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Hi there, My husband and I will be traveling to NJ for a concert in Red Bank on Oct 6, and will be staying overnight 2 nights in the area, Oct 5 and 6. We'd like to stay at a 3-star or higher, and either in the Red Bank/Middletown or Tinton Falls/Eatontown/Long Branch area. We don't see anything we love on HOTWIRE or PRICELINE EXPRESS, so think we should try the 'name your own price' option on PRICELINE, but we're pretty inexperienced with this. Could you provide some guidance or advice? Thanks so much in advance for your assistance!

Hi there, Well you were right... best not to book/talk until we were absolutely sure, because our plans for the week of Oct 3 have changed slightly since my last post. Out trip will need to be shortened, so we will not be traveling to NY at the beginning of the week (but will be staying in NJ for Oct 5 and 6, so will head over to the NJ forum/page to ask a question there). Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks again for your help!

Thanks very much for your quick replies! Sorry about not posting about Grand Rapids sooner - I have just done so (although for some reason it all posted with a strikethrough on the text... sorry about that and I'm not sure why it did that). Please just let me know if you have any other questions/need any additional info about the Baymont in GR. As for New York, we are arriving by car (driving from Toronto on Sunday, thought we'd stay outside NY on Sunday night because we won't get there til 6-7pm and probably won't have much energy to do anything... but if keeping a Sunday in the reservations would keep all nights cheaper (is that what you mean?) then we could definitely stay for 3 nights (Oct 2, 3, 4). Our desired start rating is probably 4 stars... although we're not terribly picky/fancy people, so if you have any thoughts on whether 3.5 stars (or even 3) would be OK, please let me know. Our price range/night is probably ~ $200 USD (top) before taxes/fees. Is that doable if we throw a Sunday in there, do you think? While we're there we would like to see the World Trade Center and perhaps some other 'touristy' stuff like Times Square, but we don't intend to do hardcore sightseeing... we're more likely to want to just walk/look around, sit on a patio one afternoon and just drink wine/people watch, do some light shopping, etc., than to have a check-list of things to see (is there anything specific in terms of sights that you'd recommend, though?). We can't book the hotel just yet - I'm just waiting on one thing at work to know if we can make the trip as long as we want (I`m pretty sure the Sunday evening through Wednesday morning in NY will work, but don't want to book until I confirm at work that I don't need to be back for Thursday (in which case we might want to shorten the NY nights to just 2... maybe Sunday/Monday). Should I check in with you/this board next weekend (at which point I'll know for sure) when we're ready to book that day? Thanks again so much for your help!

Sorry to not have replied to this sooner - you were right, this was the Baymont and we ended up staying two nights (July 8 and 9) for the $58 USD/night - thank you for your help! It was a nice hotel... really good price for what we got.

Hi there, I'm wondering if you can help me. My husband and I are taking a trip to New York and surrounding area during the week of Oct 3 - our expected nights in New York City itself are Oct 3 and 4. When I go to Hotwire (have just started looking today, to do some exploring, which I thought I'd do before asking any questions on this site) and just enter 'New York', of course there are a bunch of different areas/zones (e.g., Union Square - Flatiron, Grand Central, etc.). I apologize if this question has been asked in this section of the forum before, but I didn't see it so I thought I'd start a new thread to ask - are there some zones specifically that I should be looking at to be right in the heart of New York? Are there specific pros and cons to various zones about which I should be aware? Secondarily, I'm wondering about the Priceline zones - there are so many... any specific ones the best or ones to stay away from? For Oct 3 and 4, do you have any sense of whether I should try to do a 'name your own price', or am I best off to just do a Priceline Express or Hotwire deal (I know some cities like Chicago have different busy times like 'conference season' and things, but I don't know much about New York and if/when I'm likely to be able to get a good deal (through something like 'name your own price') versus just going with the best deal that I see. Any thoughts/insight that you have would be greatly appreciated!

Hi there, I'm wondering if you can help identify a hotel that I'm seeing on Hotwire - Grand Rapids North for July 8 and 9, 2016. It is a 3-star, with full amenities as follows: Free parking, Free breakfast, Free Internet, Indoor pool(s), Fitness center, Pool(s), Business center, Self-service laundry, Internet access, Golf nearby The price is $58 USD. Any insight that you can provide would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much in advance for your help.

You were right! We just booked the Red Roof Inn Detroit - Troy for $42 UDS for July 25 - looks like a good deal! Thanks again for your help!

hi there, I'm wondering if you could possibly predict this 2* hotel in Birmingham - Troy - Madison Heights - it has a 90% recommended rate, and the price is $34 USD for July 25, 2015. Full amenity list is: Free parking, Free Internet, Pet friendly, Smoke-free rooms, Internet access. While I've got you, might you also be able to predict this 2 1/2* star in Auburn Hills - Lake Orion for the same night? It's $68 USD and also 90% recommended. Full amenity list is: Free parking, Free breakfast, Smoke-free rooms Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

Thank you for your advice. You were right on with your guess about the 4* being Hotel Manoir Victoria, and we got it on Hot.wire for $75/night CAD (including tax). We were there 3 nights - lovely hotel, great service, and a really good restaurant attached. Just returned from our trip and commented several times about what a good deal we got - lots of thanks to you!

Gotcha - thanks! Can I ask your thoughts on two more hotels that I see on Bidding Helper (I'm a little worried about the Best Western City Centre because online reviews are saying that there's major construction next door to that hotel right now, and it's really noisy)? On the Easy View tab I also see these: ( 1. 3 1/2 star for $46 USD - FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Pet friendly, Boutique hotel, Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, Accessible for visually impaired, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Accessible bathroom, Accessible parking) 2. 4 star for $57 USD - FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Boutique hotel, Indoor pool(s), Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, Spa services, Accessible bathroom Do you have any guesses as to what these two may be? Thanks again and in advance! S

Wow - so much info - thank you! I have a couple questions... first, I notice that the hotels on the Hotwire website main page are listed in CAD and the ones on the Hotwire Easy View tab on Bidding Helper are in USD - are there any other differences to these two pages, and/or is there any advantage to using one page for booking over the other? Second, you're right about the amenities list for the 3 1/2 star that's available, but you mentioned that you would guess this is the Best Western City Centre (which is listed as a 3 star on the 'Hotwire hotel list' on this site - has this hotel changed star ratings recently, and/or are there others that have done or tend to do so frequently? Can I ask what prompts this? Thanks again and in advance! S

Thank you for your quick reply! Is that price for a 4 star on PRICELINE EXPRESS likely as cheap as we would get by bidding for something similar on Priceline, do you think? The Hotel le Concorde looks OK (i.e., would suit our needs), but when I look at the 3 1/2 star hotels on both Priceline and Hotwire (look at hotel websites and reviews online), they seem just as nice as the 4 star places. Are you at all familiar with any of these hotels, to know if that's the case? There is also a 3 1/2 star on Hotwire right now for $53/night - do you have any idea/guess about which hotel this would be, and also if this price is pretty good for a 3 1/2 star in Quebec? Thanks again and in advance for your help! S

I'm so sorry about not closing the loop on that one sooner - I have now replied in that thread (didn't end up using HOTWIRE or PRICELINE for the Chicago stay, so didn't realize I needed to do that!)! Sorry again, and thanks in advance for your help! S

Hi there, Sorry I didn't follow-up/reply to this sooner! I didn't end up using Hot.wire or Price.line for Chicago last Fall, because we ended up having a friend offer us his place to stay for 2 nights in downtown Chicago. I apologize for not closing the loop on this sooner! Thanks again for all of your help!

Hi there, I'm wondering if anyone has any experience/advice in terms of which 'star rating' to stay at or above in Quebec City. My husband and I are hoping to spend 3 nights in QC City (April 7, 8, 9) and we would like a hotel in the downtown area, but don't know what star level to stay above (i.e., not go below). We like a comfortable and safe-feeling hotel, with some amenities (most importantly a gym) - mainly we just want to be comfortable, but we wouldn't mind going a little higher than a little lower in terms of frills, if that makes sense, Looking on Hotwire some of the prices look unbelievably low to us (there is one that's in the 50-ish dollars/night), which makes us think we should set a top price limit of $120/night (if we're naming our own price on Priceline) - would this get us a really good hotel, or are the prices on Hotwire misleading (i.e., would we have to spend more than that for a nice hotel)? I hope this makes sense - please ask any clarifying questions, if needed. Any advice/guidance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! S

Thanks for your quick response. In terms of price, the 4* in the MNA area is more up our alley, but with you saying there isn't a bad 4.5* in the bunch of Priceline hotels, it makes me wonder if you think there are some bad ones in the 4* group... is this the case? We're not too picky in terms of 'frills' or true luxuries in a hotel; the most important things for us are a good location, clean and safe feeling hotel, and we definitely like to be comfortable. If you think the 4* hotels all sort of fit with this description, then we'd be happy at a 4* for the cheaper price. With this said, could you let me know if the extra price for the 4.5* is really worth it? Thanks again!

Hi there, My husband and I will be traveling to Illinois and staying 2 nights in Chicago on Sept 29 and 30 this year. We're hoping to find our hotel on Priceline. We'd like to stay close to everything (i.e., the most 'walkable' area), and from what I can tell that would be in the North Michigan Avenue - River North Area (is that correct, from your perspective/experience?). We're wavering between 4* and 4 1/2* - is 4 1/2 significantly better, in your opinion? Otherwise, 4* would probably be find with us. I know I should post our price range, but I'm not ever sure what this is, since I really don't know what Chicago rooms in this area would typically go for in late Sept. Ideally, we'd like to spend $150/night or somewhere around there (or less would be great too!), but I'm not sure if that's completely unrealistic. I'm also not sure when to start bidding on Priceline for these dates. If you have any information/advice for this trip, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

Great - thank you! I'll be posting my queries for Chicago in the Illinois sections shortly! The amenities for the Holiday Inn Express that I got on Hot.wire for Sept 27 are: Free Parking, Free Breakfast, Free Internet, Indoor Pool, Fitness Centre, Business Centre, Self Serve Laundry. Thanks again for your help! Steph

Thank you for your quick and informative response! I looked at the Hot.wire listing you mentioned and just decided to go for it (used the link provided by you above to get to Hot.wire). I purchased the 1 night (Sept 27) for $60 (no longer $55 I guess) - it turned out to be for the Holiday Inn Express Coralville. Do you need me to post the results of this deal anywhere else on the board as well? Thanks again and talk to you soon (will also be posting shortly about Chicago for a few nights in late Sept, but have yet to figure out which zone(s) or star level(s) we want), Steph

Done (further reply to previous post) - sorry again about neglecting this last time. I won't make that mistake again. Thanks for the info re Iowa City. I think we'd really prefer to stay there versus Muscatine, so if you have advice about how to bid/rebid for just Iowa City (I understand it might mean waiting 24 hours in between), then that'd be great. With that said, do you forsee us getting a much better deal if we decide that Muscatine would be OK? Thanks again and in advance!!

Of course - sorry about that. It was October 8 and 9. Please let me know if you need any additional details! Thanks again!

I apologize for posting late regarding the results of my Boston trip! We ended up going in mid-October last year, we ended up at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Boston (theatre district), and we paid $160/night. I really appreciated your assistance with helping to get this deal!

Oh my gosh, I'm really sorry about that - I didn't realize that I had overlooked that part!!!! I will do that now! Thanks again and thanks for your patience!

Hi there, It's been a long time since I used this board (about this time last year, when with your help I scored a great deal in Boston), and I'm not sure this is the correct place to post this question - please let me know if not. I'm planning a trip to Iowa and Illinois in late Sept/early Oct. At the front end of this trip I'm going to be looking for a fairly cheap place to stay in Iowa City on Sat Sept 27. I think I've decided that a 2 1/2 star will do the trick. I'm aware of the 'process' for rebidding before 24 hours from when I've used Priceline before, however, when I click on the Iowa City zone in Priceline, there aren't any 'surrounding' zones that show up like there are when you choose other zones (e.g., if I choose Muscatine, IA, as I was initially thinking it would be an OK place to stay, there are a number of other surrounding zones that come up as alternate options, but when I indicate that I want to stay in Iowa City, it's just Iowa City that comes up without any other zones) - does this mean that I can't go through the typical process of re-bidding with lower star zones so that I can proceed more quickly instead of waiting for 24 hours? Any info/advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated as always! Thanks in advance! Steph

Thank you for your well wishes - as I said, we're very optimistic that all will be well... just can't miss this appointment. After talking today about our options for this vacation, we realized that we might also be able to travel the week before we had initially intended so out stay in Boston could be either Sept 1-2 or Sept 2-3; can I ask your opinion on what rates would be appropriate to bid for those dates? Again, your help and all of the information has been really great - invaluable. Thanks again and in advance!