Timothy Denike

Thought it might be helpful despite the fact that I didn't win. The only 4* hotel in this region is the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe with an Internet Rate of $459. On sale on Hotwire for $428. Started at $175, added rebid zones all the way up to $315 before giving up.

Tried a number of strategies, going as high as $260 in the Downtown/FiDi, Copley Square, and Boston Harbor areas. Haven't tried the Convention Center area yet. 1st session: copley 85 brighton 100 fenway 120 medford 140 n cambridge 160 s boston 175 2nd session added- quincy mkt 120 copley 140 brighton 160 fenway 180 medford 200 n cambridge 220 <- to steep for me, giving up s boston 240 3rd session added- boston harbor 110 qincy mkt 125 copley 140 brighton 160 fenway 175 medford 190 n cambridge 220 s boston 260 Not sure what my options are at this point.. This is getting too rich for my blood. Maybe I should just sleep on a relative's floor.

Disaster! Was looking for a hotel in Downtown Toronto and ended up with TWO priceline reservations due to an accidental booking in a zone I don't want. Starting bid using Betterbidding PRICELINE link. $75 Downtown Toronto North $80 Rebid zone: Brampton $85 Rebid zone: Burlington $90 Rebid zone: Don Valley $95 Rebid zone: Mississauga $100 Rebid zone: Oakville $105 Rebid zone: Scarborough $110 Rebid zone: Toronto East <- :) Accidentally clicked "Toronto AIRPORT east" - which was immediately accepted Since this hotel is absolutely nowhere near where I need to be, and Priceline customer service refused to help me out here, I'm booking two reservations. Restarted: $115 Rebid zone: Toronto East $125 Rebid zone: Toronto West $135 Rebid zone: Vaughan ACCEPTED Won: The Sutton Place Hotel - $135/night Also "won" the Westin Bristol Place Toronto Airport $110/night down the drain. :) Any advice from you or other forum readers how I can get myself out of this jam would be appreciated.

Following the BetterBidding PRICELINE link I bid with the following. Initial bid $35 Bensalem - rejected Priceline offered to rebid at $48 with no changes. Declined Added rebid zone Gloucester at $45 - accepted Thanks!

Tried across three days using rebid zones, eventually gave up because the price got too steep for me. There's a conference going on this particular week with negotiated pricing discounts at $184 which I was trying to beat. Started at $45, bid all the way up to $145, still no-go.

Ended up going with PRICELINE using the link. $65 start - Copley Square 4* $72 rebid - Brighton $80 rebid - Fenway Park $92 rebid - Medford $105 rebid - North Cambridge $115 rebid - South Boston - Accepted Westin Copley Place Thanks for all the help

Sure! 4.5* Financial District - $143/night (Guessing the Langham Hotel, or Nine Zero?) Smoke Free, Fitness Center, Restaurant, Business Center, High-Speed Internet 4* Copley Square - $139/night (This is probably one of the same hotels I'd get on Priceline for less.) Smoke Free, Fitness Center, Restaurant, Business Center, High-Speed Internet 4* Financial - $133/night (Guessing the Onyx Hotel?) Boutique, Smoke Free, Fitness Center, Restaurant, Business Center, High-Speed Internet

Not necessarily trying to avoid any specific properties - just wanted to try a 4*+ hotel that I hadn't been to before. There do seem to be some HOTWIRE options that look good. Do these guesses sound correct? (Nov 12-16) 4.5* Financial District - $143/night (This is probably the Langham Hotel, or Nine Zero? Nice!) 4* Copley Square - $143/night (This is probably one of the same hotels I'd get on Priceline for less.) 4* Financial - $129/night (This is probably the Onyx Hotel? Also Nice!) (I suppose this should move to the Hotwire forum....)

Hi there, I'm planning on a trip Oct 8-11 in downtown Boston, and trying to think out my best strategy for a top-notch 4* hotel. In the past, all my Downtown bids resulted in the Hyatt Regency Downtown. All my bids in Copley Square usually resulted in the Colonnade or Marriott Copley Square. These are nice hotels, but I was hoping for something a little different. It looks like the Hyatt Downtown has vacancy that weekend, so I'll probably avoid downtown, since I want something new. Since nobody seems to have won the Colonnade or Mariott lately, I'm wondering if they're out of the game? Are they no longer rated 4*? It seems like it's down to just the Back Bay hotel or the Fairmont, both of which look great, and probably worth the extra money? Do these seem like likely winners? Thanks, Tim

Just won the Hyatt Regency for $65 /nite. Initial bid $60, rejected. Added rebid zone Brighton for $65, accepted. I clicked the BetterBidding PRICELINE link - however I did so after closing my browser window after my first initial bid, when I realized I had forgotten the link. Hopefully it'll take? Thanks, Tim

Followed the BetterBidding PRICELINE link. Hyatt Regency Philadelphia At Penns Landing 4 Star Downtown Philadelphia 201 S Columbus Boulevard Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106 Strategy: Downtown - $60 - Rejected - Priceline offered to let me rebid +$17, but I declined Added rebid zone City Line $65 - Accepted Thanks again! Tim

Started bidding at $130, denied, added rebid zone Ashley for $140, denied, added rebid zone Folly for $150, denied, added rebid zone North for $160, denied, added rebid zone North for $170, accepted. Renaissance Charleston 4-star Downtown Charleston 68 Wentworth Street Charleston, South Carolina 29401 843-534-0300

Shoot, this was my first Hotwire bid and after reading all the posts, I still screwed up. The offer was $139/nite for Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business. Based on other posts, I was convinced I had the W lined up. I didn't notice that the amenities missing were "Golf, Tennis, Spa" Perhaps I was confused because the Westin listing on betterbidding had "Pool" crossed out? Oh well - not as great a deal or hotel. Hopefully the Westin will exceed my expectations! I did use the HOTWIRE link to book this reservation. Thanks for the great resource, I wish I had paid better attention.

Not sure whether this is helpful or not, but I thought I'd share anyway. Was looking for a 4* in the Downtown area, gave up after losing a $100 bid, and accepted a $139 Hotwire offer for what I thought was the W. Turned out to be the Westin instead. Start Downtown $70 Added: Del Mar $75 East County $80 Escondido $85 Miramar $90 Mission Valley $95 National City $100 (gave up) Point Loma untried Rancho Bernardo untried San Ysidro untried Sorrento Mesa untried

I don't seem to be on my game this week.. I got this on the first bid, so I may have been able to do better. This bid is for a Saturday checkin and a Monday checkout. I exhausted tries for the same weekend, but with a Thursday checkin and a Saturday checkout. Apparently they're either booked friday, or Monday is a cheaper day? Dec 15-17 Bid 1 - 4* Boston Downtown - $75 - accepted (used link on savingsbarn.com) Previous bids: Dec 13-15 I started with Downtown $60 - rejected Added rebid zone Brighton $66 - rejected Added rebid zone Medford $75 - rejected Added final rebid zone S. Boston $80 - rejected - (a previously accepted price)

I'm trying to book the same hotel for a family member with overlapping dates on my stay. (previous Priceline win) Not sure why this didn't work, since I just got the Hyatt Downtown for $80 yesterday on 12/14-12/17. I assumed the same rate would be available today. I started with Downtown $60 - rejected Added rebid zone Brighton $66 - rejected Added rebid zone Medford $75 - rejected Added final rebid zone S. Boston $80 - rejected - a previously accepted price. I did use the link on savingsbarn.com - although in this case I lost. I guess I'll try tomorrow starting at $80-$95.

I sorta screwed this one up, but here goes. Dates of stay are 12/14/07-12/17/07. I wanted a 4* in Copley Square so I did as follows: Bid 1: Copley Square 4* at $75 - rejected Added rebid zone Brighton at $85 - rejected Added rebid zone Medford at $95 - rejected Added rebid zone S. Boston at $105 - rejected Exhausted.. Added 4* zone Downtown at $80 - accepted I'm okay with Downtown, but it would have been nice to know if I could have gotten it lower. Tim

Spent a couple days bidding up from $60/nite for a 4 star in Copley. (I followed the link on savingsbarn.com) My last bid attempts exhausted at $100. Mom needs a hotel also, so I started working on her reservation first - which is one day longer. 5/24-5/29. Bid $110 4* Copley - rejected - site offered to let me rebid $22 higher - I declined - rebid at $120 - accepted! Next - did another reservation hoping to get the same hotel. Bid $115 4* Copley - accepted! (Same hotel) 5/25-5/29 A little more than I had originally wanted to spend - but I get to stay in the neighborhood I wanted, and the hotel looks nice. (Rate on the Colonnade Hotel direct is $169 - 30% savings.) Thanks guys for the help, Tim

Good guess. 5/25-5/29 I've looked at the Hilton and Hyatt websites in more or less the same neighborhoods, and found Internet rates of $169. Westin $209. My upper limit is pretty flexible. I just want a centrally located luxury hotel for cheap. :-) Perhaps it's time to consider the Waterfront or Cambridge areas. I don't think I'll consider Logan Airport area.

I need some help.. Should I expand my area, raise my price, or are there any other tricks? We're getting pretty close to what I could find online without bidding.. Last Thanksgiving, Copley accepted at $85. Last May, Downtown accepted at $75. Goal - 4 star minimum, prefer Copley, Downtown backup.. Yesterday: $65 - Copley - rejected $70 - added Brighton (no 4*'s there) - rejected $75 - added Medford (no 4*'s there) - rejected $80 - added South Boston (no 4*'s there) - rejected Done for the day - too many attempts. Today: $85 - Copley - rejected $90 - added Brighton (no 4*'s there) - rejected $95 - added Medford (no 4*'s there) - rejected $100 - added South Boston (no 4*'s there) - rejected Done for the day - too many attempts. Expanded search to include Downtown & Copley 4*'s $75 - Downtown - rejected $80 - added Copley (we know they won't take < 100..) - rejected $85 - added Brighton (no 4*'s there) - rejected $90 - added Medford (no 4*'s there) $100 - added South Boston (no 4*'s there) - rejected

Started bidding at $50, rejected added Copley, rebid $60, rejected, added WTC then rebid $75, rejected rebid at $80, rejected, rebid at $90, accepted. $90 seems to be a good bet for 4* out of the WTC, Copley, or Downtown regions. (The only 3 in Boston that list 4* hotels.) I also booked an additional reservation for the same rate for only 2 days for my Mom. Congratulations, you got your price of $90 for a 4-star hotel room. Marriott Copley Place 4-star Copley 110 Huntington Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02116 617-236-5800 Check-In Date: Tue, Nov 21, 2006 Check-In Time: After 04:00 PM Check-Out Date: Mon, Nov 27, 2006 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $90.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 6 Subtotal: $540.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $83.73 Total Charges*: $623.73