jerrysch

Opening bid of $36 accepted. This appears to be a new property for the hotel list. Gets very good ratings on TripAdvisor. Hampton Inn & Suites Riverside Corona East 4250 Riverwalk Parkway Riverside, CA 92505

Same price for the same place that I got a week ago, this time for a Sunday + Monday night stay. If you are a Hilton Honors Gold (or above) member make sure you call ahead to add you number to the reservation. That will get a you free breakfast buffet and free internet and maybe a room upgrade.

Bid was made one day before arrival starting at $50 and going up in $1 increments. This is a very nice place although check-in was not pleasant. After giving my name, the agent (seeing it was a Priceline booking) gave me a card and said if I book direct next time I could use the 20% discount code. Then he said check in is 4:00 PM and I was early (I arrived a few minutes before 3:00 PM). Then he found me an available room and said checkout is 11:00 AM. That was pretty much our entire engagement. A robot could have done a better job. Despite that, this is one of the nicest places I've stayed at in the Phoenix area. More like a small condo than a hotel.

I bid up from $40 in $2 increments. At $46 I was countered +$12 ($58), stuck to my strategy and won at $52. Good reviews on TripAdvisor so I attempted and succeeded in extending checkout by one day at the same rate.

Opening bid of $40 rejected and countered with + $7. My next bid of $41 was accepted. Great price for a weekend stay. I tried to extend check-in by one day (Thursday 2/9/12) which was rejected but I was offered the great rate of $238 plus $44.40 fees for $282.40 total! Priceline does get silly sometimes ...

Fri + Sat + Sun night stay. Lots of free rebids so I started bidding at $45. $66 rejected, $67 accepted.

Not bad for a midweek stay (Wed + Thu). Bid $50 rejected, next bid $52 accepted.

Bid up from $45 in $1 increments and won at $49 for a Sunday night stay. I called ahead with my Hilton Honors Gold membership number and received full benifits at check in including free Buffet Breakfast ($18 value), free internet ($13 value), and pool view room update ($10 value). No resort fee. Wish I could have stayed longer!

Bid up from $40 in $2 increments: $50 rejected, $52 accepted. Very nice Residence Inn just over 1 year old. This appears to be a new property for the Arizona hotel list. Residence Inn Phoenix NW/Surprise 16418 North Bullard Avenue Surprise, Arizona 85374 623-249-6333

Bid up in $1 increments, so this is the lowest price for this date. This appears to be a new property for the California hotel list. Hyatt Place UC Davis 173 Old Davis Road Extension Davis, California 95616 530-756-9500

Bid of $44 rejected with counter offer of +$15, next bid of $48 accepted. After taxes and fees, only a $10 saving over booking AAA rate directly. This appears to be a new property for the California hotel list. Best Western Plus Inn Dixon 1345 Commercial Way Dixon, California 95620 707-678-1400

Opening bid of $50 accepted. This appears to be a new property for the California hotel list. Residence Inn Vacaville 360 Orange Drive Vacaville, California 95687 707-469-0300

Bid of $63 rejected, next bid of $65 accepted

Bid of $42 rejected, next bid of $45 accepted. Might have left a buck or two on the table ...

Opening bid of $40 accepted. Probaly could be had for less.

Bid of $66 rejected, next bid of $68 accepted. Called ahead with my Hilton Honors Gold number which got me free internet, free breakfast, and the ability to select room and check in online.

Started bidding at $60, increasing by $1. Accepted at $63. Got the same price about 5 months ago for a weekend stay. Last time I got free breakfast, free wifi, and upgrade to executive floor for being a Hilton Honors Gold member, even though it was a Priceline booking.

Bids of $58 and $60 rejected before $62 accepted ($77.47 after fees/taxes). Not a big savings as booking direct AAA rate for this stay would have been about $83 after taxes. This is a new property for the Californa list. Also, the Holiday Inn Express in Carpenteria is currently a 2.5* Best Western Carpinteria Inn 4558 Carpinteria Avenue Carpinteria, California 93013 805-684-0473

I got the same deal ... same date and price! Hope they don't put us all in the dreaded "Priceline Room" :)

For anyone trying to get this property, enter Perris, CA as the search city, not Lake Elsinore. That will get you two free 2.5* rebid zones: Hemet and Beaumont.

Made what I thought was a low-ball bid of $40 and it was accepted! Very nice property about 2 years old rated #1 on TripAdvisor. Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Lake Elsinore 31573 Canyon Estates Drive Lake Elsinore, California 92532 951-674-4333

My exploration of Phoenix continues and I wanted to see what would come up in the East Mesa zone. Won the following at $45 after bidding up for 3* in $1 increments: Arizona Golf Resort Hotel 425 South Power Road Mesa, Arizona 85206 480-832-3202 In my opinion it's not a resort and not a hotel, and 3* is pushing it. Aging motel is more like it, although the room is fairly large. $2 resort fee added on, and there is an additional fee for in-room internet. I'm not fond of run down places that try to screw their customers and pretend to be something they're not. Oh, 21 inch TV with fewer than 20 channels. Furniture almost as old as me. Not many options in this part of town so I guess that's how they get away with it. Lesson learned: don't bid East Mesa again. I'm going back to Scottsdale :)

Starting bidding at $35 for 3* in Tempe and increased bids in $1 increments. At $38, bid was accepted and upgraded to 3.5* Fiesta Resort Conference Center. Reviews look good so this should be just fine for a 1 night stay. Used the PRICELINE link to start my purchase

This is a really nice place and I was able to extend my stay by one day under the same terms. No resort fee! Tip for Hilton Honors Diamond and Gold members: I called ahead and asked to have my HH number added to the reservation. That got me a free upgrade to a pool view room and free internet. Nice.

Bid up from $40 in $1 increments. Accepted at $44. Thanks to previous posts by others to guide me to this winning bid! Used the PRICELINE link to start my purchase