bcrut22

Struck out with Priceline bidding (after clicking on the betterbidding link, of course): $108 for Pioneer Courthouse/Pearl District $117, adding City Center - PSU - South Waterfront $126, adding Gresham -Troutdale $138, adding Milwaukie - Gladstone $151, adding North Harbor - Jantzen Beach Center $163, adding North Vancouver - Salmon Creek $178, adding Northwest Settled for the Express Deal for $204, which ended up being the Benson. The description is not in the Priceline Express list, but this is how it looked before it came through (might be worth adding to the Hotel List): Pets Allowed Business Center Restaurant Free Internet Fitness Center No Smoking Rooms/Facilities 1 Queen Non-Smoking Deluxe 1 King Non-Smoking Deluxe 1 King Non-Smoking - Junior Suite - City View I'm happy with this choice. Thanks for the info, as usual!

I started with the betterbidding.com link to PRICELINE, of course. First bid, 4.5*, Chicago Loop Millennium Park only, $109.... rejected But it came back with a "raise your price to $170 and it'll be accepted" message, which I did, and it was, for exactly the hotel that I thought it would be: the Hyatt Centric. Not the best deal I've ever got, but an easy one!

Used the PRICELINE link on the BetterBidding site, of course. Started with $91 for just Georgetown/Foggy Bottom, got rejected. (Meanwhile, Priceline Express wanted $117 for 3.5 star hotel that was probably the Latham, so I increased my bid a little faster than I otherwise would have.) Added White House/Downtown and bid $102, and it was accepted. Looks fancy, and the location is pretty good for where I need to be.

Started with the BetterBidding PRICELINE link of course, and used the Priceline Maps to help me pick the areas without 4* (I'm never sure if the pinned list is up-to-date, given downtown Boston's construction lately). We were aiming for the Quincy Market Financial District, but were willing to go to one of the other downtown areas. 12/19: $65 Quincy Market, failed $71 added North Cambridge, failed $77 added Medford/Somerville, failed $83 added Brighton/Brookline, failed $89 added South, failed 12/20: $74 Quincy Market, failed $78 added Harborfront, failed $82 added North Cambridge, failed $87 added Medford/Somerville, failed $92 added Brighton/Brookline, SUCCESS We stayed in the same place for the same event last year for $86, so I guess the economy has improved a little.

Oops. Priceline couldn't have been faster accepting my opening bid of $90 for 4* in Inner Harbor - Downtown. (I started that high because of the big APPAM conference, which already had its cheaper hotel sold out at $139 a night.) But I used the Better Bidding PRICELINE link, so all is well.

Going to San Francisco for a conference filled with economists, so I didn't expect much out of Priceline (we're notoriously cheap and resourceful). Used the Better Bidding PRICELINE links of course, and found the Priceline Maps feature especially helpful. The bidding took four different sessions over the course of a week. Started with just 4* in Union Square West at $92, adding the usual re-bid zones until about $120, failed. Started higher the next time, got up to about $130, failed. The third time, decided we were ok with Union Square East, but only let that get up to $130, and so failed. Finally, today decided we were ok with 3.5* which limited the re-bid opportunities, but: 4* USW $120, failed 3.5/4* USW $121, failed 3.5/4* USW and USE $124, failed 3.5/4* USW, USE, Japantown $131, failed 3.5/4* USW, USE, Japantown, Civic Center $141, failed 3.5/4* USW, USE, Japantown, Civic Center, South, $148, success! Even with a higher bid than I'm used to with Priceline, it's still saving me $40 a night over the conference hotel (Hilton)... which happens to be 295 feet away.

Used the BetterBidding PRICELINE link, of course. Started with $70 for 4* Quincy Market Financial District, then $74 adding Harbor Front Aquarium, then $80 adding Fenway. Finally, added Brighton Brookline and got the Ames for $86. We're looking forward to checking out this place, and it's not one we're familiar with.

1/14/10-1/15/10. It was originally in the title of the post, not sure what happened.

Clicked on the Better Bidding.com PRICELINE link, of course. We were trying for Harborfront/Aquarium first, bid of $63 was rejected. Added Fenway Park, bid $69, rejected. But adding Quincy Market and bidding $74 was accepted. Hyatt Regency isn't in the best neighborhood, but I was at a conference there recently and it's nice enough, and definitely close to fun times.

I've had a frustrating few days bidding on hotel rooms in downtown Boston (always starting from the PRICELINE links on betterbidding, of course!). I had been unsuccessful starting on Sunday 8/30 with bids ranging from $75-120 using all the tricks in the Copley-Theatre District zone, so today I added Quincy Market-Faneuil Hall-Financial. Started at $100 for 4*, rejected. Went to $120 for 3.5*, rejected. Added Fenway, $125, rejected. Added Copley-Theatre, $130, rejected. Added Brookline-Brighton, $135, rejected. Last ditch effort, $150 including some other decoy zone (North Cambridge?), accepted. I've never paid this much for a hotel since I started reading this site, but at least it's less than the $219 wedding block rate at the Park Plaza we were trying to avoid, and much less than the $299 rate for this hotel on PRICELINE proper.

Started with the PRICELINE link on the top of the page, and based on other people's listings... Bid $85 for 4* Waterfront-Convention Center only.... ACCEPTED! I thought I was bidding low but Priceline took my first bid. I can't really complain, but I was looking forward to the game.

I pretty much just followed Chrissy NY's priceline results for that same weekend. First I tried 4* and 5* at $50 in just the Copley-Theatre area but got rejected, but then added 3.5* and 3* and got the Courtyard. Excellent!

I needed two rooms for just the one Saturday night, about 10 days in advance. Started at $100 (per room), which was rejected, but I got a message that said that if I wanted to up my bid by $22, I could re-bid. I did exactly that, and that bid was accepted. Maybe I could have been a bit more aggressive, but this hotel looks awesome so I'm not going to complain.