DCjoe

The previous review is accurate- the Doubletree Suites in Santa Monica is quite nice, and especially good for families with children because of the extra space. One thing I wanted to add was about parking. Self parking at the hotel is $18, and valet is $22. There is a Santa Monica city parking structure across the street, but it is $8 per calendar day, so overnight parking is $16, plus you have to pay each time you come in and out. If you are willing to walk a few blocks, there is pretty easy street parking in the residential blocks just south and west of the intersection of Pico and 4th. Those streets (Bay, 5th, 6th, Pacific) don't have any resident restrictions, and are about 1/3 of a mile from the hotel, so about a 7 minute walk. For me it was worth saving $18.

If you are willing to keep your car on the street you can park anywhere in the neighborhoods surrounding the hotel from 6:30 on Friday night until 9 AM on Tuesday morning of Memorial Day weekend. Most of the meters should be timed out also. But you might have to walk a few blocks, as that is a popular area and many people park around there.

I bid early on this one for a family member who is coming to town for the 3 days right after Labor Day, so all weekdays. The family member was concerned that the AARP conference starting on September 4 would push up rates and cause low availability as the date drew nearer. This high demand does appear to be the case, as the nightly rate on omnihotels.com jumps from $189 a night on the 2nd to $399 a night on the 4th, the first day of the conference So I worked my way up from $100 to $150 over a few rebids and a few days. Pretty happy with this win as the online average is $275 a night, and the Omni looks very nice and very convenient to the Metro and Rock Creek Park.

Actually won this last week, but just remembered to post it today. Must be a slow weekend in DC, as I think $70 a night is just about as low as you can go for a non-winter 3 star in Dupont-Woodley. Very happy with this win, $83 a night after taxes and fees for a total of $249 for 3 nights. Won it on the first bid as I thought $70 was a shot in the dark. Maybe I should have started at $65 :)

Quick review with a 2007 update. Staff at the hotel were courteous and competent, and our room request was honored. The room was very nice, with a new 37 inch lcd screen, although they don't have any hd programming, so the screen is kind of wasted. Room was completely quiet the entire time I was there. Also of note is that they are advertising an ongoing renovation of the hotel, but I didn't see any evidence of it. Overall an excellent stay.

True, but every other review on tripadvisor says that you can park on the street within a block or so. So for my purposes I counted this hotel (like the other 2.5 stars in Lake Union) as having free parking.

Needed a room centrally located for the entire Thansgiving weekend in Detroit. For where I am going (southeast Oakland county) that is the best area. Based on the options available I decided to go with 4 star, and from the looks of it that means the Westin, as there don't appear to be any other 4 star wins in Southfield for a while. I looked at the Westin site and noticed that the Wednesday-Saturday rate is $114 and the Thursday-Saturday night rates are $89. This meant I ended up going a little higher than the $45-55 range others have gotten for weekend rates. I tried a bunch of permutations beginning at $45 (lots of options for Detroit because of so few 4 star areas), and ended up getting the Westin at $63 a night. The all-in price for 4 nights was $299, so $75 a night. Whoops, I just checked Westin and they lowered the rates to $91 a night ($75 a night if only Thursday-Saturday). I probably should have waited and could have got the room for maybe $10 less a night. Lesson learned. During a slow demand period 6 weeks ahead might be too early.

Needed a room near the airport as I am arriving late on Friday night from long flight and want to go to bed immediately. Based on other winning bids I decided to start at $45 a night and increment in $5 amounts. Ended up hitting it at $60. Fine with the Doubletree, but I stayed at the Hilton before and liked that, so I was hoping for that one again. But very convenient as I will be getting a car from Thrifty in the morning, which across the street from the Doubletree.

This bidding got pretty complicated because of my desire to stay in the Lake Union area for free parking and quick access to areas of Seattle we will be visiting. We needed a room for three nights (11/10-11/13), but the last night was a Monday night, so I knew it would be more expensive. I tried up to $80 a night with no bites whatsoever. Then I noticed people getting the Residence Inn for $60 a night, but it looked like only on weekends. So I split the bid and won for the Saturday and Sunday night at $60 a night. Then I tried the "add a night to your stay" option for Monday night. They came back with an offer for $124 a night, which I rejected. From recent bid history it looks like the Residence Inn has been the only one in the Lake Union area coming up, so I figured it would be worth the risk to try a separate bid (the wife doesn't want to change hotels). So I started a new bid for just Monday night at $100 a night, and worked my way up through the three free rebids, $5 at a time. At $100, $105 and $110 I got counteroffers. $115 was my last free rebid (for 24 hours), but that offer was accepted, and I got the Residence Inn, so it worked out perfectly. My total price for all three nights including taxes and fees was $285, or $95 a night. If I had bid all three nights together I would have had to go up to $115, if I understand Priceline correctly, so the amount would have been $407. The regular rate at residenceinn.com (all-in) for the three nights was $644. I am very happy that this strategy worked out so well. I probably wouldn't have done it unless I was pretty confident I would get the same hotel. The weird thing to me is that the rate at residenceinn.com only goes from $179 a night to $199 a night from Sunday to Monday nights, but the Priceline amount was $55 higher. My guess is that they figure they won't fill up on the weekends anyway, but many people think $180 a night is perfectly reasonable, so they don't drop the rack rate too much. And then during the week they don't want to push the rack rate too high to keep the business traveler attracted, but they have much lower vacancy rates so the Priceline rate is higher. In any case, a pretty interesting data point, I think.

I will start a new topic for the second bid, didn't realize how everything is coded. Yeah, it was a calculated risk to split the bid. Like I said, I haven't seen anyone winning anything in Lake Union other than the Residence Inn for a while. Plus, even if we had to move all the hotels in Lake Union are within a half mile of each other and seem relatively comparable (suites, free parking, free breakfast). To save $120 the wife would have sucked it up! I definitely would not have done this in other areas that have a wide array of options and pretty big disparity between hotels in the same zone/area, like say a 3 star in downtown Seattle. That would have been too risky.

This bidding got pretty complicated because of my desire to stay in the Lake Union area for free parking and quick access to areas of Seattle we will be visiting. We needed a room for three nights (11/10-11/13), but the last night was a Monday night, so I knew it would be more expensive. I tried up to $80 a night with no bites whatsoever. Then I noticed people getting the Residence Inn for $60 a night, but it looked like only on weekends. So I split the bid and won for the Saturday and Sunday night at $60 a night. Then I tried the "add a night to your stay" option for Monday night. They came back with an offer for $124 a night, which I rejected. From recent bid history it looks like the Residence Inn has been the only one in the Lake Union area coming up, so I figured it would be worth the risk to try a separate bid (the wife doesn't want to change hotels). So I started a new bid for just Monday night at $100 a night, and worked my way up through the three free rebids, $5 at a time. At $100, $105 and $110 I got counteroffers. $115 was my last free rebid (for 24 hours), but that offer was accepted, and I got the Residence Inn, so it worked out perfectly. My total price for all three nights including taxes and fees was $285, or $95 a night. If I had bid all three nights together I would have had to go up to $115, if I understand Priceline correctly, so the amount would have been $407. The regular rate at residenceinn.com (all-in) for the three nights was $644. I am very happy that this strategy worked out so well. I probably wouldn't have done it unless I was pretty confident I would get the same hotel. The weird thing to me is that the rate at residenceinn.com only goes from $179 a night to $199 a night from Sunday to Monday nights, but the Priceline amount was $55 higher. My guess is that they figure they won't fill up on the weekends anyway, but many people think $180 a night is perfectly reasonable, so they don't drop the rack rate too much. And then during the week they don't want to push the rack rate too high to keep the business traveler attracted, but they have much lower vacancy rates so the Priceline rate is higher. In any case, a pretty interesting data point, I think.

I recently stayed at the Hilton San Diego Resort for 2 nights for a bid of $91 ($211 all-in). Note that parking is $20 a day, with no overnight options nearby (you can park in Mission Bay Park very near the hotel, but can't park from 2 AM-4 AM in the park, so unless you are out really late, that's not an option). This parking charge is exorbitant considering that the hotel is the only real structure for a mile or so, so it's not like the space is crowded. The Hilton is in a great location, right on Mission Bay, near I-5 and Seaworld. We went to Mission Beach, La Jolla, downtown and the airport, and they were all about a 10 minute drive. Because of the location sandwiched between the Bay and I-5, public transit seems to be non-existent, but that's not too surprising for southern CA. I would not rate the Hilton as a 4 star hotel, probably a 3 star. Our room was perfectly fine, clean, all that, but nothing special, and the public spaces were again just fine, but nothing special. Compared to the Hyatt Regency in SF or Miami (both priceline 4 stars), this hotel doesn't compare. We ended up getting a room on the first floor, that opened up onto a grassy area bordering the pool. It was just down the hall from the entrance to the Bay. Again, perfectly fine, but nothing special. If you want a good nights sleep and easy access to San Diego, the Hilton is great. If you are looking for a little bit more, you might be a bit disappointed.

Recently stayed at the Westin LAX for one night for a bid of $60 ($76 total after taxes/fees). Note that parking is $15 a night, but there is free overnight parking available just east of the hotel on Century Blvd in front of the Subway. It is one hour parking from 8 AM-6 PM (Monday-Saturday), so you can park there without any issues until 9 AM, and all day on Sundays. It isn't the safest spot in the world, but if you have a basic car and don't leave any valuables in sight, it won't be a problem. The Westin is a very nice hotel, and I would recommend signing up for Starwood Preferred Guest if you get this hotel (or any other Westin). Somehow I got to be a gold member even though I have never stayed before, and this got me a special checkin area and very nice service. I suspect even the basic members get nice service. The lobby is very big and spacious, with a nice bar and restaurant. It looks like they often have large gatherings here, so be prepared for some crowds. The room we requested was very nice, with a view of the south runways and the pool(almost no noise), I suspect this view is better than the one of Century Blvd. The bed may not have been "Heavenly", but it was very nice and comfortable, and we got a very good night's sleep. My wife liked the decorations quite a bit, basic pictures and colors, but very classy and understated. Overall we had an excellent stay.

Needed a nice room for two weekend nights in December near Mission Bay. Tried various bids between $80 and $90, had made last bid at $91 when I hit it. Not too bad, although it looks like the Hilton jacks you on the parking and there isn't street parking nearby. Anyway, I am pretty happy with this, $211 all-in for two nights.

Needed a room for New Year's eve night, flying out the next morning. Started at $55 and worked my way up through 57, 59 and then hit it at $60. Got a counteroffer to add $15 when I bid $57, then just the resubmit page when I bid $59. Weird, shows you the counteroffer page isn't worth much. Anyway, very happy to get a nice hotel for only $75 after taxes and fees.

Just got back, the hotel was very nice, clean, quiet. One note- there is ample street parking just a block west of the hotel (just west of Central Ave), on the side streets one block north and one block south of Glenoaks. This is a perfectly safe area, so if you don't want to pay $14 a day to park, I highly recommend walking the 2 minutes to park on the street. Like anywhere, don't leave valuables in your car.

Thanks for the info Ghoulgirl. I will have a basic rental car while I am there, with nothing inside, so I am pretty comfortable parking it on the street. Did there seem to be free street parking within a few block radius? I don't mind walking a bit to save $28.

It was the one in Glendale. Looks nice overall.

Needed a place to stay in between downtown, Pasadena and Encino. Glendale seemed the best compromise. Tried initial bid for $70, offered rebid if increased by $22, knew this meant I was close, and added Studio City as a free rebid zone, and the bid was accepted at $75. Total price of $178 for two nights.