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lizamead

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Everything posted by lizamead

  1. Amenities at initial screen - I forgot to write them down, but they definitely included free parking/internet, pool, and all suites, and golf nearby. I think it might have included laundry also but am not sure. It also had a 90% recommended rating. Given all that, plus the absence of free breakfast, I was about 99% sure it would be the Candlewood Suites, and I'd googled for other all-suites hotels in the area and would have been okay with them instead although with a strong preference for the Candlewood Suites since I was attending an event right there. So I was pleased when it was indeed Candlewood Suites. Total paid was about $81, vs about $125 all in ($112 posted rate) otherwise. Amenities at final screen: Suite Free parking Free Internet Smoke-free rooms Fitness center Pool(s) Self-service laundry Internet access Golf nearby Kitchenette
  2. Started bidding for 4* downtown at $45, increasing in $5 increments with free rebids up to $60, then up to $63, with no luck. Started again with 3* downtown at $48. Rejected, but with a message that if I increased to $55 I could bid again right away. Added free rebid and increased to $50, got the 3.5* Hilton. Pretty happy with this, considering my options. Not all that pleased with wifi charges and high parking rates, but all in all, pretty happy. (And the lowest direct rate, with AAA, was $170.)
  3. Brookfield/Waukesha/Pewaukee area 3.5* hotel, with first-page amenities of indoor pool and free internet (which are the filters I used) plus airport shuttle and smoke-free rooms; full amenities are Amenities See description Indoor pool(s) Airport Shuttle Smoke Free Rooms Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center Laundry Facilities (self-service) High-Speed Internet Access Accessible for the blind Accessible for the deaf Free Parking Free Internet Accessible path of travel In-room accessibility Wheelchair accessible Accessible bathroom Handicapped parking Roll-in shower Also listed as recommended by 95% of hotwire users. Was pretty certain from lists here that this would be the Sheraton, which it was. Lowest direct rate (AAA) was $135/nt plus tax. Mine came to $67.75 all in. I probably could have gotten a less expensive room from priceline, but there are too many places that don't have pools so this was better for me.
  4. The amenities listed on the confirmation are: Smoke Free Rooms Airport Shuttle Complimentary Breakfast Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Laundry Facilities (self-service) High-Speed Internet Access Golf Nearby Children's Activity Program I just wasn't sure that those were all the same ones listed originally so didn't want to assume - I didn't remember seeing "children's activity" ahead of time, although I might just not have paid attention. Sorry.
  5. Amenities included shuttle, breakfast, restaurant, pool, fitness, laundry, internet and possibly one or two others that I didn't think to write down before purchasing. It completely matched the Country Inn and Suites listing, and came close to matching Best Western (which also has free breakfast according to their website, although not on amenities listed on BB), so I felt reasonably confident it was CI&S, and was pleased that it was given the great reviews on Trip Advisor. Hotwire also listed it as having 100% customer recommendations. Best direct rate was $115 (AAA) all-inclusive; hotwire rate came to $75.46 total. Thanks, BB.
  6. Try one: Bid on 3* East Lansing $35, rejected. Added Lansing, $38, then added 2.5* and got rejected at $43. Next day: Bid $44 for 3* East Lansing, then added 2.5* for $45, then added Lansing at $47 and got the Springhill Suites, Lansing West for a total of $60.55 (inc taxes/fees). A bit further west than I'd have preferred, but otherwise looks great - pool, breakfast, suite with kitchenette. Cheapest direct price was $79 ($90 inc tax). It's also the same as or slightly cheaper than any of the 1*s (Red Roof, Super 8, etc) would have been directly.
  7. Started bidding yesterday 2* East Lansing $30, rejected. Left it at that. Today, started with 2.5* East Lansing $35/nt, rejected. Added Lansing, raised to $40/nt, rejected. Added 2* and raised to $45/nt, accepted by the 3* Courtyard by Marriott, for $109.92 total. I'm pretty pleased with this. I know sometimes the upgrades to 3*s are a hassle (there's no free breakfast here, while most 2.5 *s have that), but it seems like a great hotel, I'm thrilled to have the pool, and with the savings (the lowest rate from their website was $116/nt with AAA, $129/nt without) I'm happy to pay for breakfast in their bistro restaurant.
  8. Stayed here on a $42/nt priceline bid, and was very happy with the hotel. I'd read a few trip advisor reviews upon getting the priceline acceptance, and was a bit worried abt cleanliness from some of those, and so I think I was primed to notice problems. My room did seem a bit musty and not quite as dehumidified as I'd like at times, but I'm not sure I'd have noticed it had I not been primed to, and even so, it wasn't something that was huge, or constant. In general, I thought both my room and the hotel overall were well maintained. The front desk staff was great - very helpful and friendly - when I asked about nearby restaurants beyond those I saw out the window, they gave other options and also noted that they had discount coupons for several (and also pointed out to me that the room keys had an ad for 15% discount at the TGI Fridays across the street). They also helped me with directions, giving me a better map than I'd had initially. The "suites" are really more like regularly sized rooms that have a partial room divider between the bed area and a sofa/table area. The TV was in a cabinet in front of the sofa (which also served as the dresser and stored the fridge and microwave) , but could be brought forward and angled to be seen readily from the bed and desk (in front of the bed). The pool was lovely, and the fitness room (located away from the pool, on the 2nd floor, and not open to children) included some weight equipment as well as the treadmill, bike, stairclimber. Coffee was available all day in the lobby, as were real newspapers, not stupid USA Todays. Breakfast was pretty tasty, including basic continental stuff, make-your-own-waffles, and also eggs, sausages, and spiced potatoes. Location was excellent - right off the highway (90/94), abt a 15 or so minute drive to downtown Madison.
  9. Bid $42 on Madison East, accepted first time, at East Towne Suites. I was a bit bummed that I possibly could have gotten it for less, since it was accepted on the first try, but I was bidding the day before check-in and so didn't do a whole long series of bids to ensure rock-bottom pricing, and I'm pretty sure at most I overbid by four dollars or so, so I'm okay with that. (The comparable hotwire rates were in the high 40s and 50s, and the best online rate for this hotel was $80/nt, direct and through the open priceline page.) It was a great stay and I'm very happy with the win. Review to come.
  10. Stay was 8/4-8/7/09 on a $44/nt priceline win. Got there in late evening (around 8 or 9) and was very happy my reception - front desk staff was very friendly and helpful - I asked for a nonsmoking room and was moved to one (I think - she had been about to give me a room # and when I asked for nonsmoking, went back to her computer for a moment...) no problem. Staff did mention my booking was through priceline (which I'm fine with but I know some others object to), matter-of-factly, though, not with any negativity at all, just noting it was pre-paid. Offered lots of help with planning, with info abt hotel, fitness room keys, etc, and gave me envelopes the next day when I realized I had none. Hotel was convenient to the highway, clean and quiet, and had a fridge in the room, which I find very useful. Wireless worked great, pool was good, fitness room was tiny (treadmill, bike, stairclimber) but fine. Breakfast was a bit disappointing - two kinds of cereal, waffle station, bagels, hard boiled eggs, but no fruit the first day (although there was the second) and not much selection relative to other hotel breakfasts I thought. Also, it closes at 9, and I prefer a later breakfast, but oh well- it was my only complaint and not even a complaint as much as an observation, and all in all, I was very happy at this hotel, and especially with the friendly and helpful staff.
  11. Started bidding on 3* Oconomowoc for 8/4-8/6 at $38, adding free rebids in $1 increments up to $43. (Hotwire had a 2.5* for $48, so that was my comparison since I didn't care as much abt star level.) Started a new bid for 2.5* at $32, increasing up to $38, no luck. Did similar bids for the next few days, increasing slightly until I got up to $48 with still no luck, so started over at 2* Oconomowoc at $40, rejected, then added Delafield (I was fine with either of those two towns, and used the other choices only as free rebids - lots of those for 3* and 2.5* and some for 2* as well) at $44 and hit. I should have used the free rebids and not increased the four dollar increment that time, so I might have overpaid by a few dollars, but by then I was tired of waiting, and still got a good deal with La Quinta compared with both hotwire and direct options. Ended up extending a night with "add-a-night" for the same $44, although with the added service fee of course, so not as good a deal as if I'd done it all together, but still a good deal. Stay was also very positive - review to follow.
  12. Started bidding on Novi 3* at $30, adding Livonia and then Farmington, and going up to $36, I think, with no luck. Started new bid on Novi 2.5* for $35, got counteroffer for $9 more (ignored it), added Livonia and upped to $36, then added Farmington and upped to $38, and success: Courtyard by Marriott, Novi. I'm very happy - I love Courtyards, and Novi is where I wanted to be in the first place. Total came to $49.62; on Marriott website, the best rate I could have gotten (AAA) was $80, or $87.60 with tax. Cheapest Hotwire rates for that night were $38 for a 2*, or $57 for a 3*, or $60 for a 2.5*.
  13. As already posted, I got the 2* StudioPlus Suites for $35 for one night (so $45 total cost). I already knew the location, but was unfamiliar with the hotel (or its chain). In general, it was fine. My four-year-old LOVED the full kitchen, and kept exclaiming, "Mama! Look - there's a microwave!! And a toaster!!" You'd think the kid had never seen a kitchen before.. Anyway, it's not like we used it much, but I liked having the full fridge and the freezer, and if we'd stayed longer I could see that being useful. The room itself was large and clean, and the hotel in general seemed a bit run-down, but also clean. The fitness room was tiny - a treadmill, plus two exercise bikes (one regular, one recumbant) that didn't have electrical cords so couldn't be plugged in - you could pedal them but not program resistance or anything. We had fun with the treadmill though. So in general, I was happy. Two things made me less happy though. First, in the middle of the night, some idiot was in the parking lot right outside my (second floor) window yelling and honking his horn. And because it's an extended-stay hotel, their guest guide says that there's no one in the main office except for emergencies (through a number to call), so I didn't even try to have someone go out there. I really didn't like not have access to a front desk person for stuff like that. More annoying was that as we were trying to leave, I got locked out!! It took two trips to bring all our stuff downstairs, so we brought the first batch down, and then I went up for the last few things and my key didn't work! Fully aggravated, I went back downstairs, where the clock read seven minutes before 11, and the clerk said the key stopped working because it was now checkout time. I pointed to the clock and noted that there were still seven minutes before checkout time, even if they DID think cancelling out the keys at CO time itself made sense. He said the clock was slow. I was just incensed, and pointed out that a) both my room clock and his office clock indicated I still had a few minutes, and :) more importantly, even if it WERE actually 11 on the nose, why on earth would they cut off keys right at that moment, KNOWING the guest was not yet checked out??? Yes, he didn't do it himself, but I thought the system itself just sucked, and I told him that I found it incredible that their hotel would want the very last interaction guests had with the hotel to be annoyance at having to get rekeyed in the midst of checking out. He apologized, but obviously it's the hotel's policy to cancel out keys at checkout time automatically, and I was so peeved at that that I would absolutely not stay there again, and will also not be bidding on 2*s in this area again just to avoid StudioPlus. Which is a shame, because I've in general had SUCH positive experiences with my priceline hotels, and have deliberately stayed at the same hotels directly because of that, and also because I've stayed at both Hampton Inns (also 2*s in Ann Arbor) and liked them. But this was way too annoying. I'd rather spend a bit more for a nicer place and a better attitude toward guests.
  14. What sucked about the bed?? The location is definitely great - I stayed at the Hampton Inn right near there last time. And the kitchen will make it easier for me to bring milk and to make lots of bags of ice for my traditional Trader Joes run - usually I have to go back and forth to ice machines. So I'm hoping this will all be just fine. And like you, it's just for one night... If I were bidding in A2 again though, I'd probably stick with a 2.5*.
  15. Well, in general I'm a pretty experienced priceline user, and so try not to take up people's time when I can come up with my own bidding strategies. In this case, I simply went too fast due to being much too busy at work and wanting to cross things off my to-do list. Live and learn. Thanks for the suggestion though.
  16. Okay, so I'm an idiot. I guess I didn't read through the priceline wins or hotel lists very carefully, because when I came to post this win, noting I'd never heard of this place, I immediately saw winning bids for it, and have now seen it in the hotel list. Grr. I think it's because I checked the lists last week, when I was only bidding 2.5*. Oh well. Anyway: Bid last week on 2.5* for $35 and was rejected. My plan for today was to bid $35 on 2*, and if rejected, start over at 2.5* and up the bid slightly, adding in 2* again if possible. But got this on the first try. I was very surprised, as I'd never heard of StudioPlus before, but it looks like an okay place, and is in a good location anyway. Just checked their rates and online/AAA rates are abt $68. I'd have preferred pretty much any place else, as the rest all seem to have pools, but it's only for one day. And it does have a kitchen. ETA: Aha. The reason I didn't see it on the hotel list was that I only looked at the hotwire one, not the priceline one. I really *am* an idiot! Yeesh.
  17. Thanks TravelGuy! That is great news abt the pool cost, because that's all we'd be using, not the fitness room. (Also a good tip abt the Westin's pool privileges - I'll be filing that tip away for sure.) Yes, I would have liked the rooftop outdoor pool much better than a small indoor one. OTOH, if it storms, we can still swim...
  18. Very good point. That's a lot of swimming money saved. I called earlier today to put in my room request and ask abt the pool, and the staff I spoke with were lovely, and all in all I'm very much looking forward to this trip (and this hotel).
  19. Started bidding on Dupont Circle at $50, adding all rebids in $5 increments up to $75. Started a new bid with CC zone only at $63, adding free rebids up to $75, then adding back in Dupont Circle at $80 - bid accepted at $80 for Grand Hyatt. I'm slightly bummed because would rather have had Omni in Dupont Circle, just for the free pool use (it's abt $11/day extra I think at GH), but all in all am very happy with this. Lowest GH rate online was $149/nt in general, or $134/nt for AAA, so overall I'm saving slightly over $100 total. (Rates for Omni were $300 range IIRC, although Westin Embassy Row, with better location but no pool, were under $200.)
  20. Well, I don't have a ton of experience, but all of mine has been very positive. I stayed at the Sheraton Society Hill in PHilly last summer via Hotwire, at the Chicago Courtyard by Marriott (River North) in March via priceline, at the Hyatt Regency Penn's Landing in May via Hotwire (x 4 nts) and Priceline (x 2 nights), and at the Country Inn and Suites in Lansing last month via priceline. In every case I couldnt' have been happier with the service I got. At the Sheraton, I asked for a nonsmoking room with a king bed. THey said that they'd be happy to do that, but that I'd have to wait an hour for it to be available, or I could have a two-double-bed room then. I said we'd take the room that was free then, as I thought my daughter would take a nap right away. Once we got upstairs, it was clear that she was not going to nap, so I called the front desk to see if it was too late to wait for the king room. They said fine, we went for a walk, and when we came back (less than an hour later) our new room was ready - a fabulous SPG preferred guest room that had sliding doors opening to a patio with a table on it, right below the pool atrium. I've always asked by phone in advance if I could request a nonsmoking king room, and each time been told I'd have to do that at checkin, but I've yet to have a problem, and have always been treated absolutely courteously and then some, and also have gotten the nonsmoking king. At the Chicago courtyard and the Hyatt Regency especially, the front desk staff (and the valet staff, in Philly) were completely terrific. They interacted with my three-year-old a ton, in Philly, called me by name within a day or so when they brought my car because we were in and out a lot, and helped with the stroller and all...in Chicago, gave me info on the trolley to Navy Pier I hadn't even known to ask about... In Philly, we didn't check in till around 8 at night, not super late, but not early afternoon either... I think I've probably been lucky in part, and in part having an adorable small child probably doesn't hurt (:) ) but I also think part of it is probably that I'm polite and reasonable and don't go in with an attitude. I'm not all entitled, or acting like I'm expecting a fight or to be scammed, and my sense from some of the posts I've read of people who feel they get "priceline rooms" is that they do go in with those attitudes... Not all, of course, but I'm sure that's part of it for some people...
  21. Okay, that's super weird - the last sentence of my original post had read wouldn't have been on *BB's* listings, meaning here. I have no idea how it ended up as TOBB (which I know is used here to refer to TOBB, which was in the same sentence!), which really makes it make no sense. Sorry about that. Thanks for the welcome. The first year I moved here, I thought Lansing was pathetically small town. Now it's my mecca. (Ann Arbor makes a better mecca, but it's farther away.... :) )It's pretty sad. But there's so much more to do there with kids than there is in Mt Pleasant, where we are! So even though it's only an hour away, we end up making a weekend of it when we go down for something - we're going for Lansing Pride on Saturday, but then will hit the zoo, and maybe the science museum, and any other outdoor fairs that are going on.... But at least I'm doing it more cheaply now!
  22. I first bid on a 3* in Lansing for $40; when it was rejected added East Lansing and upped to $45, also rejected (E Lansing wasn't a free rebid, but I was okay with either zone). Thought about waiting 72 hours and trying again, but wanted to just be done, so bid $40 for 2.5* in Lansing, and it was accepted. I bid the same $40 because a) that seemed the usual winning bid for the hotels in Lansing (a bit less in E Lansing), and :) the websites I checked (Courtyard, Holiday Inn, plus for 3*s Sheraton and Radisson, plus Quality Inn where we've stayed before) showed lowest rates of abt $90 for the 2.5* places, and the lowest hotwire rate for 2.5* was $52. After winning the Country Inn and Suites, I went to look at their rates, and they had a webrate of only $59, so I'm a little bummed that I probably could have won this for $30-35, but $40 is still pretty good, and since I'd never heard of the CI&S before, it's not like I just hadn't thought to check them. Anyway, it looks like a nice place, and has a pool and free breakfast, so I'm pretty happy. It's also a new place to add to the hotel listings - I was bummed that the hotel listings for Michigan so far only have Detroit places, because I was hoping to get more of a sense especially of what the hotwire place might have been. But OTOH, this place wasn't listed on TOBB's listings either, so it likely wouldn't have been on BB's listings even if we did have non-Detroit places already...
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