liquiddemons

Yep, the Westin Harbour Castle.

I introduced another friend to priceline and betterbidding.com. She was looking for a one night stay in Montreal on the 22nd of November 2010. I saw that there were successful bids at $60 for 3* downtown hotels and suggested we give it a go at that price. With no free-bid zones in Montreal downtown our one and only bid at $60 was successful. We got the Chateau Versailles which seems to be getting quite nice reviews on tripadvisor.com (3.5* on tripadvisor.com too). Needless to say my friend was very pleased with the price. Hopefully the hotel is as nice as the reviews seem to indicate. As always we used your PRICELINE link. Thanks again to the mods and contributors for such a wonderful resource.

Times have certainly changed. I remember not even two years ago I got the Delta Chelsea for half that price.

Thanks, bigbill. Was the winning bid $62 (as per the title) or $92 as per the text? And you can park right across Queen Street West for about $10/night on the weekend. Underground parking and attached by the PATH to the Sheraton Centre. Just look for the green sign on the north side of the street very near City Hall.

Wow ... great job, joey! I thought the days of sub-$50 downtown hotels were well behind us. It gives the rest of us frugal folk hope!

I think the winning bid was $81, no? Perhaps we could change the title to reflect that? Thanks!

I noticed the $59 price on hotwire for the night I was looking to book in Montreal and immediately came to the betterbidding site to do a bit more research. With much certainty I determined that it was the Quality Hotel Downtown and with above average reviews on tripadvisor I thought I'd give it a go. It did turn out to be the Quality Hotel Downtown. It will suit me well for the evening plus it's only a 15 minute walk to Schwartz's deli! Thanks again to the board and its members for the invaluable information. Quality Hotel Downtown - Montreal, QC 3440 av du Parc, Montreal, QC, H2X 2H5 (514) 849-1413 Check-in Wed, Sep 8, 2010 Check-out Thu, Sep 9, 2010 Amenities Restaurant(s) Business Center High-speed Internet Access

I had been trying to secure a 4* hotel for the longest time at a "good price". No such luck even with $80+ bids. I took some inspiration for some sub-$70 bids on 3* hotels and Montreal and tried a $65 3* bid one day. I got the "if you add 17 dollars then you can bid again". I didn't take their bait but bid $70 the next day for a 3* and hit on it. As always I used your PRICELINE link. Thanks to all.

Back on the horse again! This time I was more careful with my rebid zones. I had noticed that on the same dates HOTWIRE was offering Toronto downtown west at $82 so I figured I could even do better on PRICELINE. I started at $60, added $2 a time with each rebid zone until I hit the last one when I added only $1. I hit at $77. Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$77.00 Subtotal: US$154.00 Taxes & Fees: US$29.48 Total Charges: US$183.48 With the Canadian dollar pretty much at par these days, that works out to about $95 Canadian with taxes & fees included. Not bad at all. The Sheraton Centre ... again ... but the right one this time! I double-checked ... *wink*. I bet the HOTWIRE hotel was also the Sheraton so I quite possibly only saved $5/night but I'm still happy with the deal. Thanks once again to the board, the mods and its members for the invaluable info. As always I used your PRICELINE link.

Thank you, robteb. I'm still kicking myself for goofin' up like that but one must make the best of it! I'm happy to hear that in your opinion the Sheraton Airport Conference Centre is a nicer hotel with easy access to the highway and downtown. It would have been great to be downtown with all the music going on but I will have a car so I'll just have to watch my alcohol intake for the drive back to the hotel.

Thank you for the suggestion, thereuare. I figure it was me that made the error. I don't think I'll take it any further as I can readily just adapt my stay in Toronto around this airport hotel. And of course I'll certainly be more careful next time in adding rebid zones ... and immediately verify the hotel that I won as well. No biggie ... we all make mistakes.

Darn! I just had another look at my priceline reservation and I did not win the Sheraton Centre in downtown Toronto but rather the Sheraton Toronto Airport Hotel & Conference Centre on 801 Dixon Road in Etobicoke. I must have goofed up with my re-bid regions or something. Bummer. And certainly not that great a deal. Is there any way to view where I went wrong?

I had tried for the past couple of days to secure a hotel on PRICELINE (using your link, of course). My strategy was to start at $60 and inch up $2 at a time with the numerous re-bid zones available for 4 star hotels in downtown Toronto. I finally hit today at $74 (+28.58 taxes and fees). Sheraton Centre ... again. It would be nice for some variety (there are plenty of other 4 stars in Toronto, no?) but I really do enjoy it at the Sheraton Centre. I'm quite happy with the price seeing as it's the weekend of nxne in Toronto. The same dates were going for $100+ on HOTWIRE and $175 on the Sheraton Centre's site. So once again I thank all that do contribute to the board.

To close out the thread, I ended up booking them with hotels.ca at the Roosevelt. It looked like a super deal as I got the two rooms all-in with taxes and fees for just over $1000 (Canadian) with a 10% discount on top. Booking them through hotels.ca allowed me to specify that one of the rooms had 2 adults and an infant child so that was a load off my mind. To the mods, sorry I wasn't able to utilize your advice more fully but your direction was of great help in organizing my thoughts. I vow to use this line again and again and to give back in anyway I can. Thanks again!

Thank you, Aaron. I wouldn't mind stepping out into the great unknown if it were for me but seeing as it's for my family I should probably just stay the course.

Thank you very much, thereuare. The first attempt was unsuccessful but there's still plenty of time to try for a splendid deal. I was curious about the Hell's Kitchen location. It seems to be close to TS. Was there any reason we wouldn't want to also include the Hell's Kitchen region?

Thank you, thereuare. Yes, let's give a go with those areas. What do you feel is a more reasonable ceiling at this moment?

Thank you, thereuare. That totally makes sense. I've spoken to my sister about this and she seems content to take the busses to get a feel for the city and not as a primary means of transportation. I think they'll just cab around for other things seeing as there will be 5 of them but I shall be sure to inform them of the metrocard. That's a wicked deal for a single traveller! So, I have credit card in hand! Would it be too early to begin a bidding process for June? They've agreed to open up the bidding areas to more than Times Square. Even ... Chelsea! I think I'd like to begin with 4stars at a $150 ceiling (plus taxes and fees). Any help you or others could give me is greatly appreciated and I'll certainly do my best to pay the board back with my areas of "expertise". And of course by following your PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links.

Thanks, Thereuare. I'm sure it can be quite the challenge to help someone book through a 3rd party so I appreciate your patience. I'll be doing the booking as I'm the priceline/hotwire "expert" and I'll be sure to use your links. They'd like a 3 or 4 star hotel for a "good price". I'm thinking $150 or so. The toddler is a one (and a half) year old. May I ask why you feel they should not use the hop on hop off as a means of commuting? And I'll try and find out what she has against Chelsea. Perhaps it was a remote part of that location? I dunno, I've only been to NYC once in my life ... back in 1981.

I've had success with Priceline before in my Canadian bids but feel a bit overwhelmed by NYC. I was hoping that someone more familiar with NYC could guide me. I won't be taking the trip myself ... I'm actually looking to book some rooms for my family. They will be visiting from the 22nd to the 25th of June 2010. My parents will be travelling with my sister, her husband and their toddler. That leads to two variables in my mind: booking 2 rooms and ensuring that the hotel is "baby-friendly". I have never had those type of concerns on Priceline before. My sister has her eye on the Greyline bus hop on and off so seeing as they will book such a tour, I figure they can stay pretty much anywhere on the island? Am I correct in that assumption? My sister had her heart set on staying in the Times Square area but I think the escalated prices have scared her away. She had stayed in Chelsea previously and found it was "too far" from anything and wanted to stay closer to the action this time. So with all that do you think that PRICELINE is the way to go or would we be better scouting out more easily recognizable hotels on HOTWIRE and/or conventional hotel sites? I'd hate to book rooms only for them to find out that the hotel is not "baby friendly" upon arrival. Any thoughts?

You could always put a bid in for an Airport hotel, eender. I'm not sure if those prices would be influenced by the tradeshow during your stay. In the past I've successfully bid under $40/night for an Airport hotel. And the two hotels I've stayed at near the airport have been quite nice. The drive (during non-rush hours) to downtown Toronto is not much of a chore and reasonable parking rates can be had in outdoor lots. Anyway, just another option to throw out there in case you have not considered that possibility.

Thanks, Parachute07! Sorry I didn't see your reply until now. I did enjoy the Hyatt but I do agree that it was strange about the old TV. It's SO out of place what with the modern furnishings both in the hotel proper and the room itself. I also found the bath/shower fixtures to be out of place due to its age as well. I figure if they corrected those two flaws, the rooms would be, well, flawless. And, yes, being connected to a mall and the underground city is awesome ... especially in the wintertime. I parked in their underground mall for only $9/night over the weekend. In my mind a very good deal considering the Hyatt charges $30 for valet parking right next door! As a word of caution though I don't believe there are in/out privileges for the $9 parking. But back to your stay, Parachute07, $85 for a New Year's Eve stay is awesome! Usually hotels up their prices substantially on that celebratory evening. So I figure we both got a great deal. New Year's Eve in Montreal ... now that must be fun!

Thank you, thereuare. I very much enjoyed staying at the InterContinental. In fact I'd rate it as the best Montreal hotel I've won through PRICELINE / HOTWIRE bids. I believe they have renovated the entire hotel and my room was most excellent. The set me up with a King bed and the living area was spacious with quality modern furnishings. It was tastefully designed and included a fine work desk, a mammoth lcd tv, a room safe, a high quality (pod) coffee maker and (a new one on me) a digital scale in the bath. The bath was very large with ceramic floors and well appointed with separate bath & shower and this seemingly odd feature whereby you could listen to the sound from the tv while you were in the bathroom. It didn't take me long to get quite fond of using this audio feature ... very cool. In my mind these thoughtful room appointments made for a more luxurious stay. I would quite happily stay there again. Thank you once again to the board and all its wonderful members.

I was having some difficulties acquiring a suitable PRICELINE bid for my short trip to Montreal so I decided to go by way of HOTWIRE. I was excited to see a 4* at $79 that seemed to me to be the Embassy Suites as it only had the restaurant icon showing. It turned out to be the Intercontinental. Oh well, still a good price and I've never stayed at an Intercontinental before so I'm quite satisfied. I used the HOTWIRE link supplied here. Thanks once again to the board and its members.

I've stayed at the Sutton Place and enjoyed it. You will no doubt be impressed by the lobby and the common areas. It's an older hotel so it's built to impress in that way. I recall that the room I was given had a balcony which is a rarity in downtown Toronto. It's been a couple of years since I stayed there so I can't remember exact details but I'm sure you'll enjoy it there. It's located just a few blocks from the subway line which will take you to anywhere you'll want or need to go in Toronto. Plus it looks like you'll be there for Canada Day (July 1st) so I'm sure there will be some extra activities to make your stay in Toronto that much more fun. Have a great time!