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Went for North zone rather than a 3* in the South zone because of bad reviews on the Atherton. Thought I would get HI Express, which I believe was showing on HOTWIRE for $52. Initially bid $ 37 & received counteroffer of $ 52. Used two re-bid zones - bid $ 40 then $ 42. Quick overnight trip - likely going to the PSU-MSU basketball game.

Searched for 2A/2C, but same listing and price for 2A/0C. Made the purchase a little earlier than I would prefer, but figured this listing would eventually be replaced with another 3*. This is for last two days of a 5 day trip to Florida in March. I would expect I could have done better on Priceline for a 3* in either the SeaWorld or Lake Buena Vista zones where I was looking - but the complimentary breakfast is nice and Hyatt Places are our kids favorite hotels. Amenities: Non Smoking Rooms Complimentary Breakfast Fitness Center Swimming Pool Business Center Internet 95% Hotwire Approval Rating; 4.5 Trip Advisor; and no resort fee listed Used betterbidding HOTWIRE link to make purchase.

Last I heard, Hilton attempted to remove its name from this hotel and actually did remove it from the Hilton reservation system. The ownership group of the hotel was forced into Bankruptcy because the the mortgage lender started to foreclose once Hilton attempted to remove its name from the Hotel. Wyndham is interested in the hotel and would like to make it a "Wyndham Grand", which is possibly why the hotel is now known as the Grand. The ownership group of the hotel was trying to keep the Hilton name associated with the hotel until a change can be made to Wyndham. Hilton was against this and parties are fighting it out in Bankruptcy Court. I would expect that the change will take a while as everything will be needed to be worked out through the Bankruptcy Court. I would suspect that the ownership group of the hotel will try to provide an inventory of its rooms through Priceline and Hotwire, especially now that it is not on the Hilton reservation system.

Courtyard is located in the business/retail area of Monroeville. The majority of the other hotels in this area are located closer to the PA turnpike interchange. The hotel does sit back off of William Penn Highway and is hard to see. If you are coming from the east (PA Turnpike) you should make left off of William Penn Highway onto Stroschein Road (right after you pass Miracle Mile Shopping Center) and hotel will be on your right. William Penn Highway is a large retail/restaurant area. If you go in either direction from the hotel you will see many restaurants, including many of the chain restaurants.

Some do and some don't - they are most likely with Resorts and 4* hotels, but there are hotels at almost all star levels in the Orlando area that are charging these fees. They tend to be smaller fees the lower the star rating. There is no way to tell if you will get a resort or parking fee with Priceline until after your bid is accepted. With Hotwire - if you click on one of its hotel listings and then page down to the bottom right hand corner of that page - it will list if there is a resort fee (I have seen parking fees listed there as well, but not entirely sure you can rely on this) and provide the approximate amount of the fee.

Its probably a timeshare sales pitch. You would likely have to attend a sales presentation in order to get the theme park tickets.

Universal zone is closest; the SeaWorld zone is just south of the Universal zone and would also be very close, especially if you would get a hotel in the nothern part of that zone; Lake Buena Vista/Downtown Disney is also an option - probably 15-20 minute drive from Universal. The SeaWorld and Lake Buena Vista zones have more hotels in those zones than the Universal zone, especially for the 3.5* and 4* hotels or condos. Universal's web site or undercovertourist.com would probably be best option for 2 day tickets. Gate prices are normally higher than Universal's web site - undercovertourist prices may be slightly lower than Universal's web site.

Price seems a bit high - I won the Westin on Priceline mid January of 2010 for a price in the low 60's, and I think it was also available on Hotwire when I bid for about $ 10 higher than my Priceline bid. Maybe your dates or a portion of your dates are in high demand causing the higher price. Very nice hotel, but it is isolated from the other hotels and restaurants by the Convention Center along Universal Blvd and International Drive.

There is articles in local papers most days for last few weeks about this Hotel - basically Hilton wants out and Wyndham wants in. Since the owner is currently in Bankruptcy, the time frame about when this will happen is unceratin.

There is a 3.5* listed on Hotwire for your date at $ 99, and you should be able to beat that price on Priceline; you have two re-bid zones at the 3.5* level (Elizabeth and West Orange zones do not have 3.5* hotels); by scanning back a few pages on search for Newark in the Airport zone there has been accepted bids as low as $ 50 for 3.5* in the Airport zone; depending on how long you want to take to be successful, I would start to bid a little below $ 50, and by using the two re-bid zones, make three bids each day until your successful - if you make small increments to each bid, it could take a while. If you raise each bid, by say $ 5.00, you will be up to around $ 75 by the last bid on your second day of bidding. If you have not won by the second day, you should win on third day where you would be at $ 90 with your last bid.

Had a couple re-bids at the 3* level; and, I was also using the Novi zone if unsuccessful in Livonia. Was successful on 2nd bidding session. Did receive a counteroffer of $ 48, when I bid $ 38. Weekend trip to visit wife's college (EMU). UM / MSU game in Ann Arbor on 10/9 made rooms tight in the Ann Arbor/Ypisanti areas. Used betterbidding PRICELINE link to make purchase

Update on this hotel from the newspaper today - still operating under Hilton name, but it is not linked into the Hilton reservation system; Hilton willing to let it operate under its name on an interim basis if it was run by a receiver rather than the current owner under Chapter 11 Bankruptcy case; an offer has been made by Wyndam to take over hotel and convert it into a Wyndam Grand - Wyndam is interested becauase it has the largest conference facilities between Phildaelphia and Chicago.

I recently bid on priceline in Charlottesville and it took me about 9 days of bidding before I was successful. Originally tried for a 3*, - a 2-1/2* was listed as the best value by Priceline. After about 4 days of bidding on a 3* star, the 3* was then listed by Priceline as the best value. At that point, I actually lowered my bid a bit from my previous bid, and was still unsuccessful. Then I started bidding both 3* and 2-1/2* until I eventually won the Holiday Inn as a 2-1/2* bid, at that time the 2-1/2* was again listed as the best value. I think college towns can be harder to bid as the price will vary a lot depending on activities that may be going on at the campus - sporting events, parents weekend, graduation, etc.

Just my opinion - but if you feel you identified this hotel on HOTWIRE and it is still available you should make the purchase. There is no way to target this hotel on Priceline - it is one of 7 3* hotels on the current hotel list for PRICELINE in this zone - if you bid on PRICELINE you could win any of these 7 hotels, or maybe one that is not even on this site's list. Also, if you wait on HOTWIRE for a lower price, it is possible that another 3* hotel will undercut the Hyatt's price and that hotel would replace the Hyatt as the 3* listing for SeaWorld zone on Hotwire. Now if price is your main objective for any 3* hotel in that Zone, PRICELINE would be the way to go. Its possible you could get a 3* in that zone for a price from the mid 30's to the low 40's. You should confirm the amenities shown on the HOTWIRE listing, so that moderators can give you confirmation that you have properly identified the listing you see as the Hyatt.

Hilton Dowtown Pittsburgh which has had its recent problems has more - Hilton removed its name from hotel and it is no longer listed on its booking site. This has also resulted mortgage company filing foreclosure.

Just to add a couple things - Priceline's Downtown Disney Zone also includes the Lake Buena Vista area, so your winning bid may not give you a hotel that is considered one of the Downtown Disney hotels (which I believe are the Hilton, Buena Vista Palace, Holiday Inn, Regal Sun, Best Western, Doubletree Suites and Regal Sun). Most would consider these hotels to have better transportation to the parks than most other off-site (non-Disney resorts) hotels. You also have the ability to walk to Downtown Disney from these hotels and use Disney's transportation system, although this generally requires taking two buses or a bus and the monorail or the bus and a walk - as Disney's Downtown Disney transportation just goes to the Disney resorts (most likely to prevent people from parking at Downtown Disney for free to avoid the parking fees at the parks). In any case, you can not guarantee receiving a Downtown Disney hotel by Priceline bidding. Its seem that most hotels around Disney, SeaWorld, Univeral and the Convention center are charging resort and/parking fees. Its less likely the lower the star rating, but even some at the 2* and 2.5* levels have these charges. But the lower the star rating, as a general rule the lower the fee will be. There is no way to tell on Priceline when you bid whether the hotel has a resort fee or a parking fee and what the amount would be.

This Courtyard is fairly new - I would guess maybe about 2 years old. It is situate a couple miles west of the City of Greensburg, on Route 30 behind a Smokey Bones Restaurant and adjacent to a Super Walmart Plaza that has several dining options - Chilis, Red Robin, Panera, Starbucks, Arbys, Steak N' Shake and several others in some small plazas on the other side of Route 30 from the Walmart. Some people I know that have stayed there said it is a very nice Courtyard.

Did a lot of bidding over past week and a half - hoping for a 3*. My last bid for a 3* was $65, so not sure how high I would have had to bid. (Both the Omni and Residence Inn, which were previously reported 3*s were showing no rooms available on my date.) There is only one bidding zone - so there is no alternative zones to bid and no re-bids. I believe the Holiday Inn was also showing on Hotwire as a 3* for $ 69 (a couple of days ago at $65). Mixed reviews on TripAdvisor for the Holiday Inn. Just stopping for a quick visit to the campus on our way back to Pittsburgh from Myrtle Beach. Used the PRICELINE link on this site to make the purchase.

I have been bidding for about a week and half in Charlottesville with no success for 8/7. Difficult area to try to guage your bid with only 1 zone and big range of reported win prices (I guess typical for a college town). My last bids were $ 57 for a 3* and $ 49 for a 2-1/2*. There is a 3* on Hotwire for $65 (although just went up to $ 69 today) which I believe is the Holiday Inn University. I think I will try two more bids up to around $ 65 for a 3*; and if not successful, I will probably make the Hotwire purchase if still in the $ 65 to $ 70 range - even though the Holiday Inn has very mixed reviews on TripAdvisor.

Forgot to say that I made the purchase through on PRICELINE link on this site.

Using for sleepover on the way to Myrtle Beach. Initially was trying for Springfield zone, but prices seem to go a bit higher in that zone. Either Fairfax or Tysons Corner were my alternative choices.

I think this hotel is showing for a search I am running for 7/30, one night - 3*, $ 42 and 95% recommended and there are actually no amenities listed on the listing.

My strategy is to bid 3* only in State College. I believe there are currently only 3*s in the South zone, which will most likely be the Residence Inn or Courtyard. Since State College was divided by PRICELINE into 3 zones and the other two State College zones, as well as the Clearfield zone, do not have 3*s, you have 3 re-bids for bidding a 3* in the State College South zone. I have not stayed at Toftrees in over 10 years - I remember it as being fairly nice back then. I am surprised they would let it go since it was a nice golf resort.

If you bid on PRICELINE in the LBV zone, you will likely get the Hilton DTD (I believe this is the one you are trying to avoid), the Hilton Bonnet Creek (which is a new Hilton property adjacent to the Waldorf Astoria) or the Hyatt Grand Cypress. The Marriott World Center is also a possibility, but seems to come up a lot less frequently than the others. You can avoid the Hilton DTD by bidding in the Disney Maingate Celebration zone and you would likely get the Gaylord Palms or Omni at Champions Gate. You can also check the Hotwire listings in both of these zones under the 4* and 4-1/2* listings as some of these Resorts can be available on HOTWIRE.

Doubletree would be closest hotel to William Penn, but not a 4*. The Westin is not far - I would say about a 10 minute, maybe 15 minute walk. This area of town between the William Penn and the Westin is primarily office buildings. Its normally safe to walk, but late at night - such as after a wedding reception - the streets will likely be quiet with very little pediastrian traffic. If you stay at the Westin, I would recommend taking a cab back to the Westin.