austin_res

I used the HOTWIRE link to book. Amenities: Boutique Hotel Fitness Center Restaurant(s) High-speed Internet Access I figured it was Hotel George based on the hotel list. Regular rate is $199. Interestingly, when I searched with 2 adults, the rate is $146, but when I searched with 1 adult, I got the $136 rate. Not too bad, considering many 4* hotels in DC are either sold out or have rates higher than $250. I now have half my hotel stay for my upcoming Washington DC trip (10/8 - 10/12) - still need to book hotel for 10/8 - 10/10.

October is usually an expensive time for hotels in Boston. You should start bidding as soon as you know your plans are firm. Submit a few bids per week, until you win something. You should also make a reservation you can cancel, so you can have a fallback option should hotels sell out or prices go up even more.

I would sign up for Kimpton's InTouch program so you can receive alerts on their sales. There are 3 Kimpton hotels Seattle - in addition to the Monaco and Alexis there is also the Vintage Park. Also, check Hotwire - you can usually make an educated guess as to what the hotel is before you book.

I used a priceline bonus coupon (for $10 per night) for this reservation. First bid was $45 + $10. Rebid was $49 + $10 and accepted. I paid $49 but the actual rate is $59. The Crowne Plaza has mixed reviews but it is near the Arch and along the river front so this should work. I used the PRICELINE link.

Having stayed in the Embarcadero/Financial District before, I agree it is quiet at nights and on weekends. But the advantage of that is less street noise which makes it easier to sleep. I prefer the Embarcadero/Financial District for the following reasons: 1) Bidding 4* basically assures a nice hotel, especially if I get the Omni or Le Meridien. All the 4* hotels in this zone have great reviews. 2) Less street noise at night as I mentioned above 3) Any downtown area can be reached by walking or using the Muni passport 4) Furthest away from the Tenderloin which is a sketchy area After Embarcadero/Financial District, my other zone preferences are USE, SOMA, and Fisherman's Wharf. I try to avoid USW because some hotels in that zone are too close to the Tenderloin.

Having stayed in the Embarcadero/Financial District before, I agree it is quiet at nights and on weekends. But the advantage of that is less street noise which makes it easier to sleep. I prefer the Embarcadero/Financial District over USE and USW for the following reasons: 1) Bidding 4* basically assures a nice hotel, especially if I get the Omni or Le Meridien. All the 4* hotels in this zone have great reviews. 2) Less street noise at night as I mentioned above 3) Any downtown area can be reached by walking or using the Muni passport 4) Furthest away from the Tenderloin which is a sketchy area

I used the PRICELINE link to bid. Lowest price on the hotel's website is $169 so this is an awesome deal in a great location. Bidding history: $49 $52 $55 $58 (accepted)

I have stayed at the Le Meridien before, and it has nice rooms and comfortable beds. I liked the alarm clocks which allow you to hear the ocean waves - makes for a relaxing night. The views are great if you get a room on a high floor. I would return.

I would also add Harbor Front- Aquarium as a central zone. October is an expensive month which usually requires a bid of well over $100, or even over $200 in some cases.

I have stayed at the Intercontinental before and enjoyed my stay. The hotel combines historical charm with modern luxuries and the public areas, especially the pool, are elegantly decorated. And as AaronJB noted, the location is excellent - right on Michigan Avenue a few blocks north of the Chicago River. I would definitely return to the Intercontinental.

I will be in Dallas for a friend's wedding. I had a reservation at the Hilton Park Cities for $109+$22 parking ($131 total before taxes) but wanted to try for a cheaper hotel. Used PRICELINE link to bid. I started at $61 and priceline made a counter offer to add 17. Ignoring that, I rebid in $1 increments (priceline made another counter offer at $66) and got the Hilton Anatole at $71. I have stayed this hotel before when it was under Wyndham and loved it. I hope Hilton kept the hotel up to par. So my pretax rate is $71+$17 parking for $88 total. With taxes, I am saving about $40 versus my original reservation.

Either the White House or Capital Hill zones would be best for seeing the attractions. Most sights are within walking distance, or a short metro ride from these 2 zones.

In that case, PRICELINE isn't the way to go; hotwire would be a better option because you can make an educated guess as to what the hotel is.

The Millennium Knickerbocker was renovated very recently. Reviews on tripadvisor have been mixed prior to the renovation, but have improved noticeably since the renovations were completed. I'm staying at the Knickerbocker over Memorial Day weekend. With the recent renovations, hopefully we will all have a real 4* experience.

I did not have a car during my trips to San Francisco. I have noticed hotels, including the Holiday Inn, have parking rates from $30-50. Don't know about in and out privileges. I have noticed that driving can be a hassle and it is definitely better to use public transportation to get around the city. Perhaps someone more familiar with San Francisco can comment about the parking situation.

Are you willing to consider other zones? I just won on priceline the Hyatt in the Embarcadero zone for $90 on July 2-5. You may also get a 3-4* hotel in Union Square East or Union Square West zones for under 100 as well. San Francisco is fairly compact and you can get to Fisherman's Wharf taking the street car from Embarcadero and Union Square. I have stayed at the Holiday Inn on Fisherman's Wharf before. While the room I had was nice and clean, it was on the first floor of the auxiliary building which actually is below street level so the view was very limited.

After three trips to San Francisco, the Financial District-Embarcadero is now my preferred zone because of its proximity to the sites in the city, less street noise, and bidding 4* in that zone pretty much assures a nice hotel. I started at $89, and got a counter offer to add 22 more. As always, I ignored it and added Fisherman's Wharf and bid $90 and it was accepted. Great deal for Independence Day weekend. On the hotel's website, regular rate is 189, and prepaid rate is 160. Hyatt hotels have always been good to me and I hope this stay will be too. Total cost including taxes/fees for the 3 nights is $322.56. I used the PRICELINE link.

I just called the Millennium Knickerbocker and was told the remodeling was completed within the past year and the entire hotel is now renovated.

I noticed hotel prices on hotwire were creeping up for Memorial Day weekend, so I decided to start bidding. My preferred zones are: North Michigan Ave - River North (X) Millenium Park - The Loop - Grant Park (Y) For 4* bidding in Chicago, the rebid zones are: Franklin Park Area (A) Hyde Park ( B ) Lincoln Park (C ) Midway Airport Area (D) Skokie - Niles - Evanston (E) I started bidding at $75 and by using permutations, I can get lots of rebids so I added $1 for each rebid. My bidding strategy for NMA: 75 X, 76 XA, 77 XB (restart browser), 78 XBA, 79 XC (restart browser), 80 XCA, 81 XBC (restart browser), 82 XBCA, 83 XD (restart browser), 84 XDA, 85 XBD (restart browser), 86 XBDA, 87 XCD (restart browser), 88 XCDA, 89 XBCD (restart browser), 90 XBCDA. At this point, I decided to try bidding in the Loop. My bidding for the Loop: 70 Y, 71 YA, 72 YB (restart browser), 73 YBA, 74 YC (restart browser), 75 YCA, 76 YBC (restart browser), 77 YBCA, 78 YD (restart browser), 79 YDA, 80 YBD (restart browser), 81 YBDA, 82 YCD (restart browser), 83 YCDA, 84 YBCD (restart browser), 85 YBCDA, 86 YE (restart browser), 87 YEA, 88 YEB (restart browser), 89 YEBA. Since I had already bid up to 90 in NMA, I decided to include both zones from here on out. I saw a 4* hotel on Hotwire in the Magnificent Mile zone going for $129, so I figured I could hit the target price using permutations of the rebid zones. Both Loop and NMA zones: 90 XY, 91 XYA, 92 XYB (restart browser), 93 XYBA, 94 XYC (restart browser), 95 XYCA, 96 XYBC (restart browser), 97 XYBCA, 98 XYD (restart browser), 99 XYDA, 100 XYBD (restart browser), 101 XYBDA (got a counter offer to add 22), 102 XYCD (restart browser), 103 XYCDA (again, got counter offer to add 22), 104 XYBCD (restart browser), 105 XYBCDA (ACCEPTED) As you can see, bidding took a long time but I got a hotel with great reviews for the exact minimum price. $105 isn't too bad given it is a holiday weekend in Chicago (which typically means much higher rates) and regular rate for the Millennium Knickerbocker is $214 and the prepaid/non-refundable rate on the hotel's website is $160. I saw on the hotel list that the Millennium Knickerbocker has been undergoing remodeling. How is that going?

After reading reviews on the zones for Atlanta, I decided to stay in the Midtown zone. I saw on hotwire a 4* hotel going for $109 and it matches the Hotel Palomar. There are two 4* hotels which have been reported as priceline wins in Midtown: the Palomar (my preferred choice) and the W (which would be OK as well). I started bidding at $75, and upping my bid in $2 increments got the Palomar. I'm glad to have won my preferred hotel and saved money. Rates at the Palomar start at $170. I've heard great things about Kimpton hotels and this will be my first stay at a Kimpton property. I used the PRICELINE link of course.

Got it on my first try. I guess I could have started lower but is still less than half the best price ($126.63) on Hilton's website. Of course, I used the PRICELINE link.

Boston hotels for those dates are expensive for whatever reason. In addition to the Harbor Front - Aquarium zone, I was also willing to stay in the Quincy Market-Faneuil Hall-Financial and Waterfront - Convention Center zones as well. I begin bidding at $95, and using a combination of the 3 zones plus the rebid zones worked up to $130 (using $5 increments) for the Inter-Continental. This is more than what I normally pay on PRICELINE, but still a good deal considering rates on the Inter-Continental website start at $404. Hotwire has a 4.5* hotel for $155 which matches the Inter-Continental. And of course, I used the PRICELINE link.

Started at $60 and priceline asked me to add $17. I ignored the counter-offer and bid $63, then $66 and scored the Renaissance. Regular rate is 199 Canadian Dollars, or about $180 so this is an awesome deal. Of course, I used the PRICELINE link.

Began bidding at $65, and rebidding in $4 increments worked up to $77 for the Sheraton. Total cost for the 2 nights: $185.31 including $31.31 taxes

Bidders have gotten the Hyatt for as low as $57, so I made that my starting bid. It was accepted right away. I wonder if I could have gone even lower but this is a great deal. The lowest price on hyatt.com is $169. I have stayed at the Hyatt before, and liked the location and the rooms. Room Subtotal: $57.00 Taxes and Fees: $16.10 Total Room Cost: $73.10 Of course I used the PRICELINE link.