WillTravel

Bid through the BB link a couple days ago. I started with $40 first, and did not get a counteroffer. Then I added a zone that only went up to 2.5*, and bid $45. So it's possible that I overbid here, but on the other hand, it was certainly over with quickly. I'm arriving at 1 AM on 5/21, so I'll have to notify the hotel about my late arrival. This hotel does not have perfect reviews, but they're not terrible, and I'm sure it will be fine for a few hours.

I've had "walking" happen, but not on a Priceline reservation. Once I had booked through the hotel site, and another time through another booking site. Both times, I did as well or better, so I had no complaints. If you are concerned about your reservation, after making it with Priceline, you can wait a day or two, and then telephone or email the hotel to confirm they have it. If you know you will be arriving late, I recommend emailing and maybe phoning the hotel that day so that they know to hold the room for you. It's very rare that this will be a problem, and if it is a problem, it's not likely to be due to Priceline.

I bid through the link a few days before the stay, but I did not have time to post it. This was my first bid. Therefore, I probably overbid, but I was making a time vs. money tradeoff here as I was in a rush. Previously, I have stayed at the Hilton, Doubletree, and Radisson, and this was my first time winning this hotel. Possibly the fact that I bid just a few days before departure affected what hotel I got. For some silly reason I was worried this hotel might not be "nice" enough, but everything was in order and comfortable, and it was absolutely fine. If you are staying at this hotel after arriving at the airport, you can follow the signs to Light Rail, and then when you get to the station, go down the stairs or the elevator and walk approximately one block. You'll see it from the station platform. You can also easily walk to the airport from the hotel. By the time you get on the shuttle bus and it gets turned around, and you pay a tip, you might as well have walked. At this point, I think I'd just walk to/from any of the 3* hotels that come up around the airport, rather than waiting for a shuttle.

I have found the pool icon is not very helpful for Hotwire. Based on my recollection of weather in San Francisco, it doesn't seem terribly likely that outdoor pool usage would be happening during your stay. The Hotwire pool icon will display even for Canadian properties in winter that do not have their outdoor pools in service. Of course, if you felt confident as to the identity of the property, and knew the pool was indoors, it would be fine.

My guess, based on what you posted, is that you'll be successful around $125 (but I could easily be $10 off or more) for Champs Elysees - Opera Quarter West . Have you ruled out the Latin Quarter - St. Germain - Montparnasse zone? I found that you will not get another counteroffer if you just add a zone to a bid. Rather than just add a zone to a bid, what I do is close and reopen the browser, access through the Betterbidding support link, and then start a new bid that includes the new zone. This way I get a counteroffer again (they might up the price even, but don't believe the new price).

Hi silwro, I hope you are able to get some great savings with Priceline or other services. You have listed some general statements, but what I have found is you can save up to 75% on hotels (although 50% is quite typical), but now and then there are no savings. Also, you have to do correct comparisons and thorough research. While you might save 75% on the cost of a room at that particular hotel, it's also possible there's an equivalent- or at least acceptable-standard hotel that is close or better in price to what you get with Priceline. The latter is more often true in Europe than the US. Also, if you are looking at 4* hotels, for example, it's quite likely Priceline will not give you the nicest 4* possible, although sometimes it does. In short, there's no formula for what you are asking. If you post a request asking for help for a specific area, people can give you specific information.

What I have seen happen is that a hotel charges your personal credit card for the stay, rather than charging Priceline's credit card number like they are supposed to do. Then you have to contact the hotel, explain their error, and get them to refund the charge. That would have been my guess as to what the poster in that review had happen, except that he says they charged for "incidentals".

It could be Hotel Banke, which is listed as 3.5* in Hotwire's vacation packages, and which is a new boutique hotel (part of the Epoque collection).

You were lucky to get a city center hotel with that strategy, as you could easily have gotten an airport hotel, because there are 4* hotels in the airport zone. But I'm glad it worked for you to get a good hotel.

I ended up getting this hotel with Expedia, but I thought I would post a review. No location can be near everything, but I think this hotel's location is about as good as you can get. The room and bed were comfortable, everything worked well, the lobby is nicely decorated, and there is a free wine reception every night. There's a business center with 2 computers for free use, and there is free wi-fi throughout. I did notice a few nicks and scratches here and there, but barely noticeable. Pets are allowed, and a couple times I heard a yap or two in the hallways, but it never bothered me. I never saw any pets running around or even in the lobby. To get to the hotel from SFO, I took a shared shuttle because I arrived fairly late at night. The cost was $17 + tip. To return to SFO, I took the BART, which is about 2-3 blocks away and very convenient. The cost was just over $8. You can catch numerous buses within a block or two of the hotel. Research the Bay Area transit planner a bit before you arrive. There are also the light rail trains nearby, but I did not take any of those on this trip.

Good luck with it, but keep in mind that the Amsterdam hotel rates are set in Euros in the database. Thus, if the USD exchange rate worsens, you will need a higher bid to match the unchanged Euro price (presuming it did not, in fact change, which it could). I`m not sure if the high-$60s bids you saw occurred at a high point or low point.

I agree the Mayfair zone is best suited to what you want. Also keep Hotwire in mind, because you can more specifically target your hotel, so it might be a better choice in your case. If your budget were lower, or you fail to succeed in Mayfair for some reason, the Bloomsbury zone (which includes a bit that is not Bloomsbury) would be my second choice. If you stick to these two zones, and 4* or higher, you are very unlikely to get a lousy or poorly-located hotel (in my opinion).

Amsterdam 4* hotel prices for bidding on Priceline are amazingly cheap, and I agree that you would do well to raise your bid a bit to get it accepted (probably in the $70 range or so). Amsterdam is a city where it is very easy to end up with a grungy hotel, but all of the Priceline 4* hotels seem pretty decent.

Hi, can you tell us what hotel this is?

I can't comment on the hotel, but you might want to look at this TravelZoo special for Barcelona (75 Euros per night for a double, including breakfast) : http://hotels.travelzoo.com/international-hotels/709823

If a really good hotel quality is significant, I'd be reluctant to trust either Priceline or Hotwire for less than about a 4.5* for these two cities. My opinion is that you would be much more likely get a cheaper rate in Barcelona for a better hotel, if there is no huge event going on, than in Rome. I would try these sites for a good deal: www.solmelia.com www.hotelscombined.com (This consolidates a bunch of site searches into one. Of the ones listed, it's quite likely GTA Hotels.com will give a good deal.) www.hrs.de Also, TravelZoo often has good deals for Spanish hotels. Location is also really important in these two cities, in my opinion. You can probably get a good, reasonable 4* hotel in Rome - except that it will be way on the outskirts.

cheffip, can you say what the B&B is?

So long as you are near to a U-Bahn or S-Bahn station it's not too bad to be farther out, but if you are in Mitte, there are dozens of attractions that you can easily walk to, and that's not true in Wilmersdorf.

The light rail is great, and it does make getting into downtown a lot more pleasant now, if you aren't driving.

In past years around the same time, I've gotten this hotel for $42 or $43, I think. In this case, I bid $42, got a counteroffer to add $12 more, failed at $46, and succeeded at $47. With this hotel, it's possible to walk right into the airport from across the street, so it's very convenient. It's a little less nice than the Hilton or Doubletree, but still fine.

Are you going to have a car? Where are you planning on doing the shopping?

So I have made a decision. I had three $50 Best Price Guarantee coupons from Expedia. I used one coupon per night, and booked the Galleria Park, which is offering a nightly rate of $79 on Expedia. Although it's a prepaid rate, it's also refundable up until the day before. With taxes and fees, I ended up spending $38.88/night. I used the Expedia link on this board. With Expedia, I could have booked the Parc 55 for a rate of $94/night (plus taxes and fees), and applied the coupon, and this would have been cheaper than Priceline for a 4* hotel. I also could also have gotten the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins for $99/night (plus taxes and fees) - $50. But I decided that I would try a "boutique hotel" for once. I'm not worried about small rooms, and the hotel seems pretty good based on reviews. I'd consider cancelling if something significantly better and/or cheaper came up, which doesn't seem likely, so I think this will work pretty well for me.

I'd say click below and start a thread in the Priceline forum, because Kuala Lumpur is not offered by Hotwire. http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showforum=177&

Colfax, I think I might try for a 3* or 3.5* soon. I'm hoping that some unbelievable deal is going to spring up, and I don't want to ruin that possibility by bidding too much too soon, although the 4* and 3.5* likely prices (as determined by the counteroffers) are both good deals, I have to admit.

Colfax, thanks for the report. I don't remember seeing a Holiday Inn next door to the Whitcomb, but I guess I wasn't looking very hard. How does this compare to Holiday Inn Golden Gateway for you?