ibntibn

Thereuare; Let me start this post by saying that your website provides a valuable service to those of us who go out of town only occasionally! I rely on Betterbidding.com heavily when I travel and have found the information to be accurate and extremely helpful. I also admit that since I work on a highly monitored computer at work, I haven't been bidding through the links found on the site. I will try to do this from home more often, if possible. Now, for my question. Your replies to my latest posting(s) have been definitely "pro-Priceline". I am just curious to know if you might have an undisclosed COI (Conflict of Interest) that might be related to your visibility and association with Hotwire and Priceline? There is nothing illegal or immoral about this, but the ethical thing to do would be to disclose the nature of your relationship(s) on the home page, if this is relevant. Respectfully, Ibntibn

Hello again Thereuare; You made some salient points about the value of my bid for this referenced stay and the fact that I have not always posted my Priceline wins to the board. I will try to do this going forward should I continue to use Priceline, (which my husband is rather chagrined about!) However, I do have a question that remains unanswered. When you referenced ESA Hotels in the Chicago Suburb that were rated at 2*, I went to take a look at the pinned list. Lombard, Westmont and Downer's Grove Extended Stay America properties are all ranked at a 2 star rating, yet the belong to the same ESA Chain of hotels. Why the discrepancy between properties? For example, all Fairfield Inns are ranked 2.5 stars and I assume the amenities offered on site are required by the terms of the franchise. Why would this not be the case for ESA Hotels as well?

If price were the sole determinant for satisfaction criteria, then this stay would have met our expectations. Having never stayed at an Extended Stay America property before, I was unaware of the severely limited amenity base that this chain provides. Daily housekeeping is not standard (for up to a 7-day stay). Soap and shampoo (.5 oz size) are the only toiletries provided. Room was functional, but every time I went from the kitchen area to the living area, my husband had to stand up and move his desk chair so that I could pass. Breakfast solely consists of small/mini size granola bars, muffins and oatmeal packets with a coffee option. We have been highly satisfied rental car and Name Your Price (NYP) Priceline customers for nearly 20 years. While I would consider including the company in my travel research, I will no longer use the NYP option. The company made a gross error in lumping ESA hotels into the 2.5 star category and despite multiple phone/email conversations this past month, they refuse to acknowledge the disparity between the quality of experiences afforded at "standard" 2.5 star hotels (Fairfield Inns, Springhill Suites, etc.) and bare bones Extended-Stay properties. Their remedy is to make the proprietor refund the bid and we are not comfortable with this corporate approach. Sorry, Priceline, me thinks greed hast overtaken thee...

What was your winning bid?

We have a late night arrival in Tampa 2 days before we sail out on a cruise. Any advice on how/where to book a hotel and a car so that we can smoothly transition to the port on the day of our departure? Thanks! Gail

Had planned to stay at the Minute Suites in the Delta Terminal, but changed my plans last minute and won the Sheraton Gateway Hotel for $49 last night on my first try on Sunday 11/3/2013. Shuttle runs 3x per hour until dinnertime and the hotel is located very nearby. Thank you fellow posters for providing me the data history to successfully bid on a very nice hotel at a wonderful price!

This successful bid for $39 per night meets our needs...

Originally tried for a compact rate of $14/day at the Detroit airport without success, followed by an economy car at $16 then decided to try $18 for a mid size and got it on Priceline with Budget for 11/13/-11/15. Total with taxes and fees is $72 for 3 days. My humble apologies about forgetting to use the PRICELINE link!

Initial $34 bid for Northwest Detroit (11/13/10-11/15/10) was unsuccessful. Rebid for $44 won the Marriott Courtyard in Southfield

The dates of this stay are June 6-7 and the property has a 3 star rating.

Every year I take my son to this area for his birthday. Last year, we stayed at the Crowne Plaza 5 Seasons and the floods overtook the city 2 days later. I was incredulous at the footage I saw on the national media. It will be interesting to see how much the area has recovered (or not) when we stay there one year later!

Based on a previous post for bidding on this property at $52/night, I tried for $46 for Tuesday evening, November 25th, for 2 rooms and was successful. Your instincts were right on the lower bid! This property is a beautiful one and well-managed, but had low occupancy while we were there and several buildings were closed down right before Thanksgiving. My only challenge is that their "Priceline rooms" are the single king bed one room suites and they appear to have only one per building. Our family needed to be together due to the needs of our family members and so they did end up upgrading us. The kitchen is very well stocked for cooking utensils, etc. Also, the property only has an outdoor pool, however we were allowed to walk next door to the Hampton Inn to use theirs which worked very well!

Tried to get this property at the $42 bid on June 15th (for July) but was unsuccessful as the date I wanted had a huge concert (Jonas Brothers) that night 1.4 miles away at the Marcos Amphitheatre. Was finally successful for $49 per night at that property for 7/6/08 (one night). Drawbacks to this property are 1) no pool and 2) $20 parking charge. There appear to be many other amenities though that seem promising.

Bid $38 on June 4, 2007 on Priceline and was successful on first bid. Excellent property. Public Parking lot located across the street . . .

DCA Reagan National Airport Compact Hertz Car Tried out a lovely new Aveo from 11/08-11/12 at 17.95 per day ($99 total for 5 days after taxes and fees). Cool little car - easy to pick up and return. Prepaid gas was far less than the going rate (and I used every ounce of it :-) Would highly recommend!

Successfully bid the first time at $49. Hotel has an impressive lobby and ultra-clean rooms. Located next to the Metro Station, so onstreet parking is not viable (6 a.m. "move" time!) Aside from the fact that there is no charge for non-hotel guests to enter the parking structure from sunup to sundown, but guests must pay $12 to park overninght, I felt that the stay more than met my expectations and would recommend.

:) Needed a very last minute stay on November 10, 2007. Successfully bid at $65 per night and checked into the hotel 20 minutes later. In agreement with previous reviewer that a detailed map is needed to find the hotel sucessfully on the first try, but I wasn't disappointed once I arrived. Hotel was clean, quiet and my room was in very good condition. Staff was helpful and parking was very accessible. One of the smallest Hyatt's that I have ever stayed at, but it met my needs. Would stay there again.