WillTravel

Two possibilities: some people have had success with Priceline and pleading a mistake, and getting the room cancelled for $25. Some people have had success telephoning the hotel and asking the reservation be changed. Usually the hotel checks you in as usual for the appropriate night, and then comps you for an additional night, if they are willing to cooperate (most aren't). I'd try the first, although it can be a bit trying to get in touch with a real person.

You mean Berlin, right?

If you have enough posts at FlyerTalk, you can post at Coupon Connection and do a trade for something you can use. Or if you know someone who wants to book a hotel room, you might be able to arrange something.

Note that this hotel is slightly cheaper on some other sites, so you may be able to get a rebate for the difference from Priceline. Check www.hotelscombined.com and search by the hotel name, Corona Opera. Two cheaper sites are Booking.com and Venere.com with the total price for 3 nights being 450 Euros including tax (or $705 USD).

I've posted this before, but the Eiffel Tower zone may lead to getting the Pullman (formerly Sofitel) Rive Gauche, which is actually outside Paris proper. So although there are several well-located hotels in this zone, I would not bid for it personally because of the risk of getting that hotel. Most likely, bidding Champs Elysees - OQW would lead to a hotel that is rather far out, but at least still within Paris.

The hotel may choose to give you a room with a single twin bed, if you enter 1 traveler on HOTWIRE. Depending on their inventory that night, they might choose to give you a different room, but a single twin bed is all you can expect.

Someone on Fodors posted she got the HI Express Earl's Court for $49 on Hotwire, so I guess occasionally the price drops that low for whatever reason. Were you searching with the same number of people in both instances? Sometimes it happens that the advertised hotel on HOTWIRE is just not available when you try to book it.

That's very fortunate! I'm glad they are being more generous than their written policy.

"Cheap" doesn't go with "luxury" in London. But judicious use of PRICELINE or HOTWIRE may help you get the best bang for the buck (or pound). What price range are you considering?

The complimentary breakfast might suggest the Express by Holiday Inn Leith. The zone is just big enough to include it, I think. But as stated, there is no way to have any degree of certainty.

I checked with the Journey Planner at www.thetube.com and it looks like it would take about 1 hour to get into central London from that hotel, which includes taking the bus to the tube station.

For any Express by Holiday Inn in London, it's likely best to check the reviews. The one we stayed at by Glasgow Airport was modern and clean and comfortable.

You can't guarantee getting the Novotel in Bloomsbury-Marble Arch, although it is family-friendly. If the known hotels in the Regents Park - Baker Street zone have rooms with two double beds, they may also (quite likely) charge a premium for you to be given those rooms. You could luck out, but it's also likely you'd have to pay a steep upgrade fee, if any such rooms were actually available. And it's also possible that you could get a hotel that does not have such rooms.

I wouldn't want to stay out that far, but if that room is for 3 people, it's by far preferable than bidding for a Priceline room for 2. Your teenager would be considered an adult in most cases, from the hotel's standpoint, and it would just be an impossible situation at worst (you wouldn't be allowed to take a room) or very uncomfortable if you got a standard double room in London. However, when I enter your dates into HOTWIRE, with 2 adults, 1 child, I see a 3.5* in Ealing-Hammersmith for $115. Is that $65 option still available for you? I'd consider two options: either increase your budget enough to get a centrally located hotel on HOTWIRE for 3 people, or bid for two rooms on PRICELINE. Even a 1* budget hotel for three people is likely to cost as much as either of these options. Also take a look at Holiday Inn Express and Travelodge (family room), although I don't think either will provide any real bargains.

How old is your child? PRICELINE is not a good idea with three people, because the standard London room is just big enough for two and no more.

Don't include the airport zone - you don't want to get a 3* hotel there if you want to be downtown. Do you understand how to figure out your safe rebid zones? Note also that "Vancouver Downtown" includes an area outside downtown. Most notably, the Plaza 500 hotel which is currently in the middle of a construction zone and which is not downtown often comes up for 3* bids here. (I personally think the area has a lot of positives, but some people complain it has ruined their trip, so buyer beware.)

Would Mayfair-Soho also be okay? I presume so, as it's the most central of all, although it's also usually the most expensive. But I just wanted to check you were okay with it. I think you are right to give Ealing a pass. Are you searching Hotwire for one person, because I didn't see that Ealing result when I searched for 2.

I would suggest that if your alternative is a budget hotel in Earls Court or Paddington, that you bid for a 3* in Kensington. The reason is that those budget hotels generally have quite terrible reviews, and I think a 3* would be better than those, unless you have found an exception. I have seen reasonable reviews of this place, however: www.hydeparkrooms.com/ You can bid every 24 hours, so no problem there.

Judging from the counteroffers, availability exists, but this is a high-priced period (for whatever reason). I know it's frustrating when other people get lower bids accepted for different times, but the hotels have no motive to offer low-priced rooms if they can get a higher price. If you don't want to change hotels, you will likely be forced to bid higher. Your dates include a full set of weekdays, which are often more expensive due to London business-travel patterns. Do you have a backup hotel booked?

Good luck - I hope it works out. If you don't get the response you want from the hotel, some people (not all the time) have been able to cancel with Priceline, for a rate of $25/night, as a one-time favor for a mistake. Please post back, and maybe someone who has done this can chime in. I do see the following here, which I hope applies for you: http://www.hotel4holiday.com/italy/venice/...lton-venice.htm Children and Extra Bed Policy: All children are welcome. All children under 12 years stay free of charge when using existing bedding. All children under 2 years stay free of charge for cots. All older children or adults are charged EUR 125.00 per night and person for extra beds. Maximum capacity of extra beds/babycots in a room is 1. So if your daughter is young enough, you can bring an air mattress or sleeping bag, and have her sleep on the floor.

The most common recent 5* hotel is the Sofitel St. James. I remembered someone posting about difficulty with twin rooms at 5* London hotels (although not this one in particular), so I looked it up. It looks like at the Sofitel you can get a one-bed room, or a room with something called two "zip-beds". If these are what I think they are, it's two separate beds zipped together, so still not comfortable for a non-couple. You can look that up yourself and decide, but I think 4* might be a better choice in this instance. I've never had problems getting two twin beds when I needed them in London - but with 3* or 4* hotels.

4* in St. Germain - Latin Quarter - Montparnasse seems like a safe choice too, so far as getting an acceptable hotel and location and near a metro. So I'd probably lean to trying that before going for the 2.5* Hotwire option in Montmartre. Also check out www.Accorhotels.com - Mercure will generally be an acceptable 3*, Ibis are generally pretty good 2* hotels. Some of these have air conditioning. Although even if a hotel does have A/C, many refuse to turn it on before June 1. For our last stay in Paris, I booked a 3* hotel with www.hrs.de - it was the Marciano, and basically Holiday-Inn-style quality (quite acceptable, particularly for the price). (No chance to try the A/C, though, as it snowed some days we were there!)

If you choose Opera Quarter East only, any hotel would have to be close to the metro in that very central area. So that one is a good zone choice. I agree with thereuare, and if you do want a 2* hotel, it's probably safest to book it directly after looking at the reviews, because otherwise you are taking a risk of getting something not that good at all. What are you willing to spend? What's the best backup you have been able to find?

No, with PRICELINE, you have to agree to anything within the boundaries of the zone and because the Hilton is in the City Center / Museum Quarter zone, you may end up getting it. However, there are a lot of attractions in the southern part of Amsterdam, so I don't think it would necessarily be so bad, and you can also take the tram.

If you create a dummy package that incorporates your dates, then you can see that the Holiday Inn - Regent's Park has these Hotel features: Restaurant(s), Business Center, High-speed Internet Access This differs from what is currently on the list for this hotel (because of the addition of High-speed Internet Access). Although these aren't unique amenities, that would be a reasonable guess. I've never seen a standard London hotel room that would fit three people, so it's not a risk I would take. In fact, if you go to the HI web site, the Holiday Inn - Regent's Park has in bold text, "This hotel has a maximum of 2 persons per room."