CheshireCat

Just booked using your link. Cost $55 + $13.80 tax and fees. Hotel Amenities listed as: Free Parking Free Internet Pet friendlyAirport Shuttle Smoke Free Rooms 9Fitness CenterPool(s) Restaurant(s)Business CenterSelf service laundry Internet access Tennis Nearby Accessibility: Accessible for the blindAccessible for the deafAccessible path of travelIn-room accessibilityAccessible bathroomHandicapped parkingRoll-in shower

Found it! I am automatically taken to the Hotwire UK site and on that site you can't see the amenities after booking. But I can force my browser to the US site and retrieve the reservation there. Here's the list the US site shows: Amenities Free Parking Airport Shuttle Smoke Free Rooms Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Internet access Accessible for the blind Accessible for the deaf Accessible path of travel In-room accessibility Accessible bathroom Handicapped parking Roll-in shower

Sorry. I can get at my reservation when I go back into Hotwire but I can't see how to get back to the amenities list.

Just booked via your HOTWIRE link. Amenities listed as: Free Parking, Airport Shuttle, Smoke Free Rooms, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Internet access, Accessible for the blind, Accessible for the deaf Thanks

Sorry - my error. Don't know where my brain was when I posted but the total was $71.35 (base price $58 + $13.35 taxes)

Just booked - cost $103 with taxes. Amenities listed: Free Parking Suite Indoor pool(s) Airport Shuttle Smoke Free Rooms Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) 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

Just booked. Amenities listed: Smoke Free Rooms, Complimentary Breakfast, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Business Center Used your HOTWIRE link of course. Thanks to BB again!

Just booked. Perfect after our 8 hour transatlantic flight. :) Amenities shown as: Airport Shuttle, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business Center, High-Speed Internet Access Used your HOTWIRE link of course.

Amenities: Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business Center, High-speed Internet Access Rate $66.00 plus taxes $10.53 = $76.53. Note hotel also charges $10 per night resort fee. Good rate but be warned, the rooms are very small for a 4*.

Just booked this great deal. Perfect for an overnight at MCO after my long flight from the UK. Amenities shown: Airport Shuttle, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business Center, High-speed Internet Access Used your HOTWIRE link. Thanks.

Booked for Nov 12th-15th. $39 per night. Candlewood Suites, Hoffman Estates. Facilities listed: suite, fitness, laundry, internet, golf, kitchenette. Booked using your HOTWIRE link. Thanks for the great info here on BB as usual.

It's a couple of years since I looked at Priceline. For UK residents they didn't allow the "Name Your Own Price" option. I'm not sure when they introduced it but I found it is available now. :) First bid of

Customer Favorite Facilities: Suite, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Laundry Facilities, High-speed Internet Access, Golf Nearby 3.5* Chicago (Arlington Heights-Elk Grove) Sheraton Suites, $49 ... 10/06/07-10/07/07 I needed 1 night following a business trip and downtown has the marathon on at that weekend so I thought head up to Woodfield Mall and shop instead. Thanks to the excellent info here I booked with confidence that this hotel was the Sheraton Suites and sure enough it is. :) Thanks to all at BB (and yes I did use your link to HOTWIRE :) )

I'm not sure what information you want that isn't in my first post. The first line gives the amenities: Fitness Centre, Pool, Restaurant, Business Centre, Golf Sorry if it wasn't clear and do let me know if there is something else you need me to describe.

Fitness Centre, Pool, Restaurant, Business Centre, Golf Just booked this. Hotel's own website is quoting a best rate of $134 so I'm very happy with the rate I'm paying. This is only my second chance to use Hotwire for a hotel. Thank you to thereuare and everyone else on betterbidding.com for making the Hotwire process less scary than it would otherwise be. :) Edited - Sorry I didn't realise the heading would get truncated. It's the Hilton Garden Inn, Addison 9/28/06 - 9/29/06

Thanks again. I take your point about gas costs. It's strange that they can include the full cost in a quote out of the UK but not the US. I don't think I'm goining to start phoning round though - the transtlantic phone bills could easily get bigger than any savings!

Thanks but maybe I can give one example to illustrate a bit more why I can

I'm in the UK but I visit the USA 2-3 times a year and have done so for the last 20 years. Previously when the agent at the rental desk asks me if I want ABC, XYZ or whatever then I've no idea what I really need and what he/she is just trying to sell to me just to bump up his/her commission. :) Over time I've come to book my car rental via a UK agent and go for something like the Alamo "Gold" package or the Dollar "Platignum" package which include all relevant taxes and insurance. If I look at the US web sites then I realy cannot make sense of all the various taxes and insurances and usually come away having no idea what a car will cost me. So I guess I'm paying more for my car hire than others on this board. So it would be really great if anyone in this community could give us a guide. Hope you all can help.

Also code V148 from "triprewards" gives 20% of all Amtrak fares until 19th November. See: TripRewards

Just wanted to say "thanks" for this thread. I'm considering using Skyauction for a San Francisco hotel in April 2005 - they seem to have lots on offer. I am keeping an eye on the bidding and they seem to go for good rates. Plus you know the hotel name in advance. If anyone has any additional advice, I'll be glad to read it.

For info - we're now back from our Toronto trip. The hotel booking worked perfectly. I handed over my Starwood Preferred Guest card when we checked in. The receptionist explained that I wouldn't get credited with the stay - fine I was expecting that. We were given a nice room on one of the higher floors with a great view. I don't know if my SPG card helped or whether we'd have got that room anyway. So altogether a good experience (I can recommend the hotel's restaurant too.)

:) Well we took the train. The business classs seats were very comfortable, much like an airline business class seat. The views all the way up the Hudson valley were really nice. The conductor on the US sidewas a helpful, friendly guy who kept coming by to point things out to us and the other passengers. We did take some bread, ham and cheese with us. I am glad we did. There was good coffee available but the microwave pizzas and hotdogs looked awful. We arrived in Toronto on time and totally non-stressed. After 5 days of New York's noise and bussle it was nice to sit back and relax. I'd recommend this trip to others.

Thanks for the input. As I said originally, I know flying will be quicker and cheaper but thanks thesqueegeekid for the info on Jetsgo. I'd never come across them before. Given the info on the state of the cars and food, if I do decide to take the train then I will go business class and take some food. But my main reason for considering travelling by rail is the view and I was particuallrly thinking about the journey up the Hudson valley. So does anyone have any info on this? I will be picking up a car in Toronto and will do Niagara then.

Yes I know flying is much quicker and probably cheaper, but I am thinking of making this trip by train in October. I've never been to the area before and I hope to be able to see more of the Fall colour in upper NY State this way than if I fly. But I have no experience of US rail travel so can anyone comment: - Is it worth paying for the business class seat (it's a 12 hour journey)? - Any views on the availability and quality of food on the train or should I bring a picnic? - Any other helpful advice? I have found a way of saving 20% off the train fare (using the code V148 that I got from my "Trip Rewards" hotel card is good for this trip but the code V822 that I found on a couple of websites isn't). Are there any better savings to be made? Thanks everyone.

Booked for Tuesday, Oct 5th - Thursday, Oct 7th. Price US$92 per night Described by Hotwire as "Best Value" Facilities listed: restaurant, Pool, Fitness Centre, Business Centre, Spa, Tennis The price was quoted to me as US$85 but it went up as I registered on Hotwire and completed the booking process. Still it's a better deal that any other I've found. This is the first time I've used Hotwire. So many thanks to members and moderators on this board as I was able to identify the particualr hotel before I booked it.