SinatraFan

At first I was a little baffled reading the reviews of the Clock Tower Resort; they were pretty bad. But as a Priceline customer I apply different standards. Their standard price is $144; I stayed for under $50 and saw a receipt (not meant for me) that said $44, so it might be a good guess that 44 is the Priceline threshold. And at that rate, this hotel is just fine. If I had booked at a high price and expected a full waterpark and stuff like that, I would have been disappointed. The rooms are quite large and have exposed brick walls and low ceilings which works for me, giving it a cozy yet spacious and resort-y feeling. But if you are used to Hyatts and Hiltons and a more modern feel, you may describe it the way some have, as dark and dreary. It is a very large place, spread out so much that they give you a map so you can find your room! I had no problems with the staff or the cleaning people while there, and on Tuesdays they have a free buffet for all guests, including beer and wine. It was all very good. I did not check out the waterpark but I saw the indoor and outdoor pools and they looked fine and people seemed to be enjoying them. The location of the Clock Tower Resort is in the "Hotel District" - a lot of places all within less than a half mile. This is fairly far from downtown Rockford but so are all the good hotels. No microwave, no fridge, and not many television channels. I can't remember if there was internet access. So if you book this place at a good price and like a change from more standard 2.5 star hotels, this is a good option. If you have a big family and expect something like the Wisconsin Dells and you pay rack rate, you won't be too happy.

I was just playing, thinking I might get Marriott Courtyard, and Clock Tower came up on my first attempt. Used SavingsBarn.com. Been here twice now so I've written a hotel review. Clock Tower Resort And Conference Center 2

Used SavingsBarn.com. Another new one for the Illinois list. I have bid 2* in Rockford more than a dozen times in the last three months and every single time I get this hotel for $30. It is a very clean, safe and friendly hotel. Esa Rockford-East 2-star 653 Clark Drive Rockford, Illinois 61107 Wed, Aug 22, 2007 / After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Fri, Aug 24, 2007 / 11:00 AM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $30.00 Subtotal: $60.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $15.08 Total Charges*: $75.08

Got it on first try. Used SavingsBarn.com. Looks like this is a new one for the Illinois list. Clock Tower Resort And Conference Center 2

Bid $54 for a 3*, was rejected. Dropped 2 bucks and a half a star and won the Marriott Courtyard. I'm pretty sure I used SavingsBarn. Courtyard By Marriott Rockford 2

I used Hotwire for the first time a few weeks ago, getting Extended Stay America for $39 for one night. When I checked out I got a receipt stating "Advance Deposit Credit $33.59, Rm229 HOTWIRE LOW $29.99". Taxes were $3.60 which is what made it 33.59. Hotwire charged me $39.00 for that night, plus $11.18 in "Taxes recovery charges and fees", for a grand total to Hotwire of $50.18. Is it normal to get a receipt that shows what Hotwire paid for the room? Seventeen bucks profit on a thirty-three dollar room ....

Here's a new one for the IL list! 2* Extended Stay America Rockford - East. 653 Clark Drive Rockford, Illinois 61107 1 room(s) @ $39.00 per night x 1 night(s) (Mar 19-20) Taxes, recovery charges, and fees 1 room(s) @ $39.00 per night x 1 night(s) $39.00 Taxes, recovery charges, and fees $11.18 Total $50.18 The only Amenity listed was: "Laundry Facilities: <amenity names only please... not descriptions>" Tried Priceline 1st & had $37 bid for 3* and 2.5* rejected. Normal rate on ESA's website is $65-$75.

As an enthusiastic but infrequent visitor to L.A., I will echo most of Majorca's comments. To answer your questions: Is Downtown a good place to stay in Los Angeles? Not really. Worth a short daytrip, but not a lot there, not very central, and parking will cost a lot. But the deals you have found do sound good to me, especially if they include parking. Is it worth any extra money to stay out in the Santa Monica or Beverly Hills area? Santa Monica is a great place to hang out in, lots to see and do, lots of interesting little shops and such. But it is as far west as you can get, so again, not very central. Beverly Hills is where Century City is, so it is a good area to bid. Probably the most central, but also seems like the most congested area, traffic-wise. If you go down to 3* you can sometimes get lucky and find good bargains here. Or, is it worth the money you save to stay out by LAX airport? I've done this a few times. It can be very cheap and parking will be less expensive, but as Majorca pointed out, all there is is planes and hotels and car rental places. Expect a 20-30 minute drive to/from the hotel each day. Culver City cuts that commute by at least 10 minutes, but is probably the least interesting place to stay. Is a car really needed or is there other forms of transportation that is more convienent? Oh, you'll need a car!!

Don't forget that if you are bidding 4* you have a free rebid zone.

Suppose you have a dozen websites with information that interests you, but which may get updated only infrequently. It would be a pain to connect to each one each day and sort through to see what is new that you may find interesting. Instead, many websites make available an "RSS feed" which summarizes new content that the website thinks will be of interest to its readers. In turn, you would have an RSS reader to access those feeds. Instead of the whole website, you just see a short listing of new topics - then if you choose to, you can load the entire site and read the full article. I use 'Sage', an RSS reader that integrates into Firefox; but there are many of them out there for various web browsers. Not all websites offer RSS feeds, and an RSS reader is not the same as a newsreader which accesses newsgroups like "rec.travel.europe". try this site for more info: http://rss.softwaregarden.com/aboutrss.html

What do you mean by "hoping we'd get away with it."? If you got back change for a $100 when you gave the guy a fifty, you would say something, but you would have accepted this price at Caesar's if you "got away with it"? You would insist on paying the correct price for that plasma tv - even if the cashier said nothing - but you would have accepted the room for $20 if "you got away with it"? Or were you planning, upon check in, to insist on paying an extra $50 or so a night? Once again, this is not an issue of honesty - it is an issue of equity.

What does this mean? The room was shown as $20, you booked it. You did nothing dishonest. The issue is one of equity: if you enter the wrong dates and win a room, you cannot just say "cancel" and start over again. You are out that money. If a hotel makes a mistake on the other side, should they not be out the money as well?

I would never have associated Addison with Schaumburg/Arlington Heights, but a look at the Hotwire map for that area is awfully generous and does indeed include Addison. If it were Priceline it would be in the Bloomingdale - Itasca - Carol Stream area.

If you're looking for a hotel near the airport, the Radisson Northbrook might be for you. Not O'Hare Airport - this is near Palwaukee airport. It's a quirky area but obviously of interest because there are quite a few hotels and restaurants around. My forty-four dollar priceline room was on the seventh floor looking across a forest preserve. It was a good size and included a king size bed, a couch, table, desk and chair, high speed internet access, coffee maker, iron and ironing board, hair dryer, and a terrycloth robe. But the star is the sleep number bed. Radisson has made an effort to get these into all their hotels to distinguish themselves from the competition, and it works for me. You can dial a nice firm mattress or a soft sloppy one, and one side of the king bed can be different from the other. Lotsa fun, and for someone like myself with a back that occasionally acts up, it's great to be able to change it at will. Check in was fast, staff were friendly and greeted me as I walked through the hall. Parking is free. The usual cable channels on tv. There is a restaurant and bar at the front of the hotel - I didn't eat there but it looked okay, nothing special. For a fancy meal, walk across the street to Allgauer's in the Hilton. Photos here

Bid $41, then rebid $44, through SavingsBarn. Congratulations, you got your price of $44 for a 3-star hotel room. Hotel Name: Radisson Hotel Northbrook Chicago N. Shore Glenview-Northbrook 2875 North Milwaukee Avenue Northbrook, Illinois 60062 Check-In Date: Friday, September 29, 2006 Check-Out Date: Saturday, September 30, 2006 Your Offer Price: $44.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $44.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $12.58 Total Charges*: $56.58

I wouldn't stay near MDW, it's not a great area, and I definitely wouldn't priceline it: the area is too large and you could get somewhere quite far away from the EL and in a less-than-safe place. The Loop is what you want but it may cost you. Look at it this way: even if you only sleep there, that's about 16 hours you spend in the room versus only a few on the plane. So on a per-hour basis it will still be cheaper than your plane tickets!? Hotwire does not have bidding.

I recently stayed at the Hotel Kennedy. You can exit the front door, walk a block to the termini and you're almost right at the Leonardo Express to the airport. Nice place, nice staff, see my pictures at RealHotelPhotos.com: http://no_screenshots_please.com/efgm4 I booked direct with the hotel; it would be difficult to use priceline for a hotel near the termini because the area (Central) is too large. Price for a double at the Kennedy is high in October but drops to 95 euro starting November. You can also read reviews and book this hotel through venere.com.

Just a note - this was addressed in another thread but merits inclusion in this one as well - Priceline has changed their interface. This was the old way (though I think perhaps it should read "then proceed ... as if you were going to select a star level"). Now the process is much easier, since the zones and star levels appear on the same page and are updated dynamically. As you choose your zone, the star levels available for that zone appear un-greyed out. Of course, as always, you must be careful to choose one zone at a time, since the star levels reflect the accumulated checked zones. Check a zone, take note of the stars, uncheck that zone, then check a different zone, and so on.

Good point about subscribing to forums or topics, I forgot about that - I'll try it next time. But if you decide to break out feeds separately, what about making the RSS symbol work analogously to the "Options" button in each forum - it just applies to that particular forum. Or could you even add "subscribe to this forum's RSS feed" as one of the options available in that menu?

I like it so far. It would be nice to be able to pick certain forums - if I know I am going to be bidding in, say, NYC then I would subscribe to that forum; later I would change to a different one depending on where I was going. But a general all-board feed should always be available as well. 10 to 15 threads is the right number - no less.

I was bidding just a day in advance and needed 2 rooms downtown so I went with $55 for a 3 star downtown and got accepted immediately. Placed through SavingsBarn, natch. Check-In Date: Wed, Aug 16, 2006 Check-Out Date: Thu, Aug 17, 2006 Number of Rooms: 2 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $110.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $24.36 Total Charges: $134.36

Arrived at 9:30 in the morning and got a room right away, no problem, friendly front desk staff. Rooms do not have coffee makers but each floor has a free coffee machine by the elevators (though coffee is only available till 11:30 a.m.). The morning newspaper is left outside the door each day. The room size and accomodations are standard but the bathroom, while clean and modern, is much smaller than I would expect from other hotels in this class. High speed internet access is now available. Views are best to the east and north. The concierge was a very nice person and provided 2-for-1 coupons for the zoo and most museums. I asked where the Milwaukee Visitor Center was and she replied "I should know that, shouldn't I?". Three phone calls later she did - it was one block south. Parking is in an independently owned lot connected by skywalk to the lobby. $16 for a 24 hour period, but show your Hyatt receipt and you get a dollar off. Location of the hotel is fairly central and as Senoreit has said, Milwaukee is one quiet town. The middle of a workday in the thick of downtown feels like a sleepy sunday almost anywhere else. But all your favorite shops and restaurant chains are around, and the Historic Third Ward has many very interesting little shops. (Not to be confused with "Old World Third Street", just across the street from the Hyatt, which has Usinger's sausage shop, Mader's restaurant, and as of December 05, a branch of Munich's Hofbrauhaus.) I look forward to returning.

This is an enormous, sprawling hotel, probably with more capacity than they need, which would explain why it seems to come up on Priceline a lot. The room was average or slightly better in size and the bathroom was gynormous - very much more plain than I would expect, and all decked out for handicapped access, so perhaps it was special that way. The room itself looked like a normal room - upgraded linen, very nice pillows, coffee maker, iron & 2 ironing boards (!?), no view to speak of, connecting doors to rooms on either side. Thin walls bother me but I had no problem here - did I not have neighbors? I dunno but it was quiet for me all night. The staff were friendly enough and it was great on a hot summer day to walk into a room with the air con cranked up all the way. It was like a freezer. Some people may not like that but it works for me. I found the fan noise about normal. I should point out that this hotel, while it has convenient access to I-94, is at least 10 miles away from downtown Milwaukee.

I was bidding on the morning of the date I wanted, and it was a Saturday with a festival and a car race going on in Milwaukee that weekend so hotels were tight; consequently $59 for one night did not seem too bad. By using various strategies I made many bids (didn't really care what area I was in so lots of rebid possibilities) but got rejected from $35 up to $52, even after I dropped from 3* to 2.5. On my final chance I went to $59 and got upgraded to the 3* Sheraton. Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Check-In Date: Saturday, July 22, 2006 Check-Out Date: Sunday, July 23, 2006 Your Offer Price: $59.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $59.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $16.09 Total Charges: $75.09