tilepusher

Welcome to BetterBidding, Joe! This hotel is a match for the Radisson Phoenix Airport, so that would be my best guess. If you decide to book a hotel through Hotwire, please use this HOTWIRE link to start your purchase.

The amenities match those of the Crowne Plaza on Hotwire's Vacation Packages, so there's a good chance that it is the Crowne Plaza. If you decide to book this hotel, please use the HOTWIRE link to start your purchase.

I have seen wins at the Rensaissance (which was also rated 3* until fairly recently) on Priceline for about $55, so there's a good chance that this hotel will come up if you bid. $50 is a good starting bid; you have a lot of rebid zones, so you can start even lower if you want to.

Welcome to BetterBidding! You're right; this hotel doesn't appear to match any on the hotel list. However, the star level and amenities are a match for the Mayflower Park Hotel on Hotwire's Vacation Packages, so that would be my best guess. If you decide to book this room, please use this HOTWIRE link to begin your purchase.

Could you please confirm that this property has been re-rated to Resort (it's still showing up as a 4* on the retail side), so that the hotel list can be updated if necessary?

Even if the bid isn't upgraded, you still run the risk of getting the 2.5* Ramada Downtown Vancouver, which is not a very good hotel either.

The Coast Hotel couldn't have been the hotel that you were originally looking at: it's in the Downtown West area.

The listing for any hotel that Priceline sells through its retail service can be found through the site map (the link is at the bottom). You have to navigate through a few submenus to find a specific hotel, but the process is pretty easy because the hotels are listed in alphabetical order. For example, here's Priceline's hotel guide for the Renaissance Orlando Resort. You can check this guide anytime to find the current star level for this property. I can't guarantee that this is a 100% accurate method of determining a hotel's rating on Name Your Own Price, but it's far more reliable than guessing.

Welcome to BetterBidding, Anita. This hotel is match for the Rosen Centre Hotel on Hotwire's Vacation Packages, so that would be my best guess. If you decide to book this hotel, please use this HOTWIRE link to start your purchase.

The Sheraton would be my guess as well. I have seen this a few times, where all the information seems to match a particular hotel perfectly except for a slight overestimation in the number of TripAdvisor reviews.

The best match that I can find for this property is the International Plaza Resort and Spa. I agree with thereuare: I would stay away from any place with a TripAdvisor rating below 3.

I can't really help you out with Las Vegas, but before you bid again, I should point out that Summerlin is not a rebid zone for a 4* bid in Las Vegas, since 4* bids can be upgraded to Resort properties. You really should find your rebid zones yourself. It's not difficult: just select a zone you want to check as if you're going to bid for that zone. Priceline will show you what's available in that zone. Make a note of the highest star level that's available for that zone, and repeat this process for all the zones in the area (make sure that only the zone you want to look at has a check mark beside it). Your rebid zones are those zones that only have hotels of lower star level than what you're bidding for (Resort-level properties are considered to be between 4* and 5*).

I got this on my first bid (d'oh!). The total was $102.65 after taxes and fees; the weekend rate on Marriott.com was $149/night. I really didn't think that this bid had much of a chance, since I had not seen any good deals on Hotwire (I had been keeping an eye on it for months - 3.5* Downtown was $114/night on the day I got this) and, several days ago, a friend of mine was rejected at $65 for a 3* Downtown on the same weekend (she wound up at the Marriott Downtown Waterfront for $75). In retrospect, I should have tried for a 3* first just to make sure nothing new had come up, but I've wanted to give this place a try and now I have my chance. But it's a long way from the event that I'm planning to attend at the Holiday Inn Convention Center; I hope it's not too far. I used the PRICELINE link on this website to start my bid.

The 3.5* is a match for the Scottsdale Plaza Resort on HOTWIRE's Vacation Packages, so that would be my best guess. However, a different 3.5* in North Scottsdale (amenities: resort, fitness, pool, restaurant, golf, tennis) came up when I tried the search; this one is a match for the Millennium Resort Scottsdale McCormick Ranch. The 3* is a match for the Scottsdale Thunderbird Suites (formerly Best Western Airpark Suites).

I bid for this room on behalf of a friend who's attending the same event in Toronto that I am. I started at $54-$55-$56; after I was rejected at $56, I continued to increase the bidding in $2 increments until I was accepted at $62. The total after taxes and fees is $291.58. I was hoping for another $56 room, but it still beats the $89 rate (I think) on HOTWIRE, the $189Cdn rate on Expedia.ca, or the even higher rates on Marriott.com. I used the PRICELINE link here to start my purchase.

There's a good chance that I'll be coming down to Portland on the same weekend as you are to attend an event at the Holiday Inn Convention Center. If so, my initial plan is to bid for a 3* in Downtown Portland and use MAX to get to and from the Holiday Inn. Would that be a viable option for you?

It's possible that this hotel is the La Quinta (the hotel website shows only non-smoking rooms), though that would make the Tripadvisor information quite inaccurate (would that be grounds for a refund?). But there's also a listing for a 2* in the Convention Center zone for $69 with the following amenities: complementary breakfast, pool, fitness, laundry, high-speed internet, golf, tennis; the best match for these amenities appears to be the La Quinta. So if the 2.5* is the La Quinta, what's this one? I find that Priceline has far better deals for Portland hotels. Is it critical that you have a non-smoking room (or some particular amenity)?

According to the hotel website's map, the Holiday Inn Express (Airport Area) is about a mile from the Airport, on the other side of the 205, which clearly puts it in the Airport zone. The Holiday Inn Express on Stark St. is also in the Airport zone.

I saw this listing before, and my best guess at the time was also the Residence Inn Lloyd Center. It would be unusual for a Residence Inn to rated only 2.5* by Hotwire, but it appears to be the best fit for the amenities and Tripadvisor information.

To clarify my last post, the two HOTWIRE hotels I mentioned above had the following amenities: 2.5* Vancouver Downtown West: smoke-free, pool, restaurant, business, internet (Tripadvisor: 4 rating, 40+ reviews) 3* Vancouver Downtown West: smoke-free, complementary breakfast, fitness, pool, restaurant, laundry, internet, kitchenette (Tripadvisor: 3.5 rating, 60+ reviews)

Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid the Inn at Westminster Quay if you bid for a 3* on Priceline; the Holiday Inn North Vancouver is also a possibility. Bidding for a hotel in PRICELINE's Coquitlam-Burnaby zone is chancy if you need a hotel close to a particular place. Unless a hotel comes up on Hotwire that appears to be the Hilton or Holiday Inn Express, you may have to go through non-opaque channels for this stay.

Based on the amenities and Tripadvisor information, this is probably the Ramada Inn & Suites Downtown Vancouver. I would not recommend this place (and I would stay away from any place that has a rating below 3 on Tripadvisor). I think your best option is to bid for a 4* hotel on Priceline. However, if you're more comfortable with Hotwire and are looking for something for about $60-70, there is a 2.5* in Downtown Vancouver West for $69 that gets much better reviews on Tripadvisor. My best guess for this hotel is the Quality Hotel Vancouver - Inn at False Creek. If you're willing to spend more money, there is also a 3* in Downtown Vancouver West for $85. The amenities are a match for the Residence Inn Vancouver, but the Tripadvisor information is not (there are less than 50 reviews for this hotel). However, I can't think of any other hotel in this zone with these amenities. Please use this HOTWIRE link to start your Hotwire purchases.

The 2.5* hotel is probably the Ramada Metrotown. However, a different 2.5* now appears for this zone, one that I haven't yet been able to identify. My best guess for the 3* hotel is the Best Western Coquitlam Inn. I could easily be wrong, but this hotel is definitely a possibility; if you're looking for something close to Metrotown Centre, this would not be a safe choice. Please use this HOTWIRE link to start your Hotwire purchases.

Using the many rebid zones available, I made bids of $50 (received counteroffer of $64), $52, $54, and $55 before I was accepted at $56. I used the Savingsbarn link to start my bid.

You should expect to pay at least $110/night for a 4* in Vancouver during the summer, and don't be surprised if you have to go a lot higher. Since your trip is still several months away, I wouldn't go any higher than $140 for now. I looked at the HOTWIRE listings for 8/3-8/5, and I believe that I can identify the downtown hotels that you were referring to (I can't guarantee that these guesses are correct, though): 4* Downtown Entertainment District: suite, smoke free rooms, fitmess, pool, restaurant, business, high-speed internet, kitchenette - Westin Grand 4* Downtown West: boutique, shuttle, fitmess, pool, restaurant, laundry, high-speed internet, kitchenette, spa - Pacific Palisades