witless

We bid in $5 increments and got this at $130. Got free rebid offers (if $25 added) at $120 and $125, but ignored these and just added Civic Center and Marina zones which have no 3.5*. This seems to be a tricky week in San Francisco as we bid for several combinations of zones, nights and prices from 6/16 to 6/23 up to about $150 for 4*, and have just had this one success so far. There's a big medical conference in Moscone the first half of the week that seems to be driving rates up. We stayed in the Galleria Park in the past and it was excellent. Used the PRICELINE link.

$85 was our first bid for 4* in this zone and it worked! I doubt that we'd have gotten it for much less than $85, as that's over 50% less than the retail price for those dates and corresponds with the best rates that people have reported for 4* in London in recent years. We first tried a few speculative 5* bids in various zones up to $130, but nothing came up. The above was our first 4*. More than happy with the outcome. Total for the two nights including taxes and fees came to $212.70. Used the PRICELINE link. Thanks everyone for continuing to post your winning bids (and to the mods for the support).

Tried $50 first. Got counter offer of free rebid at $63. Ignored this and added free re-bid zone (Lexington-Concord) and won this on second bid $57. Very happy with this :-) Total inc taxes and fees: $71.51 It's a Sunday night, which might explain the great rate. I used the PRICELINE link...

FYI, I found 4* Royal Sonesta available on 7/16 on an Irish hotel discounter at 164 euros including tax for 2 adults and 2 kids, so went with that. 164 euros inc tax is about the same as a Priceline bid of $165 + tax/fees. I tried some Priceline bids first for the same night - these were the highest in the respective zones - all failed: $150 4* Harbor Front - Aquarium $140 4* Waterfront - Convention Center $120 4* Revere - Logan Airport They were my max bids in those zones given the option of the Royal Sonesta at $165 equivalent and guarantee of suitable bed arrangement. Still not sorted for 7/17 - we'll probably go suburban as we'll have a car then... Thanks anyway folks :-)

Thanks folks for the tips. I've been looking closely at the hotels by zone over the past day or so and it seems that Waterfront/Conv Center, Harborfront/Aquarium & the Airport might be the safest zones for getting suitable rooms... Actually a lot of hotels are completely full on 7/17 and some on 7/16 too - is some big event happening in Boston on those dates?

Hi, I have used Priceline a bit in the past, usually just 2 adults or 2 adults + 1 baby. We've never had any problem getting a crib for the baby, usually for free and a few times for a small fee. Now we have a toddler (age 3) and a baby (age 8 months). I am well aware that Priceline makes no guarantees beyond accommodating 2 adults, but I'm willing to take a chance on the basis that a our toddler can fit with us on a king bed if we are stuck, but we would still hope to get a room with two double beds. So my question is: does anyone know of any zones in Boston that I should particularly avoid - i.e. containing a specific hotel where the rooms are very small or where we might just get just a queen bed? I plan to bid 4* and maybe 3.5*. My dates are 7/16 - 7/18. Many thanks!

Stepped up in $3 increments. Room Subtotal: US$133.00 Taxes & Fees: US$22.08 Total Charged to Card: US$155.08 Used the PRICELINE link from this site. Good hotel :)

Update as requested. Thanks thereyouare for the advice. I'm afraid I didn't have the courage to try tipping/bribing the front desk clerk as suggested in the discussion you linked. I did however call and fax ahead to request a King bed, a crib and a quiet room. It was partially successful. We still got one of their "Priceline rooms", with a queen bed, but it was at the end of a corridor and very quiet. They gave us the crib and also a small refrigerator, which was really great. We picked up a small travel electric kettle close by (Crate & Barrel) for $20, so our room was then like a suite! Overall, a good experience.

By the way, does anyone have tips for getting a "good" room, as it seems that they vary a lot in this hotel? We'd ideally like to have a king bed. We're a couple with a small baby (6 mths old).

4 nights. Was keen to get 4* USE zone only, so tried USE and various free re-bid configurations in small increments. $87 rejected, but $89 accepted. This is not quite as cheap as people sometimes get this hotel, but we're happy enough... Total price for the 4 nights inc taxes and fees: $421.38 Used the PRICELINE link.

This appeared on Hotwire as a 5* Condo $84 per night for 3 nights. Total price: $280.12. I used the HOTWIRE link from betterbidding.com. Amenities: Spa Services Studio Smoke Free Rooms Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center High-speed Internet Access Kitchenette

Actually, no amenities were shown for this hotel. I'll use the link next time (I didn't realise until after stay that this site covered HOTWIRE as well as PRICELINE).

Total price inc fees: $60.85 As it turned out, there was no benefit of using Hotwire here as the same rate was available (euro equivalent of the total amount) for that night on Lynam's website. Location is good - very central. Hotel is basic, more 2* than 3*, and frayed at the edges. Acceptable for a place to sleep if no luxuries expected and you're not planning to spend a lot of time in the hotel.

Marseille, France Tried Friday and Saturday night combined, and got nothing up to $125. Then split the bids. Nothing came up for Friday night, but got this one for Saturday night. Looks great. Total including tax etc $158

2 rooms for 2 nights, Monday & Tuesday. Bid in increments. $85 rejected but $90 accepted. Used the link.

2 rooms for 3 nights, Friday/Saturday/Sunday. Bid in increments. $90 rejected but $95 accepted. Delighted to get the Sofitel, given the reviews :) Used the link.

First I tried $90 for total stay: rejected Then tried $100 for first four nights: rejected Then tried just last three nights (4/10-4/13) at $106 and was accepted. Then used PL's extend stay option to add the two nights at the beginning at same price. Total cost for the five nights inc taxes etc = $666.93 I used the PRICELINE link at SavingsBarn.com

After several bids and rebids with various zone mixes, got this one Total for 2 nights = $180 + $40.57 extras = $220.57

Bid in increments of $5 from $60, adding South Boston and Brighton/Brookline for rebids. Good price but it ended being a waste as we had to change travel plans at the last minute - the downside of priceline bidding :) These things happen - I'll keep using Priceline as I'm willing to accept that risk. Used the link

Just got this today. Bid in increments of $10 from $105, adding UES and UEW to MTW. Very happy to get 4* MTW at $125. The reason I started so low is that reg rates and hotwire seemed lower than average for that night. Bid was for one night only. Reviews for this Sheraton are a bit mixed so hope it's good :) Used the link...

Thanks thereuare and other posters. I used the SavingsBarn link (or at least I hope I remembered to, as I bid so many times recently). Our full stay is for 3 nights, 10/28 - 10/31. I split the stay in two as guessed the Sat night would be tricky. We got the Marriott Marquis for $150 for the Sun and Mon nights a few weeks back (posted here on 10/12) and have been occasionally bidding up to about $175 for the Sat night (28th) ever since - finally this one came through yesterday at $165. V happy overall.

Just got this today 4* MTE Intercontinental The Barclay Sat 10/28, 1 night $165 + usual extras = $197 total Rejected for DTS, MTS, MTE, MTW at $155. Added UPE at $165 and accepted :)

NYCFan, Was that 8pm NY time, or your own time zone, that you were successful on the Friday? I'm asking as I'm trying to bid for Sat 10/28 and backup reservation can be cancelled up to 4pm Friday, NY time. Thanks :)

I'll probably try Priceline first for a few days, and then this. Either way I'll use the relevant links. Thanks a mil!

Hi there, Hotwire is quoting a 4* in Downtown/SoHo for $234 on Saturday 10/28. I've been watching this date for a while and this is a cheaper rate than before. Hotel amenities listed are: - Fitness Center - Restaurant(s) - High-speed Internet Access - Pool(s) - Business Center Can anyone guess which hotel it is? Maybe the clue is in the pool, as there can't be many pools in DTS area? Maybe good rate on Hotwire means PL might be worth a try for it? Thanks!