Colfax

Actually only one 3* hotel has been reported won on Priceline in the Hollywood zone---the Holiday Inn Walk of Fame. No guarantee something else wouldn't come up. The Holiday Inn is a definite step down from the 4*'s in Hollywood but it's available on June 9 for $152.10 and just a few blocks from Hollywood Bowl. If it appeals to you I'd try about $80 or $85 for a 3* in Hollywood. Or try higher for the 4*. If you win the Roosevelt at $150 that would still be 50% off. Hotwire has a a 3* for $167 or 2.5* for $113 in their Hollywood-West Hollywood zone. Hotwire's zone combines Hollywood and WeHo, so no guarantee you'd be getting a hotel in Hollywood.

For June 9 I'm seeing the Renaissance sold out and the cheapest room at the Roosevelt $309. With your $125 limit you might need to consider some other zones or try for a 3* in Hollywood.

The Sorrento Mesa zone that Jasmine suggested is about 16 freeway miles from SeaWorld, per MapQuest. The reason some people like to bid for 2.5* in the Sorrento Mesa zone is that the Country Inn that usually comes up there is a modern hotel with free parking and free breakfast. Bidding Old Town, Downtown, or Mission Valley you might or might not win a hotel that charges to park, which isn't included in the Priceline fee. And few hotels in those closer in zones offer free breakfast. The tradeoff for guaranteed free parking and breakfast is the longer commute.

$45 rejected, $46 accepted. Best price at Marriott.com is $99/night. Bids placed through the PRICELINE link at SavingsBarn.com.

Holiday Inn's website says the hotel was renovated in 2006, so hopefully some of the reviews you've seen no longer apply. Please let us know how you liked the HI after your stay. Last summer Priceline adjusted the boundary between the Coastal and Point Loma zones. The Holiday Inn used to be in Coastal and now it's Point Loma. The Holiday Inn has free parking. Over seven nights you'll save $100 or more in parking charges vs. some of the hotels you might have won in the Downtown or Mission Valley zones. Hope you enjoy your stay.

What are your travel dates and what's your hotel budget? Depending on availability you might be able to win a 2.5* or 3* Downtown, which would be more convenient than staying in Mission Valley or Point Loma.

Your dates are a weekend during peak season so I think $44 is probably too low. Hotwire has a 2* in SeaWorld-Mission Bay for $79 or a 2* in Mission Valley for $94. Priceline can usually beat Hotwire. I would try to $50 or $55 for a 2* now. If that doesn't work wait about 2 weeks. In 2 weeks we should have more reports about what kinds of bids are being accepted for June dates. Good luck!

Yesterday a Newbie ... Today a Member ... Next week KING OF THE UNIVERSE!! I learn fast, lol. :)

>> Ideally we'd like to stay in at least 2.5* hotels, but would like to pay max $75 per night...so if needbe we can stay in 2* hotels too. << Does that $75/night include parking fees? You wrote Downtown is your first choice and most hotels in Downtown San Diego charge to park, something like $10-30/night, depending which hotel you win. Some hotels (not all) in the other zones you mentioned charge to park too, but not as much as Downtown. Also, the Homestead Studios often come up as the 2* in Mission Valley on Priceline. Very small rooms with one small bed and probably not comfortable for three people for a week, even if one is an infant.

I haven't seen those threads with examples of Priceline averaging rates, so this is news to me. Thanks for the update, thereuare and zbenye. It's tough to formulate the best strategy when you don't know whether a particular hotel allows averaging or not. It doesn't make much difference in a $40/$44 situation like the Beverly but could make a big difference in situations like the $30/90 example.

I thought it was the other way, zbenye; that Hotwire averages daily rates and Priceline doesn't. :) Consider a three night stay where the hotel's Priceline/Hotwire rate is $30 for the first two nights and $90 for the third. $30 + $30 + $90 / 3 = $50/night average. My understanding was that to win all three nights with one Priceline bid you'd have to bid $90 x 3 = $270, as high as the most expensive night. A bid of $89 would be rejected on Priceline even though it's much higher than the three night average of $50. Hotwire would only charge $50 x 3 = $150 for those three nights, since Hotwire averages. At least that's what I thought. No? :) If I have it right then in the Milpitas example I would have had to bid $44 for all three nights to win them in a single bid on Priceline, overbidding two nights by $4, but saving on transaction fees. 3 nt * $44 = $132 + $23.73 = $155.73, or $2.34 more than the $153.39 I paid splitting the bid in two. I tend to split my longer stays into smaller pieces than necessary, even though sometimes I end up paying more in transaction fees. There are hotels I just don't like and I bid shorter stays as sort of an insurance policy against being stuck for days in a hotel I don't want.

My two day job in San Jose turned into a five day job and I needed three more hotel nights---Thurs, Fri, Sat. I bid from $35 to $40 for a 2.5* in Milpitas without success. I thought Thursday was probably more expensive than Friday/Saturday; so I decided to bid Fri/Sat alone, then use Add a Night for Thursday. I'd have two chances to use Add a Night---first off my Tues/Weds reservation at the Beverly and again off my Fri/Sat reservation, if I won someplace else. For Fri/Sat $35 for 2.5* Milpitas got a $9 counteroffer. I went up in one dollar increments and won the Beverly Heritage on an upgrade, again at $40. Tried Add a Night for Thursday off the Fri/Sat reservation. Got a $48 counteroffer. Tried Add a Night for Thursday off the Tues/Weds reservation. $48 counteroffer again. I tried to undercut the counteroffer by bidding for Thursday night alone. $40 for 3* Milpitas denied without counteroffer. $42 denied and $44 accepted by the Beverly again. What I ended up with then, all at the Beverly, was: Tues $40 Weds $40 Thurs $44 Fri $40 Sat $40 I'm surprised the Beverly adjusts their Priceline rates in increments as small as $4, but apparently they do.

$34 for a 2.5* in Milpitas got a counteroffer to raise by $9. Instead I added zones that I thought would be more expensive than Milpitas at $35, $36, $38....finally hitting at $40 with an upgrade to the 3* Beverly Heritage. The lobby renovations are almost complete. I was given a renovated room and found it very comfortable. On the Beverly's website these nights were $170 each. I bid through the PRICELINE link at SavingsBarn.com.