Colfax

The 3* Hyatt Monterey is sold out on 8/7. The 2.5* Hilton Garden Inn is $379. HOTWIRE has a 3* for $229. I'm not sure which hotel that is. What about trying $114 for a 2.5* on Priceline? If you do please start your bid at SavingsBarn.com.

Hi, westie! Are you willing to split your bid to improve your chances of acceptance? Do you want to bid to your $60 limit for a 2.5* first? Or do you prefer trying for a 2* in the $40's? (A 3* in PA/MV for $60 looks impossible since the 3* Crowne Plaza is sold out and the 3* Sheraton is $299.) The Homestead Suites in Mountain View are the most likely 2* to come up. But there are other possibilities. The Homestead charges $4.99 per stay (not per day) for highspeed inernet. As a hedging strategy I suggest not bidding for more than your first six days at the 2* level. There are some "not so great" hotels in the area that haven't been reported here but that could potentially come up as a 2*. Bidding 6 days/5 days insures that you won't be stuck in a lemon for eleven nights. Bidding just your first 3 or 4 nights seems reasonable too. If you like what you win you can attempt Add a Night to add another 3 or 4 at the same hotel. (Although no guarantee the hotel will be available for the extra nights.) ========= Also, people have been reporting the 4* Hilton and Hyatt in Santa Clara in the high $40's/low $50s. Santa Clara is about 15 miles from Palo Alto, if you're willing to drive for a good deal on a 4*. I don't know if those 4* in Santa Clara charge for Internet or not. I doubt you could win all 11 nights at $50, but it might be possible for certain days.

I agree, jrarey, that the Beverly Pavillion seems likely. Hotwire says this 3* hotel is rated 3.0 on TripAdvisor and that's the BP's rating there. The Beverly Pavillion is $169 for those dates, so $114 is a pretty good deal....IF you wanted that hotel.

Since you had to change your Santa Monica plans I guess it's a good thing you never got your Priceline bids accepted. All things for a reason, right? Thanks for the update, westie.

Synchronicity! :)

That is very helpful, jerry. Could you please click "New Topic" and post each of your wins as a separate thread? More people will see it that way.

Any news for us, BHL?

When no amenities are offered there's no basis for even guessing what hotel it might be. The hotel is really trying to hide their identity. If you take a chance and buy it please use this HOTWIRE link and let us know which hotel you win.

That looks like a match for the Warwick Regis. The $99 price holds when I break your week stay into smaller pieces. So you have the option of purchasing 2 or 3 nights to see which hotel you get and then if you like it you can purchase the rest. The transaction fees are a little higher that way than if you buy all 7 nights at once. Did you notice there's also a 4* in USW at $99 for your dates? Please use this HOTWIRE link if you purchase.

Priceline also offers bidding in Wilsonville (3*, 2*, 1*) and Tualatin, Oregon (2*, 1*). Either of those cities would be nearer to Oregon City than Tigard, where you've already bid. Wilsonville and Tualatin don't show up as options when you enter "Portland" as your destination. You have to enter "Wilsonville" or "Tualatin". I believe the 3* in Wilsonville is the Holiday Inn, and I'm not sure what the 2* in Tualatin is. If you'd like to try for either of those options let us know, along with your bidding limit. Also the Homestead Studio Suites often come up as a 2* in Tigard zone. Don't bid that level if there will be more than one person in a room, as that hotel is mostly single bed rooms, and small single beds at that.

There's no way to guarantee you'll win the Doubletree. If you bid on Priceline you have to be willing to accept any 3* hotel in the zone, including the Red Lion. If you're okay with that let us know and somebody will suggest a strategy for getting a 3* in Downtown Spokane.

Also I'm curious why you think the Radisson doesn't have rollaway beds. With three rooms booked I'd think they'd be able to accomodate a rollaway in at least one of them. Also their website says that children under 18 stay for free.

Honestly I don't think you're going to beat HOTWIRE's $83 deal by bidding for a 2.5* in Milpitas on Priceline. Milpitas Courtyard is sold out and Hilton Garden Inn is $199. Also your trip is now a few days away. I suggest bidding $75 or $80 for a 2.5*/Milpitas. And if rejected buy the HOTWIRE.

yul, Welcome to BetterBidding. You also posted a Hotwire purchase at the Radisson Gateway on 10/2. Did you win one room there on Priceline and another room on Hotwire?

"Splitting the bid". Sometimes you have to split your bid to get accepted. If one night out of your six is sold out it will cause your entire bid to be rejected. Splitting allows you to win the shorter segments that are available. The downside of splitting is that you may have to switch hotels once during your stay. Are you willing to do that? If you're willing to switch hotels once I suggst trying the following sets of dates; first five nights, then four nights. 8/5-8/10 8/6-8/11 8/5-8/9 8/7-8/11 For each set of dates I suggest bidding $45 for a 2.5* in Springfield, then add Eugene and bid $50. You don't have to wait 24 hours to try a new set of dates. You can bid all four sets of dates in one sitting. If you don't want to split your bid then I suggest trying for the 2* in Eugene. You don't have to wait 24 hours to bid for a 2*. The 24 hour lockout only applies to bidding the exact same parameters you've already bid. I suggest $40 for a 2* in Eugene. Then wait 24 hours and try $45.

Welcome to BetterBidding, mom2threekids. Priceline has a Coastal zone. HOTWIRE divides the same territory into two zones---1) SeaWorld/Mission Bay/Shelter Island and 2) Coastal. Hotwire's Coastal zone is roughly the northern half of Priceline's Coastal zone. Not every hotel in the the coastal zones is oceanfront, on Priceline or Hotwire. When you say you want a room "on the coast" I'm not sure if you mean a beachfront property or just something near the beach, which could be six blocks or a mile away. The only way to guarantee a beachfront property is to buy a HOTWIRE hotel with the beachfront icon. Checking 7/23 for TWO people (I know your party is four) HOTWIRE has a 4* in SeaWorld/Mission Bay for $141. The amenities include Beachfront and look like a match for the Hilton San Diego Resort on Mission Bay. (ID is not guaranteed.) That's a great deal since the Hilton's best rate on 7/23 is $339! BUT, when I input FOUR people instead of TWO the 4* option goes away. That means the Hilton is willing to guarantee one bed but not two. On Hilton's website they have two bed rooms available, and I think they'd probably be able to give you two beds, but there's no guarantee of that. For FOUR guests Hotwire also has a 3* Customer Favorite in the SeaWorld zone at $117. The amenities match the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay, but the icon is "Near Beach" not "Beachfront". Per the hotel's website the beach is 0.7 miles away. But the two beds are guaranteed there. If you purchase either one please use this HOTWIRE link and let us which hotel you win.

Hotwire and Priceline both say they don't have hotels in Avalon. Looks like you'll have to book something conventionally.

Welcome to BetterBidding, king_arthurz, and thanks for sharing your winning bid. Just to clarify for others.....this hotel's official name is "Extended Stay Oakland-Emeryville" and it has an Oakland address. But it's located in Priceline's Berkeley-Emerville zone, not in the Oakland zone.

BHL, Is this a fair summary of the situation: you've been rejected to $100 for 3* in Milpitas and Santa Clara/Sunnyvale? HOTWIRE prices suggest this will be an expensive date in either zone. They've got a a 3*/Santa Clara at $199 or 3*/Milpitas at $174. The best thing I see for you is also on HOTWIRE---the 3.5* Best Value in the SJC Airport zone at $83. Amenities are a match for the Holiday Inn Airport, although I don't guarantee the ID. Holiday Inn's best price is $152 on 7/25. It's only 5 miles from Great America with free parking, and it looks like a safe bet to me, for less than you've already bid on Priceline. If you want to bid for a 2.5* on Priceline I suggest $60 for a 2.5 in Milpitas. The 2.5* Country Inn in Sunnyvale is a good choice too but it's $164 on 7/25 whle the 2.5* Sundowner Inn (less nice) is only $99. There's some chance you would win the Sundowner if you bid 2.5*/Santa Clara. If you want to chance it I suggest $50 for a 2.5* in Santa Clara/Sunnyvale; then add Milpitas at $60.

Those amenities have been reported at the Sheraton and Westin. So it's hard to say with certainty. If you buy something please use the HOTWIRE link and let us know what you won.

I prefer small hotels over large ones and I tend to stay in the same hotels over and over, sometimes for weeks at a time. Also I don't like room service more than every 3 days or so. Every day I exchange towels and get more soap and coffee and etc in a face to face interaction with the maid in the hallway. So I do have sort of a relationship with the maids in several hotels, who recognize me as a regular customer and know my needs and habits. And I like them to know that the tip came from me. Just my own travel style.

Fingers crossed! If $48 and $50 fail tomorrow we'll talk about splitting your bid. Before splitting you could also try bidding for a 2* in Eugene. I suggest $40 to start.

The 2.5* hasn't been identified yet but I suspect it's the Best Western Bayside Inn. In addition to the amenities match Hotwire says this 2.5* has a retail rate of $132/night and the BW's rate on 12/1 is $132. Did you notice there's also a 3* for $62 on December 1? If you purchase something please use the HOTWIRE link and let us know what you got.

Within the same quality level and zone---3* in San Rafael in this case---HOTWIRE will only display one hotel at a time, namely the one with the lowest HOTWIRE rate. If the 3* at $86 is the Sheraton Four Points then ES won't show up on HOTWIRE unless ES lowers their rate below $86 or the Four Points sells out their HOTWIRE allotment. If ES was 3.5* and SFP 3* then they both could display on HOTWIRE at the same time.

A couple days ago I wrote to the effect that you shouldn't worry....you'll eventually win a 4* whichever set of dates you choose. I want to backpedal a bit after seeing chipmeister's post, bidding for a Saturday night, tonite. Rejected to $150 for a 4* and had to bid to $95 to get a 3*. Of course your dates are different but still....those things are happening. If you're not having luck with the 4* on Priceline, and since location is important to you, favor the HOTWIRE 3.5*, like slruud suggested, over bidding 3* on Priceline. All the reported HOTWIRE 3.5* are really Downtown vs. some of the Priceline 3*, which are across the river near the Convention Center. The reported 3.5* are the Hilton, Marriott, and Vintage Plaza. All very good locations and I think your MIL would be happy with any of those...not that I know her.