Golf

Very happy with my win of the 5* London Hilton on Park Lane in Mayfair - Soho on PriceLine (Name Your Price) for 111 EUR (ex tax) from 20-24 April 2016. I started my bids through the PRICELINE links on this page. Thank you for all the useful help on this website.

I also checked my recent wins, and report some changes below: Las Vegas Monte Carlo has been downgraded to 3.5* (from 4*) Santa Rosa (CA) Flamingo Resort has been upgraded to 3.5* (from 3*)

Started bidding at $55 (counter-offer for $75) and hit the Monte Carlo at $67 after a couple of free re-bids. 3 nights including a Friday, and saved some bucks again. Used the PRICELINE link as usual. Does this hotel require a resort-fee to be paid additionally upon check-in?

I remember reading a very useful thread on this board about parking in San Francisco, and just found it again: PARKING in San Francisco. I guess the closest+cheapest parking opportunity will be the public parking spot at the Portsmouth Garage (Kearny and Clay); 26 USD/day. Also looked into long term parking at the airport (14 USD/day), but am more leaning towards long-term parking at a BART station on one of East Bay stations (5 USD/day). Another option might be to strike a deal with the car rental company and get rid of the car entirely for a couple of days (and pick another one up again on the day of departure). Anyone who has useful suggestions to these ideas, or experiences to share, very welcome to add!!

Have been bidding for almost 2 months in SF - USE and USW, 4* and Boutique. Started at $90 and bid with $5 increments until finally accepted at $135 (my 4*-limit). Very pleased to have finally hit today, just before we start our trip. Location is said to be excellent, close to Chinatown and North Beach as well as a short walk from Union Square. Any (relatively cheap) parking suggestions for this area? We're thinking about stalling the car at SFO for a couple of days (won't use it in the city anyway) otherwise. Used the PRICELINE link as always.

Yes, I have been bidding for over a month for a variation of dates in september, including yours (09/06 - 09/12). Most recently, I decided to cut my stay in SF down (and spend some time in Napa instead). Now I'm bidding for 09/06 - 09/10; 4* / BOU / 3*. Have been bidding up to 135 for 4*, 130 for BOU and low-balls for 3*. No luck yet. However, comparing bidding on not-the-same dates is comparing apples with ... other fruit (incl apples?), so I'm not sure how valuable my information is for you. Good luck!

Congratulations, your price of $69 was accepted by Flamingo Resort And Spa. Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $69.00 Subtotal: $138.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $25.72 Total Charges*: $163.72 Started bidding on 4* in Napa-Sonoma up to $79, rejected (received counteroffers for $101). Lowered to 3*, received counteroffer at $60 to raise $17. Used permutations for rebidding and bid was finally accepted at $69 ($68 rejected, so squeezed the orange pretty hard). Pretty happy as total is lower than my 2* back-up. Not too worried about the reviews, will see with my own eyes and am looking forward to spend some time in Wine County! Edit: forgot to mention that I went through the PRICELINE link provided on this board ofcourse :) And many thanks for this forum, as it provided great help in determining my bidding strategy.

Have you been upgraded to Boutique-level or has the Warwick been re-listed to 3* by Priceline?

Sorry, it should be Riverbank Park Plaza and this hotel is 4* in the Westminster zone. http://www.parkplaza.com/hotels/gbriver

I second WillTravel - city centre is the most fun zone to be in. However, as said, A'dam is easy to walk around (and if you're able to the best way to get around). Public transport is good (trams is easiest) and very frequent, try to get some information on tram lines at the Centraal Station. Can't recommend any hotels or bidding strategy for you as I never stay in a hotel so close to my home :)

I once got the Riverside Park Plaza (4*) through PRICELINE. Excellent value for money and very modern feel&look in the hotel. Only backdraw is that it's on the south side of the Thames, close to the Millenium Eye. Hope this helps your search and have a nice stay!

And forgot to mention; went through the SavingsBarn!

Started bidding at 65 USD for resorts in Cancun DT+Beaches. Bid failed, but counteroffer for 17 USD more. Added Riviera Maya and bid 71 USD. Bid accepted, Hilton Cancun Golf and Spa Resort. Advertised rate is 169 USD on their website. Initially planned to stay only one night to conclude our holiday, but we are so happy with the hotel we decided to extend our stay there (which was accepted by Priceline for the same price) and come one day earlier. Thanks again for this great board which provided much help (again)!

Thanks for the suggested strategy. This went very fast, I started bidding as described and received a counter-offer at 48 USD to raise 14 USD. Considering the number of re-bids still available, I decided to ignore the counter-offer and continue bidding with 2 USD steps. The next bid was already bulls-eye! Your Offer Price: $50.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $50.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $13.24 Total Charges: $63.24 We got upgraded to (surprise surprise) the 3* Radisson Clearwater Central. :) I am happy and thanks for the support. Used the savingsbarn link as always.

Yes. I understand. However, all 3* hotels in the selected zones are also acceptable if we would be upgraded, although I still expect to receive something in the Clearwater zone given the price difference :) . We'll see if that turns out to be the case... Thanks!

According to my research, there are no 2.5* properties in the other zones... :) If they would come up, unexpected, they would be acceptable, but I don't expect this. This is however 'confirmed' by Priceline, as they do not offer to select in those zones a 2.5* hotel, only the option to select 3 or 2 star. I do not want to go up to my maximum for Clearwater, but I am looking for the least expensive option among the zones indeed. Whether this be a 2.5* or a 3* hotel, that does not matter. I selected the Clearwater zone as preferred zone as the prices stated on the hotel websites are the lowest in those acceptable zones. Since I'd like to nail down the least expensive option, I have searched for as much acceptable zones as possible to create the most rebids (by permutations).

Sorry for the confusion. Preferred zone: Clearwater Acceptable zones: Belleair, Clearwater Beach, St Pete Beach/Treasure Island. Free re-bid 2.5*: South St Pete Hope this is more clear! :)

Yep, there is a 3*-hotel for 66 USD in Clearwater. Amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Business, Laundry And a 2.5*-hotel for 114 USD. Amenities: Breakfast, Pool, Fitness, Laundry I am not sure however how Hotwire rates their hotels and whether the Courtyard and Residence are rated as 2.5* or perhaps 3*, and some others may quality as 2.5* on Hotwire instead of 2* on Priceline (such as HI). You indicate that if the Radisson is fairly full, there might be a higher chance of winning a true 2.5* hotel. Would it be wise to wait with bidding (especially since it is not last-minute at the moment, still a month to go), also considering the new 24h rebid policy of Priceline? Besides that, I am still thinking about a bidding strategy since this 3* Radisson would also be acceptable, although I prefer the Courtyard or the Residence... :) Thanks!

I am currently trying to nail down a hotel in the Clearwater / St Pete (possibly Tampa) area for Saturdaynight April 8th. Can someone help me to think of a bidding strategy for 2.5* in Clearwater/St Pete? Below the details. My preference would go to a 2.5*-hotel, of which only two have been reported in the Clearwater/St Pete area(Central): - Residence Inn (119 USD hotel website) - Courtyard Inn (129 USD hotel website) (Note: the 3*-Radisson Clearwater Central has a lowest rate on their website of 84 USD. How big are the chances of being upgraded to this 3*-property??) Our absolute maximum bid would be: 60 USD Free-rebids: South St Pete Not-free rebids: Clearwater Beach, St Pete Beach (Note: all acceptable, since they have 3* properties which quote much higher rates on their websites than above mentioned 2.5* hotels and IF we would be so lucky to receive one of those, this would be acceptable). All help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Decided to try my luck on Priceline first on a 4* property before going for a 3* Airport or Miami Lakes hotel. Was lucky below the quoted Hotline rate at $86 in Coral Gables, see this topic. Thanks for the support anyhow, it is very much appreciated.

Very happy with this Priceline.com win! :) Was bidding for 4* in the Airport and Coral Gables areas. Started at 70 and moved up in $2 steps using free re-bids (permutations). Got a counter-offer at $78 to raise $22. Denied this and continued bidding, assuming that I could get something close to $90. Was lucky at $86 already! Details about the stay: Check-In Date: Friday, March 31, 2006 Check-Out Date: Sunday, April 2, 2006 Your Offer Price: $86.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $172.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $32.17 Total Charges: $204.17 Hotel website quote on best rate: $209 (ex tax) :) Used the savingsbarn.com link as usual. Thanks very much for the support on this board, it helped me magnificently in deciding my bidding strategy.

Thanks! Wow, I am amazed how you found out. I will check out this hotel and will for sure use the link if I decide to move forward on this. If I do, I will follow-up in this thread to confirm the hotel.

Yep, it's still there for the same price (107). It also shows a 2,5* property for 157 (breakfast, pool, fitness, internet, business, laundry) and a 2* property for 89 (shuttle, restaurant, pool). Haven't identied those either, but the 2,5* is too expensive and I'm not looking for a 2*.

My first posting here on betterbidding... I would appreciate some help identifying a hotel that I found for 3/31 - 4/2 in the Miami Lakes area. Details: 3-star with the following amenities, advertised for $107: Airport shuttle Restaurant Fitness High-speed internet Business I have done some extensive research on this forum (hotel list), hotel websites and some other sites (e.g. tripadvisor), but I am clueless about this hotel, especially about the offered airport shuttle. Anyone some ideas?