BacSi

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1...rd_Holland.html You will find a ton of reviews here for that hotel. I spent 14 nights there on a PRICELINE stay in Jan. Have not a word of complaint. In fact just about the only negativity you will see in the reviews comes from customers that paid 2x-4x more than what you paid. The PRICELINE winners I have seen have been very happy with this property. That free 15 min on the computer is a nice touch. They do not advertise this. Just ask at the front desk. Any questions just ask.

PL NYOP recently (within the past 7-8 months) upgraded this hotel from a 4 to a 5 star. For years it (and the Marriott) were 4 stars when it came to bidding.

Yes sorry. TripAdvisor. They have dozens of reviews of that hotel. Pretty highly rated. Maybe the best views out of any Amsterdam hotel room. Good tram service but maybe a 12 min walk from the hotel to the train station. 12 mins farther out. For some that is a lot. For others not at all.

The only 4* in AMS East I have seen come up via Hotwire at any time has been the Movenpick. Check out the TA reviews.

A well reviewed hotel. About an extra 10 min walk or so from say the area of the Marriott to the more center. As stated good tram service. When you bid you just see more different hotels come up at the 5* level. For the 4*'s its more predictable. Right now for 4's the NH Amsterdam Centre ($67-$70 for most dates) And the Movenpick which you usually see with bids of about $79 up. Its been a long time since we have seen anything else at that 4* level. If someone is concerned with location the 4* may be a better bet.

Not only has this hotel gone from a 4 to a 5 so has the Marriott. Both should be changed.

During the summer we saw lots of $65 4 star winners. But as of the fall prices started to go up a little. Right now $67-$69 is your sweet spot.

I ended up doing this in two bids. The first was for the last 8 nights. The 2nd one was for the first 6 nights. I really think I over bid by a dollar or two. First bid was $65 got a counter offer which I declined. 2nd bid for both was $69. I got two winners. I am pretty sure this hotel can be gotten for $67 and $68 for many nights now at this time of the year. No reason to bid more at least as a start. And right now at these low pricepoints the NH Amsterdam Centre seems to be the one you are likely to get. I have already called asking for room preference etc.

Dates?

I would not try to get 4 into a room. Not 4 adults. First the rooms tend to be small. Much smaller than you might be used to. I have done it with small kids and the Mrs. Crowded and uncomfortable. But adults.....no way. Besides through the good graces of PL and those hotels willing to be apart of PL we are seeing some world class deals in Amsterdam. Deals so good that I can hardly believe it. PL rooms for virtually 1/2 of what PL rooms were a few years ago. Great great deals. Lets not screw it up. The deal is two adults. Lets honor the deal. My advice is to bid on 2 rooms or get a 1 star hotel quad room.

Nothing like me saying a day or so ago that we had not seen the Movenpick show up for months as a winner. Now 2x in 2 days. I am so glad we do not have to depend totally on the NH decision to be active in the PL bidding for great deals. You "may" have overpaid but not by much. We are seeing $65-75 pretty much for 4's in the Center. Although recently several bidders had a devil of a time getting anything for a decent price for the exact same time you were bidding. So all in all I'd say you did great. First bid though? I wonder how low the MPick can be had?

Brian, in the old days PL had two zones where they now have one. Centrum was one. And Museum zone was another. I was sad to see them combine the two. Not exactly sure why they did the combining.

"Amsterdam, as 'City Center - Museum Quarter'. It certainly wouldn't be described as that by me and it isn't by Priceline or any of the other booking sites." I hate to disagree with a local expert but PL does have the Hilton as Center Museum Zone.

Just based on what you have here I thought it might be the Hilton. Thats the 5 the farthest out from the Center that shows up at least on PL. Being so far out, relatively speaking, I thought they might be "closer" to any golf. In truth I have never seen a golf course in my 100's of hours of walking the Centrum. This below is from the Hilton site. Nothing about tennis though that I could see. Brian who now posts here may have a better guess. * Golf - driving range nearby * Golfing nearby * Boating on site * Aerobics on site * Bicycle rentals on site

I could not find anything on your Movenpick bidding. Could I ask your dates and bidding history for that property? And approx. when you made that bid? I think this may be only the 2nd or 3rd time I have read of anyone getting the Movenpick who bid in 2009. Thanks BacSi EDITED: I did find it. Thanks anyway

Well I am no tout for the NH brand. But I did have great luck with them on a PL stay last janurary. The NH Schiller. Although that was the only time I saw that property come up as a winner in 2009. Brian loved his stay at the NH Amsterdam Center. People seem to really like the NH Barbizon Palace. But the Kras and a few others get more mixed reviews. For the money I'd chance a hotel with a mixed review. But that is me. Besides I have stayed in far to many 1 and 2 star places to worry about a mixed review at a 5 star that is cheaper than my 1 and 2 star places. What dates are you going?

Taiko, one of the reasons I have seen the Hilton show up only once in 2009 as far as a posted winner is because of IMO the price. Folks are getting really cheap 4 and 5 star hotels in AMS for very little money. At least folks who do their homework are. The NH folks own the PL-AMS market right now. And their price points are low. Unless you are totally bidding blind no one is offering a Hilton type of bid. Nor a Marriott nor a Rennissance nor a Movenpick. Maybe those hotels are staying booked on their own? All of that could change on the next bid. But so far it has not. Not from all the posted winners I have seen. It would be beyond great if those dormant hotels did join the party. Maybe in time?

Kitty, if you bid and win a hotel in the center you are going to be at most a 15 min tram ride from Central Station. The Centrum is so compact that any 4 star PL hotel is going to be close. The 5 star Hilton, which based on all the winning bids I have seen, you are not likely to get, is farther out. That might ba a 30 min tram ride. I have not seen the Hilton show up in ages. NH is a good brand. And that is the one you are more than likely to get.

The Movenpick is in the Center-Museum zone. The zone most folks want to be in. If you have been following the AMS Priceline bidding like I have you would have seen a trend. Last year in 2008 the M.Pick showed up a lot as far as a PL winner. Around late 2008 or early 2009 we stopped seeing it show up. Right now based on the volume of winning bids I have seen, here, there, and everywhere ,you are more likely to score the NH Amsterdam Center if you bid for a 4. (I'd say the NH Carlton runs a distant 2nd place) For 5's right now we are seeing a run on the NH Barbizon Palace. (Although the NH Kras showed up for a good while in early 2009 and then you do not see it for another while) NH hotels are the big deal for PL right now in AMS. You could get someother brand but more likley.....it will be a NH property. 4's have been running depending on dates (we have seen some bad weeks showing up) somewhere south of $70USD to maybe as low as $55USD. 5's? A lot of them are showing up around $70 to as low as $66-$67USD. Depending on dates. As far as expensive time periods? Watch out for Queensday at the end of this month and a few days after, also the end of June to about July 3rd. And watch out for the week in Sept ending on the 17th or so. Those are very expensive Pl weeks in AMS. We may detect some others. But so far its just those three. But about the Movenpick. Most seem to love the hotel. The view out the windows is world class they say. Lots of positive feed back on that property for rooms and service. The two negatives for some? The distance you have to walk to get to central station (there is a hotel shuttle and a tram stop near by so you do not have to walk) Its a 15 min walk to the station. The hotel is just a bit out of center. The other complaint has to do with its total non-smoking status. But a lot of hotels will have that issue now.

Well I for one am not banned. Never once had words with her. Never once got in trouble. (Ok I only posted a very very few times) My last post was to state my win and the fact that I booked through her site. But never again. I will in the future bid through BB and I now refer folks to come here for info and to bid. I am afraid to post there. Mainly because I want to continue to read there. I can't take the chance. You can call me collateral damage I guess. (it is also sooooooo very slow there.....almost dead)

The Kras always comes up as a 5* not a 4* . From the hotel as well as from PL------ so I doubt its the Kras EDITED: Although now that I say that I see that TA has the Kras as a 4*. But if HOTWIRE uses the same * level as PRICELINE its got to be another property.

I do not know this hotel or the area. But after reading this thread I did read some reviews. Virtually all of the english language reviews had one in common comment......"far from the center". One stating that it was a 10 min walk and a 40 min ride. Hopefully that is an overstatement. And of course it depends where you will be going in the Centrum. You will be a lot closer to some areas of the centrum than others. Unless this forum has a lot of Amsterdam locals posting here I'd go over to the Trip Advisor/ Amsterdam Forum. We have a number of well versed locals that post there. They can give you the best info as to how to get into town. How long it should take. Or what to do in the area you are in. Trust me this question gets asked a lot. Someone at TA will be able to set you straight. Good Luck

Thanks. Let me say that you guys do a wonderful job here (as you did at that other place) We are refering folks from the Trip Advisor AMS/Forum to place their bids here. Hopefully they will do so. Without you guys none of this works.

Well I got the answer. There is an international medical conference that ends on July 3. That is why the OP had no luck at the lower bids.

Romelle, I am not bidding for those dates. I am though helping to track PL rates for AMS for all of 2009 at another site not named bidding4. I will be bidding later in the year for my nest trip. My interest in this thread is only because it falls so far out of what we have been seeing for the spring and summer in AMS.