Rhine-and-Roses

I walked on the metal roof of a church in Quito, Ecuador in order to see the restorations. I would not do it again but I'm glad I did it when I was young and foolish, and much more agile. I would like to take a pastry class in Paris. In French.

There have been a few postings about hotels in Europe and star level. While I agree with most of the postings about not staying in 3 star hotels in Europe, particularly in London and Paris, my experience in Germany is they are fine. I usually stay in European 4 stars, occasionally splurge on 5 stars, but the few times I've stayed at 3 stars in Germany, the hotels have been just fine. Fewer amenities, but always, always clean. Once I was even forced to stay at an "unstarred" hotel because I was snowed in at a remote (Hahn) airport, and even that 30 euro room was clean. Now let me say that there is NO WAY I would stay at anything less than a 4 star in London, and even a few of those are iffy.

Tried multiple times to book in Madrid Old Town in 4 and 5 * hotels, but all bids rejected and no counter offers. Started bidding at $80, went up to $150. Dates were for April 5-9. Finally decided to go to London instead, and will try Madrid another time, or use my Starwood points for the Westin.

I used the bidding strategy you recommended for someone else for London. Started as $65 for 4* in various areas. Each time I added South Kensington I got an offer for $88, which I did not accept. Finally got a hotel for $80 in Kensington. It turned out to be Hilton Olympia, which was a little disappointing due to how far out it is. Normally I wouldn't really care as I normally fly into Heathrow (and take Picadilly in), but this time we are coming into London City. The more recent TripAdvisor comments on this hotel are more favorable than the past ones. Trip is for April 5-8, 2008 I used the Savings Barn link. Thanks!

I saw the posting for $89 for this hotel for the Christmas holidays. I tried bidding $85 for that area, rejected. Added Champs Elysees (knew at that price it would not be accepted) for $89, it was rejected. Got a counter offer for $99. Tried $95 and added Opera, Marais, still got counter offer of $99, so I took it. Booked two rooms for 29 Dec - 1st January 2008. I've stayed at this hotel before and was happy with it, particularly the guarded parking (important for Paris for NY Eve!)

We stayed here in August of 2005 and were very happy. We used reward points. They gave us a huge suite, it was probably 800 sq feet. They also greeted us with a free bottle of wine and ice cream for my daughter. The suite was beautiful, with a living area, dining area, separate bedroom, walk-in closet, large bathroom. They also included breakfast, which was a typical affair. Plenty of variety and personable wait staff. Everyone at the hotel was cordial and helpful. We used the hotel parking as it was secured. There was a lovely park for the kids in between the hotel and UBahn stop. We paid a lot for WiFi, but I do not remember exactly how much. There was a free ice machine on the floor- something I don't see often in Europe.

This time I used your link to try to bid on a five star hotel in Rome. This is what I did, with no luck. Bid $140 for 5 star in Rome Central- refused Bid $140 the next day, also refused, but they came back with a five star offer in Central Rome at $286 per night. Next day bid $145 for 5 star in Central Rome. Refused, but countered with $258. I did not take that, but now I am understanding how this works. Saw they have no five stars in Vatican, so added Vatican and kept the 5 star, but offered $147. Refused. Saw that there are no 5 stars in west, so bid on a five star including west Rome at $150. Refused, and no counter offer. Wait it out, or what? I was on the Intercontinental web site and it appears they have lots of room. They are offering non-refundable rooms at about $100 below their normal rate. I was also considering going with a four star. I was thinking of making a cancelable reservation and just keeping at this everyday. I am also considering going to a 4 star hotel. Note that my last posting said I bid on a 4 star, but I meant 5 star.

I guess I just assumed Central Rome would give general access to the tourist circuit. I just placed a Priceline bid of $140 for a four star and was rejected. I don't know if it's best to wait and try that same price again on a different day, or to go down to a 4 star. The dollar keeps dropping, so I am not sure if that will affect winning bids or not. Let me know what you think.

I would NOT stay in the area of the Gare du Nord. It is one of the worst areas in the city limits, in my opinion. I lived in Paris for years, was just there two weeks ago and do not think you want to stay there. THere is a whole lot more than just panhandlers- pickpockets in particular are a worry if you are loaded down with luggage. I have been pickpocketed at this station, and was aggressed (and slapped) by a man looking for a handout. It is fine in the daytime, although pickpockets are a problem everywhere you go in Paris, especially if you have luggage. In any event, if you come into the Gare du Nord on the metro, you will come up through the subway into the station, which I find preferable to walking in off the streets at that time. If you take a taxi, you'll be fine, too. Go to www.ratp.fr and click the British flag at the very top, right side of the screen for English. You can get metro stops and timetables there. There are four lines going into the Gare du Nord, so you could stay in many parts of the city without having to change lines. (Paris metro has very few elevators, although escalators are becoming more and more common.) By the way, the subway offers a Paris Visite card for unlimited travel for one day, and a Mobilis card which offers almost the same deal, but for a few euro less. I buy the Mobilis to save, but if you want to go outside the perimeter to zone two, buy the Paris Visite. (You would probably only do that to go to La Defense.) We recently stayed at the Marriott Rive Gauche Conference Center and were happy ($101). While it is a good trek from the Gare du Nord, the RATP site shows only 24 minutes. You would, however, have to change lines, which could be a pain with luggage.

I would be willing to pay up to $140 for a 5 star in central Rome, less for a 4 star. Is the $140 reasonable at the current exchange rate, or should I just go ahead with the lower star and bid lower? It looks like postings are saying deals are not to be had in Rome the way they are in other cities. However, we are going in the dead of winter and there are no holidays I can see at that time.

We usually stay in South Kensington, and have Pricelined that area for $85 and got Millenium Gloucester (Dec 2006). We really liked the location and the hotel. We still don't know what the complaints are about- that hotel was just fine. We were in a newly renovated room, even with paying only Priceline prices. THe location is perfect for us with the V&A, other museums. It is a less central location that some of the other places you mention. Our friends also used Priceline at the same time for London, same amount, but accepted more zones (Westminster) and got Jolly St Ermins. It was an odd place, but acceptable to me. The halls rambled forever, and the decor was an odd blue and white roccoco in the public areas. It was older and the floors were a little creaky, but their room was larger- probably double the size of ours. The Westminster area seems to cater a little less to tourists than the other areas. Basically to go most places in London, you'll need to take the Tube or buses, so as long as you don't stay too far out, you should be okay. I would NOT stay in Earls Court- it is in zone 2 for transport purposes, and the hotels can be seedy. If you Priceline that area and end up at the Hilton Olympia, you'll have a bit more in the way of walk from the tube, although I don't think the hotel is as bad as some of the ratings. I have never stayed there, but we were on a tour and some of our group stayed there. I saw the lobby and a room and both were fine, although the lobby is a lot nicer than the rooms. If you want to book directly, we've stayed at Harrington Hall, which is right by the Millenium Gloucester at the Gloucester Road tube stop. Great location, very nice hotel. They are a part of the NH Hotels chain. I doubt they use Priceline, but you can occasionally get great deals on their website.

I stumbled on your site a few days ago and LOVE it. I've used Priceline twice- once awful, once great. I'm not completely sure I understand everything, but I would like to get a 4-5 star hotel in central Rome for the 18-20 January, 2008. I have no clue how to go about it, and am not sure how much to bid on Priceline, although I did see a $140 bid accepted a while back on the Intercontinental. This is our first trip to Rome and my spoiled daughter has to have a nice hotel in a good location. Is there a place to write about discount airlines, too? I have found it is often cheaper to take big airlines than discount with all the extras now tacked on. (RyanAir was more expensive than Lufthansa for our upcoming Frankfurt-Rome trip!) I'd like to share that with people. Thanks!