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I now am the proud owner of two cancellable reservations. In addition to the Alladin, I reserved a room at the Four Queens on Fremont St. in the downtown area for $37. I have stayed there before and it's just fine, and the whole Fremont thing is kinda fun. I will keep trying Priceline for the 5* Venetian. How does the Alladin compare to the Venetian? Is it worth the $127. Also, will I have difficulty getting a room with two beds there? Thanks! JB

I'd love to get The Venetian for our 1 night stay in LAS. On their website, the lowest price for a room with 2 beds is $239. On the convention checker, there is a convention at The Venetian where they expect 4500 beginning on 5/15. Does this make my chances of getting a room under $129 slim to none? I'm willing to go up to $129 for The Venetian, but much less for anything else. I have a cancellable reserv. for $127 at The Alladin, which I plan to cancel. What do you all recommend? Thanks! JB

Hi... I have stayed at this property a few years ago. Ask for a room overlooking the pool. The other (street) side is on a busy intersection and can be noisy. JB

I absolutely agree. This property is right up there with the nicest hotels we have stayed at. Spacious room, with very comfy kingsize bed, a couch & coffetable, and a desk with another table/desk on wheels under it. We weren't sure exactly how that was supposed to be used... maybe a conference table for business people? The room also had a small refrigerator, a microwave and a jazzy looking coffee maker, none of which we used for our one night stay. Staff was very friendly... absolutely no mention of priceline. As we were leaving, the person at the front desk said she was having a hard time checking us out because there was an outstanding balance. Quizzically, I asked her how much? One cent! No.. not a typo. I gave her a penny and she was happy!!! JB

Snagged this on the first bid: Your Offer Price: $45.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $45.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $12.98 Total Charges: $57.98 Lowest internet rate for this date was $89. Many thanks to powerplantop for his excellent and consistent reports on this area. It made bidding a 'piece of cake'! JB

Thanks, Thereuare. Well... I wandered over to EasyClickTravel and they had an 'off the record' 5* for $117. So.... thinking it was the Venetian I grabbed it. Turned out to be the Aladdin. With taxes/fees, the total is $127. But... the reservation is cancellable, which I will do in a few days. I'll try to be patient and re-bid for the Venetian in a few weeks. JB

Just for the heck of it, I tried a bid of $99 for one night hoping to get the Venetian. Rejected. Priceline then gives their non-opaque listings, and lists the Venetian at $279. But... on the Venetian website, the lowest room rate is $169. Checked Hotwire, and they don't show a 5* for that date at all. Not sure I want to go much higher... maybe just a little! Given the above, any thoughts on my being able to snag the Venetian?? Thanks! JB

I love hotels that offer complimentary breakfast. We've stayed at a few that even have a made-to-order omelet station! And I love those make-em-yourself waffles. I have noticed that often, 2.5* hotels offer amenities for free that 3* and above hotels will have a surcharge for. This includes internet access and even local telephone service. JB

Your Offer Price: $16.00 Total Rental Days: 6 Subtotal: $96.00 Taxes & Fees: $43.03 Total Charges: $139. I was surprised, but pleased, to get this. I usually don't bother with Priceline for rental cars, but all the prices I was able to find were well over $200 for this time period. This was my second bid. First bid was compact car for $15. Hotwire had both economy and compact for $19.95/day. I had checked Avis earlier and they were showing $223.18 total for the same time period. JB

To update this request: I tried Priceline, unsuccessfully. Here are the bids: Naples 2.5*................ $45 Bonita Springs *2.5 ....$50 Sanibel 2.5* ...............$55 Naples 2* ..................$48 I had already tried Easy Click and saw an "off the record" in Naples for $53. I decided to try that, and it was immediately confirmed (I thought you had to wait 48 hrs.?) Anyway, it turned out to be the Red Roof Inn in Naples. Location looks excellent. Poor reviews on Tripadvisor... but.. oh well... just going to be there one night and I don't expect to spend much time in the room. The cheapest offering I could find for this property was $80, and all hotel rates seemed very high for this weekend. JB

I am flying into Ft. Meyers one day before a tour begins. I'd like a hotel conveniently located for general sightseeing in the area as I've never been there before. Tour is of the Everglades, so something different is best. Hard to say what price (less expensive is better) because I haven't seen many wins in this area, therefore not really aware of the going rate. Certainly don't need beachfront, as I will only have about 24 hrs. total on my own. Any suggestions as to what zones to look in? Thanks! JB

I stayed at the Luxor about two years ago and don't recall a noise issue. I know we were on a higher floor in the pyramid. One thing I did notice was in the casino area, it was not as 'smoky' as a lot of the other casinos. I think it's because the interior is a huge atrium so the smoke rises and dissipates. JB

Thanks SO much for that info. I've been toying with the idea of a trip to FL... this makes it very attractive. JB

Are you saying that the restaurant cannot tell if the card is from a different city? We always get two books because CT is divided up by county and we often go to both counties. JB

I stayed at the Luxor a couple of years ago, and I really liked it. The elevator ride is a wild experience... it goes up at an angle because of the pyramid shape of the building. I thought the room decor was interesting.. everything reflects the Egyptian theme of the hotel. It is also on the monorail between the Excalibur and ... dang.. can't remember the name of the other hotel. JB

After thinking it over, I decided to bid on the 2* at Hotwire. It was the Best Western Hotel. Hopefully, it will be OK. Here are the details: Best Western Annapolis 2520 Riva Road Annapolis, Maryland 21401 (410) 224-2800 Check-in: Tue, Dec 27, 2005 Check-out: Sun, Jan 1, 2006 Midscale 1 room(s) @ $39.00 per night x 5 night(s) $195.00 Hotel Taxes and fees: $30.67 Hotel Subtotal $225.67 Total Price $225.67 Amenities: Compl breakfast, pool, high speed internet, fitness, laundry, airport shuttle. I'll write a review after the trip. Thanks to all for your help! JB

Maximum bid amount is $75. I am trying for the Waterfront area first. If after several bids that doesn't work out I would go to other areas, but I really don't wnt to I just bid at Priceline. Started at $45 for a 3*... rejected. Added 2.5*, also at $45.. rejected. (Didn't really expect to be accepted at that low $$, but I have time, so I figured I'd give it a shot. In 3 days, I'll up the bids to $50. I checked the hotels and in general, the rates for 12/31 increased a little... like maybe $20 more. That was for 3* or higher. Hotels that were not near the waterfront generally didn't even raise rates for that day. Annapolis does have a 'First Night' planned down by the Waterfront area so I would expect rates to go up there. If I can't get a hotel within our budget, we will grab one of the Hotwire properties. Thanks for the help. JB

If I have to pick a top budget amount, I guess i would say $75. Would this be feasible? I'd really rather not split the bid. Are the Radisson and the Sheraton in the Waterfront area? I thought I saw someone recently got the Sheraton for $59, but that it was not by the waterfront. Thanks for the info on parking. JB

Hi... OK.. I am ready to start bidding for Annapolis. Dates are Dec. 27th through Jan. 1st. I know this is the Hotwire section, but I'm willing to use either Hotwire or Priceline. Today, Hotwire was showing: 3.5* @ $63 Amen: Fitness, Restaurant, Tennis nearby, Golf nerby, Pool, Business Center. 3* @ $79 Amen: Restaurant, pool, fitness 2* @ $43 Amen: Compl breakfast, pool, high speed internet, fitness, laundry, airport shuttle. Unfortunately, Hotwire doesn't distinguish areas of Annapolis. The 2* @ $43 including breakfast is tempting. The amenities match the Country Suites Inn... including the shuttle Do you think this might be a match? If I were to try Priceline Waterfront area, what do you recommend as a bidding strategy? Where should I start bidding. Time is on my side so I am not really concerned about free re-bids. The waterfront area has 3*. 2.5* and 2* listed. I would probably be OK with either a 3* or 2.5*. Budget is not really a fixed issue at this point. Does anyone know if the waterfront hotels generally charge for parking? On tripadvisor several folks commented on vallet parking charges, but not sure if they have self-park at no charge? Thanks! JB

Is that the Sheraton that is in the Waterfront district? Glad to see this post, as I will probably be bidding for Annapolis shortly. JB

I'm hoping that would be a slow time as well. I would imagine that the Naval Academy would be on Christmas break?? As soon as we decide for sure, I'll start bidding. Will keep the board posted when we do. Thanks! Jb

Thank you so much, DAHammer. That is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. I did see on Priceline they do have one area for the Waterfront... I assume that is where I want to look? Not too concerned with bidding strategy right now because we have lots of time. JB

The plans are still only tentative, but we were thinking arriving either 12/27 or 28, returning home 1/1/06. Thanks! JB

We are just starting to check into going to Annapolis in late Dec. I found this at Hotwire: $34/nite 2*; Selected amenities include:silkHotAmenities2: Airport Shuttle, Complimentary Breakfast, Pool(s), Fitness Center, High-Speed Internet Access, Laundry Facilities (self-service). Do you think this is the Annapolis Homestead Inn?? Any other guesses? The Airport Shuttle puzzles me... which airport?? JB

I've used Restaurant.com a number of times in the past. I've either use them at local restaurants, or, when travelling, only if I am already familiar with the area. The one occasion where the restaurant no longer accepted the certificate, I e-mailed Restaurant.com and they refunded the money to my credit card. I've forgotten about them... think I'll go check what's available in our area!!! JB