Scorp

Welcome to BetterBidding! Do you have any leeway in your travel dates? It sounds like you are already committed to certain dates, regardless...??? If you are thinking of other dates, can you let us know what those would be? If you do have some flexibility, you can get some idea of the answer to your question by comparing rates for hotels that have come up before for your various dates.... you can see if they are higher or lower for the different dates or not, and that will give you some indication of whether a Priceline bid is likely to be successful at the 'usual rate' or not. For example, Starwood's site shows $182 for the Westin Copley and $189 for the Sheraton for 7/3-7/06 but the Westin jumps to $239 for 7/7 - 7/10.

I also see there is a Heart Valve Disease conference in town from June 17-20, with approx. 1500 delegates. You might have to expect to pay a bit more than for slower dates. I see rates for the Marriott Pinnacle and the Hyatt close to $200/night US, $170 - $200 for the Sheraton Wall Centre, and even higher for the Westin Grand and the Westin Bayshore. Not sold out, but a bit on the high side. The 4 or 4.5 * properties on Hotwire for 6/15-17 are $128 and $156. I think you might need to bid up to your max on Priceline, you don't have a lot of time left before your stay. For 6/18 - 21, the same star levels on Hotwire are even higher - $158, $159 and $174.

Also, make sure you read the reviews on Trip Advisor for this property. Some people were quite critical. I recall my room being fine, just a bit dated and blah, but it was a few years back that I stayed there.

I think there is a pretty good chance that it is the Four Points by Sheraton, San Rafael. The amenities seem to match and the star level seems about right. This hotel can be booked directly for about $90/night based on a Summer Promo rate. I stayed there a few years back and I recall it being a perfectly adequate property, although my room might have seemed a bit boring. But that is being fussy, if you just want a decent place to stay! It seems to me the staff was pretty good and the pool in the courtyard looked quite nice. And they have FREE PARKING! It isn't badly situated if you want to spend some of your time in San Fran and some in the wine country. But you could end up doing a fair amount of driving and you'll have to pay the bridge toll on the Golden Gate - I think it is $5 or so. You do have some options from San Rafael, though, if you wish to visit downtown SF and not deal with the hassle of finding and paying for parking - you can take the Larkspur ferry to downtown or catch a city bus. All in all, I don't think it is a bad choice, but don't know what is most important to you...

Hi, I'm wondering if you can confirm the dates of your stay in Vancouver. You say are going to Seattle on Friday (6/19) but the Friday is 6/17. I think you want two nights initially (6/15 and 6/16) and then are you looking for a Vancouver hotel again for the nights of June 18, 19 and 20? The Dragon Boat Festival runs in Vancouver from June 17 to 19, so I think this will have some impact on your stay. I noticed you posted in the Hotwire forum, but you have been bidding on Priceline. thereuare can move your post to the PL area, but I think you should check the Hotwire hotels for your dates, also. Do you have a preference for the part of town you stay in? Any other important considerations?

I would check Hotwire again, I see a 3* for $70, which might be the Red Lion, it has these amenities: Oceanfront Near Beach Restaurant(s) Pool(s) Fitness Center Business Center Laundry Facilities (self-service) I don't think you would do a whole lot better than that through Priceline. How soon would you like to confirm your stay? And keep in mind, that although the Red Lion is the only property that has been reported as a winning 3* bid, that doesn't mean that there can't be other hotels that show up. I would use that Hotwire amount as my upper limit. We saw a previous win at $58 but that was off-season, I believe. So I would start to bid at $60 or $65, for your July dates. But, depends on how quickly you want your stay confirmed and how important a $5 or $10 difference means to you! :) If you really want to save the most and don't mind bidding over a couple of weeks, you can start lower, of course.

No, it's a trend among hotels in general. Especially in urban and resort areas, parking costs are added on to the room cost (and sometimes a resort fee as well). Even when I book a hotel directly, it is often not mentioned on their Web site that they charge a fee for parking. Many times I have had to phone the hotel to determine if they charge or not. It's not just hotels that use Priceline.... And as squeegee said, everyone will be paying that same parking fee, not just the PL users!

Click on 'Real Hotel Photos' at the top of the page, under 'Our Exclusive (Free) Tools), then look for Canada, Vancouver, etc Looks like the photo area is unavailable currently, but I am sure it will be back up soon.

Yes, the Crowne Plaza used to be simply the Hotel Georgia, before being bought by CP. It really was a nice hotel, quite luxurious back in the 1920's, but the rooms are somewhat uneven now. It is still a nice hotel, but some rooms are much nicer than others. I don't like some of their rooms because I am sensitive to noise and lower floors can get quite a bit of street noise, plus noise from clubs. I haven't stayed there for awhile, but they do have some larger rooms and corner rooms that are nicer than the others. I would ask for a room on a higher floor. It's a decent location, you can walk to Robson Street, but you won't have much for views and you are further from the ocean than some other properties. Is the HW hotel still available that you mentioned before? (Vancouver West 3.5 star for $86 with restaurant, pool, fitness center, tennis, business center and laundry) Or was that for the 12th only? That one is probably the Coast Plaza and it has some really nice rooms with great views and right by the beach (English Bay). The room furnishings look dated but most rooms on higher floors have balconies with incredible views over the city and the water. You can walk to a lot of interesting clubs and restaurants from there. What part of town do you want to be in for the night of the 11th? That is the busier night in town.... I would recommend either the Sheraton at Guildford or the Hilton at MetroTown, but only if that suits your needs (and I think both might have come up through either HW or PL before....)

I think the 4.5 * MIGHT be the Metropolitan Hotel, which gets some very good reviews at TripAdvisor. Oops, posted at the same time....

If I were you, I would try for the night of the 12th only through PL. You can do that right now, without waiting 72 hours, because you are changing your dates. I would start bidding at around $80 or so and be prepared to go up to your max, because the hotel rates are still a bit on the high side even for that night alone. If you get the night of the 12th through PL, you can always try their Add a Night feature for the other night, but I doubt you would be successful. And keep an eye on the Hotwire listings for each night separately, as well as together. You might find that it's a better deal overall to book two nights through HW.... Sorry, I have to be away from my computer for a bit, but thereuare might have some further suggestions.....

Hmmm.... I just checked and both the Sheraton Wall Centre and the Marriott Pinnacle are sold out on the 11th, although the 12th doesn't look too bad. The Westin Bayshore is asking $460 Cdn for the 11th which drops to $289 for the 12th. So, it definitely looks like the 11th is the problem. I thought I checked before and saw more availability (when I first suggested you might want to try PL for both nights), but it definitely looks busy now! I called the Marriott and they have a large group of rooms booked for a conference and for graduations. Not sure what is booked at the Sheraton and Westin.... I see the same pattern on Hotwire - higher prices and much less availability on the 11th compared to the 12th.

I think it depends how warm you would like it to be, and I am assuming you want to be along the ocean? Myrtle Beach, for example, has an average high of 75 F and an average low of 50 F for the month of April. Looking at the stats for last month (April, 2005) there were 15 days where temps were 70 F or higher, but there were also days where the high was only in the 50's or low 60's. I don't think you would be swimming in the ocean on the colder days! You can find lots of stats on sites like weather.com. April in SC is fairly dry, I am pretty sure they get most of their rain in the summer months. I was in that area in the Spring a couple of years ago and there were a few days we froze (we wanted to wear shorts!), but then it suddenly got really sunny and warm. I think it can go either way in April, but if you are going to be there for two weeks, you have a good chance of getting some nice warm days as well as cooler ones. Maybe someone who spends more time there can tell you more.

Not sure if I understand some of your questions, either, but I did want to mention that you might be able to get a 4* on Priceline for $75-$80 for both nights (although the Saturday night check-in might make this harder). You can see the most likely hotels by looking on the pinned hotel lists here. You might want to consider that, if it looks like Hotwire is fairly expensive, unless you have a real preference for a hotel you think you can ID on HW. If you do bid for both nights on PL, you won't have to move hotels, of course and most of the PL 4* are very nice hotels with easy access to downtown.

I think you got a very good deal, Jonavin. The Westin Grand is one of my favourite hotels and the location is terrific. I really like the one-bedroom suites, but the studios are the only ones with two beds, so it depends on your needs. I posted some images on Real Hotel Photos of one of the deluxe 1-bdrm Grandview Suites with balcony, which was from a paid stay - doubt that this room would ever be available through PL or HW, though. It was pretty expensive! :) Still, it gives an idea of the decor and views. You're going to be there for awhile, so you might want to ask at check-in what your room choices are and you might even find it worthwhile to pay a bit for an upgrade. See more at the hotel's Website. The hotel has a great little outdoor pool and deck area, and the staff are usually great. Parking charges are about $20 Cdn, but that is not unusual for downtown Vancouver. Higher floors will definitely give you a better view. There is quite a bit of construction in that area of town, and you may have a preference for an eastern room as a result (I think there was a condo tower to be built on the western side of the hotel, but you will be able to see if this is happening when you are there.)

I've purchased several of these in different cities as well and never had a problem. Sometimes the server would be unfamiliar with them. We would always show them before ordering and make sure everything was OK. As shammes53 says, they may have certain restrictions. An additional one might be that the certificate is only applicable to food items, not alcohol, for example. Because restaurants do come and go, it might be wiser to buy the certificates not too far in advance of your expected visit. But then again, I am pretty sure Restaurant.com would refund or allow a substitution on any restaurant that had gone out of business. Did you ever check on this, shammes53? (I think you might even be able to do this entirely on their Web site, just cancel an unused one and request an alternate.....?)

I think it might be the Four Points by Sheraton at Hyannis. I don't know why it doesn't show up on Expedia, it does on Orbitz.... :)

Yes, the Crowne Plaza is in San Jose del Cabo, here is a really good map of the three areas.

Yes, the InterContinental is in San Jose del Cabo. Here is an excellent map of the three areas, with hotel locations.

I'd say you got a pretty good deal! And that is a really nice property, I stayed there a few years back and I just loved it. I had a beautiful oceanview room and I loved the resort grounds and you can walk for miles along the beach. Let us know how you like it!

Your dates also coincide with part of the Celebration of Light Fireworks Competition. This is billed as the largest fireworks competition in the world, and they expect huge attendance. Sweden will be featured on July 30th at 10 pm, so you should definitely try for a hotel room on a higher floor with a view toward English Bay. Or just attend the show by going down to the beach. Or you can buy tickets for a BBQ on the BathHouse roof and have the best seats in town. Let us know how the bidding goes.

I'm sure thereuare will have some additional advice, but I thought I would mention that Monday, August 1st is a holiday (BC Day), so there will likely be some additional demand for hotels over the weekend you are there. I only checked quickly, but I think the Marriott Pinnacle, the Hyatt, and the Westin Bayshore all seem to have fairly high rates for your dates (in the range of $249 to 299 Cdn, although somewhat lower for AAA rates, etc). The Sheraton Wall Centre has a Best Available Rate of $269 (although it has an Internet special of $179). Based on those rates, I would say the Hotwire deal looks pretty good. Or you could try rebidding once more on Priceline and go up to about $80 or $85, since that is what you will be effectively paying for Hotwire, anyway. Mind you, you risk losing the HOTWIRE rate altogether if you wait too long....

When I look at the packages possibilities, the Pan Pacific is almost double the cost of the Sutton. The PP is not likely to be listed as low as the one you are talking about (although you never did give us a price, but I suspect it is about $149, is that right?). The Sutton's direct booking price is about $185 US, while the best rate at the PP is $240 US. So, I think it is unlikely that you would come up with the PP, but there might always be a surprise.

What are the dates you are interested in?

It is very busy in Victoria right now, cruise ships are starting up, eastern Canadians and Americans are booking hotels to get away from the cold, and there are extremely heavy Asian tourism bookings. This is the transition period, and things may slow down, but right now, everything looks so busy that probably few places want to discount at all. I guess that is what you are seeing, but it is very useful to get that report!