Chris26WI

Yepp, I checked it... and I know it and its location. And according to Expedia, it's a 3.5 stars only.

I just had a look at the hotwire offers for Frankfurt (April 8-9th) and was surprises about the quite huge selection (first time I look on hotwire for Europe)... There's a 5star in "Frankfurt" for 97$++ - but not a lot of information (Restaurant, Pool, Tennis nearby, Laundry, Fitness Center, Golf nearby).. and can't figure out which hotel that might be.. according to american stars standards, Expedia.com doesn't list any 5 stars for Frankfurt.. maximum is 4.5 stars... There's an airport or Frankfurt-south 4.5 star hotel for only 77$++ - which is very probably the Steigenberger Airport (4star in Expedia, but exactly the same retail rate as shown in Hotwire) - but appears only for 1 guest, not for 2, strange. There are also several 4 stars for Frankfurt... and another 4.5 stars in Frankfurt (which is probably the Steigenberger Frankfurt Hof, same retail rate)). Marriott and Starwood don't show up in this participating chain list.. are these chain examples only examples or usually it's these hotel chains which appear in Hotwire which are shown in their explanations (examples for star categories) - I never booked via hotwire before.. Thanks for any help..

Just contact the hotel after you got it in Priceline and tell them your bedding configuration wish.. no guarantee for that, but I might assume good chances.

Check-In: Saturday, 18 February 2006 Check-Out: Sunday, 19 February 2006 Munich Airport Marriott Hotel Alois Steinecker Strasse 20 Munich, Bayern D85354 Germany 49-8161-966251 Zone: Munich Airport Your offer price: SG$90 (~55 US$) Number of rooms: 1 Number of nights: 1 Subtotal: SG$90 Taxes: SG$14.4 Processing fee: SG$16.50 Total lodging charges: SG$120.9 Started with 75SG$ (~46US$), increased in 5SG$steps till I got it (bidding for airport zone only) Cheapest rate on marriott.com: 85 Euro

seems still working via www.ichotelsgroup.com see http://www.freetraveling.com/

I was tempted once... as I hope (and am still confident) that it's the Marriott West India Quay which appears as 4-star... but however chances are good as well that the Crowne Plaza will appear too....

Well, the Marriott Berlin used to be a 3-star Priceline-hotel too for some months after they opened... which was not logic too (it's definitely a 5 star)... but probably we'll never know :-)

Interesting to see the new zones... wondering if it changes anything for Singapore bidding except for the more free rebids... Interesting to see that the Intercontinental is sold as a 3-star in PL vacations there on that site, the Holiday Inn Parkview as well (3star) - both in Orchard Road zone I assume (so risky), if sold by name-your-own-price . Sheraton Towers as 4star; The Meritus Mandarin as 4-star in Marina area.. Well probably just everything will stay the same.. for bidding strategies. And I never saw a successful 3star bid for Singapore on any board.

Stayed one night here after four nights at the Sheraton in Kowloon; though it's on the other side of the Harbour, it's just a 2-station-trip on the MRT from the Sheraton (TST to Admirality). After arrival in Pacific Place from the MRT downstairs it was a little bit hard to find the entry of the JW because it's in quite a small corner of the mall's central lobby. From this hotel entry you have to take the elevator to the 2nd (?) floor to get in the lobby of the JW - a nice lobby with a large glass front giving a nice view towards the harbour. Check-In was fast and friendly, instead of key cards they use sort of programmable keys - never saw that before, interesting. The room was a "city view" on one of the middle floors (levels) and every room feels a little bit like a corner room; we could get a side harbour view in the distance which was quite nice. The layout of the room is a little bit strange as there's a corner in the entry area which you have to pass to get to the room - which gives you a (little) impression of a small appartment. However, the room itself is not very large, about the same size as the Sheraton one's. There's a comfortable chair, a desk etc. - standard equipment. The TV is not in front of the bed (the bed is opposite of the windows), but at the left, so you have to turn your head when watching TV from the bed (though you can turn the TV a little bit). TV was ok, and offered the usual cable channels of HK. They brought chinese tea and fruits to the room after check-in which is a nice welcome. You have to use the control panel next to the bed to open the windows which is quite nice and conveniant. The bed was comfortable too. There's high-speed internet access too, of course, but for a distinct charge, as usual. The bath room was quite large in comparison to the room itself and had a separate shower cubicle, which was nice. Towels/shampoo/lotions etc. were of course available and of course of good quality. I liked the location of the JW Marriott, as you just have to get out of the hotel to be in the nice Pacific Place mall with shops and restaurants, and you have the MRT just downstairs as well. You can easily walk to the Hong Kong park from the hotel, takes maybe 5 minutes. Check-out was just as fast as check-in, nothing special however, but the staff was friendly. I didn't check out the pool and health club etc. due to the short time staying in this hotel but the pool looked nice from the distance. The rooms reminded me very much of the Marriott Singapore - very similar rooms, and very similar furniture. A little bit outdated maybe already, more classical/traditional than the Sheraton. I personally prefer the design of the Sheraton, but well, I liked the JW's room as well. The JW Marriott is a quite nice hotel in a very nice location - hard to say which one I prefer - the Sheraton or the JW Marriott... both are really nice hotels and I enjoyed my stay at the JW Marriott - as I did enjoy my stay at the Sheraton. Photos

4* La Defense is not such bad too as there are excellent connections to the city centre. You can take the RER from Grande Arche which takes you in 10-15 minutes to the center or the metro line 1 which stops at a lot of the major sightseeing spots. And if you want to go to Versailles, you can take a train from La Defense SNCF train station. Both Sofitels and the Renaissance are just a short walk from a station.

You should try Pricelines Best Price Guarantee. Asiarooms.com offers the Superior Double room for 320 Euro for the 4 nights (same dates); around 636 SG$ including taxes and charges. -- ooops.. sorry just saw, it's the price for 2 rooms.. ok, so it's still a little bit cheaper with Priceline!!

Yepp, Priceline US and UK check bids against each other

Up to now, Priceline offers up to 5 star for Nusa Dua only, up to 4 star for Kuta.

There's no rule for "best-time-bidding" in Priceline... by my experience, you should start early bidding as soon as your travel dates are fixed.. you cannot loose by trying early, just don't bid "too high" in the beginning as long as you still have time ahead.

We checked in at 12.30 pm, but the room was not ready yet... and we were given drink vouchers for the lobby bar... finally we had to wait until 2.30 pm to get the room key. I was not unhappy anyway as they offered us an upgrade to a Harbour View room for only 300HK$++ extra per night (I thought it was impossible to get such room during peak season), so I had no problem in waiting. Staff was nice and polite. The room was - as expected - a little bit on the small side, but quite newly renovated in a nice modern design. A lot of glass and mirrors everywhere; the bed was the Sheraton sleeper bed, so very comfortable; large Sony (CRT) TV with HBO and Star Movies. The interesting thing was the bath room with the little window towards the bed room (however you can use a roller blend to prevent unwanted looks :-) ). Nice glass sink in the bath room, but no seperate shower cubicle and rather short bath tub. The best of the room was the view, of course... looking towards the nicest part of HK Island. The view from the Interconti will be better of course as it's directly near the water, while the Sheraton is a little bit backwards (see photos). The location of the Sheraton TST is great, of course, couldn't be better... just a short walk to Star Walk and star ferry and Nathan road on the other side. There's a MRT exit (access) near the hotel too, but you will have to take the backwards exit (we didn't find it at the beginning). The Sheraton is a very nice hotel in a top location though the rooms are a little bit small - but that's the only drawback. Photos

This is really an excellent hotel... very big and elegant lobby with nice harbour views (though not towards the exciting part of HK Island)! Excellent staff - even the bellman called me by name several times eventhough we were really not the only guests (and stayed just for one night). Check-In fast and friendy, I pre-arranged an upgrade (for 300HK$++ extra to the PL price) to a Deluxe Harbour View room (double-upgrade) and was upgraded upon check-in once more (for free) to a Harbour Club View room! Nice! The room itself was quite large and comfortable. The furniture was more in traditional (international) style, but of good quality (excellent condition) and elegant. Everything was provided (slippers, bath robes, ironing board and iron, umbrella, in-room-safe, coffee-/teemaker, minibar, nice large TV). The bath room was very nice as well, very big, with separate shower cubicle and large bath tub (for HK relation), a lot of mirrors. The harbour view itself was however a bit disappointing as the view is towards the less interesting part of HK Island (north), but well, it was foggy that day too, so might be nicer when sunny. The pool looked very interesting, but it was for sure too cold now in December to take a swim. The only little drawback of the hotel is the LOCATION, it's really quite far from Nathan road, central TST... Well, ok the hotel provides a shuttle bus to TST.. but anyway... you can walk to Whampoa pier and take a ferry from there to HK Island, ok... but still, it's not TST. However, if you're not a first-comer to H. K. and you're not into Nathan road so much.. it might be a nice alternative to stay... - shopping in Whampoa is nearby with many shops and restaurants (for sure less expensive than the ones on Nathan road). If I had to choose between the Sheraton, the JW Marriott and the Harbour Plaza, and wouldn't take into account the location, I would for sure go for the Harbour Plaza.. but taking into account the location the other two hotels are for sure the better choice. Photos

I think the Tryp Hotel in Frankfurt-West (Rebstock, between the Courtyard and the Marriott) might show up as a 3 star as well, and doesn't seem to be a bad place to stay either.

Well, I was quite disappointed from the Cosmopolitan Hotel Hong Kong; before arrival I arranged an upgrade to a Deluxe Room at 300HK$++ per night surcharge as it looked nicer from their website, and standard rooms seem to offer only twin beds and a "frosted window" (to prevent a view to the nearby cementary). The Deluxe room (with "city view") we got was on the 3rd floor near a busy road (not really quiet at night and during the day); it looked quite small and the modern design was nice only on the first view (it you don't look too much into detail). Finally all the furniture and lamps etc. seem to be of quite cheap quality and so did the bath room. Though being a quite new hotel, the rooms showed already symptoms of distinct usage (small damages on the furniture, stains on the floor and the curtains etc). The view was not really astonishing (see photo). The location is well, not really hip, but well, a 10 minutes walk to Causeway Bay station near Times Square. Nothing special around the hotel; Times Square offers some shops and a cinema, but it's nothing in comparison to other malls in Hong Kong. There's a bus stop just around the corner or practically in front of the hotel (depends on which direction you want to go) which is quite conveniant if you're into going by bus. Bus number 6(and 6X etc.) which heads for Repulse Bay and Stanley stopps there and so its quite easy to get to the southern part of HK Island. Admirality MRT station is one stop from Causeway, so it's also ok, but it's just not as great as location as other 4-star and 5-star priceline hotels in Hong Kong. The hotel runs a shuttle bus to Causeway Bay MRT and to the Airport Express station (Central - Hong Kong station), but we didn't use it. Check-In was rather unfriendly though efficient and fast, check-out took some time was finally succeeded. We didn't take dinner in the hotel nor breakfast so I cannot say anything about that. All over, I would prevent this hotel in Hong Kong for sure - except if you get it to a really cheap price and want to stay on HK Island. Photos

Yeah, think so too... they let the customers pay for the location only.... the hotel itself is more a 4 stars IMHO

Did you try Pricelines best price guarantuee? Though not much money to recover in your case..

JW Marriott BKK treats Priceline customers just like other customers, don't worry. If you let your Marriott Rewards number (if any) add to the reservation, you can change your room preferences online.

Strange.. seems high to me... as the Four Points by Sheraton (by example) wants only something like 220 AUS$ per night and is available.. (other hotels as well probably).. so maybe it's just too early and PL doesn't have inventory yet? Don't know... Maybe you want to split it into two periods and try again at lower bid?

I assume ALL former Priceline-5-star-hotels in France are now "4star superior PLUS" Priceline-hotels (so it's just a renaming - and I think WillTravel is absolutely right, there are no 5 star hotels officially in France, that's probably why).

I saw it was listed as a "ordinary" 4star for Paris now (also in the hotel list) - maybe you should better list it as 4* Superior in the hotel list too, thereuare, otherwise it might mislead people (in terms of making them believe that they could get this hotel by bidding for "ordinary 4star" in Paris).

Yepp, looks like that.. e.g. for Bangkok there are still 5 star hotels and no 4 star superior..