Colfax

Did you win this on Priceline or Hotwire, superdave8996?

If you click the "Support/Travel Links" tab above you'll find a link to Hilton's website. Booked through Hilton it looks like their best rate for your dates is $215/night though, which is quite a bit more than the $130 you said you were willing to spend. HOTWIRE has a 3.5* Customer Favorite at $158, but as with Priceline Hotwire's 3.5* could be anywhere in the Burbank/U City/Glendale zone. Might or might not be the Hilton.

And Hotwire's only Downtown option on 7/28 is a 4* at $359! Hopefully availability will improve in the next couple weeks.

Have you tried Priceline's Add a Night feature for Saturday night?

Any update for us, westie?

I was surprised to win this at $35 for dates that included a Thursday. For a long time I've only been able to get the $35 rate on Fri, Sat, and Sunday nights. I was so sure I'd be rejected that $35 was my first bid. Usually I start at $32 or $33 and work my way up by $1. Homestead's regular rate was $79.99 on Thursday, $69.99 on Friday. $50 for 2.5*/South Natomas was rejected. Bid was placed via the PRICELINE link at SavingsBarn.com.

Those amenities could also describe the Holiday Inn. I've stayed at both hotels and I'd guess the Radisson is still the 3.5* and Holiday Inn is the 3* as Radisson seemed a notch classier to me, even after HI's remodel. Those amenities could also describe the Best Western Grosvener, which has a restaurant. BW also has a free breakfast though which isn't listed. My educated guess (but still a guess) is that the 3* is the Holiday Inn.

I used to go to Salem regularly and I ALWAYS won the Red Lion on Priceline. Never any other hotel. That Salem Red Lion has some very small rooms and that's what they always gave me. Towards the end they started offering me an upgrade. I think it was $15/night and it got me a bigger room plus free highspeed internet. (They were charging for highspeed at that time.) They don't charge for highspeed anymore so maybe their whole "Priceline upgrade" option has changed. I'm curious what type of room they give you now and if they offer you any upgrade.

You can't bid for one particular hotel on Priceline. If you use Priceline you need to be willing to accept any 4* hotel that might come up in the Coastal zone. You can see which 4* hotels have been reported in the Hotel List. With HOTWIRE you can sometimes identify a hotel in advance by its amenity icons.

Will two rooms with two beds in each work for your party of five?

Those amenities could be a match for the Hyatt Regency OR Hilton. If you purchase please use the HOTWIRE link under the Support tab.

It's possible you can win some 4* weekdays at $100 if you're willing to be patient. Win might not happen until a week or two before your stay. Your options are: 1) try $110 for 4* 2) keep trying $100/4* every few days. 3) try for 3* Huntington/Newport 4) buy the $79 Hotwire

What dates is this for? What does "Doubletree santa ana" at the bottom of your post mean?

Yes, I think you have a better chance if you're not bidding for Friday and Saturday nights. It's also possible that you're just bidding too early for the Friday/Saturday. Sometimes hotels don't give Priceline availability until much closer to the travel dates. You still have time so another option is to reserve a cancellable backup now and keep bidding $100 for Fri/Sat for another few weeks.

Having your mother present at checkin will eliminate the age issue. You should make the reservation in her name then, not yours. No, she doesn't have to be present at checkout. Brentwood/Westwood is the nearest Priceline zone to UCLA. If you were able to win a 3* there it would significantly save on your drive time. There's a lot more to do in Brentwood/Westwood area than the Airport too. Offhand (I'm guessing) I think a 3* in that zone might be $75-100/night. We don't see much bidding in that zone so not much historical data to go on. It's a good area though and as close as you can get to UCLA. Next closest would be Beverly Hills/West Hollywood zone. You may be able to win a 2.5* in that zone for $75 or less. Not a 3* or 4*. I think the 2.5*'s there would suit your purposes and be more fun the Airport. Note that almost all hotels in LA have a parking charge, which isn't included in the Priceline/Hotwire rates. Some of the Airport zone hotels (not all) have free parking, which is one reason to stay there. Let us know which zones are acceptable to you and what your bidding limit is and someone can suggest a specific strategy. If you buy the 3.5* at the Airport on HOTWIRE it would be appreciated if you used the HOTWIRE link in the "Support/Travel Link" tab.

Someone won the 4* Renaissance Court on 7/16-7/20 for $80 but that bid was placed 11 days ago and Priceline availability changes daily. 4* rates for your dates are unusually high now. Palace $359, Hilton $338, Westin $349, Omni $349. With rates that high I think you'll need to bid higher for a 4* in USW or USE. $120 might be a more realistic limit. If you don't want to bid higher than $90 you may need to consider a 3* or Boutique in USE/USW, or bidding in an adjacent zone like Cathedral Hill, Civic Center, or Fisherman's Wharf.

Unfoturnately your four nights, a Thursday thru Monday, don't have a natural split point. When possible I recommend bidding weekend nights (Fri and Sat) separately from weekdays, as hotels often have different Priceline rates for weekends and weekdays. In your case bidding the weekend separately might mean changing hotels TWICE, which most people don't want to do on a four day stay. But your Thursday and Sunday may be cheaper on Priceline than Fri/Sat. Or Thurs and Sunday might be available on Priceline and Fri/Sat are not. As a first step I would bid from $80 to $100 for a 4* for your first three nights, 7/12-7/15. Then do the same for your last three nights, from 7/13-7/16. Let us know how that goes and then we'll take it from there. To support this board it's appreciated if you start your Priceline bids with the link at SavingsBarn.com.

Did you bid USE, USW, or both?

Priceline only guarantees double occupancy, which could mean one double bed in a room. Unless three of you are willing to share one bed bidding on Priceline, even for two rooms, could be risky. HOTWIRE might be a better option. If you input "2 rooms and 5 adults" you're guaranteed at least one room will have two beds. If you input "2 rooms and 6 adults" you're guaranteed both rooms will have two beds. Even then with five adults and four beds two will still have to share. Downtown zone is generally less expensive than Hollywood. Depending on your dates $125 might be enough for Hollywood though.

Hotwire has a 3* in Newport Beach/Huntington Beach for your dates at $79. The amenities are a match for Hotel Huntington Beach. I'm not familiar with the hotel. You could try to beat that price by bidding from $60 to $75 for a 3* on Priceline. If you buy on Hotwire please use the link that helps support this board.

Selecting travel insurance doesn't affect whether your bid is accepted or not. The 4* Hyatt is $235, $249, $249, $195 for your dates. Are you willing to split your bid to improve your chances of acceptance? That could mean switching hotels once during your stay. If you're not willing to split your bid then you'll need to bid higher than $100 for a 4* or try for the 3*.

I'm not sure which hotel that is. Those amenities don't match any of Hotwire's Vacation Package offerings or any 3* hotel in the Hotwire Hotel List. Probably it's one of the 3* hotels you see in the Hotel List and the hotel has revised their amenity list since last reported. Unfortunately those particular amenities are very common and could describe almost any 3* near LAX. Did you notice that Hotwire has a 3.5* Customer Favorite at LAX for $62 for your dates? That's a better deal than a 3* for $72, which is NOT a Customer Favorite. But first, in your other post I saw you're attending a conference at UCLA. Is there a reason you want to stay at the Airport? You're looking at a mean commute between LAX and UCLA. There are closer zones to UCLA on Hotwire and Priceline.

Hotwire's rule is that you have to be 21 at time of checkin. I can't tell you it's okay to break Hotwire's rules. Worst case scenario is that the hotel refuses to let you check in and you don't get your money back from Hotwire because you broke the rules. As a practical matter I think that scenario is EXTREMELY unlikely. As long as you're polite and look presentable at checkin the hotel won't be looking for reasons to not let you in. When the clerk looks at your drivers license mostly he's verifying that you're the person whose name is on the reservation and on the credit card you present for incidentals. He probably won't even look at your birthday, unless you and your friend look like you're 14. Even if the desk agent notices your birthday he probably won't say anything. Refusing you on a prepaid reservation will create lobby drama and paperwork for the hotel, which they aren't looking for. If your mother can't be with you at checkin I definitely wouldn't put her name on the reservation. The mismatch of names is more likely to cause issues at the hotel than the age thing. I can't say that what you're proposing has NO risk. But it's very low risk, imo, especially as your friend is turning 21 less than a month after checkin.

What are your travel dates, tarp?

Under Priceline's Best Price Guarantee you're entitled to a refund of the difference between your bid and the hotel's lowest advertised rate. Your claim must be submitted within 24 hours of your accepted bid.