stasik

Bid $42 at 2.5* - Success It's a hotel I've used before. A little beat but spacious rooms. It's a former Residence Inn. Used your PRICELINE link

Started bidding for Midtown West at $110 as someone else had just posted a win at this level for similar dates. - Rejected, Priceline countered at $137, Passed Added Times Square - Theater District at $115 - Rejected Added Midtown East at $120 - Accepted With 5% off coupon from PL, saved another $12, so the total at $286 is not bad, $50 less than the equivalent with Hotwire. Not too shabby. Used your link to search and book.

Started Bidding the White House - Downtown zone, 4* at $85 - Priceline countered at $110 Added Dupont Circle - Woodley Park, increased bid to $90 - accepted. Good hotel, I used to work down the street from here so I am familiar with the place. Based on what others are reporting it looks like the Hilton, the Marriott Wardman Park and the Omni are all right in the same strike zone. The one you get just depends on how the random selection shakes out for you. Looks like same hotels are available on Hotwire, Priceline ends up being about $6 less after fees. Used your PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to search and bid.

Amenities: Boutique Hotel Restaurant Laundry Based on the amenities (or lack thereof) I guessed that this is the property I would get and it was. The price is pretty sweet for a weekender in the city. Rooms at this property priced at $259 on their website.

Fair warning that if you're going to bid 3* in Dayton South, you will probably continue to get this place. Eventually Priceline will downgrade to a 2.5*. But forthe price, its still better than staying at the Red Roof Inn. Used your PRICELINE link to bid

Attempted 3* at $40 for Dayton South...rejected, Priceline countered at $49 Added Riverside/Page Manor rebid zone $42...rejected Added Northwest Dayton...$45 accepted The Wyndham Garden is certainly not my favorite and the Courtyard and Homewood in that area should be insulted that they share a star level with this property. But it is Thanksgiving weekend and the rooms are generally comfortable. So this is a pretty good deal.

Been trying for San Diego for a while on Priceline with little success. Finally got the Doubletree Club for $69 for five nights through Hotwire. The hotel website prices this out at $140/night for my stay, so a pretty good deal. This is listed as a 3* in the hotel list, so it looks like the hotel has been bumped up. Parking is $16 per day :( Smoke Free Rooms Fitness Center Pool(s) Business Center Laundry Facilities (self-service) High-Speed Internet Access Accessible for the blind Accessible for the deaf Accessible path of travel In-room accessibility Wheelchair accessible Accessible bathroom Handicapped parking Roll-in shower Used your HOTWIRE link to access the site.

The parking charge is par for the course down there. I just got banged up for $38/day at the Hilton Checkers. Of course I also had to pay $200 a night for that hotel. The Westin was about $240 for the nights I was there last week. So that's a pretty fat savings you got, even with the parking.

Bid $30, got it first time. It's not the Ritz Carlton, but reliable and close to where I need to be. With the parent out of bankruptcy and renovating a number of these properties around the country, I am hopeful for some gradual improvement at this place.

Had $5 in bonus cash to work with so the real bid was $16/day + bonus cash. Tried at $13 and $14 on prior days and bumped it up to $16 today to get this off my plate. Lowest retail was $152, my total was $122 so it's not bad. Used your PRICELINE link to bid.

Started bidding at $65 for just Bellevue, PL countered at $81. Added Lynnwood @ $70, failed, PL again countered at $81. Added Bothell @ $72, success. Silver Cloud is a local chain; Orbitz had the property @ $124 for our dates. The Eastgate is a bit outside of downtown Bellevue, but the reviews seem OK. You can't always get the Hilton :) Possibly I could have been lower if I had waited, but may not have time to keep messing with this over the next week. Most important was to be resonably convenient to Seattle without paying the parking fee. Recently stayed downtown and got hit for $32/day plus valet tips. Used your PRICELINE link, of course. Now working on the rental car... Have $5 in bonus cash to play with.

I just got back from my trip to LA and was going to mention it as I walked by there a few times. The LA County Sheriff has at least one car on site and often two cars to make sure things don't get out of hand. The worst thing you will have to deal with there is getting hollered at when entering the property.

As a follow-up with my travel date nearing on this. Continuing to bid. Increased max bid to $165 with no luck. And I have one less rebid zone to work with. Looks like the hotels just haven't released any inventory. Most of the 4* hotels are in the $200-$250 range on travel sites. Hotwire has 4* at $197. So it just may be that the discounts simply aren't to be had right now. I've had a reservation for a 3* place near Sunset for $135. I am guessing that this will be my hotel unless something changes significantly. My drop-dead on that is Tuesday. Thanks for the help.

There currently aren't any 4* Hotels in Redondo Beach so you are safe. I have been bidding on priceline for a 4* stay in West Hollywood/Beverly Hills for a few weeks with no success thus far. Although our dates are different so your results may vary. Gone up to $147 (when PRICELINE had a few bonus bucks available) and still nothing.

It's not unheard of at all for hotels to try and scam the system. The noise-to-signal on TripAdvisor can be quite high. I guess you just have to sort through it to get to the truth. You've done the right thing, picking out reviews from "one-shot wonders" and appying a dose of skepticism. Although all of us, at one time, had only one post or have written reviews that we don't particularly care for anymore. I will admit though that in looking through reviews I will find opinions from long-time posters that differ vastly from my own. Still trying to figure out how anyone gives less than four stars to the Mandala Suites in Berlin. Some people are very unforgiving of mistakes, where I will give credit for sincere efforts to make something right. I also tend to give or take away credit for value for the money while some people fit their scores firmly into a certain box. The content is the key. And if a reviewer takes time to point out positives and negatives and how those factor into an overall score, those are the people that I will give the most weight to.

My effective bid was $15/day as Priceline offered me $5 in bonus cash for up to 5 days. Hotwire offered at 14.95/day ($116 total). Used your PRICELINE link to start bidding.

Is the zone correct on that? I had thought the Hyatt Century Plaza had been moved into the Westwood Century City zone.

This stay will end up being a bit of a project, more than I am used to on PRICELINE. Continuing to bid in the same fashion but the result will probably take some time. I have a backup room at the Ramada just in case. Will update once something concrete happens. Thanks for the help so far.

Bids were all on 4* hotels. $90 - Beverly Hills West Hollywood $100 - Add Culver City $110 - Add Lawndale $120 - Add Inglewood $130 - Add Redondo Manhattan Beach. I'll give it another shot tonite. ADRs and occupancy have been coming up in California so hoteliers will probably want to sit back and see if they can fill rooms before jumping into Priceline and Hotwire.

No luck tonite it seems. I'll give it a shot for the next week and see if I can score. Otherwise, I'll consider moving to 3.5*. Fortunately, there is no rush. Still have to work on Priceline for a car as well. Thanks.

OK clicked on the link

Have seen some differing prices in the West Hollywood/Beverly Hills zone on PRICELINE so before I jump in, would like to get thoughts on a bidding strategy. Looking for 4*. Willing to go up to $130 at this point. If I fail at that price, I can back off and re-assess my zones and strategies since I have some time. I was a little concerned when I saw that HOTWIRE is offering nothing in the 4* zone for that time frame, just a 3* @ $136 and a 4.5* @ $204. Not sure if that means that the 4* properties haven't made any rooms available on any opaque sites for that time.

I knew there was no shot in getting a room near Newport for a decent price, so I selected the Warwick area as I have in the past. In past years, I have had better luck with hotels in that area, but this year almost got shut out. Bids: 3* Coventry - West Warwick - $55 - rejected add 3* Providence Airport - Warwick - $60 - rejected add 2.5* - $62 - rejected After checking Hotwire and Top Secret Hotels on Travelocity, determined that I could score a 2* (most likely one of the two Extended Stay Americas) for $54-$60 on those sites. One last shot at $51 - 2* - accepted. A less optimal result than I hoped for but best I could do given my late decision to go to Newport again this year. For those playing at home, I saved all of $8 over the total price if I had gone with Travelocity's Top Secret Hotel. But keeping the $8 makes me feel like I am sticking it to the man. Used your PRICELINE link.

I've tried scoring Newport on PRICELINE every year for the 4th usually going up to $115. Always shut out. Hotwire has a 3* for $159. Complimentary breakfast, fitness room, pool, laundry, business center and high speed internet are the amenities. Not sure which place that is. In the past with money tight, I have just stayed in Warwick where you can get a nice property for around $50. Even after paying for parking and tolls, I can still afford a really nice meal in Newport with the savings. This year maybe I'll splurge on the HOTWIRE room, if you don't grab it first.

I think that's a good location for you south of the campus. The neighborhood isn't really all that attractive but its fine. White Castle's headquarters is just down the road. And You should be able zip over to the site. The Arena district isn't too terribly far away either. Hope the trip works out for you.