WillTravel

Could you provide the dates for this?

Note that if you look at Expedia, there are 5* hotels for your dates, that include breakfast, for as little as $222 per night. I'm not saying Expedia is the best choice, or that the hotel is the best choice, but just pointing out that you can get a 5* hotel for less than Hotwire is offering.

Colfax, I also like Northwest Portland. If you bid in this zone for a 3* or better, do you think there is any risk of getting a location that is not convenient to public transit? I haven't been to Portland for a while.

Good luck with your bid, but please keep in mind that you may get some other hotel than Inn at Westminster Quay. Just because there is only one 3* reported does not mean you will get that hotel for your bid. Would you be okay with any 3* or higher hotel in the Coquitlam-Burnaby zone?

Norway is pretty expensive unless you try the free camping method. This is where we stayed a few years ago in Oslo: http://www.ankerhostel.no/?lang=44 If you choose a private room, it's in a student residence, and it has a fully equipped kitchen included in each suite. Note that you have to pay for sheets and towels and breakfast. This is definitely not a luxury option, but it is one of the cheaper options available in Oslo. Take a look at the Best Western Anker too. It's in the same development as the student residence, and when you add all of the extra charges for sheets, towels, and breakfast, it might work out to not much more. But you won't have a private kitchen either. But it is not luxury either. Maybe if you are lucky, some nice hotel chain will be doing a summer promotion. Scandic sometimes does. Otherwise, try looking for some B&Bs. But don't delay - when I tried that, they were all booked up months in advance.

The difference is that you are going in very high season, so the low prices people get now, or even for June or July, may not relate to what you pay in August. To make matters worse, you are bidding for a Saturday night. It is possible the price will decline, but it may not. What is HOTWIRE offering for that night?

Use the Berlin Transit Planner: http://www.bvg.de/index.php/en/Bvg/Start You are within a few hundred meters of several transit stops.

Some London Holiday Inns are 4* on Priceline as well. Based on my experience at this hotel, I think 3.5* is probably appropriate, but given European standards, 4* is not ridiculous. Give it a try.

The Travelodge by the Space Needle is now 100% nonsmoking, and it has 56 reviews with an average rating of 3.0 out of 5. It would fit. I'd definitely try two rooms at 2.5* or higher on PRICELINE before buying the Travelodge room.

Thanks for posting your bid. Did you get the Doubletree?

You may also want to consider 2.5* in the Seattle - Space Needle zone, as this allows the possibility of getting the Holiday Inn Express or the Springhill Suites.

If you are willing to pay $119 for a 3* on HOTWIRE for four people, how about bidding on Priceline for two rooms? I can't guarantee you would hit at $60, but it's not unprecedented. You are going during an expensive time, but that's what I would try first. I'd also take a look at conventional rates for Springhill Suites and Homewood Suites and Silver Cloud. These include breakfast, and you can book a suite that could easily sleep four. These might be good for a backup.

The problem with many European city zones is that they are often very large, so you take the risk of getting a hotel that's quite inconvenient. Rotterdam's zone looks like it might be like that, although I have only been there once so I'm not terribly familiar with it.

Are you saying that you actually have two adults and two children, but you booked for three adults and one child? I wouldn't worry at all about that.

Many major attractions in London are free. There are few offerings that the London Pass has that you would probably want to visit, so I doubt it is worthwhile. I would just get a 7-day paper TravelCard if there for a week.

I stayed here March 29 - April 1. This hotel has an elegant lobby, and is an older Queen-Anne-style building. The rooms are a very good size, and amazingly you get a sizable kitchen as well, with a microwave and fridge. There's a large walk-in closet too. The bathroom is on the dated side, but everything worked fine. The bed (not sure if it was queen or king) had 8! pillows on it, and was very comfortable. This is a hotel with uniformed bellmen and antique furniture, and I know it's referred to as a boutique hotel. The staff are friendly and helpful. There's a free breakfast included. I looked one morning and saw some uninspiring pastries, but the fruit, yogurt, juice, coffee, and tea are no doubt good. However, I was getting breakfast elsewhere so didn't partake. The neighborhood is lively and has lots of options at night, which can be a bit of a challenge in some downtown Seattle locations. You can get downtown via the hotel shuttle (it left too late and finished too early for me), or you can take one of the buses that are available a few feet from the hotel. I took the #1, 2, or 13 that went along Third Street, and got downtown very quickly. A few small points: * The hotel seems to use some sort of potpourri, which was almost annoying, in the lobby. * There is no elevator, and there are a few steps to walk up to the entrance. This won't be a problem for most, but something to consider if you are disabled. * I was given the choice of a first-floor room that faced the street, or a second-floor "quiet" room that faced the back. I chose the quiet room, but had occasional problems with wireless (which I actually used a lot). I wonder if the street-facing room would have better wireless connectivity. Mostly I had no wireless problems, though. The hotel explained they had upgraded their wireless services, but it was still an old building.

I'd say go to London, if you want to see one of the greatest cities in the world. But don't stay at Heathrow Airport hotels. The price is per day.

If you book a regular rate hotel in Rome, it's quite common for the low season price to be as little as half of the high season price. So you can't expect to get the same low rate necessarily.

You haven't posted any amenities, but I'd be reluctant to get a hotel in the West zone, because it's sure to be at least somewhat inconvenient.

Was this your Sheraton in Boston bid? If so, you don't have to worry as US Starwood hotels are non-smoking. If it's some other bid, could you post it?

I noticed your earlier comment about requiring a king bed or multiple beds. In my experience, it's always been possible to get two twin beds if I needed them in London (although there could be an exception, so you have to consider the worst case scenario). However, a king bed is not necessarily likely in London, in my opinion. If you don't get two twins, I'd expect a queen and be pleasantly surprised with a king. (In theory, it would also be possible to just get a double.)

Could the 3* be one of the South Bank Express by Holiday Inn hotels?

You most likely will get a better location if you bid for a 5* hotel. However, as always, there could be a wildcard hotel show up. Almost all of the 4* hotels that have shown up so far are near Termini, which is not typically considered a favored area. However, looking at the reviews, it seems many guests are happy enough with the location. Take a look at the reviews for all the 4* hotels that have come up so far. I think I'd rather have one of the 4* hotels near Termini than one of the Vatican-area hotels, in terms of convenience. Even with a 4* hotel, I would not expect anything luxurious, and I think the reviews confirm that. The non-Priceline hotel I stayed at in Rome, Hotel Julia, has a great location and I liked it, but is definitely only a 3* hotel. But you might also want to take a look at what they offer at the next door Domus Julia, which is sort of an apartment residence. May tends to be a pretty expensive month, so I would also book a backup hotel right away if you decide not to book with PRICELINE or HOTWIRE now.

Note that Hotwire has a 4* City hotel for $94. I didn't try to figure which one it is, but particularly given that Hotwire fees are often lower, it might be worth considering.

I would bid two rooms for 4 nights. Then I'd bid 1 room for 2 nights. That's the cheapest approach. With Priceline, you cannot specify an airport shuttle. For most hotels in central Rome, this will not be a free service. They'll have different services for getting you to the airport, most likely including hotel cars. Or you could take a taxi. You can enter one name for one room, and another name for the other room, while doing a PRICELINE bid for two rooms. Make sure you are happy with Priceline's zones, because they are quite large and include areas that aren't the most favored.