Mikee

First bid 3 days ago was $16....was rejected and offered $20/day but declined. Bid $17 today which was rejected and allowed free re-bid so tried $18 - accepted. Your Offer Price: $18.00 Total Rental Days: 13 Subtotal: $234.00 Taxes & Fees: $130.53 Total Charges: $364.53(USD) Hotwire was offering $20.95/day until last week but now showing $24.95. Best current price on Orbitz is $471 with Alamo. Hertz site quoting $780, saving $415!!! Left it a bit late with only 6 days before my trip but still got a great rate. -Mikee-

Just stayed here for 3 nights and would agree with the previous poster - a good value 2.5* hotel (I paid $54US + taxes through Priceline): Great location. Check-in was smooth and friendly. Free wireless High-Speed internet - easy to connect, good speed and a fast, solid connection. Got a 2nd floor room with 1 King Bed (very comfortable), office desk + chair and comfy chair with footstool. Smallish bathroom but nice power-shower (iron and board also included in room). Thanks to the previous poster's advice, I requested an "inside" room that overlooked the pool (very quiet) instead of an "outside" room (noisy as reported by the previous poster). General facilities are good - pool, whirlpool, wading pool, small lobby bar (didn't try the breakfast buffet). Don't bother with the fitness centre unless you just want to use the treadmill - tiny area and 3 poor quality multi-gym machines. Indoor/Outdoor self parking (with in and out priviliges) was $9.50 CDN using room key. Overall, very happy with this hotel and would definitely stay here again. It's obviously not as "plush" as the Westin but it does the job at an excellent price (I saved $300 compared to web rates). -Mikee-

My first time bidding on Priceline last night - started bidding at $45 for 3* in Downtown Ottawa but was rejected. Added 2 additional areas and increased bid to $50 but still rejected. Then added 2.5* and increased to $54 and won: 2.5* Courtyard By Marriott Your Offer Price: $54.00 (US dollars) Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 3 Subtotal: $162.00 (US dollars) Taxes & Service Fees: $34.42 (US dollars) Total Charges: $196.42 (US dollars) Marriot website is currently charging $501 total for the same nights (saving me $305!). Normal cost through Priceline is $438. Having checked-out the reviews on here for this hotel, I'm pretty pleased with the hotel and price. Good location, free wifi and only $10 in-out parking per day. Would have loved the Westin but cheapest I could get was $190/night travel industry rate. This site has saved me loads of $$$ - will spread the word! -Mikee-

Ok thanks...neither hotels have particularly good reviews (for $70USD maybe I shouldn't expect much!) but I'm going to hold out for the Westin. Will report back......

Some help required if possible please..... 1 night (sunday) May 14th in Downtown Ottawa required and can't work out what this 3* might be: $61 per night Ammenities = Restaurant/Fitness/Pool/Business/Tennis nearby/Golf nearby Any ideas....? Actually would prefer the Westin (close to the National Arts Centre where I'm going) which I believe is 4* but all they are showing is a 4* Boutique which I'm sure is The Arc. -Mikee-

Well, seems that premium/luxury price was a pretty good deal as the price has now doubled for the same dates and time. Will keeps checking over the next month to see what else appears. In the meantime, have reserved a full-size with Enterprise for $22/day which I can cancel if anything better comes along. Thanks for the advice. -Mikee-

Hi all from the UK...my 1st post here.... :) I've been renting through Hotwire over the past 12 months and have had some very good deals. However, it seems things are a little weird at the moment (or maybe it's just me!) Anyway..... Planning another trip to YUL (Montreal) in May and have noticed Hotwire prices have been sky high recently. In fact, no matter what days I request (even for November 2006), I'm getting full-size quotes of $38 - every rental period seems to give the same price. Compare this to my last trip in Feb when I got a full-size for $18.95/day (Avis-inc OnStar) which is what I'd normally expect to pay through Hotwire. Have just tried for a quote for 2 weeks in May and get Premium $27.95, Luxury $28.95 and Full-Size $29.95! This is only for a 6pm pick-up and drop-off - all other times are $35+!! My last rental showed a similar difference in price depending on the pick-up time (5pm pick-up vs 5.30pm showed a $2/day increase). Has anyone else come across this before? I'm wondering if I'm looking too far ahead for quotes and getting high prices as a result - maybe Hotwire doesn't recieve actual inventory from their partners more than a month out, at which point you start to see better quotes come through.... Anyway, I'm holding off booking as I only need a full-size and want it for $18.95/day (although I'm very tempted to try the premium/luxury for an extra $10). Any advice or comments....? -Mikee-