Gallus50

BTW - After looking at TA reviews, I think you did well not to get the Wingate. Their recent reviews have been very sketchy, while comments on the Clarion are almost universally positive.

Please close your thread in the Hotwire section, ok?

Last year, I used Priceline and scored a 3* around April 14th or so. One day, $65 was shot down. The next day, $60 did the trick. It was the Residence Inn, which I really liked. That Wyndham on the Southside is ok, but we didn't love it. So hopefully, you'll score something in Midtown. Good luck. PS: Do you have a dancer or are you just going to enjoy the games?

We will be there for the same dates; are you going for the Highland Games? We booked thru Hotwire a few months ago, but it was a different hotel than this. I have a strong suspicion that this is the Quality Inn Midtown. The amenities and the 2.5 rating fit. I looked into it, as I have a few friends who have not booked their hotel yet. The reviews are almost uniformly bad on TA. I would also steer clear of this listing. If cost is the most important thing, I have a friend who booked the Southside 3* on HW and it turned out to be the Wingate by Wyndham on Gateway Blvd, as I predicted. What I would recommend, though, is a 3* Secret Hotel in Midtown or Historic District on Travelocity. It is more expensive at $95, but it gets 4 smiles out of 5 as a Travelocity rating. Not sure which hotel, exactly, (Homewood?), but it would probably be worth the extra $$$.

Posting this for a friend's win. Amenities were Breakfast, Fitness, Pool, Internet, Laundry. TA rating was posted as 4.5, so I was confident it was this hotel or the Comfort Suites. Rates were going up and she was happy when this listing reappeared after going away. Rack rate appears to be $93 right now, so not a huge savings, but savings nonetheless.

Anytime you bid, PL could upgrade you to a property at a higher star level. Sorry, but I don't think there's any way you can really avoid it. You could, of course, try HW instead. You might give up something on the room cost, but make it up by not having to pay for parking.

I think it is possible that sometimes they are still collecting reviews. It is also possible that you are correct and they are obscuring said ratings on purpose. But I don't know if I would absolutely let it deter me from purchasing. Sometimes it says that, but there is still a TA rating. If it is 3.5 or higher, you would know that most travelers like the hotel. Likewise, if you can ID through amenities with some certainty and you are ok with said hotel's features, reviews and such, what difference does it make if you saw HW approval ratings? If you approve, that is what matters. Sometimes HW prices are as good as bidding on PL, so it may be worthwhile. Besides, on PL you NEVER can ID hotels. So my advice is to be wary, but keep an open mind.

You need to bid downward, not upward. And you can not receive a * level below what you have bid. I'm sure thereuare will chime in, but I think it would be a good idea if you read the FAQs posted here before you bid. If you're not informed, you may risk a mistake or overbidding.

I'm sure thereuare will chime in here, but there is no way to guarantee this hotel on priceline. It's not possible, and PL doesn't work that way. If you want to stay there and get a better price, try to ID it on Hotwire or LastMinuteTravel.com. If you can't do that, you might have to just book it conventionally and try to get an advantageous rate through AAA or an advance purchase rate on their website.

Thanks for the luck. She won her division last year, so who knows!? Always try to use Priceline and HOTWIRE links here.

Needed a room for daughter's dance competition. Amenities were smoke free, pool, breakfast, laundry, fitness and internet. First bid on Priceline for 3* and 2.5* up to about $50. When unsuccessful after several attempts, I decided to take this choice on Hotwire, because I knew it was the Country Inn, which is a decent place with decent reviews. I also have a $20 Entertainment Coupon which will bring the price down to $50 a night. Got the Residence Inn last year on PL for $60 or so and loved it. Hopefully we'll enjoy this place, too.

FYI - I believe I bid and won the Club Quarters in SF during the week a few years ago. It may be more likely to come up on the weekend, but I wouldn't count on only weekends. Also - you could do a search and find out exactly when wins have been posted, and whether they were weekend or weekday.

I have a sneaky suspicion this is the Holiday Inn in Palm Beach. I bet if you cross reference the amenities, they will fit. You could also check for a TA rating on the HW listing and see if they match.

Sorry, they will only guarantee sleeping space for two on PL. People have been known to risk it and request two beds after booking, but it IS a fairly substantial risk. The hotel is not obligated in any way to honor your request. If they have space, they may do it. But if they're busy, you're SOL. If sleeping space for 4 is necessary, it is better to go with HW, Travelocity secret hotels or lastminutetravel.com.

Based on TA rating, I'm thinking Springhill Suites or Residence Inn. It's only a guess, but if it's either of these hotels, it's a very good deal.

I traveled to Savannah last spring and will be again this year. Stayed in the 3* Residence Inn Midtown. In the Midtown area, virtually no hotels charge for parking. In the Historic District, it would be something to worry about. But in MIdtown, it almost certainly won't be an issue. Am investigating 3* myself for our upcoming May trip. Will get back to you on an educated guess.

Would be glad to use links. Thanks, BB.

Hey - Did you even look at the hotel list? It seems like an obvious match for the Westin.

Using free rebids, bid $55, $65 then hit @ $70, Needed cheap hotel for emergency trip because we didn't know that my son's passport had expired. Miami is expensive, but even so, this place was nowhere near worth $70 a night. Not especially convenient to the airport, with pathetic workout equipment and an ice cold pool, it was more like a Days Inn than a Holiday Inn. Waited 5-10 minutes to check in because no one was at the front desk. Lame!

Hi Guys - Thanks for your advice. I bid again @ 52 and was rejected. So then, after reading gushing TA reviews, ended up booking the #1 rated Comfort Suites for $104 on Travelocity. Other sites like PL (retail) had the same hotel for $75. Because Travelocity has a price guarantee that comes with a $50 credit, I invoked it. Net result: I'll be getting the room for $75 - with what's essentially a $25 credit per night - for a net price of $50 a night. : ) I would have gone to Melbourne if I couldn't find something decent for under $60, but I pretty much made it happen. (Travelocity also had a Secret Hotel that I'm sure was the Jameson Inn for $67 a night.) Appreciate the help.

Thanks for your input. I bid $45 yesterday, will bid more today. Prices seems to be hovering around $80, so we will see if I can have some success if I bid higher.

I need to bid for a 2 or 3 night stay in Palm Bay. There is a Quality Inn there where I have stayed before. It is pretty awful and I really want to avoid it. On some sites, it is listed as a 2*, on others it is a 2.5*. I checked all through the FL Priceline hotel list and a Quality Inn is never higher than a 2*, though this hotel is not listed specifically. Priceline also does not list Quality Inn on their examples of 2.5* for NYOP. If I bid 2.5* in Palm Bay, do you think I am risking it; that I might get the Quality Inn? Please respond ASAP as I need to get some plans set. Thanks.

LPines - I know you are looking for someone to blame for this, but you are being unfair. As I typically travel to Huntersville yearly for the HIghland Games, I am the one who posted both the Country Inn & Suites win and the Comfort Suites. The Country Inn and Suites clearly had a Suite icon in addition to the Laundry icon. Both of these should have been clues that it was not the CI&S. The 50% approval rating was another clue - people usually rate the CI&S 4/5 or in other words, more than 85% typically approve. If you had asked for help, others would have told you this was an unlikely match. Matter of fact, I researched this new listing for my yearly trip and figured it was the Ramada, which is why I didn't book it. I suspect thereuare would have said the same. BB can only add to their list when people report their wins. As no one had reported this property before, how could they have added it to their database? If you would post the amenities, thereuare will add it to the Huntersville listing and others will be informed, or warned, as it may be. Sorry you're unhappy, but you can't blame anyone else. You took a risk and it didn't turn out like you wanted. It's the nature of risk taking. If you're that averse to the risks, maybe HW and PL are not for you.

If there is a TripAdvisor rating, you can cross check it and try to decide by that. If the Hyatt and LeMeridian have the same TA rating, I don't think you can tell. But the good news is that they're both well located and fine hotels.

Good suggestion, lagrunion. If someone is looking for something affordable, this is a convenient choice. Downtown Oakland is a relatively nice area and the BART is practically in front of the hotel. One thing to remember: BART does not run all night. It shuts down around midnight - or it used to - even on weekends. So if you're in SF, be sure to catch the last train. If you don't, cab fare is significantly more expensive.