --Greg

Ahhh! Thanks. Oceanfront. I just knew I would leave out a vital piece of information in my original post. Seeing as Priceline Express has it for $59 I would make that my maximum bid. Who knows maybe I'll get upgraded to a 4.0 star! What are the chances of that? Thanks for your help. --Greg

Priceline Express has a 3.5 star beachfront hotel TODAY (wasn't there yesterday) for $59/night. Advertised amenities include free parking, free internet, indoor/outdoor pool, fitness center, business center, restaurant. The only 3.5 star beachfront hotel I see using the better bidding tool has these amenities, FULL AMENITIES: Beachfront hotel, Fitness center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Self-service laundry, Internet access, Golf nearby, Tennis nearby, Children's activities, Accessible for visually impaired, Accessible for hearing impaired, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Accessible bathroom, Accessible parking, Roll-in shower. Is it the same hotel? From this description can you tell me what hotel it is? Given that the Priceline Express price is $59/night what is a good starting bid should I choose to go the bidding route? One more thing, my wife is interested in an in-room kitchen/kitchenette but I don't see this listed for any hotels I have looked at. Is there a way I can see what hotels/motels/etc. have a kitchenette? Thanks for the help! --Greg

Got rejected for downtown on first try (I tried downtown first). Then on rebid selected Memphis East zone next and won on first bid of $65. Thanks BetterBidding, I couldn't have done it without you. Taxes adds another $18.28 for a total of $83.28 Not bad! Not bad at all!!

Sorry, they are: 1 = Cordova - Wolfchase 2 = Downtown Memphis 4 = Medical Center - University Zone 6 = Memphis East 9 = Raleigh Thanks for your help.

How about zones 1, 2, 4, 6, or 9. With a maximum bid of $90. Looking at those zones it makes sense to shoot for 3-star or better. Do you agree? Thanks.

OK I talked it over with the boss (my wife!) and based on what you have told us we are willing to be further away from the downtown area with a lower [star] rating and just drive in to see what we would like to see. So I was just checking out Priceline Express and it has a 2.5 star hotel in Memphis East zone with Free Breakfast, Free Wifi, Indoor or Outdoor Pool, Free Parking, Pets Allowed, Business Center, Fitness Center, and Bed Choice available for $78/night. Unfortunately it does not have a user rating. Do you have an idea what hotel this might be? So, back to the bidding I think we are willing to sacrifice the star rating (as low as 2) especially if it has a good customer rating, and the amenities we would like are free parking and free breakfast. Any zone is fine but as close to downtown as possible. Also, the next day we will be heading East on I40 so a hotel that is closer to I40 is better than one that is further away. What is a good strategy for bidding? BTW...this is for one night, the night of May 16, 2014 Thanks.

Only had to rebid once. From $55 to $58. Pretty good for this hotel. Thanks BetterBidding!

Thanks for the info. I'll confer with my wife and decide how to proceed. It would be pretty cool to be there at that time, but since we're just passing through it may not be worth the extra expense. Thanks again.

I haven't had a need for a hotel since last July (2013) and so am rusty at the whole bidding thing. We need a hotel in Memphis, TN for one night the night of Friday, May 16, 2014. My wife would prefer to be as close to downtown as possible, she said something about Beale Street. The amenities we would like are free parking and free breakfast (although we would forego the free breakfast for something close to downtown). I reread the bidding processes and it is all coming back to me now on how to do that. What I would like to know is where to start? What star rating should I request (I'm thinking 3.5 or 4) and what price should I start the bidding at? I would like to keep the total cost (with taxes & fees) under $100. Thanks for any help/advice.

Can't beat $38/night on a decently rated hotel. Thanks BetterBidding!!

We are headed to Marathon, FL and have decided to stop for the night of Friday, August 23, 2013 in Daytona Beach. I found a 2.5 star hotel in the Daytona Speedway - Daytona Beach Intl Airport DAB area for $37/night with the following amenities: Free Parking Free Breakfast Free Internet Pet friendly Fitness Center Pool(s) Laundry Facilities High-Speed Internet Access Kitchenette This hotel has a 90% approval rating and 4.5 out of 5.0 rating on Trip Advisor. I was going to use the Priceline bidding for a hotel in this area but am thinking why bother? I can't imagine I'll get anything any cheaper with our preferred amenities of free parking and free breakfast. Since we are just stopping for the evening I feel we don't need to be Ocean Front since we would have such a short time there. One more thing, my wife is asking if anyone can tell her if the area this hotel is located in is safe? Thanks. Anyway...what do you think? Can you help ID the hotel? As always...(I love this board/site)...thanks for your help.

Thanks again!

That's it. I've decided to wait until after July 23rd to actually book because I want these charges to show up on next months credit card statement. Thanks for your help. I'll report back when I actually book.

$75 was the magic number. Thanks for your help thereuare!

Opps forgot to mention. This business trip is August 11-15, 2013. So we'll need the room for 4 nights.

I will be traveling on business and need a hotel in the Columbia area and would like to know what hotel I am purchasing before accepting the price. My wife will be traveling with me. The amenities we are interested in are free breakfast, a pool or pools, and a fitness center. I see there is a hotel in the Columbia area with these amenities: Free Parking Fitness Center Laundry Facilities (self service) Free Breakfast Pool(s) Kitchenette Pet Friendly Business Center Accessible for the blind for $83/night. Is this the Sonesta ES Suites Columbia? Since this is for business I am not as interested in the price (since I'm not paying :-) except that my limit for this area is $105/night. As you can imagine we want to stay in as nice a hotel as possible for $105 or less per night and with our stated amenities. Any other suggestions? I prefer to stay in the Columbia area as that is closest to the facility I am there for but that is not critical. Thanks for any and all advice?

Thanks for the "permutations" strategy, however, it did not work. I did get a screen at one point after the $70 bid that said if I increase my bid by $16 (to $86) I would have a good chance of "winning" that bid. Is that a clue that means they will not accept anything less than $86? If so, I may be stuck with that or start looking at the 2-star hotels in the area. What do you suggest? Thanks.

We will arrive in Portales on Friday, July 26, 2013 and hopefully will only need it for one night. But...as I mentioned it may be more than 1 night we will not know until we get there.

Looks like pretty slim pickins in Portales, NM. We were hoping for a 2.5-star hotel but will settle for less. At 2.5-stars I see there are 2 rebid zones for this area. What is a good bidding strategy considering I'll only have 3 chances? I was hoping not to spend more than $75 but may have to go higher. Free parking and free breakfast are the only amenities we are rally interested in. I do have one question. We may end up staying in Portales more than one day. How long can we extend our stay at the winning bidding price before we would have to re-bid? As always thanks for the help!

Woo hoo! Had to rebid 5 times but I can live with $65. Thanks Betterbidding!

Thanks for pointing that out. We could certainly live with a 2.5 star rating with good reviews. So looking at the 5 available hotels in the Van Buren area, the 2 that are 2.5 stars or greater go for $85 and $93 (on HOTWIRE). So I'm thinking a maximum bid should be around $70? Does that sound reasonable? I really don't know but would be happy saving a little money and ecstatic saving more! :-)

We are on our way to New Mexico and plan to stop for the night in the Van Buren or Fort Smith, Arkansas area. We prefer Van Buren since it is closer to I40. The only amenities we would like are free parking and free breakfast in a 3-star (we don't see anything with a higher rating than that) hotel. My question is what is a good bidding strategy? I am already familiar with the re-bidding process but the lack of any hotels with higher than a 3-star rating seems to limit my options? Please help. Thanks. BTW...we plan to stop for the night on July 25, 2013 if that makes a difference.

Took your advice thereuare and went for the 4* hotels. Had to rebid 4 times and the $75/room rate was accepted (we got 2 rooms). Thanks so much for your help! Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel 1140 Seabreeze Boulevard Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316