Gallus50

LMT has the 3* Holiday Inn Golden Gateway available for $143 for your dates. Check out the ID method in Run of House. I've stayed there and if you get a view, it's pretty nice. It's also right on the California cable car line. If availability is limited, you might want to consider it. Rates are high for this time.

If you're really worried about the tenderloin - and there's no need to be, but anyway - why not bid EMB/FD, SOMA AND FW? They're not near the Tenderloin. EMB and SOMA are still central, and FW has the F Market and the cable car to get you where you want to to. Availability is not awful on those dates, but not great either. So you probably need to widen your funnel. Also BTW - lastminutetravel.com has more availability than HW, so if you don't get anywhere with PL, you can try LMT. Easy ID's using BEAV's method in Run of House on the forum.

I'm thinking this is for 2012, not 2011. Moderators??

We got a Top Secret hotel outside Savannah in January. The place was ok for a decent price (Wingate by Wyndham for about $42 or so). The drawback was that we wanted to be north near the airport and the listing said this was an airport hotel. It was actually some distance south, nowhere near the airport. So when we wanted to walk around downtown before we got back on the road, we had to backtrack. Don't know why they were so off about the location and don't know if this happens very often. Their fees do seem to be a good bit less than HW and PL, as mentioned.

What he said is almost exactly what I was going to say!

I've been wondering what that hotel is - we'll be in Mt Pleasant on Sept 16th. But the price is steeper - more like $91 or so. Thank you for posting.

Early October is really busy. You need to check rack rates and decide what is reasonable - it is rare to get more than 60% off, though it does happen. Often 20-30% lower than HW is a good deal, too. No one can say exactly what your chances are but when prices are high and availability is low, your chances aren't as good. Than again, people sometimes get lucky...

Sorry I was wrong - they tricked me by hiding the breakfast icon. That being said, 4.5 out of 5 on TA is usually a sign of good things. It's common to see 4 of 5, but somewhat rare to see 4.5. I think it will be a nice place, and the breakfast is a bonus. Have a nice trip.

Good advice. Thanks, lude.

In Orlando, HW has enough condo/timeshare type listings that may be able to get a Suite/1BD/2BD listing. Then you will surely have enough space, and probably enough beds, for everyone. Even just the Suite icon would probably mean the room is big enough, generally.

Please read the priceline hotel thread below started by Tiffany. Almost exactly your situation, we'll give you almost the same answers. Sorry to say but the early fall months - Sept and Oct - are often brutal in terms of cost. Lots of conventions and events, plus everyone seems to think the weather is better. (But the weathers pretty good there all year round, for the most part.) Wish I had a better answer for you, but sometimes in SF you have to bite the bullet and book conventionally, or at least spend more than you wanted whatever channel you choose.

This might be the Courtyard by Marriott/Wilmington East/Wrightsville Beach. It get's a 4.5 out of 5 on TA, so I searched TA for these amenities. If it is the Courtyard, it gets fantastic reviews.

If you look at the calendar of wins at the top of the page, hotels have been won for $150 - $190, so you could try up to $200. On LastMinuteTravel.com, they have the 4.5* Hyatt Embarcadero for $145, but it is on request. I would bid and if you get shut out, try the request because that will probably be the best you can do, if it comes through. (You can easily ID on LMT - use Beav's method from the Run of House section.) They also have the Warwick for $195, but I think that is on request, too. HW is high, but they have what looks like the 3* Holiday Inn Golden Gateway for $192. I would check conventional channels for this hotel to make sure the price is the best you can get. I have stayed there. It's a bit out of the way, but easy to access w/California line cable car. It's also across Van Ness from the Whole Foods, which is handy for wine and provisions. : ) Almost all the other listings on HW are over $200, except for a Civic Center South 3*. I personally don't like CCS - it's kinda icky over there. Hope this helps. Let us know how you do.

Rates are through the roof, even on HW. And on LMT, prices are high and many hotels are on request. I don't say this very often, but you might want to consider changing the dates of your trip. That, or be ready to fork out some serious $$$$.

Once the hotel is booked, the deal is done and you don't necessarily need that exact credit card. You do usually need a card for "incidentals". You could bring the same card and explain your situation. Hopefully, they'll be reasonable. Or you could use another card. I don't think they will care.

Also BTW sonny - I'd be careful w/2* hotels in the city. They might be ok, but it's not as safe a bet as it is in the airport zone and suburbs. I'd stick to 2.5* and above. You should certainly be able to find something within your price range.

Hey Sonny - Late Sept/Early Oct is one of the busiest times in SF. Prices are high every year, this year even more so. Tough time to find a deal. I would start bidding up to my limit using rebids ASAP. Try for 4, 3.5 and 3* until you win a place or get shut down. HW listings are almost all above $200 in the desirable areas, so that probably isn't an option. LastMinuteTravel.com does have the 3* (they say 3.5*) Hotel Diva for $123. Considering the time period, this is a pretty good deal. You can ID LMT listings using the BEAV's method in the Run of House section. LMT also has the Warwick for $168, costs more but in a very similar location. The $94 3.5* listing on LMT sounded tempting, but it's the Hotel Metropolis. Looked it up on TA and the reviews are really bad, mostly because the location is right in the Tenderloin. I would not stay there if I were you. Hope this helps. Let us know what you end up with.

Wow. You must have worn your really good shoes. (Glad you treated yourself to a little getaway. I wish I had scored that well last time I was in Napa!)

sfgirl - Thanks for letting us know how this turned out. I also appreciate that you took my advice and ran with it. When you post on a forum like this, people often ask for help, then ignore your suggestions. Or they expect others to do their homework for them. The only real reward we get is the satisfaction of knowing you helped someone. So it's nice to hear you got a good deal and you are happy. Have a nice trip!

If you're sure you're going, on days with high demand it's best not to wait. You could get shut out.

At times of high demand, sometimes lastminutetravel.com can beat HW and PL on price. LMT has several 3.5* opaque hotels which turn out to be the Sir Francis Drake ($151) and the Warwick ($168). Another choice is the Diva ($123), which I would say is more of a 3*. They also have a well priced 4,5* ($161), but it is on request. You can easily ID using BEAV's method in the Run of House section on the board. I would investigate this and save some $$$. The Drake is probably as nice as a 4* and well located right on Union Square.

Nanc- You can do better in terms of cost. HW still has a 4* USE for 9/2 - 9/4 that is $171 - probably the same one I referenced before. Unless you're really into the Regency Club perks, you can get a similar experience for about half the cost. (The Regency Club perks are nice, but probably not worth $150 a night IMHO.)

Many Curacao hotels are running specials on Travelzoo right now. If you are looking for something specific, you might want to check the prices there. They don't typically put it on Travelzoo unless it is a pretty good deal.

ponyfan - Based on availability and rates, I also think you should open up your bidding to more zones. USE, FD/Embarcadero and FW would all be fine areas for an SF trip. Some people also like SOMA and the nicer hotels are all fairly close to Market Street. FD/EMB and FW also have the benefit of being near the water, which can be pleasant. I do have a feeling rates will go down and you have time, I just think you might need to be open to the options.

After a quick look at HW, I'm pretty sure you're going to have to go to the higher end of your bidding limit. Prices look pretty high and there's not that much availability. Can you get a 3* for $100 or under? I don't know, but I'd probably start getting there and exploring all the options using free rebids.