Doc

Mid-week dates in DC seem to high-priced for most Downtown/Dupont Circle hotels -- we just finished a Wed/Thu night stay at the Mayflower for $170/night, although it was short notice, but the weekend rate at Embassy Suites was only $100/night. Our Mayflower reservation was through Priceline, and they did not have any objections to having 2 adults and 2 children (both under 5 years, though) in the room. They were also able to honor my request for 2 double beds (I called the hotel directly on the day of arrival). At the Embassy Suites (booked through Hotwire), they could not provide us 2 double beds (we had a king), but did get us a non-smoking room (which was a relief). If you willing to take a chance on changing hotels during your stay, you might consider splitting your dates for bidding to reduce overall total cost. Good luck!

Sorry for the late reply, but I did not have time/energy before the trip to provide an update. I was finally successful at $170 with the Renaissance Mayflower for 3/14-3/16 using Priceline. Started at $60 and upped by $5 each time, adding/including Dupont Circle in the bidding as suggested above. As it turns out, the Mayflower is fairly convenient to Dupont Circle (only about 2-3 blocks, easily walkable). Metro is very close (red line less than 1/2 block, essentially running under the hotel) and orange/blue lines within 3 blocks), so the stay worked out pretty well and the hotel/service were very good. The next two nights (3/16-3/18) were spent at Embassy Suites Convention Center, booked through Hotwire. While it was a little further from the Metro, it was still a convenient/good location, and the hotel/service were quite good (especially the free cooked-to-order breakfast and nightly manager's reception). Thanks to BetterBidding for providing the variety of information for Hotwire and Priceline.

(About the Hotwire forum post -- I apologize that I did not realize you would prefer to group posts by stay rather than provider.) Thanks for the match confirmation on Hyatt (although it seems that reviews on TripAdvisor aren't too great -- I was surprised to see the rate under $100). I started looking at Hotwire after the Priceline bid failed for Dupont Circle. I am going to try the same bidding strategy/sequence (as I did for Dupont Circle) for Whitehouse-Downtown area on Priceline first (trying to stay closer to central/west side of the Mall). The 4* hotels in that area have direct booking availability (at much higher rates, of course), so I am hoping I will have some success, especially if I up my range to $170-180 (I guess I am coming to terms with not getting a lower rate in a decent hotel for mid-week dates :) ) Thanks for your continued help. Any additional suggestions would be appreciated. - Doc

Hotwire is showing a 3.5* in Crystal City for $89. Amenities: Fitness Center, Pool, Restaurant, Business Center, High-speed Internet Access Based on the Hotwire hotel list, this appears to be the Hyatt Regency. but I figured I would ask the experts. Also, if it is the Hyatt, any opinions on the hotel quality would also be appreciated. Thanks!

No success :) After seeing rates of 4* hotels for mid-week dates, I ended up going all the way to $170 with no luck. I guess I need to look into Downtown-Whitehouse (and/or Capitol Hill). Any advice would be appreciated -- getting a bit concerned now due to the imminent travel. Thanks, Doc

Thereuare, thanks very much for your reply and bid suggestion. I will try it later this evening and report back. I do have a limited timeframe (my travel date is in 2 days), so I probably don't have too many other options that I might be able to try, so hopefully this will work quickly. Alternatively, I may consider changing my zone to White House-Capitol Hill -- if I do that, I assume I would not be subject to the 72 (or 24?) hour lockout, given that I would not have used that zone for the free re-bid in Dupont Circle, correct? Essentially, I should be able to do the whole rebidding sequence using the new zone as the starting point (and possibly more if I include Dupont Circle as "free" rebid zone since it would have failed previously). - Doc

I am looking for a 4* in Dupont Circle - Woodley Parl area and noticed that the Omni seems to be a prominent result, and has been won under $100 for a mid-week stay a couple of weeks ago. I would prefer to stay in this zone, and not go down to a 3*. Does it seem likely that I can win this hotel (or one of the other two hotels in this zone) around $100-$110 (with some wiggle room)? Any help would be appreciated. -Doc P.S. This is my first attempt at Priceline, although I have read all the FAQs, and am familiar with the free re-bid process (including additional permutations -- I believe there are 4 free rebid zones I can use).

Last night, I booked a 3.5* hotel in DC White House-Capitol Hill. Amenities listed as: Complimentary Breakfast, Fitness Center, Pool, Restaurant, Business Center, Laundry Facilities, High-speed Internet Access These were exact match for the Embassy Suites Convention Center as listed in the Hotwire Hotel List, and that was the hotel. I used the HOTWIRE link here for the purchase.