Colfax

Fisherman's Wharf (zone 3) and Financial District-Embarcadero (zone 2) have less homeless and panhandling than the other city zones. USE is a safer zone too. If you're arriving via BART then FD-Embarcadero or USE would be more convenient than Fisherman's Wharf, which isn't served by BART. A couple weeks ago the SF Chronicle ran an article about the top ten SF intersections for police calls. The #1 intersection was 6th and Mission, which is in Priceline's SOMA zone. But Nordstroms and Bloomingdales are just one block away. In SF one block can make a big difference. Even though there are rough pockets within SOMA and USW zones those rough pockets aren't where the Priceline hotels are located. Personally I think you can feel safe at any 3* or higher in the four core downtown zones. (USE, USW, SOMA, Embarcadero), with USE and Embarcadero probably the safest. If you want help with a bidding strategy let us know which zones you prefer and your bidding limit.

Just correcting my math...$85 for a $165 room is a 48% discount, not 36%. Better yet! p.s. to moderators: please move thread to San Diego board. :)

The Silver Cloud Inn is $139 for your dates, parking and breakfast included. HOTWIRE has a 3* in Northwest Portland-Nob Hill for $124 that looks like Silver Cloud or the Holiday Inn Express. HIE and SC are across the street from each other and have similar amenities. Continental Breakfast, Fitness, Business, Laundry, Highspeed You've bid up to $113 for 3* Downtown. $124 for Silver Cloud or HIE would be comparable or less, since you would have paid extra for parking and breakfast downtown and those are included at SC and HIE. PRICELINE usually beats HOTWIRE on price if you want to try and win Silver Cloud for less than $124 on PL. (Priceline rates HIE as 2.5*, so that won't come up if you bid 3*. To my knowledge Silver Cloud is the only potential 3* in Priceline's Northwest Portland zone, although there's never 100% guarantee something new won't come up.) There are no rebid zones for 3* in Portland so you can only make one bid every 24 hours. If you want to try PRICELINE my suggestion is $75 for 3* to start. Then if rejected wait 24 hours and try $85. If rejected again you can decide if you want to bid higher or stick with your $84 Best Western, which gets decent reviews but it's farther from your Downtown activities than a Northwest Portland hotel would be. Also, did you only bid to $113 for 3* in Downtown zone or did you bid in Convention Center-Lloyd Center zone too? Any hotel you win in CC-LC will be walking distance to MAX. Your thoughts?

Santa Cruz is a really tough PRICELINE bid, especially in summer. Noone has ever reported winning a 2* in Santa Cruz on this board. Some (most?) of the 1*/2* motels near the beach in Santa Cruz are run down and there's no way to guarantee you'll win one of the better hotels bidding on PRICELINE. HOTWIRE has a 2* in Santa Cruz-Scotts Valley for $82, and it's got a 2.5/5 TripAdvisor rating, which isn't good. Probably one of the Travelodges or something similar. There's also a 3* for $87 with a better 3.5/5 rating, but no guarantee it's near the beach.

Sorry to hear you're disappointed with your win, citrus, but I think you got a pretty good deal. $85 for a hotel that costs $165 is a 36% discount...and the people who pay $165 still have to pay $16/night parking too. I'm seeing some $50's wins for other Courtyards in San Diego, but not for the one in Mission Valley, and not for August dates, which is peak season. Mission Valley used to be pretty much a free parking zone but in recent years more of the hotels there have started to charge, especially the higher rated hotels, 3* and up. Sheraton Mission Valley charges $14/night now and Crowne Plaza Mission Valley charges $12/night. So your parents probably would have paid to park no matter which Mission Valley hotel they won---unless they bid for a 2.5* or 2*, which might not have been as nice a hotel as the Courtyard. Parking in Mission Valley is still a lot cheaper than Downtown. The Courtyard in Downtown San Diego charges $40/night! Before you placed your bid you had to initial a Terms and Condition page that stated that parking might be extra and isn't included in your bid. So I don't think Priceline will refund, if that's what you're asking. If you're unsure about parking fees or have other questions in the future feel free to ask for help before you bid. For these August dates I think you got a decent deal and I hope your parents have a good trip. :)

Hotel Abri hasn't been reported as a Name Your Own Price win before but in Priceline's retail section Abri is rated 2*. It gets pretty good reviews though, esepecially for a 2* (#26 of 242 SF hotels on TripAdvisor). Curiously TripAdvisor rates Abri as 3.5*. It's common for two services to rate the same hotel differently but 3.5* vs 2* is a pretty wide discrepancy. In this case I suspect Priceline is underrating the hotel. You have a couple options here: 1) Try to win a 4* in USW or USE (Abri is in USW but USE is very close) for less than your $200 convention rate. 2) Try to win something similarly rated to Abri, probably a 3*, but at a lower rate than Abri, maybe $90-120, I'm guessing. It's still early for September but if you'd like to try one of these routes let us know which and someone will suggest a strategy.

The Portland Brewer's Festival is 7/28-7/31 and I wouldn't expect to win anything downtown during those dates. Are you attending the festival? If you're not is adjusting your travel dates possible, as availability will be much better before or after the festival. I'm not familiar with the Best Western you booked but I'll mention a couple other options, some cheaper, some more expensive, all with free parking. 1) The Rodeway Inn at 9723 NE Sandy Blvd is $50.15 for your dates, and about two blocks from a MAX stop. 2) For about the same price as Rodeway you can probably win a nicer hotel--3.5* or 3*- in one of Priceline's two airport zones. All the higher rated airport hotels have free parking and free shuttle to the Airport MAX stop. The downside is you're tied to the hotel's shuttle schedule. 3) Stay in Northwest Portland, at either Silver Cloud Inn or Holiday Inn Expresss on Vaughn. The bus to downtown (not lightrail) stops in front of those hotels. About a 15 minute busride. Parking and breakfast included at both and a much nicer neighborhood than the airport area. You might win the Silver Cloud by bidding for a 3* in Priceline's Northwest zone---if it isn't sold out. (I haven't checked.)

Welcome to the board, packjev. For the 3.5*, I think these could be new icons for the Rex, or possibly the Donatello. The Handlery and Warwick have been reported with these icons before but they're both rated 4/5 on TripAdvisor while this mystery hotel is 4.5/5, making it a better fit for Rex or Donatello. For the 2.5*, it could be any of the following 3* now downgraded to 2.5*: King George, Hotel Diva, Hotel Frank, or Hotel Vertigo. Sorry I can't give a more definitive answer. Those rates are fairly high and you can probably beat them bidding for a 3.5* or 3* on Priceline. I like Hotwire when I know what I'm buying, but when I can't do a positive ID on Hotwire I usually go with Priceline to save money. What are you looking for in this hotel stay? Please use this HOTWIRE link if you purchase one of those options and let us know what you get. Or let us know if you want to try PRICELINE instead and someone can suggest a strategy.

The California Street cable car is up and running again. They've raised the fare though, from $5 to $6.

Your $125 limit might be low for this. A few days ago in this San Francisco priceline hotel thread another bidder reported winning the Westin St Francis at $150 ($145 rejected) for July nights when Westin's rack rate was $209. For your nights Westin is more than that---$233 now. I know you prefer 4* in USE. If $125's not enough for your first choice it could be enough for 4* USW or 3.5* USE. A couple 4* in USW are under $200 for your dates, so you have a better chance there. But you've still got a few weeks if you're patient and want to keep trying $125 in USE awhile longer in hopes that rates will come down. Good luck whatever you decide.

I'm not currently finding any 3* offered in Brent Cross-Cricklewood zone. Only a 2*. Are you searching on 2 adults/0 children or some other combination? Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links for your purchases.

Hotwire's lowest rate is $64.86/day for Economy or Compact. Those are conventional rates though, through Enterprise, not opaque. If Hotwire doesn't have any opaque inventory then Priceline may not either, as the same rental companies use both services. (Other than Enterprise, which participates in Hotwire but not Priceline.) Dollar has a compact for $63.16/day on their website. I suggest you bid higher than $30 then, maybe $35 or $40. But it's possible Priceline just doesn't have anything for these dates now, since HOTWIRE doesn't. You can also reserve the Dollar rate, which is cancellable without penalty, and keep trying PRICELINE every day in hopes that they'll get some inventory. Maybe someone else will have some ideas...a coupon code or something. Please use these HOTWIRE and PRICELINE links for your purchases.

At last report Holiday Inn was rated 3* and had different icons, so I'm not highly confident the 2.5* is the Holiday Inn, although it's possible. Hotwire isn't offering any 3* in Near Strip East for your dates. Whatever this is it has 90% approval rating and a solid 4/5 TripAdvisor rating, so it ought to be something good for the $44 price. I'm currently seeing a different 2* than you posted. Are you searching on 2 adults/0 children, or some other combination? If you purchase the 2.5* please use this HOTWIRE link and let us know what you get.

Welcome to the board, pulseeric. What's the best rate you can find for 7/11-7/14 through conventional booking channels?

I agree this looks like a match for Hotel Indigo. Sorry Hotwire's not giving much of a discount off of rack this time. Gaslamp's an excellent location if you're looking for nightlife, clubs, restaurants, and proximity to shopping. It's a downtown urban area. If you're looking for more of an outdoors/ocean/cocktails-by-the-pool type of vacation you might like Coastal zone more. Since you've got a car it's easy to move back and forth between the two. If you purchase the Gaslamp hotel please use this HOTWIRE link and let us know what you get.

Moderators, please move Oakland thread to Cali-Other board. :)

Did you bid to $200 ($193 + 7) in all four Downtown zones? (USE, USW, Embarcadero, SOMA) Is 3.5* in USE an option?

Is 3.5* in USE an option? 3.5* don't necessarily cost less than 4* in USE, so I'd still recommend a $125 limit for 3.5*. The main reason to add 3.5* is you'd have more possibilities with five different 3.5* reported to the board in USE.

Hotwire still has that FW 3* for $150. Looks like Holiday Inn. They've also added a 4* at $247. As mentioned, PRICELINE usually beats HOTWIRE on rate. $110 wasn't enough, but I think $110 might be within $10-15 of a Priceline win. The strategy I gave stopped at $110 because Holiday Inn charges $40/night parking and you have a $150 limit, parking included. Across the street from the Holiday Inn there's a garage called the Alaska Garage that charges $25/night with in and out privileges. If you really want Fisherman's Wharf I suggest bidding a little higher, like $115/$125, and if you win something park at Alaska Garage---still coming in under $150 total. Another option is to try for 2.5* in Fisherman's Wharf. The 2.5* Holiday Inn Express gets very good reviews and includes breakfast, while the higher rated hotels in FW do not. The 2.5* Holiday Inn Express usually costs more than the 3* Holiday Inn, oddly enough. For your dates HIE is $240 and HI is $184. If $115/125-ish doesn't work for 3* you could then try the same bids for 2.5*. Please keep us posted and good luck!

Hotwire has a 3* in Fisherman's Wharf for $148 that looks like Holiday Inn. This is HW's only option in FW zone for your dates. Fitness, Pool, Restaurant, Business, Laundry, Highspeed Priceline usually beats Hotwire on rate, so if this appeals you might try bidding for a FW 3* on PL. I suggest bidding $100 for a 3*. Then add Marina-Lombard (your only rebid zone for 3* in SF) and bid $110.

This is a bit more than your $100 budget but HOTWIRE has a a 3* in La Jolla--a good area--for $126. One of the icons is "Near Beach". Near Beach, Nonsmoking, Fitness, Restaurant, Highspeed, Golf, Tennis. I'm not certain but I think these are new icons for the La Jolla Shores Hotel. That hotel comes up when searching Hotwire on 3 adults/0 children, but not 2 adults/2children. Reserving 3/0 will still guarantee you more than one bed. If this appeals to you please use this HOTWIRE link and let us know what you get. If you want to keep it at $100 and you're willing to take a chance on the number of beds I suggest bidding for a 3.5* on PRICELINE in the Coastal zone or for a 3* in Coronado. Nobody ever seems to try for 3* Coronado but it's possible there is one.

Check the totals with taxes and fees. The HOTWIRE at $70 might cost less in the end than a $69 bid on PRICELINE, due to differing service fees.

First, congrats on your patience. You've been working on this more than four months now. And yes, Priceline rates in SF, among other places, are higher than a few years ago, in some cases much higher. This summer has been very strong for SF hotels so far, and I'm happy for them, but it's made Priceline bidding tougher than it used to be. You got a bunch of good suggestions from Gallus. Tomo gets good reviews and it's managed by Joie de Vivre, which has a reputation for quality and style. So for $139 Tomo might be a good deal for these expensive dates. Tomo's disadvantage, if any, is Japantown's a little remote from the action, compared to FW or Downtown. It's not a bad area but there's not a lot going on at night, if that matters to you, like there would be downtown or in Fishermans Wharf. One bus will take you to Union Square or it's less than $10 cab. This is a long thread now and I might have missed it but I think you've only bid for 3.5* in Fisherman's Wharf. If you prefer to stay in a busier or more central area you might consider bidding to your limit for a 3* in FW too. Even the 2.5* Holiday Inn Express is generallly well liked. A 3* in FW for $110 or $120 would probably be a good deal for these dates. And $139 might be more than enough for a 3.5* or 3* in a Downtown zone too, if it's not enough for a 4*.

Would you first like to try up to $110 for a 3.5* in Fisherman's Wharf? Then if unsuccessful try for 3* or possibly 2.5* in FW? If so.. When bidding for 3.5* in SF you have FIVE rebid zones. Those are zones that only have hotels less than 3.5* quality. If you need help identifying your five rebid zones please ask. I suggest $85 for a 3.5* in FW. Then raise $5 per rebid zone up to your $110 limit. Please start your bids with this PRICELINE link, or ask if you have other questions.

Per your link, Hotwire has a 3.5* Downtown for $92 with these icons: Fitness, Restaurant, Business, Highspeed That could be a match for either Kyoto Grand or the Marriott. Both have been reported with those icons. Click the listing's "Continue" button and on the next page you'll see the mystery hotel has a 3.5/5 rating on TripAdvisor. Kyoto Grand and Marriott are both 3.5 on TripAdvisor so that info doesn't help distinguish between them either. It's a 50/50 gamble then. Sorry I can't give a more definite answer. If you decide to go for it please use this HOTWIRE link and let us know which hotel you get. You could also hedge your bet by purchasing just the first two nights. Then if you get Kyoto Grand you could use Hotwire's Add to Stay feature to add two more nights at KG, if available.