frugalgrad

I had been bidding on and off since last week, staying in the $80-$85 per night range for a 2-night stay on March 2-3, 2015 in Downtown Cleveland. Last week I got a counter-offer for $104. Today I got a counter-offer for $99. The Priceline Express deal that I was 99% sure was the Westin - where I've stayed before and really enjoyed - dropped from $97 last week to $94 today. It's a month before I go out of town to see a show and I wanted to nail down where I would be staying. With taxes and fees, I paid $228 for 2 nights - and it was the Westin. This is a huge savings, given that the prepaid rate with taxes and fees on the Westin site would have been $375. This is a beautiful hotel with polite and helpful staff, an amazing on-site restaurant with incredible desserts, the nicest hotel gym I've ever seen, Starbucks, and a ridiculously comfortable bed. This might be my go-to hotel for future visits to Cleveland. *Just to clarify, I paid $94 base price per night. It was $228 total with taxes and fees.

Ah, okay! That makes sense! I was (wrongly) assuming that the hotel I'd get for bidding their $104 counteroffer is the same one on ExpressDeals. The Express Deal that I'm pretty certain is the Westin has dropped to $94/night (from $97/night). Thanks so much for your help. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Oops, sorry! 2 night stay, March 2 and March 3. There's a Priceline Express Deal for $97/night for those dates at a 4-star hotel, which I believe is the Westin.

Hello, I first came to this board last year for Cleveland hotel help and you all were very...well, helpful I ended up saving about $40 over the published lowest rate for a 3 1/2 star downtown Cleveland hotel on a weekend in June. Now I have another downtown Cleveland hotel question...I've been stalking/bidding on Priceline this week to see if I can get a 4-star hotel for a better price than their Express Deal, which is $97/night and I'm 99% sure is the Westin (where I stayed in November and loved it). However, of course, I wouldn't mind saving some money, so I've been bidding around $80/night. Rejections so far. Today I bid $82 and I got a counter-offer that if I was willing to raise my bid to $104, that would be a winning bid for two nights (my stay date is the first week of March on 2 consecutive weeknights). My question: is this for a better-than-4-star hotel, since it's $7 more than their Express Deal for a 4-star hotel? I didn't think there was anything better than a 4-star hotel in the downtown area (University Circle, yes, but not downtown)? Or do they want me to bid $104 and I end up getting the Westin for $7 more per night than the Express Deal price? I'm confused. Thanks for your help!

Got determined to resolve this this morning so that I can move on with my summer school classes. I had done some bidding on Saturday morning in the 3.5* range, up to $95, without success. I was looking at hotel reviews on another site this morning and found one of their secret deals on an unnamed 3.5* hotel for $109/night. I matched up the amenities list and figured out it was the Doubletree, so I went back to Price.line and underbid by $10/night and won. The secret deal on the other site came out to $271 including the taxes and fees and I'm paying $241, all-inclusive, for my room. List price for this hotel is $125/night. Of course, I would have liked to have saved more, but considering I was going to spend $137/night on a 2.5* hotel before deciding to give Price.line a whirl for the first time, I think I did okay. And I get Doubletree cookies! Thanks so much for your guidance!

Over the weekend I decided to lower my expectations and drop to a minimum of a 3* rated hotel. I tried bidding on Saturday, starting with $50 for Downtown Cleveland only (declined), rebid at $55 adding a zone (declined), and rebid again at $62 adding a third zone (declined). This morning I tried again, same pattern, but starting at $60 and ending at $72 on the second rebid. No success. I did some math and the average price for a 3* hotel in Downtown Cleveland for the two nights I need is $129/night. If the max I want to spend is $100/night, should I just go ahead and try bidding that on a minimum of a 3* hotel now or is that overpaying? Or is it wiser to wait until I'm closer to my travel dates to try bidding again to see if I can get a better-rated hotel for the $100/night?

My maximum is $100 base price on the room per night. Hotwire popped up this morning with $115/night on a 3.5* downtown, which is definitely better than the 2.5* at $137/night that I've been considering, but I'd really like to try to get a 3.5* room for no more than $100 per night. I've been hesitant to keep re-bidding by adding additional areas because I read on here that sometimes star ratings can change. I'm concerned that I'll include a region that is only supposed to have hotels with a max of 3* in the bidding, but a rating has changed, I'll get the room, and it will be in some far-flung area of town, which is an issue because I'll be relying on my feet and public transportation while I'm there. Here's what I tried this morning without success: Selected minimum of 3.5* rated hotels. Started at $65 for only downtown - rejected $67, added Brookpark - rejected $87, added Elyria - rejected $91, added SE Cleveland - rejected $95, added Cleveland East - rejected The moderators and members here are a wealth of support and info - thank you!

Wow! That was a quick response - thanks! I dropped my rating preference to include 3.5* hotels, started at $60 again, rebid up to $82 without any success - yet. I appreciate you giving me an idea of what I can expect to pay; of course, $90 for a 3.5* hotel is better than $137 for a 2.5* one! Should I try bidding a couple of times a week for the next couple of weeks and then trying every day as my travel date gets closer? Any chance the rates might drop over the next 4 weeks?

Hi, new here. Have spent a few hours purusing all of this fantastically compiled information - what a great resource this site is! I tried my hand at bidding this morning without any luck, but I realize it's because I'm really underbidding and I'd like to know what's a reasonable starting point for these dates and location. This morning I tried bidding on only 4* hotels in downtown Cleveland (there are 2 according to the Priceline list), I started at $60 and re-bid by adding locations that didn't have any 4* hotels. I rebid 4 times; my last bid was for $86 and by that point I had included 4 additional areas. They were all declined. My "go to" hotel (the one I'd be willing to pay list price for if it comes down to it) is $137/night, 2.5* hotel that has great reviews but doesn't sell through Hotwire or Priceline. (I don't think a hotel with that star rating is worth $137/night, but I digress. Not sure if we're allowed to list specifics here, so that's why I'm not putting its name). If I'm going to pay that much, I'd like to get a 4* hotel, but I'd be content with a 3.5* for under $100. Any strategies for going about this? Thanks!