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Welldone Rumproast

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Everything posted by Welldone Rumproast

  1. Hi cmf - not homecoming (that is on 10/25) but on 11/15 Mizzou plays Texas A&M. Since you may have some aggies in nearby rooms, bring your earplugs (jsut kidding) :)
  2. thereuare - I may be mistaken, but didn't we "establish" in THIS LINK that the Hotwire 3.5* resort was indeed the Radisson?
  3. Interesting - on 9/22, a TOBB poster reported an accepted Priceline 4* bid of USD 160 (at the Westin Times Square - Midtown West). The poster related that he/she was rejected at USD 150. But, I went to the Westin site just now and it says 10/18 is sold out now (the remaining rooms could have gone in a block between 9/22 and today). BTW the Conrad site still shows availability at the Waldorf Towers at the "standard" high rates (USD 383/425).
  4. Bidding Need and Strategy Frankfurt has two zones, East and West. The East zone incorporates the center city area, which was my preference for this one-night stay. Better Bidding user rhkkmkhad reported an acceptance at the Marriott at a rate of USD 55 earlier this month. TOBB also had similar data, so my price parameters were fairly clear. The Marriott and the Le Meredien were the only 4* hotels named, however, all recent activity seems to have been at the MC Bid Progress All bidding took place in the Hofbrau section of the Savings Barn :) --- Initial Bid in the FRANKFURT EAST Zone First Bid: USD 45 - Rejected --- Added the available free rebid zone (FRA WEST) Second Bid: USD 51 - Rejected Waited three days: --- New First Bid in the FRANKFURT EAST Zone First Bid: USD 55 - Rejected PL suggested raising the bid by USD 17 Yeah, right ! :) Cleared cookies, asked the Savings Barn fraulein for a refill on my stein --- Added the available free rebid zone (FRA WEST) Second Bid: USD 57 - ACCEPTED! Accepted Bid Details Frankfurt Marriott Hotel Hamburger Allee 2-10 Frankfurt, Germany (49) 6979550 Check-In Date: Thu, Nov 6, 2003 Check-In Time: After 06:00 PM Check-Out Date: Fri, Nov 7, 2003 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $57.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $57.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $15.66 Total Charges: $72.66 The lowest rate on the Marriott website was a nonrefundable advance purchase rate of Eur. 131,00 which converts to USD 150.62 at today's exchange rate. Keep in mind that the $150.62 figure includes the VAT (16%). Here is a "ballpark" savings calculation in dollars: Hotel Room: 57.00 VAT Cost: 9.12 Priceline Fee 6.54 TOTAL 72.66
  5. One fact that may explain the high ratings: Crowne Plaza (Intercontinental) corporate HQ is located in the adjacent Ravinia office complex. I'm sure that the CP management are always "on their toes" :)
  6. American Heart Association - Nov. 9-12 - 30,000 atendees
  7. Hi and welcome - As thereuare has stated above, the Waldorf Towers is the "known" 5* hotel. This week, George W. is staying there as he speaks to the UN Security Council (the WT is the "official" US Government diplomatic hotel, due in part to its security facilities). It could be that the General Assembly and Security Council activities are contributing to room scarcity in your time period. The WT is *NOT* sold out, as the Conrad site shows availability for USD 383 (nonrefundable advance pay) and USD 425 (cancellable).
  8. Yes - the Century Plaza and the Park Hyatt are both on the west side of the same street (Avenue of the Stars) - the CP is between Santa Monica Blvd. and Olympic Blvd., while the PH is a few blocks south, between Olympic Blvd. and Pico Blvd.
  9. Hi siun, I'd urge caution here, due to the size of the Hotwire zone in question. To give you an idea of the distance involved, I took a look at the Hotwire maps. The west-east borders of the zone are as follows: the San Diego Freeway (405) on the WEST (left of map) and Doheney Drive on the EAST (Doheney, by the way, serves as the dividing line between the City of West Hollywood and the City of Beverly Hills). On Mapquest, using Santa Monica Boulevard (the street that runs right through the middle of the zone) as a benchmark, the distance from one end of the zone to the other is 4.71 miles. Plus, the hotel could be further along one of the streets north or south od Santa Monica Blvd. So if you're NOT going to have a car, I'd analyze the possible hotels very carefully before bidding. Is the meeting being held in Century City?
  10. IMHO, the only factor favoring the Ducks is the fact that John Navarre and Chris Perry may not be able to see, blinded by the light reflected off those HORRID yellow Oregon uniforms :) :)
  11. Hi nuna, sorry to hear about your situation (I had a similar problem with a Westin in Detroit which was just resolved literally this morning). Over on the FlyerTalk board, a notation has been made of a Marriott e-mail address and also a phone number for problems like yours. The e-mail address is: [email protected] The Phone number (corporate office, so weekday business hours only) is 800-638-8108. Press '0' for operator and ask to be transferred to Guest Relations. The person who posted about the e-mail mentioned that he received a reply on a Saturday, so this *may* mean that they work on weekends :) This is a guess concerning the credit card notification you mentioned: It's possible that the credit card company was saying that you need to keep your account current while the dispute is being resolved. Some people mistakenly think that their right to dispute incorrect charges allows them to withhold the payment. So the notice from Visa may just be an automatically-generated reminder so that you account does not go into past due status (and incur late fees etc.)
  12. Hi ItsMeUC - Sorry to hear about your incorrect charge - I myself am in the midle of trying to get the Westin Detroit to reverse an incorrect minibar charge (I'm still waiting three weeks after they promised to credit the $14 bogus charge - I've escalated it to Corporate). If you still don't have a response, why not try sending an email to the following address: [email protected] This is a mailbox set up to address problems etc. with Hilton stays for users of Flyertalk (a board similar to this one which focuses on airline and hotel frequent flyer and frequent stay programs), I suggest a message expressing concern over the lack of contact, focusing on your desire to "eliminatethe possibility of credit card fraud" or some such language. There's no membership requirement on FTalk (and no need to mention PL as it is not germaine to your billing isssue, in my opinion). Good luck and keep us informed on your progress.
  13. Hi cherylc and welcome! A split might be worth considering. For example, there seems to be good availability for the noghts of the 9th and 10th - it is on the 11th when the rooms become scarce. These dates dovetail with the schedule of the Conveinence Stores show (the meeting with the really large attendence). After some testing, I noticed that, for a check-in of 10/09 and a checkout of 10/11, Hotwire shows 4.5* customer favorite at USD 102 and a 4.* cust fav at USD 84 (therefore there should be comparable availability on the Priceline side). If you wanted, you could consider a stay further out for the nights of 10/11 and 10/12 - for example, near O'Hare. Hotwire shows a 4* cust fav at USD 68 (again indicating that PL should have similar inventory). The CTA Blue Line runs from the airport (and also from stations near most of the O'Hare hotels) directly to the Loop for a fare of USD 1.50. I realize that it's a rather remote location but it is one option to consider.
  14. To see the bid information for this stay, please click *HERE* Hotel Location and Property The hotel is located across the freeway from the entrance to the IND passenger terminal. The six-story building looks to be about maybe 20 years old, but is in reasonably good shape. Airport Access and Parking Free shuttle service is provided. Use the free phones in the baggage claim area to summon the shuttle van. There ia plenty of free parking if you have a rental car. Check-In and Check-Out A few days before the stay, I called the front desk to ask about the high-speed access. They said that it was free :o :) but that it was only in a few rooms :) I asked the clerk to make a notation asking for one of the wired rooms if available, which she did. The check-in process was very friendly and the request for a wired room was noted and granted (the hotel seemed fairly empty). She noted that the PL reservarion was for two doubles, and I didn't bother asking for a king as the high-speed was more important. However, when I got to the room, I couldn't connect. I ended up helping their maintenance man test the cnnectivity in another room(which also didn;t work). I let the desk know, and we both called the toll-free number for their service provider, who finally got the problem diagnosed and solved in about 45 mins. Just in time to watch the Bucs spank the Iggles :) Room A standard-sized room with the mentioned two beds (reasonably comfortable), a desk, and a table with two small chairs. The dreaded flourescent lights were in use, and the one at the deslk was burned out (I swapped it for the unused one in the bed lamp). One problem was that there were no free outlts at the desk - my laptop power supply barely reached a wall outlet behind the dresser. Large-screen TV on the dresser with good channel selection (including History, one of my favorties when ESPN has yet another repeat of SportsCenter). A coffeemaker was also provided, with iron and board hanging in the closet. Standard bathroom (tub-shower) with a curtain that was clean but which needed replacing as the hook holes were about to fall apart. When I saw the shower head, I thought it was one of those flow-restrictor types, but the pressure turned to be just fine (no massage adjustments though). Plenty of towels, and Garden Botanicka toiletries were supplied. Restaurant and Area Options The restaurant is called Appleby's (not part of the Appelbes chain) - standard coffee shop fare. Breakfast was about USD 8-10. There is also a sports bar. The adjacent is mostly commercial (other chain hotels) so other dining options would probably require a car (or going back to the IND passenger terminal - BAA (British Airports Athority) runs the Indy airport and they provide some decent food options - there's also a McDonalds and a (non-wired) Starbucks in the terminal (all landside, before security).
  15. NickPappagiorgio - Hello and welcome! As you might already know, Starwood is ending elite benefits for Hotwire, Priceline and other 3rd-party-sourced stays, effective 01/01/2004. If the staff tells you they are not able to (or not permitted to) add your SPG number, a gentle reminder that the old policy is still in effect in December should set them straight. Enjoy Chigago (and stay warm)!
  16. epicureangirl - great detective work!! And I love your Magritte avatar BTW are you planning to eat at either Postrio or The Fifth Floor when you are in the two rrespective hotels? IF so, Please post your impressions of the restaurants as well as the hotel in the review section.
  17. There *ARE* two completely separate Starwood properties within a mile or two of each other. The Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa is the 40-story tower that is directly on the beach. The Diplomat Country Club and Spa is inland and is adjacent to a golf course (it is part of Starwood's Luxury Collection group). I can't speak to the Hotwire-description specifics, however, the "Country Club" property is *definitely* not oceanfront. Hope this helps ....
  18. Looking at the PL map, it's in Union Square East - Embarcadero I once stayed in this hotel in 1980 or so. Returning to my room one night, I entered the elevator and I got in with: General Alexander Haig, John Denver (and Annie) and Werner Erhard of est Seminars :) :)
  19. Elinva - welcome! Another BetterBidding member, Lady Reeler has also been unsuccessful in trying to bid for the same date range you are trying for. Many of us think that the Audio Engineer's convention may be eating up a significant amount of Midtown rooms (you can read tha thread by clicking on *THIS LINK*). I agree with our board Administrator, thereuare that Columbus Day is probably not that great a factor, as many non-governmental workerd do not get the day off, and the Parade and other celebrations focus on locals. I also agree that a cancellable backup would be a good idea.
  20. rhkkmk - welcome! I don't think you'll be too disappointed in the Westin Grand. It's probably more of a 4.5 (in fact it *was* a 5* as of last spring) so your accepted bid reflects both the lower ranking and a lower accepted bid. The Grand was built in 1987, two yeards before the Wall came down, and was something of a showplace for the (soon-to-exit) DDR government. Lots of wood used in the rooms etc. Rooms are small but not super-tiny. The best thing is the location - right in the heart of Mitte, which since Reunification has become a major shopping and restaurant area. You can easily walk to the Brandenburg Tor and the Reichstag (walk the glass dome at night)!! Transportation is very easy (the U6 stop is literally outside the front door) and an S-Bahn station is two blocks up the street. Also, the TXL Airport Express bus stops one block away. THe U6 goes to Checkpoint Charlie and the new Jewish Museum in a couple of minutes. The Swissotel is supposed to be very nice. While being right on the Ku'dam has some advantages, you still need to walk or take the train to most other sites (and the closest station is on the U-9 line, so you end up making transfers for most destinations anyway). Remember to take your Starwood Perferred Guest card to get points for your incidentals (SPG is allowing this until 12/31/2003). And when you check in ask for a room equipped with Heavenly Beds :) Please let me know if you'd like any more info about the area - it's one of my favorites. Also for the Sheraton Skyline - when you arrive at LHR you may see signs for the "Hotel Hoppa" bus (a shared bus serving all hotels on Bath Road for GBP 3 per person each way). If you'd like, you can take any public bus that runs on Bath Road (where the Skyline is) for *free* :)
  21. Thereuare - the three major London Airports (Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton) all have their own zones - when you are on the main London map there is a link for "London Airports" down towards the bottom BTW congrats on U of M pounding Houston (with the Buck-Lights barely escaping against a first-time QB who hadn't played in two years and the Golden Domers losing to Wash. State, things are looking up for the Maize and Blue) :)
  22. Yet another complicating factor is that many Manhattan hotels are remodeling in preparation for the upcoming Repub. Convention (exactly one year from now). One big refurb job is taking place at the NY Sheraton, a PL mainstay which has a large number of floors out of service at a time. It will be the Headquarters hotel for the RNC (not sure if George W. will stay here or at the WT).....
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