Monarch

The difference between booking with Hotwire and directly via Priceline (and knowing exactly what property I was getting) was so small that I just went ahead and booked a room at the Sir Francis Drake (through your Priceline link - they had the best price, $350/night). My dog/cat allergies are so severe that I figure at least if I booked directly, I'd have a bit more "wiggle room" to ask for a pet free room. The reviews and amenities look great, so I'm sure everything will be fine. Thanks! :D

I'm not having any luck on Priceline with the 2nd half of my trip to San Francisco. I need a room for 3 nights and don't want to take a chance that I win a bid for 2 nights and the hotel doesn't have the "add a night" option. I decided to hop on over to Hotwire and check it out. There looks to be some pretty good options in the Union Square area, at 4 stars (I want to splurge a bit). However, they all say "Pet friendly." I'm allergic to both cats and dogs. Anyone out there have any issues with getting moved to a room where no pets were allowed, once they booked via Hotwire? I'm thinking of just sucking it up and booking into a hotel that doesn't allow pets.

The area actually isn't listed on the confirmation, but I see by the map I was off my thismuch. That, coupled by the fact that I was bidding at 8am, after just getting off work...my bad! Thanks for making the correction.

It's been a while since I bid for a hotel room, so I had to get reaquainted with the process. The last time I visited San Francisco, I stayed for 4 nights and had to split my bids up 2/2. I won 2 nights at the Marriott in Union Square East and 2 nights at the Grand Hyatt. Since the hotels were literally blocks away, I didn't mind moving. I wanted a 4 start, preferrably in either the Financial/Embarcadero or Union Square Districts. That said, let's get to it. I started out bidding in the Financial /Embarcadero & SOMA Districts, 4 stars - $150 Next I added Union Square East - $160 Added Union Square West - $175 Finally Civic Center and dropped down to 3 1/2 stars - $185 A few of the reviews have me a bit nervous, but I hopped on over to Tripadvisor to check out a few more reviews. The place doesn't sound too bad. Since I splurged on the airfare (hey, everyone has to fly 1st class once in their life), I'm going to splurge on my last 2 nights and bid for a 4 star, no matter what!! One last thought/question...I noticed people tend to win lower rates at higher star hotels the closer to their stay. Should I wait a few weeks to bid on the second half (24/25 Jun) of my stay?

I stayed here from 9/12-9/15, with a winning bid of $120 per night. I had to change hotels the morning of 9/12 because I was unsuccessful in bidding for 4 nights at any hotel in the USE are during 9/11-9/15. I also wasn't able to add a night here after I won my bid. The hotel is a half block off of Market Street, which is a main thoroughfare for buses and cable cars. It's also 1 block from the Powell Street MUNI stop. I you want to shop, Westfield Centre is literally around the corner and dozens of other stores are within walking distance. I arrived at 10:30 am, with the intention of checking my bags with the porter, doing some sightseeing and then returning around 2pm to check in. I asked the clerk if there was any chance a room was available this early in the day. I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was. I was given a room on a high floor, away from the elevators. She even asked if I preferred a king or double beds. The room istelf was very nice. I had a partial view of the bay, but that was alright. There was no adjoining room, so I didn't have to worry about noise from my neighbor. There was a large work desk, with the obligatory mini bar items (don't remove them from their pressurized perch or you'll get charged), a work station for your computer, the frig with more mini bar items and my favorite, a large, flat screen LDC TV. The room was very clean. The bed was a bit too soft for my taste (a pillow top matress) but it had 8 pillows on it! The bathroom was modern and very nice. I wasn't in my room 5 minutes before a guy came to inventory the mini bar, which is a good thing, I guess. I didn't like the fact that you are not allowed to put anything in the 'frig that you might pick up. I made do with the ice bucket. The lobby was huge, with a wine bar located in one corner and a Starbucks in the other. I didn't get the feel that this was a convention hotel despite the fact that the ADA was having one of it's largest conventions of the year. I was treated like any other full paying guest. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. I would definately stay here again.

I thought I'd post a review to give other bidders an idea about this hotel. I wasn't able to win a bid for this hotel due to the dental convention, and was unable to get a 4th night at my winning bid hotel (the Marriott on 4th Street($120/night)., so I had to find lodgings for one night. I stayed here on 9/11. The hotel is just up the hill from the Powell Street stop of the MUNI line. This hotel couldn't have been in a more convenient location. Several bus stops were across the street, you're one block from Union Square and a ton of shopping. The lobby is a typical hotel lobby. I didn't experience the "Priceline" prejudice that some people have said they've encountered. I was given a nice room on the 17th floor. I didn't pay much attention to the view, since I was only going to be there for one night. The room istelf is a bit dated. I have a couple of gripes about the room. It had a doorway to the adjacent room. Early in the morning, I was woken up by loud talking. I thought it was housekeeping in the hall, but it was the guy in the next room on the phone! MY second gripe is the smell. My room had a mildew smell to it, that I never could pinpoint. The Grandviews Lounge was nice, but nothing special. It's a nice place, but I given a choice, I would stay at the Marriott down the street or try another hotel.

:) Finally! I won the Marriott Downtown. I bid for 9/12 - 9/15. USE $100 - rejected USE, Cath Hill $110 - rejected USE, Cath Hill, Civic Center $120 - Accepted I couldn't get 9/11 with the "Add a night" feature, so I went directly to the Marriott's website. Unfortunately, there are no rooms available. I started a new bid for 9/11, but started a bit higher due to the cost of Thursday night. USE $120 - rejected USE, Cath Hill $130 - rejected USE, Cath Hill, Civic Center $140 - rejected USE, Cath Hill, Civic Center, Lombard $145 - rejected USE, Cath Hill, Civic Center, Lombard, S. San Fran $150 - rejected I found out that there are several conventions in town that weekend, with the ADA being the largest. So, instead of driving myself crazy, I just booked the one night at the Grand Hyatt for $225. It's a few blocks away, so I'll just get up and ready for the day and drop my bag off at the Marriott and continue on my merry way. Thanks for all the help and info.....I used the PRICELINE link to do all of my bidding.

Foiled again..... USE $135 - rejected USE, Cath Hill $140 - rejected USE, Cath Hil, Civic Center $145 - rejected USE, Cath Hill, C.C., USW $150 - rejected USE, Cath Hill, C.C., USW, So. S.F. $155 - rejected USE, Cath Hill, C.C., USW, So. S.F., Lombard $160 - rejected Here's what I propose to do. Chart Thursday and Sunday night prices for each 4* in both the USE and USW area. Based on which night has the majority of cheaper rates, I'll drop that night and bid for the other 3. I'll start my bid around $100. Once I win ( :) ) a hotel, I'll book the 4th night at the same hotel myself. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I'll report back tomorrow.

Thereuare, those are correct parameters. I really want to keep my bid as low as possible, though. Thanks so much.

I'm sticking with 4* at this point. After my last failed bid, I decided to add USW. Walking never hurt anybody. :) I'm, also going to start out at $150. Paying less than $200 a night is still a sight better that $309. I'd like to have this wrapped up by Labor Day, for my own peace of mind. To get an idea, I checked the rates at a few places and the Garnd Hyatt has a special (25%) until the 26th. At that rate, they list the smallest room at $247 (Thurs) and $217 for the Fri-Mon. Why is it that Thursday nights are higher? I would think the weekends would cost more. Since I don't do this very often, I'm wondering if I am getting the maximum amount of free rebids or is there something else I should be doing? I can rebid again at 9 pm. Thanks in advance.

:) OK, I'm getting really frustrated. I've seen bids for 4* hotels in the USE area around $100, give or take a few dollars. I've been bidding every few days, but no luck. Here's how it went today: USE $100 rejected USE & Cath. Hill $105 rejected USE, Cath Hill, S. S.F. $115 rejected USE, Cath Hill, S. S.F., Civic Center $125 rejected USE, Cath Hill, S. S.F., Civic Center, Lombard $135 rejected What am I doing wrong? Is there something going on that weekend? FYI, since I'm only going to be there for 4 days (9/11- 9/15), I really don't want to split my bid and spend a half day moving. I was thinking of bidding for either the first 3 days or last three and then just paying the rack rate for the 4th night at whatever hotel I win. I'd really like to stay in the USE area, but I could add USW if you think that would better my chances. Thanks

I'll do that. The links work now. I'm going to wait a few weeks and try again. From the looks of it, people seem to get a better price when they bid closer to their trip date.

Thanks for the advice. For some reason yesterday when I tried to link through your post, the browser wouldn't open up. I'll check those 2 sites for rooms, but keep trying with Priceline. I like the thrill of the chase and the feeling that "I got one over on the Man!" I really don't want to split my bid since I'm only there for 4 nights and the possibility of wasting time moving to another hotel doesn't appeal to me. When I went to London, I split my bids because I was there for 9 days and wanted to get the feel of more than one part of the city. I'll start a new topic when I win my bid.

:) Hey all. I must be doing something wrong because all of my bids for a 4 star in San Francisco in the USE are were rejected. I saw that some of the winning bids in this area were under $100, that's why I started low. Here's how it went: $75 - USE rejected $80 (added botique) - USE rejected $95 (boutique)- USE, USW rejected $100 (boutique) - USE, USW, Civic Center rejected $110 (boutique) -USE, USW, CC, Lombard rejected $120 (boutique) - USE, USW, CC, Lombard, Cathedral Hill rejected $125 (boutique) USE, USW, CC, Lombard, Cath Hill, South San Francisco rejected It's been a while since I bid, so I figured I must have goofed. When I try again tomorrow, should I start the bid at $90 or so? Thanks.

Ok, yesterday, I got shot down on the second half of my London stay (9/1-9/5) in the Bloomsbury - Marble Arch, Mayfair - Soho and Westminster areas with a final bid of $73. Here's how my bidding today went : Starting bid - $75 (Bloomsbury), rejected Counter offer - $88 2nd Bid - $81 (added Mayfair), rejected Counter offer $88 3rd bid - $85 (added Westminster), rejected Counter bid - $88 I went on and accepted the counter offer, since this segment contains the weekend and the $12 difference isn't going to kill me. Final price - $88 No. of rooms - 1 No. of nights - 4 Travel Ins. $20 (in my line of work injuries are high) :) Subtotal - $372.00 Taxes - $73.51 Total - $445.51

10-4! Thanks for the info, rapazfreiburg.

Please bare with me, I'm new to these boards. I placed a bid on Priceline for 4 nights at $70 per night, in the Bloomsbury/Marylebone area of London. I won on my first bid and got the Thistle Marble Arch. :) Is winning on a first bid, as a newbie unusual? I was very hesitant to bid, but bit the bullet and went ahead. Starting bid - $70 No. of rooms - 1 No. of nights - 4 (8/28-9/1) Travel Ins - $20 (yeah, I know, but didn't want to take a chance) Sub total- $300 Taxes - $59.84 Total - $359.84 Bid for second half of stay (9/1-9/5) Starting bid - $65, rejected Counter offer - $88 2nd $70, rejected (added Mayfair) Counter offer $88 3rd bid - $73, rejected (added Westminster) Should I go for the $88 since it's covers the weekend? Thanks.