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Kwokpot

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Everything posted by Kwokpot

  1. This is the final reservation for my sister & my parents for a Easter Roadtrip from NY to Ohio, Kentucky, WV, and Virgina. Doing extensive research, the lowest rate I can find conventionally would be about $50 AAA rate for a 2* Travelodge (other than motel6). My research indicated that $40 would get a 2.5*, and factoring in the service charge, it would still pay to use PL than book conventionally. With small children en-tow, and arriving in the evening, the facilites were less of a concern, (that's why I didn't even try for a 3*) and getting free breakfast would be a real plus. I had tried a a couple of days ago bids at $33 & $35, which were rejected. So I bid today at with 2.5*, Charleston checked off, at $40, and got this: Your Offer Price: $40.00 Number of Rooms: 2 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $80.00 Taxes: $7.20 Processing Fee: $11.90 Total Charges: $99.10 Taxes paid indicate bid price was right on the head. Best price at hotel's website was $69. BTW, hotel has an indoor swimming pool & free breakfast!
  2. Bidding for 2 rooms for Easter Sunday. Based on researching the lowest rates & the current economy, I started my bidding with 2.5* checked, Charlottesville area, and a starting bid of $33. Rejected, but counter-offered to immeditately rebid at $9 higher bid. Even though I am an experienced bidder, and I do have time for additional bids before this stay, I did something I should not have; I wanted to rebid immediately, so instead of waiting, I added the 2* level and undercut the counteroffer bid to $3 higher, and got this: Congratulations, you got your price of $36 for a hotel room, and we've upgraded your hotel quality level to a 2
  3. Needed 2 rooms for my sister and parents for an Ohio/Kentucky Easter Road Trip. Bid 1 rm at a time. Based on research, I started the bid with 2*, Ohio State U. area, @ $ 32 bid, and got this: Your Offer Price: $32.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $32.00 Taxes: $5.04 Processing Fee: $5.95 Total Charges: $42.99 With a 15.75% tax rate, bid was right on the head. Lowest rates on hotel website was $82/standard, $77.90/ AAA, $70 Seniors Hotel has free breakfast AND an indoor pool, perfect for my young niece & nephew.
  4. Needed 2 rooms in Louisville for my sister and our parents. Decided to bid 1 rm @ a time. Started with Louisville East, 3*, @ $43, rejected, so added free rebid zone & raised bid to $46; rejected again. Added another free re-bid zone & raised bid to $51, and got this: Your Offer Price: $51.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $51.00 Taxes: $7.11 Processing Fee:$5.95 Total Charges: $64.06 With a Hotel Tax of $ 13.95%, rate was hit on the nose. Best rate on hotel's website was $99/nt.
  5. Needed 2 rms for my sister, her family, and my parents, who are enroute to Ohio & Kentucky. Started with Harrisburg South, 2*, & $16 bid. Rejected, then added Harrisburg West & raised bid to $20. Rejected again, so added Camp Hill/New Cumberland and rasied bid to $23, and got this: Number of Rooms: 2 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $46.00 Taxes: $2.76 Processing Fee: $11.90 Total Charges: $60.66 Best price on Baymont's website was $59 Per rm, total with a 9% tax rate would have been $64.31 per rm!
  6. I actually did call the Peppermill and asked that exact question, and their response was nebulus (sp). They basically said to me that it 'depended on the rate that was paid', and wouldn't elaborate any further unless I actually had a PL reservation they could check.
  7. Yes, you have the situation exactly. But there is a 24hr difference between the $43 combined rejection, and the split bids. What's more perplexing is that if you look at the tax rates, the Sun-Thur price PL paid was $39, and one of the two Sat. bids, the tax rate indicates PL paid $40, so you would think that my initial bid yesterday for all 5 days @ $40 would be accepted. Since I did not try Sat-Thur @ $40 TODAY, it's hard to say whether or not it would have been accepted, or that PL is discriminating against longer stays.
  8. No, not exactly. Yesterday, I did a 5 day bid, Sat to Thurs, 1st @ $40, then @ $43; both were rejected. After the $40 bid, PL counteroffered an immediate re-bid at $12 higher, so I decided to split that differnce, and try just Sat. @ $46. In hinsight, since my bidding days were different, and the stay is months and months ahead, I should have started at $40 just for the Sat., even though I was rejected yesterday up to $43; the bidding parameters were different on todays bid. That's why even for experience bidders like myself, it's easy to get caught up, and not really think of ALL the correct bidding stategies. Whatsmore, with the economy like it is this year, I think that one should start most PL bids these days a bit lower than what was previously & historically thought as the bottom-line bid for a particular are and/or anticipated PL hotel.
  9. This bid is part 2 of another bid, and you can see the details of that bid with the following link: Other Bid For the Sun - Thurs. portion of the trip, I decided to start at $40, so with 2.5* & South Reno checked off, we got The Residence Inn with the following details: Your Offer Price: $40.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 4 Subtotal: $160.00 Taxes: $18.72 Processing Fee: $5.95 Total Charges: $184.67 So with a Tax Rate of 12%, looks like PL paid $39 for these nts. Lowest price on Marriotts website is $97 or Senior Rate, or $108 for AAA.
  10. I am helping my family with a week-long convention/vacation reservations in the Reno/Lake Tahoe area. This bid pertains to the Lake Tahoe portion. Since my sister has kids, having a kitchen & free breakfast is a great added value, so we decided to try for 2.5* in hopes for the Residence Inn. My fear was that there would be a chance to be upgraded to 3*, but they would have taken either the Hilton, which is actually the convention headquarters, or the Peppermill, although they would NOT want the lodge rooms. I had tried to bid yesterday, for a 5 night stay, which includes a Sat. We started with Reno South, 2.5*, at $40, rejected, but counteroffered for immendiate re-bid if raised by $12. Instead, added Sparks, and bid @ $43, but rejected. Today, I though to split the bid up, Sat. it's own bid, Mon-thurs a separate bid. Since we tried $40 & $42, I decided to try $46 for Sat only, and won the Residence Inn. Taxes revealed (Assuming a 12% rate), though, that PL paid $42, so since I needed another room, I bid for another room and got this: Your Offer Price: $42.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $42.00 Taxes: $4.68 Processing Fee: $5.95 Total Charges: $52.63 So I'm a little perplexed; looks like there are multiple PL rates for the same day? Anyway, lowest price on Marriotts website is $97 or Senior Rate, or $114 for AAA Will post the 4 nt stay separately.
  11. Stayed here on Valentines Day Weekend on a Priceline Bid. The hotel is DIRECTLY across the street from the Sesame Place Amusement Park; we were able to see inside the park from our 7th flr. room. The Hotel is the tallest building in Bucks Co., over 15 flrs. There is parking in front of the hotel, and there is also a parking garage in the back with direct elevator entrance to the hotel. There is a covered portico in the main entrance. The lobby is nice; 2 stories high with a working fireplace and nice, comfy club chairs makes for a nice place to sit and relax. There is a bar/restaurant in the lobby, that seemed popular later in the evening. The front desk is small but the service is excellent; friendly staff, and as a PL customer, I was never made to feel like a lesser customer. There are two elevators, and on occasion they can be VERY slow. The hallways were bright, clean and in good condition. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the guest rooms. We had a King NS room, and it was conventional in layout. The room was spacious, but not in good repair. Furniture was old and needed replacing. There was a dresser, desk with chair, and a reclining club chair. TV was ok and included HBO and Disney channel. There is a TV gaming system too. The room definitely needed refurbishing. There is a mirrored closet, a telephone on the desk, and one on the nitestand. An alarm clock was provided. We received a local Sunday paper; on Friday there were copies of the Wall St. Journal in the lobby for guests to take. The bathroom was very small and in disrepair. There is good counterspace, where a coffeemaker was provided. Standard Sheraton bathroom amenities were provided; 2 soaps, shampoo, conditioner, lotion. Shower pressure was good and water was hot. Other facilities include an indoor pool and whirlpool, and a small gym. The pool was a nice size, and although there is a kiddie pool, it was drained when we were there. There is also a Sauna. The hotel also has meeting facilities. There is a shopping mall across the street, and within driving distance are many national chain restaurants, both fast food & family style. I must say that the service is EXCELLENT, though. When we 1st got into the room, the heat was off. We turned on the window unit, which worked for about 5 mins, then shutoff. We called the Front Desk, and they said someone would be up to check it out. Within 3 mins, a hotel employee came up to checkout the heater. After looking at it, he knew exactly what the problem was; he walkie-talkied to the Front Desk, and it turns out they forgot to code the room as 'occupied', so the hotel's power mgmt. system turned off the heater. The friendly hotel person had the heat back on in 5 mins. Five mins later, the Front Desk called to check if everything was fixed and in working order. I said yes, and they apologized for the problem, AND said that they would credit my Starwood frequent Guest Acct. with 500 points as compensation. (This is under Sheraton's Hotel Satisfaction Guarantee Program) That is what I call excellent customer service! In summary, we had an OK stay. The hotel's public spaces meet an average 3* hotel, but the room quality is 2*. If the hotel spends the money to renovate the guest rooms, it could be a solid 3* all around.
  12. Bid was for Valentines/Presidents Weekend in the Philly area. Based on previous 3 & 4* bidding failures in the downtown area for the weekend, decided to try another area. We like the Bucks County area, so tried Langhorne, which is Lower Bucks County. Started with 3*, Langhorne only, @ $40, was rejected, so added New Hope and rasied to $45, and accepted @ the Sheraton. Taxes for the 2 nite stay amounted to $8.10, so looks like $45 is right on the head. Lowest rate found was $109/nt with AAA, or $119, w/o brkfst, $129 w brkfst FYI: All the bids above were actually $10 less, since I had a previous $10 credit from a customer service issue with PL.
  13. Bidding for my family who will be in the Reno/Lake Tahoe area for 1 wk for a convention/vacation. Started with the LT portion of the trip 1st. Started with 3* South Lake Tahoe, @ $45, and rejected, but counteroffered with offer to immediately re-bid if raised by $13. Declined, but added Carson City, and raised bid by $5, and received this: Your Offer Price: $50.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $100.00 Taxes: $9.80 Processing Fee: $5.95 Total Charges: $115.75 Cheapest rate found was an avg. rate of $120/night, BEFORE taxes, so we lucked out on this one! I called hotel, and was told tax tate is 10%, so PL paid $49/nt.
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