butterfly

With Liverpool having the honour of being European City of Culture in 2008 there was quite a bit of pressure on hotel rooms. Travelodge was

Hello I'm looking for a centrally located hotel in London on 21st December and always check HOTWIRE and BetterBidding before booking anything! I'm stumped though with the offer of a 4* in Westminster for $129. It's not on the list of identified hotels. I think it might be the Park Plaza Victoria...anyone got any ideas? Andy

One night stay for a trip to Sadler's Wells which is about a 10 minute walk from the Hilton Islington. First attempt was for

Apologies for forgetting these details, I appreciate how crucial they are when trying book a hotel using hotwire! Amenities listed were: Restaurant(s) At least one restaurant is located on the premises. Restaurant hours may vary. Fitness Center Exercise equipment is available for guest use. An additional fee may apply. Business Center Guests have access to business equipment/services. Further top tip, though I'm not sure the hotel will honour this as it's a hotwire booking... If you sign up (for free) for the Melia reward card programme, MAS, and present the card at check-in you're automatically offered buy one, get one free for breakfast. I'll give it a go when I stay in April and report back.

Having accepted an invitation to a friend's 30th birthday on 21st April I started to look for accommodation in London. What I hadn't appreciated is that this is the weekend of the London Marathon and hotels are either fully booked or more expensive than usual. I tried Priceline in most central areas up to

Another possibility is that this hotel may be the new Sleep Inn, due to open in March 2007. It's a similar format to a Holiday Inn Express, with a free continental breakfast, which would explain the icon shown. I'm inclined towards this because I'm trying to book a one night stay on 21st April 2007, which clashes with the London Marathon! This hotel pops up on my search and I think it's unlikely that the HI Express would be selling this at a discount. The Sleep Inn however has little or no presence yet and may be happy just to get some rooms filled!

That's a fair point that you make. However when you consider that the cheapest rate including tax on hilton.co.uk for a last minute booking at the Hilton Kensington on a Thursday night is

First bid of

Well further to my post just below, on discussing the win at $67 for the Thistle Marble Arch the other half suggested we stay the Friday night as well! I placed a bid for

Moral of the story, always check the board before bidding! I'd previously booked this hotel for the same amount (

I didn't check this board before making my bid, which in itself is unusual, wish I had as it looks like I could have got a few more dollars off! However I'm happy with the rate as the best available on the Thistle website is

This hotel is a little hard to find when searching on the net as it is a hotel that was originally a Le Meridien property (like the Hilton Waldorf) before they pretty much pulled out of the UK. There are lots of old links and references to the hotel. It is designed in the Art & Tech style that Le Meridien were working on before the hotel was sold to the Guoman chain who have contracted out the day to day management to Thistle Hotels. Confused....try this: www.thecumberland.co.uk.

Just a quick update on this hotel bid... Once I had checked in I had a look on the 'view my bill' option on the TV to see if they had mistakenly entered the cost of the room as sold to priceline, it looked like they had! They had payment received of

Yep, my previous offer was

I wanted a room in London for one night as my partner and I were going to see a show and didn't fancy a long commute home at midnight, what I hadn't reckoned on was the London Marathon on the Sunday morning after my Saturday night stay! After starting my bidding at $90 dollars for a 4* in the Mayfair/Soho area I gradually increased my areas of choice and increased my offer. The Regents Pk - Baker St area wasn't my final choice, I had included it from about $105 but priceline didn't bite until I'd included almost every area (with the exception of Bloomsbury & Notting Hill) and hit $116. The details... London Marriott Hotel Regents Park 128 King Henrys Road London, United Kingdom Check-In Date: Saturday, 16 April 2005 Check-Out Date: Sunday, 17 April 2005 Your Offer Price:

Initially bid

18th October 2004 - First bid for 4* London (Kensington) of

I haven't booked the plane tickets yet but I'm currently looking at check in on Thursday 10th March and check out on Sunday 20th March, as these dates are still cheap with British Airways (and even cheaper with United!) Ah the differences between the US and the UK! My figure of $165 was 'all-in', us Brits like to see exactly what we have to pay - what's the point in advertising something for $165 when it'll actually cost you $188 :) So this budget of $145 excluding tax may well affect the hotels available to me, I'd be interested to see what I can actually expect to get for my money though...

Thanks for your speedy response, it's much appreciated! The three locations you have suggested seem perfect for touring the city and it seems to me that perhaps a UK 5* = a US 4* so I guess I'd be happy with either a 3*, 3.5* or 4*! As for budget, well it's a bit tight! I've found cheap(ish) flights which leaves me with about $165 per night to spend on a room, based on today's exchange rate. Is this realistic for the standard of hotel I'm after or do I need to do a bit more saving?

Hi, I'm just starting to plan a ten day trip to New York, probably in March to coincide with St Patrick's day. Ideally I'd be after a 4 or 5 star property in a central location. What's a good way to try and get a room? What sort of bid should I be looking at? Am I thinking about this too soon? Should I split the bids up into different sections? Is a ten day stay totally out of the question using Priceline? Sorry, that's probably too many questions! Priceline isn't very popular over in the UK so any advice/help would be much appreciated!