KatiesMom

On the first leg of our summer road trip, my husband and I are planning to spend a couple days at Niagara Falls. Have never been before. Not into the amusements and such, just want to see and enjoy the Falls and the area. To that end, I have been checking on Hotwire and came across a nice sounding hotel in Niagara on the Lake, which is approximately 13 miles from Niagara Falls. I have gotten some guidebooks and am reading up on the area. This may be a good place for us to stay because of the scenery. But I am also not opposed to staying at the Falls. When I checked the NOTL Hotwire entry against Better Bidding's pinned list I didn't see it (or anything else for Niagara on the Lake.) But I have a good idea it might be the Oban Inn and Ospa. For 2 adults, 7/6 - 7/8, Niagara on the Lake 4*, $119 a night: Smoke Free Complimentary Breakfast Fitness Restaurant Business Hi Speed Internet Golf Nearby Spa After checking Hotwire packages, this fit the description of the Oban Inn and OSpa. We may go for it. Just wanted to pass this info on and case anyone has any knowledge of this inn, or other suggestions for NOTL or the Falls. When I book both parts of our trip I will use the HOTWIRE links on BB as always. Thanks!

I have now spent time looking at locations, prices, hotels next to the ballpark, etc.... I think I have found a GREAT deal on HOTWIRE, if indeed this is the Renaissance, the hotel I liked the most from my research: ON HOTWIRE: My travel dates: July 8 - July 12, two people, four nights, $99 a night, Downtown Toronto West, amenities include: Smoke Free, Fitness, Pool, Restaurant, Business, Hi Speed Internet. You also get BED CHOICE. On B&B's pinned HOTWIRE list: 4* Renaissance (previously 3.5*) WEST Amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Smoke Free, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, (Tennis and Spa crossed off) (may not show Smoke Free... without same as Sheraton Centre, Hilton, InterContinental on Front) So there is a one in four chance this is the Renaissance. Wonder if this is more or less likely to be the Renaissance? At this price I am ready to book this ASAP. ETA: So I went to TA and all the above hotels have a 4 out of 5 rating, so that doesn't help. This hotel has an 85% approval rating but I am not sure what that means... I checked on Hotwire packages and none of the four have an 85% rating.

Hi Yellow Dog, I am looking for recommendations of hotels that people think are very nice and might also be convenient for access to the ballpark. (By public transportion or by convenient location.) Not familiar at all with Toronto. 1. Budget $180/night, prefer 4*, but not married to it. 2. Hotwire, but I will go priceline if the selection of 4* hotels in the zone are equally good. 3. Yes, I agree. I am starting my research here because I love the people on this board, but I am now going to ask questions on other boards as well. Thanks for any and all help. It is appreciated.

Hi all, I am planning my vacation now with a road trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto (to see three Blue Jays v. Red Sox games ). My question (for now) is about Toronto. I have no clue where to begin. We will spending four nights, July 8 - July 12, two of us. Because this is my only vacation this year, and four nights is a long time, I would like the nicest possible accommodations I can get for the buck. What hotels would you recommend? How are the priceline/hotwire offerings? Thanks for any advice!

I forgot to mention one thing. Before purchasing on HOTWIRE we tried bidding on PRICELINE, starting at $105 for 4* midtown east, adding free rebid zones and going as high as $135. Unsuccessful.

Once again, Thereuare knows whereof he speaks. Being careful to use the HOTWIRE link from this site my sister purchased two rooms: $143, one night, 3/27/10-3/28/10, 4* Midtown East, The Intercontinental The Barclay. Amenities: Restaurant, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Tennis It did not denote it as a Customer Favorite. Everyone's happy, thanks for the help!

I think my sister would be happier in midtown because it is closer to Fifth Avenue shopping, the purpose for her trip. At $129 for a 4* hotel, this one intrigued me even though it is downtown. She won't bid on something without a reasonable guess. Other 4* hotwire options I think she might like are: 4.5* in midtown east that appears to be The Benjamin for $244. 4* in midtown east that appears to be either the Grand Hyatt or InterContinental for $139 4* in Times Square-Theatre Dist, for $169, amenities are Smoke Free, Business, Restaurant, Business, High Speed Int, Spa. Not sure what this one is, maybe Westin or the W? She did express an interest in the W. On kayak, the W is going for $359 a night so I am betting the HOTWIRE option would most likely be The Westin....

It's been awhile since I have looked for NYC hotels because I often make daytrips these days, but I have agreed to do so for my sister. On hotwire, for March 27, 2010, one night, there is a 4* Downtown Soho hotel for $129 a night with the following amenities: Boutique, Fitness, hi Speed Internet, Golf nearby, Tennis nearby, Spa. The golf really throw me. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Hey Nick, that's a great price. I better not tell my husband or he'll get mad I got the pricier 4*. See you at the game! No rain!!

Thanks again for the tips DaHammer! We'll park at the hotel and take the subway back and forth to the stadium. And though we will wear our colors, we'll be respectful. As usual, I used the PRICELINE link to start.

Last minute baseball trip! Got 4* Loew's for $75 for one Saturday night, 6/13/09 - 6/14/09 Started my purchase by clicking Priceline on this site. I'm guessing we can catch the subway from here to the stadium.... (?)

DaHammer, Thank you for hitting this one on the head! I decided to take your advice and bid on Center City Hotels on Priceline. For $75 I got the Loews (which I thought was a big box hardware store, or movie theater, didn't know it was a hotel chain also...) I'll post the win on the priceline board. Perhaps Thereuare can combine these posts. As for those Sox/Phillies tix...If I suddenly get deathly sick (cuz that's what it will take) I'll let you know.... :) Trish

Hi all, I have just been given two tickets to see a red Sox v. Phillies game this Saturday, June 13, in Philadelphia. We are driving down from Connecticut, and need to make very last minute overnight accommodations. I found a hotel on HOTWIRE in the Airport PHL zone that looks like the 4 Points Sheraton and may work for us. Can anyone tell me if it is better to get a hotel in the Airport zone or should we stay elsewhere? If so, what zones are ultra easy via public transport? I might also consider PRICELINE if other zones might work. Looking for a nice spot, not luxury, but comfy, 3* and higher. All help and advice appreciated. Thanks!

A while ago I booked a room on Hotwire specifying three adults (my husband, myself, and my now adult-age daughter). I called the hotel to confirm the reservation and was told Hotiwre had booked a room with only one queen bed. I asked the reservation clerk to note my request for two queen beds as we were a party of three. She said she would do so but no guarantees. I then called Hotwire customer service as I did not want to have a problem with the trip. The service rep. said to me (I am paraphrasing) that there is some kind of rule that a hotel can NOT give three adults a room with only one bed. He said to call Hotwire at check in if I had any problems. When I went to check in, the clerk said, I see you are a party of three and have requested two beds, no problem....

I just returned from a one night stay at the Omni Parker House which I got from a priceline bid. It's been mentioned before on these boards, but it bears repeating.... This is a historic hotel (one of the oldest in the country), and the rooms are small. Even the not-the-smallest rooms are small. We were given a cute corner room, with a little more space than others on the floor, probably because we are Omni Select card members and I gave the card number when confirming the reservation... I peeked at a few other rooms when they were being cleaned and saw how small they were....enough room for a bed, bureau, nightstand, and nothing more. The king size bed was extremely comfortable, and the room was nicely appointed, no complaints there. The shower was small, stall only, not 4* caliber. I caution bidding on priceline in the Omni zone if you have more than two people and must have more than one bed in your room. Although priceline as a general rule only guarantees sleeping accommodations for two people, which can mean one bed, some hotels can handle additional people better than others. The Parker House is small, no ifs, ands or buts. Since there was only my husband and myself on this trip we were fine.... but if you are traveling with more, either go for two rooms, or bid on hotwire and make sure to check off the correct number in your party. In the Copley zone, the Mariott Copley Place and the Westin have much bigger rooms in general, and in my opinion, are better suited for families and longer stays in Boston.

Meant to post this win a few weeks ago.... Got the Omni Boston Parker House for one night: 5/10/09 to 5/11/09 $85 Go Sox!

Interesting... I wonder if it's the Hotel Buckminster.

As soon as I saw this property on hotwire, I figured it was the Radisson from the betterbidding pinned list. The problem is, I didn't want it. Even though it is only a one-night stay I have gotten fussy in my old age, and the reviews for this hotel are very lukewarm on Trip Advisor, so I tried everything to get a better property for around the same price - to no avail. We are seeing a show in New London and need a spot for just one night. The pickings were slim on hotwire for a stay in the New London/Mystic area. I bid on priceline using free rebids up the ying yang to no avail. (Up to $110 for a 3.5* targeting only the Marriott Mystic (using free rebids), and then refreshed and bid 3* in other area zones hoping to get a Holiday Inn (I am a preferred customer) up to $70 with no takers. Because there are three of us, I figured a Marriott or Holiday Inn would be fine on priceline to get a room with two beds, but I was not really willing to gamble much more, so I played it safe and went hotwire to guarantee two beds, and got the Radisson for $79. Amenities include Airport Shuttle, Fitness Center, Pool, Restaurant. Showed my support for betterbidding by using the HOTWIRE link.

My sister and I are going to see a Broadway show, and decided to spend the night. I saw there were good prices on this board for the Grand Hyatt for our travel date. I have stayed at the Grand Hyatt several times, liked it very much and and love its proximity to Grand Central Terminal, where I catch the train to go back home (You don't even have to go outside to get there). The travel date is one Saturday night, 4/18/09 check in, 4/19/09 check out. I only bid at the 4* level. I started bidding with 4* MTE, $90, rejected Added CPS (another acceptable zone), $95, rejected Added Downtown Financial (another acceptable zone), $100 rejected Added free rebid zone, Upper East Side, $105, accepted for the Grand Hyatt in MTE. I started by using the PRICELINE link on betterbidding.

My company decided they really wanted to stay at the Park Plaza, the convention site, so after compiling the best rates I could (the hotel is offering a buy one night get one night free promo as well as a 15% off if you are from New England promo, as two examples) I was able to haggle with the the hotel and get a rate of $105 a night. This is $40 a night less than the convention rate we would have ordinarily paid. Personally, I would have been fine with the Radisson.... C'est la vie. As a side note: To anyone staying at the Park Plaza, they have a block of rooms that are ultra ultra small.....Make sure you don't get one of the so-called "Economy Rooms," unless you don't mind a tiny shoebox. The hotel does have many nice rooms, particularly on the higher floors. According to the reservationist, the hotel also now features the Westin Heavenly Bed...which is, well... heavenly.

Going to a couple ball games and wanted to stay at the Renaissance where the Red Sox stay, but could only get a rate of $269 a night for that one... So couldn't resist this deal on HOTWIRE (I used the BetterBidding Link). All three nights plus taxes and fees still come in less than one night at the Renaissance. I have a Holiday Inn Select membership, hoping I can get a nice room by mentioning it when I call. 3*, Baltimore (Downtown and Inner Harbor), Holiday Inn Inner Harbor 9/17

Those are some good points Aaron... I am going to check and see what the best rate is I can get from the Park Plaza. I also now suspect the 3.5* property is the Radisson....it's the only thing that fits.

Hi all, I am looking to book several hotel rooms for an upcoming visit to Boston. Check in date 2/6/09, check out 2/8, two nights. I came across something that sounds good: 3.5* in the Boston Common-Theater District, amenities include Business, Smoke Free, Hi Speed Internet, Fitness, Restaurant, Tennis Nearby. Great price at $76 a night. This doesn't match the pinned list. Any thoughts? I am booking the rooms for my colleagues and myself for a convention we are going to at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. For weeks I saw a property matching the Park Plaza on hotwire for $93 for our dates, but this weekend it disappeared, and my company wasn't ready to commit to a number of rooms. My company generally likes to stay in the hotel where the convention is, but for $76 I bet I could convince them to stay at the 3.5* if I can get a handle on what it might be. The convention is offering us a rate of $145 a night for the Park Plaza, so anything I can do to save the company some $$ is a very good thing. I want to keep it in the same zone as the Park Plaza so we can basically walk to the convention. We will need more than six rooms, which is the maximum Hotwire allows us to buy. Does anyone know: 1. Can I buy six rooms with my credit card and my husband another six with the same credit card? 2. If not, I am assuming I can get two computers with the hotwire screen up at the same time and book at least 12 rooms at the same time...? 3. Is there an easier way to book a bunch of rooms? I called hotwire and they directed me to Hotels.com and Expedia...yuck. Thanks for any help!

Dahammer hit the nail on the head! :) My sister decided to go for the 2.5* hotel and it was indeed the Holiday Inn Express in Middletown. She is very happy with it. She went through BB's HOTWIRE link as I requested. To recap, this is what she got: For two nights, 8/10- 8/12, 2 adults, 1 child, 2.5*, $109 a night Newport-Middletown-Jamestown Amenities include: Complimentary Breakfast, Pool, Laundry, Fitness, Business, Hi Speed Internet. Thanks so so much! :)

Wow, great job with those guesses DaHammer! I did not know there was a HIE in that zone. I am learning something new every day. I have a feeling I will be the one buying this as my sis does not have a computer.... So I will use the HOTWIRE link. Your help is very appreciated!