wolverines1

Been off the board for a while, but have used the Better Bidding PRICELINE link with success in the past ...thanks for all the tips. My bids have mostly been in smaller markets. Now comes the Big Apple, which is a whole different world. Freedom looks like too many choices. Family of 4, 2 adults, 2 teens, traveling to NYC Apr 21-24. I played around on PL a bit and I notice that the bid-your-own-price areas don't at all correspond with the discount reservations areas -- I don't see detail like Empire State Bldg, MSG etc on the discount site. You've posted a list of hotels in each "bid" area at the top of this string ...still reasonably current? I understand there are no guarantees and the star ratings move around without notice, although presumably the hotels don't. Do you have any advice about how to reconcile the locations of hotels on the discount site v the locations on the bid site? We're inclined to stay in the ESB, MSG or MTE areas, not too far from ESB itself though maybe more east toward the Lex line. I'm happy to bid on 4* hotels on PL and see what happens. What's your judgment about what 3.5* means in NYC? I haven't tried HW yet, which appears to give the buyer a little better insight into which hotel fits the description. True? Another issue I'm wrestling with is whether to bid on 2 rooms separately, or 1 larger room for the 4 of us. Is there any way to pre-choose a 2-room suite, for example? Any advice is welcome. Thanks for your help.

Not an especially good deal here, but my fault through clumsy bidding. This is probably a 2.5* hotel or perhaps a 3*, very nice but basic business suite, no restaurants and nothing really within walking distance. Plain vanilla. Retails at $129/night. I had hoped to get the Radisson downtown, which I would rate as at least 3.5* and perhaps 4*, nice central location near offices and Arcadia restaurants/bars (including Bell's for you beer connoisseurs), nice amenities, two restaurants, including Zazio's, which would hold its own in Chicago. Downtown Radisson retails at $149. Priceline rates both as 3*, which makes absolutely no sense to me, but go figure. I bid a bit high on the top Priceline category of 3*, hoping the higher bid would bump me into the better property. No luck. I'm sure the Residence will be fine, but if I had to do it over again, I would start bidding at about $50. For those visiting the Kzoo area for the first time ...you'll be pleasantly surprised by the vibrant downtown. And if you have kids 5-14, check out the Air Zoo. (For you older kids, the F-16 simulators are the same as at the Air & Space in DC. Strap in and hold on.)

The newbie is happy to help. Reports are this is quite a nice Hyatt property, so I hope it works out. Livonia is a nice location, reasonable distance to airport, downtown, Ann Arbor, Southfield. Several quality restaurants along Haggerty Road between 6 and 8 Mile Roads. Enjoy! Thereuare: technical question -- most of the new threads have an orange link on the left which takes the user to the latest post ... how does one put that in to the reply or new post? Thanks.

First bid $37 rejected. Added Farmington for rebid, accepted. Tax and fee total $50.81. Web price for room only, $123. Also automatically upgraded to Hyatt Place, PRICELINE lists as 3* hotel. Used the PRICELINE link thru BB. Everyone should use it.

not boutique so that eliminates inn on ferry street... does that only leave riverside hotel? What hotel is the Riverside? From the description, it seems like the Marriott... but the Marriott is still there... is this a new hotel? Riverside is the old Ponchartrain. It had a Sheraton designation for about 6 months in 2008, but that was suddenly dropped. The place is a bit worn and the local reviews have been poor. Some improvements were made to qualify for the Sheraton logo, so physically the place isn't bad but the service is inconsistent. It has no internet reservation capability at the moment. The Courtyard across from the Ren Cen (formerly the Omni) might be a 3*. Also there is a new Doubletree in the rehabbed Fort Shelby, actually quite nice. Take a look at the pinned posts for the MI hotels. They've been updated recently to include the just-opened Westin Book Cadillac, locally getting rave reviews. Best of luck.

Same price as this priceline hotel win, $65 was still good for 4/23-24. Best internet price has moved a little to $189.