MatkailijaLpr

Again after the Renaissance but after a couple of weeks' failed bidding for 4* Central without even a counter offer thought I'd take my chances with 3* West - Neuss. First low-ball bid at $40 accepted at the Courtyard by Marriott Seestern which I had hoped for as the Tripadvisor reviews were quite good. Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$40.00 Subtotal: US$120.00 Taxes & Fees: US$18.12 Total Charges: US$138.12 Used the PRICELINE link as usual.

Early days but after purchasing a ticket to Kings of Leon concert at Hyde Park thought I'd have a look at accommodation as well. Remembered seeing some wins reported for the Grand at the forum earlier, a quick search confirmed this and also enabled me to start the bidding at a 'right' level. Started the bidding for 4* Mayfair-Soho at $78, added a couple of areas at $2 increments and accepted at The Grand for $82. The original bid was for three nights which I extended to six as I was quite happy with the result and with Hard Rock Calling weekend coming up I needed the extra nights in London as well. Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$82.00 Subtotal: US$246.00 Taxes and Fees: US$53.73 Total Charges for Original Reservation: US$299.73 Extension: Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$82.00 Subtotal: US$246.00 Taxes and Fees: US$53.82 Total Charges for Add. Nights Res.: US$299.82 Used the PRICELINE link as usual.

Original bid was for four nights at $55 each, declined the counter-offer for $70 and made another bid for three nights, $55 bid accepted at the Renaissance where I've stayed before so happy with the result. Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$55.00 Subtotal: US$165.00 Taxes & Fees: US$22.41 Total Charges: US$187.41 Used the PRICELINE link as usual.

Needed just one night accomodation thus was not so concerned about the location. Pre Christmas weekends in London seem to be quite expensive though so had to go a bit higher than earlier, after bidding $90 for 4* Kensington - Earls Court was offered a re-bid at $110 which I declined. Added free re-bid area Wembley at $95 and after that other areas at $1 increments, $101 bid accepted at Nh Harrington Hall which after reviewing earlier winning bids was what I was expecting to win so happy with the result. Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$101.00 Subtotal: US$101.00 Taxes & Fees: US$25.56 Total Charges: US$126.56 Used the PRICELINE link as usual.

Wanted to check what hotel this was as I will be travelling with a group of friends in the Dusseldorf area. As the hotel is near the airport decided to go for PRICELINE (see separate entry for the Priceline win) and probably won't be using this one night reservation, however can you add this hotel to the forum's hotwire hotel list, Dusseldorf (Dusseldorf area) Holiday Inn Hotels, DUSSELDORF AIRPORT-RATINGEN amenities were: Pool Restaurant Business Center Hotel rate per night: $34.00 Tax recovery charges and fees:$7.60 Total price:$41.60

Travelling with a group of friends, three rooms at $54 / room / night, original bid was for two nights which we later extended to three. No surprises as Renaissance seems to be the 'common' win for 4* Dusseldorf, thanks to the members who had posted their earlier wins enabling me to start bidding at the 'right' level. Used the PRICELINE link as usual.

Can you change the dates in the subtitle, should be 2010 not 2009...

No surprises here as I have won Maritim twice before, first bid of $56 accepted. The hotel seems to be more or less directed towards business travellers i.e. weekends tend to be available at low prices through Priceline as has been the case with my earlier visits, the hotel has been almost empty. Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$56.00 Subtotal: US$168.00 Taxes & Fees: US$22.68 Total Charges: US$190.68 Rack rate was approx. $466 (345 EUR) so nice savings as well. :) Used the PRICELINE link as usual.

Never been to Prague before so checked on earlier winning bids + TripAdvisor ratings and locations for the hotels most frequently won. Bid up to $60 for 5* Prague (East) as some had reported low bid wins for Marriott but didn't even get a counter-offer so switched to 4* Prague (West) instead, first bid $40 accepted by Moevenpick Hotel Prague. Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$40.00 Subtotal: US$80.00 Taxes & Fees: US$17.46 Total Charges: US$97.46 Happy with the result, thanks to the forum members who had posted their earlier wins thus enabling me to set the first bid to 'right' level. :) Used the PRICELINE link as usual.

After reviewing other winning bids, bid $67 for 4* City Center - Museum Quarter which was refused. Next day, similar bid for $69 was accepted. Happy with the result as I stayed at the same hotel last summer, perfectly situated as I'm going to concerts at nearby Melkweg and Paradiso. Rack rate for the same period is $576 so nice savings as well. Used the PRICELINE link as usual, thanks to the forum members who had posted their earlier Amsterdam wins. Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$69.00 Subtotal: US$207.00 Taxes & Fees: US$33.87 Total Charges: US$240.87

Made this purchase already in January but forgot to post it to the board then. Bid for 3* Docklands as I'm going to the O2 arena on the 23rd so I'm happy with the result. Used the PRICELINE link as usual. Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$65.00 Subtotal: US$195.00 Taxes & Fees: US$43.59 Total Charges: US$238.59

After reviewing previous winning bids for Berlin decided to bid for 4*Tiergarten-Kufuerstendamm. First bid $55 was not accepted, got a counter-offer to increase by $15 which I declined. Added free re-bid zone Kreuzberg and a $2 increment, $57 was accepted at the Maritim Hotel Berlin. First bid was for 11/20-11/23 which I extended by one day for the same room rate, rack rate for these dates is 115 EUR/night. Used the PRICELINE link as usual. Check-In Date: Friday, November 20, 2009 Check-Out Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 Hotel Name: Maritim Hotel Berlin Stauffenbergstr. 26 Berlin, Germany 493020650 Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$57.00 Subtotal: US$171.00 Taxes and Service Fees: US$40.44 Total Charges for Original Reservation: US$211.44 Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$57.00 Subtotal: US$57.00 Taxes and Service Fees: US$17.94 Total Charges for Add. Night Res.: US$74.94

As I was quite recently searching for hotels in the London area (although for a different time period) I came to the conclusion that this hotel could be the Crowne Plaza Hotel London Ealing, however there is no way to be 100% sure. The area combined with the Tripadvisor rating and the number of ratings is a match. Seems to be getting good ratings but is not in what you would call a 'central' location.

Just for fun I calculated the rack-rate cost for the whole trip using non-refundable advance purchase rates from the hotels own web sites: the stays at Holiday Inn Camden Lock (4 nights), Copthorne Tara (2), Marriott West India Quay (2) and Crowne Plaza Heathrow (1) totalled 902 GBP which equals approx. 1370 USD. Using PRICELINE combined with the information from Betterbidding the total cost came up to 792 USD i.e. 578 USD savings (42%) whilst staying in good hotels with TripAdvisor ratings ranging from 3.5 to 4.5. Needless to say, the savings will be used on travelling. :) So once again thanks to you and all the people who are contributing to the board.

The final part of my London trip. Decided to get an airport hotel in order to make the morning flight without the 'excitement' sometimes caused by delays on the underground. Based on earlier wins reported on the board started the bidding at $44, rejected the offer to increase to $51, added Luton and won at $46: Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$46.00 Subtotal: US$46.00 Taxes & Service Fees: US$14.37 Total Charges: US$60.37 Used the PRICELINE link to start the bidding.

London Calling, part 3. Previous purchases for the trip were in Camden Town and Canary Wharf so I thought I'd get the third hotel for my stay from Kensington as it seems to be cheapest area for 4* hotels in London. Started bidding at $62 for Kensington - Earls Court - Knightsbridge (rejected the offer to increase by $17) adding areas at $1-$2 increments. Finally won at $72: Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$72.00 Subtotal: US$144.00 Taxes & Service Fees: US$30.71 Total Charges: US$174.71 Used the PRICELINE link as usual.

London Calling, part 2 (see earlier post for Holiday Inn Camden Lock). Searching through www.hotelscombined.com and subsequently the hotel chain's own website I noticed that there was an offer of approx. $260 for the two days (incl. taxes) so I thought I'd try if the hotel would also be available through Priceline. Started bidding for Docklands at $81, received an offer to increase by $22 which I refused. My plan was to add all the remaining 9 areas one by one at $1 increments as I was sure that it was highly unlikely that I would win a 5* at other areas for such low bids (and actually no harm done if I did). Winning bid came at $89: Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$89.00 Subtotal: US$178.00 Taxes & Service Fees: US$36.42 Total Charges: US$214.42 This time not so big savings compared to rack rates but happy to get a 5* hotel with excellent TripAdvisor reviews in an area that I'm not so familiar with. Used your PRICELINE link as usual, still to find a hotel for 11/3-5 in a different area.

London Calling, part 1. I have a ten day trip to London coming up in late October and although there is still plenty of time before the trip I've been watching the rates on HOTWIRE for a couple of weeks already. My plan was to split my stay to 2-3 parts in order to stay in areas that are not so familiar to me although I've visited London quite often. First point of interest was Camden Town so when a hotel that according to Betterbidding's Hotwire hotel list was most likely the Holiday Inn Camden Lock at $79 came up, I thought I'd try if I could get that any cheaper through PRICELINE. I started the bidding for 4* Regents Park-Baker Street at $60, got a counter for $80 which I refused. As there are no free re-bidding areas for London at 4* to lower the risk of getting a hotel / area that I didn't want I left out Kensington - Earls Court - Knightsbridge (according to Betterbidding most cheap wins seem to be from this area) and a couple of others based on location (Docklands, Hammersmith, Westminster). Using permutations of the five remaining areas in $1-2 increments (closing the browser once) I finally won at $72: Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$72.00 Subtotal: US$288.00 Taxes & Service Fees: US$54.77 Total Charges: US$342.77 Elementary for getting the hotel I wanted was to be able to search for earlier London wins in order to include areas in re-bidding that typically were significantly more expensive in 4* than what I was going to bid. And yes, I know that there is a risk involved but that's part of the fun. :) The rack rate was 104 GBP so once again thanks for Betterbidding, used your PRICELINE link as usual.

Bid for 5* at first in order to see if I could land the Marriott on the cheap using all possible re-bid zones and combinations $60 - 65 - 70 (closed browser) 72 -75 -77 declined. First 4* bid $50 for Tiergarten-Kufuerstendamm accepted at Artotel Berlin City Center West By Park Plaza. The original bid was for two days which I later extended to three after booking the flights. FYI, noticed that the hotel has a special offer on their website for a 3-night stay which is actually a few dollars cheaper compared to my 2 + 1 reservation. However, again happy with the result and bidding is always great fun. U2 concert this time + lots of Warhol at the hotel :) Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$50.00 Subtotal: US$100.00 Taxes and Service Fees: US$26.58 Total Charges for Original Reservation: US$126.58 Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$50.00 Subtotal: US$50.00 Taxes and Service Fees: US$16.64 Total Charges for Add. Night Res.: US$66.64 Used the PRICELINE link to start bidding, keep up the good work!

Bid for 5* based on earlier winning bids as follows: City Centre-Museum Quarter $65, counter offer $82 which I declined. Added City Centre South $68 - declined Added North $73 - accepted at Nh Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$73.00 Subtotal: US$219.00 Taxes & Service Fees: US$35.15 Total Charges: US$254.15 Two trips to Amsterdam this summer, it'll be interesting to see what Krasnapolsky is like - the reviews at Tripadvisor are somewhat contradicting. However, got what I wanted at the right price so thanks again :) Used the PRICELINE link to start the bidding.

After searching for winning Amsterdam bids (most of which were over $100) decided to start with a low-ball $75 bid for 4* City Centre - Museum Quarter which to my surprise was accepted by Nh Amsterdam Centre. Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$75.00 Subtotal: US$150.00 Taxes & Service Fees: US$26.36 Total Charges: US$176.36 Can you add this hotel to your Priceline hotel list? Rack rate was 177 EUR/night so again very pleased with the purchase and this board. :) Maybe could have started with an even lower bid but was still 'too excited' about winning the bid for a London hotel (see earlier post) - then again it's not a bad price for Amsterdam city centre and the hotel seems to be getting good reviews in TripAdvisor. Used your PRICELINE link.

Made this purchase earlier but forgot to post it to the board at that time: First bid of $65 accepted, got the hotel I wanted (after seeing similar winning bids on this board - thanks again). Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $65.00 Subtotal: $260.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $43.85 Total Charges*: $303.85

After seeing successful bids for KEN - EAR - KNI 4* at $54 started the bidding with that. First bid was rejected, got a proposal for $67 which I refused. Added Notting Hill - Bayswater, bid $57 rejected. Added Mayfair - Soho, bid $60 accepted at Nh Kensington. Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$60.00 Subtotal: US$240.00 Taxes & Service Fees: US$46.73 Total Charges: US$286.73 Happy with the result as I wanted to stay near Hyde Park (going to the Bruce Springsteen concert on June 28th). :) Used your PRICELINE link, again big savings thanks to betterbidding.

Hope I remember this correctly: $115 4* MTE - Rejected $118 MTE,MTW - Rejected $120 MTE,MTW,BR - Rejected $123 MTE,MTW,BR,CHE - Rejected $125 MTE,MTW,BR,CHE,LIC - Rejected $128 MTE,MTW,BR,CHE,LIC,MSG - Rejected $130 MTE,MTW,BR,CHE,LIC,MSG,UES - Accepted by The Benjamin :) Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $130.00 Subtotal: $390.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $77.67 Total Charges*: $467.67 Quite happy with the result, after going through some other successful bids on 4* MTE/MTW hotels on this board my bidding was based on a maximum bid of $130 which finally clinched it. Thanks for your help!

Decided to wrap this up as my dates are more or less fixed concerning the flights and a visit to Boston - went to Manhattan instead this time as I noticed some attractive prices on this board (got The Benjamin from Priceline for $130, I will write a separate message to the NYC - Priceline topic). Thanks everyone for your help, it'll be interesting to see if the mystery 4* turns out to be the Westin after all. Keep up the good work! :)