MelP

I booked this for a business trip for a couple of people from my office. Got it on my very first bid - put in 3* in this zone - perhaps I could've started a bit lower but only had two more bids to play with and needed to secure something soon. Plus it is right near HUD, where my office mates have their meetings so the location worked out well! Rate on this date is $159-189. The details: Residence Inn Washington DC Capitol Hill Check-In: Thursday, March 11, 2010 Check-Out: Sunday, March 14, 2010 Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $75.00 (USD) Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 3 Room Subtotal: $225.00 (USD) Taxes and Fees: $40.98 (USD) Total Room Cost: $265.98 (USD) I used the PRICELINE link. Continued thanks for all the tips. :)

You were probably dead on, or within a couple of dollars - I've been bidding for about a week and a half now 3.5*/4* in DT Vancouver/Granville Entertainment for 10/27-10/30 - $61, 65 and 70 each time and not hit a thing. While availability is tightest and prices highest on the 28th, overall regular prices during that period are not bad a all, even on the 28th. I have a long-standing reservation somewhere at C$84, which is why I have been bidding lower - but tax is not refundable on a PRICELINE res so that's why $70 (US) has been my max. So yeah, you did well. :)

Final night of my trip to Seattle/Vancouver, since my flight departs at 7:15AM Sunday morning, staying at an airport hotel seems the way to go... Again, hit this on the first bid. Doubletree Hotel Seattle Airport Check-In: Saturday, October 31, 2009 Check-Out: Sunday, November 1, 2009 Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $40.00 (USD) Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Room Subtotal: $40.00 (USD) Taxes and Fees: $13.08 (USD) Total Room Cost: $53.08 (USD) Used your PRICELINE link again. Happy to have it all squared away now! :)

Last night I bid for the first part of my visit to Seattle, tonight I bid for the second part after returning from Vancouver. Not much data around on this particular night, so I started lower, with a $66 4* bid for this zone and I hit it straight off... The Westin Seattle Check-In: Friday, October 30, 2009 Check-Out: Saturday, October 31, 2009 Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $66.00 (USD) Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Room Subtotal: $66.00 (USD) Taxes and Fees: $17.25 (USD) Total Room Cost: $83.25 (USD) I am pleased. I used your PRICELINE link for the bid - thanks again for the data! Will post my last bid for this trip in a minute (I think, unless I see low enough Vancouver wins to make it worth ditching my current conventional reservation)

I am happy with the hotel - looks quite nice! My flight doesn't get in until 9:30PM, so I wouldn't be seeing anything then and staying out at the airport my first night is no biggie at all.

Things are a little pricey in DT Seattle during this period so I decided to bid the Airport for the first night of my trip since I don't get in until late in the evening anyway. I hit this, as expected, on the first bid: Doubletree Hotel Seattle Airport Check-In: Saturday, October 24, 2009 Check-Out: Sunday, October 25, 2009 Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $40.00 (USD) Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Room Subtotal: $40.00 (USD) Taxes and Fees: $13.08 (USD) Total Room Cost: $53.08 (USD) I'll probably bid this again tomorrow for the last night of my trip since my return flight leaves really early. I once again used your PRICELINE link - thanks for the tips!

Flying into SEA and staying a couple of days en route to Vancouver to see U2. I originally bid 10/24 - 10/27 but after $75, $80 and $85 were rejected, I decided to stay at a cheaper airport hotel for 10/24 (I will post that in a sec) since I get in late anyway, and focus on the other two nights. Again, I bid $75, $80, and $85 to no avail, but hit this at $90 for 10/25 - 10/27... Hyatt At Olive 8 Check-In: Sunday, October 25, 2009 Check-Out: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $90.00 (USD) Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Room Subtotal: $180.00 (USD) Taxes and Fees: $35.46 (USD) Total Room Cost: $215.46 (USD) Will need to bid for another night on the return from Vancouver, which I will probably do tomorrow... I used your PRICELINE link to bid...thanks for all the data! :)

When I was bidding Philadelphia hotels on Priceline this week, I noted that the Philadelphia (Gloucester - Runnemede - Deptford) zone's highest level is now just 2.5*, so that zone is now a rebid option when bidding 3*s in Philadelphia, very good news as the city had no free rebid options at 3* previously.

Heading down for an overnight to see Eddie Vedder perform at the Tower Theater. Staying in University City would've worked well for this but, although the Sheraton and Hilton Inn are not sold out, I wasn't confident on getting anything anytime soon there because it's Drexel's graduation weekend. So I focused on Downtown for this - was kind of torn between trying for a really cheap 3* or paying a bit more for a 4*. I tried for a 3* first - bid Downtown $45, added University City $50, added Gloucester-Runnemede as a free rebid at $55, all rejected. I waited 24 hours, decided to try out for a 4* and bid $80 Downtown - got the Sofitel on the first try. Hotel Name: Hotel Sofitel Philadelphia Check-In Date: Friday, June 12, 2009 Check-Out Date: Saturday, June 13, 2009 Your Offer Price: $80.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $80.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $19.66 Total Charges*: $99.66 The non-refundable early booking special on the Sofitel's website was $140 - $160 total with tax. So I saved about 43% over that rate, and even more over the other rates. Excellent location, and it's rated #1 in the city on TripAdvisor so I am very happy with this. I used the PRICELINE link to place the bid. Thanks again to this site for the tips and data. :)

I won this hotel for $55/night on Priceline for a four-night stay the second week of March 2008. I was a little concerned that it looked a little out of the way on the map, but I needn't have as it is pretty well-located for experiencing what Toronto has to offer and may even be better located than many other hotels for dining and nightlife. I arrived at the hotel at around 2PM on a Sunday, the room they had for me was a one-bed king, but since a friend had decided to join me at the last minute, I asked to be switched to a two-bed room. At first the check-in clerk said that there were none available, but he checked further and was quickly able to locate a two-bed on the fourth floor. The hotel is literally built into the Rogers Centre (aka the Skydome) and the room looked into the stadium, where there was a school-break carnival set up. If you crave sunlight then the stadium view rooms may not be for you but it was a fun view for me with all the carnival lights (fortunately the carnival was 10-9 each day so it didn't interfere with sleep). The room was a bit larger than average, it had a sitting area by the stadium window with two cushioned chairs and a side table facing the TV cabinet, which also had drawers and the ice bucket. The TV had an extensive selection of channels, both Canadian and American, I was able to keep up with the former Gov. Spitzer saga that broke while I was there on the Buffalo stations. The two beds in the room were queens, separated by a night stand. Mattress was quite firm but comfortable, the pillows a bit small and a little soft for my taste. On the other side of the bed was a desk with ample surface area to work on. The room also had a closet (with inside light) that also had drawers to store stuff in. The bathroom was average hotel size with granite surface around the sink and ample room to put the toiletries on top. Nice selection of toiletries (including a boot cleaner/buffer, which was very handy after trudging all day in the aftermath of a foot+ of snow) by Lather, although no shower cap. Housekeeping was good, everything was clean. The room could've used a picture or two hanging on the walls, it was a little stark without it, but otherwise the furnishings were in excellent condition and the decor was tasteful. One other critique was that the lighting was rather dark in the room, it could've used a bit more brightness, especially with the interior view. The hallway corridor outside the room was modernly nice, although it can be a long and circuitous walk to some rooms, you can easily get lost on the way to the ice machine. :) Experienced little to no noise from the hall or adjoining rooms. The lobby was very modern and nice. You can access free wi-fi in the lobby so there were always people down there with their laptops, although I couldn't get connected on my wi-fi smartphone even though it did see the signal. There is a restaurant in the hotel that we didn't eat at although we did get Starbucks to go in the morning. I didn't order room service, I did check the menu though and it looked a bit pricey. There is also a small convenience store there. The staff there was nice and professional, albeit a bit laid-back. The clientele seemed to skew towards the young and trendy (although there were all kinds of people), saw several musician types while there. Front Street and the Theater/Nightlife district are just a brief stroll across the train overpass. Right on the other side is a very handy 24 hour supermarket and a Tim Horton's. Another block or two up Blue Jays Way is a great breakfast place called Cora's which also has free wi-fi that did work for me, I ate breakfast there every morning. BTW, while the airport bus doesn't list the Renaissance as a stop, if you tell the driver you are going there he will drop you at the corner of Front and Blue Jays Way and you just walk over the overpass to the hotel (you do have to walk to either the Intercontinental on Front or the Holiday Inn on King to get the bus back to the airport). In all, I had a great stay at the hotel...while it may be more of a 3.5* rather than a 4*, I was quite satisfied with it.

Heading to Atlanta for the Radiohead concert and just check out the city. Bid 3* Midtown only at $65 on first bid and hit it straight off: Your Offer Price: $65.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 3 Subtotal: $195.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $37.48 Total Charges*: $232.48 The Georgian Terrace website gives a rate of $118.30/night for the nights of the 7th and 8th and $83.30 for the 9th. I probably should've started lower, but $65 minus 2 or 3 bucks seems to be the minimum win for this hotel and any other 3* in this zone anyway. Still a total savings of $135 for the stay, so I can't complain! I did use the suggested PRICELINE link to place the bid. Thanks again to this forum for the continued tips.

Heading to Toronto for four nights to take in a couple of performances by my Icelandic musical love. :o I wanted Downtown Toronto only. Bidding 4* only, I started out with a $53 bid (I haven't seen anything below $54 but I wanted to test the waters :) ), which was rejected; I got a message that they had something if I increased by $15, which I knew to reject. So I kept it at 4* only, added Brampton and increased to $55 and got this... Hotel Name: Renaissance Toronto Hotel Downtown Your Offer Price: $55.00 (US dollars) Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 4 Subtotal: $220.00 (US dollars) Taxes and Service Fees: $39.63 (US dollars) Total Charges: $259.63 (US dollars) Based on histories and looking at availabilities/rates I was betting I'd get the Marriott Bloor, but hey, this is Priceline...not much is predictable with so many 4*s in one zone. :) Maybe not precisely the location I wanted, but it is well-located for the shows I'm going to and I'm pleased! Too bad it's not baseball season, and too bad I'm not that fond of Bon Jovi. :) Best advance purchase rate was $159 (Canadian), best cancellable rate was $169, as we know Canadian and US are virtually at par these days. FYI, although I already knew Priceline had upgraded this hotel to 4*, it's still showing at 3* in the hotel list. I used the savingsbarn link, thanks again for all the tips and tricks!

I bid 3* in the University zone and won this hotel on a $75 bid when virtually every Downtown hotel was sold out. This was a one night stay on October 23rd. Despite it being slightly out of Center City it is still well-located - walking distance from 30th Street station, and just two blocks from the 34th and Market station on the Blue line. It is just a five minute subway ride from there to the center of Downtown Philly, and the #40 bus a couple of blocks away from the hotel takes you right to South Street. I arrived at the hotel fairly early at a bit after Noon and was able to check in right away. I was given a two double bed room on the 10th floor. The hotel is entirely non-smoking so smoking vs. non-smoking rooms are not an issue. The room itself was of average size and was clean and overall well-maintained, the desk was a little scuffed in one spot but that was about it. Carpet was in good shape. The furniture wasn't high style but it wasn't stodgy and cheap-looking either. There was a long desk with cushy high back chair, a four drawer dresser that had the TV on top and, something I always like in a hotel room, an easy chair with ottoman for relaxing and TV watching. There was a closet in the room entryway. No refrigerator or mini-bar, there was a coffee maker and coffee. Also two large bottles of water for $3 or 4 each that I did not touch. The bed was comfy and stacked with four pillows and a throw pillow. There wasn't an internet computer workstation in my room as there are in many rooms of the hotel, which disappointed me, but hey, this was a Priceline room so I kinda expected that. I liked the decor - color scheme was a dark blue, with one wall painted that color and the bedspreads also that color. Took an edge off of that standard hotel sterility and gave it a bit of coziness. I had a decent, open view to the west from my room. The bathroom was in good shape and very clean, with a hair dryer and the standard toiletries, but no shower cap. The bathtub had a very non-skid bottom, which is a good thing. As it was an unusually warm 80 degree day and somewhat humid, I had the a/c (controlled by an electronic wall thermostat) on and it worked fine. The lobby and lower lobby were both very nice. There is a business center in the lower lobby but it charges for everything and internet/computer access in the business center was quite pricey! The in-room and wireless connections are free. The hotel does have an outdoor pool, which I didn't check out as it was closed for the season (although it was certainly warm enough that day to swim!) The only significant minus was the condition of the corridor outside the room on my floor, which is strange because the lobby and room were nice. The corridor wallpaper was in very bad shape - peeling and discolored, making the corridor look shabby. Hopefully that's up for a refurb very soon. The staff was a mixed bag - some were pleasant, but one was a bit surly when I called down for a late afternoon wake up call after a nap. I didn't go to the restaurant or sample room service, prices seemed average for a hotel. The area itself is good, and is smack by both Drexel and the U. of Penn, so there were a lot of students around and activity well into the evening. There are also many medical facilities in the area. There are widely scattered restaurants around, including an Italian/pizza restaurant across the street that looked busy. There was also a Wawa (combo 7-11 type store and deli) across the street, which was quite handy, and a Starbucks down Chestnut in the opposite direction. If you can get past the shabby looking corridor wallpaper (which may not be the case on every floor), then this hotel is a quite satisfactory place to stay and very convenient to public transport.

Thanks for the tip, I'll see. :) Not sure what time I'm going down or what else I'm doing yet. BTW, any idea what's going on there that day, nearly every hotel in Center City is sold out.

I don't drive (I'm a New Yorker :) ), so that's exactly what I'm doing. :)

Going down to Philadelphia for one night on 10/23 for a concert at the Tower Theatre just over the city line in Upper Darby. I've been bidding for a hotel for a week now. At first, I was bidding for a 3* in Downtown Philadelphia only - started at $55, then went $60, 70, 80, 90, to no avail. Hotel rates do appear to be quite high for that night and some options, like the Hilton Garden Inn and others, were showing that they had no rooms available according to their web sites. I'd been noticing that Hotwire had a 3.5 star in their City Center West zone that includes University City for $89 for that night (just checked and it is $99 now) and that is pretty sure is this Sheraton, so I switched tactics and started bidding 3* in the University zone, adding Downtown as the rebid, since that zone is on the way to the concert. First round I bid $60 - rejected, added DT and raised to $65, still rejected. Tonight I started at $70 for University, which was rejected but I got a counteroffer to increase my bid by $22. I rejected that, added DT and bid $75...accepted! My details: Sheraton University City Hotel Check-In Date: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 Check-Out Date: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 Your Offer Price: $75.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $75.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $18.39 Total Charges*: $93.39 I'm relieved! For awhile there I was worried I wasn't going to get anything cheap and possibly have to either not stay and take a bus/train home in the middle of the night or not go at all. Thanks to this board for all the references.

As there are only two 4*s in this zone and the Hollywood Roosevelt is usually the far likelier win, this news will likely significantly decrease availability there this summer... May 22, 2007 05:24 PM by LiveDaily Staff Prince is expected to announce plans for a seven-week residency in Los Angeles, the L.A. Times reports. According to the report, the yet-to-be-finalized plans call for Prince to play seven consecutive Fridays at the Roosevelt Hotel, starting June 15. The paper claims that Prince will hit the stage at 11: 30 p.m. for a two-hour performance in the Blossom Room--which can accommodate 250 seated guests and an unspecified number of standing-room-only patrons--and that the hotel's Dakota restaurant will be transformed into an after-hours dinner club at 2 a.m., at which time Prince's private chef will take over the kitchen, and Prince will lead a jazz ensemble that will entertain diners until 4 a.m. The paper reports that Prince will be staying at the hotel all summer while he and his band rehearse for their recently announced 21-show run in London.

Heading to LA to chase my new-ish musical love and see some shows. Spending 2 nights central LA and 2 out by Redondo/Manhattan Beach (bidding 3* there right now, haven't hit yet with a lowball bid, will drop to 2.5* if I don't hit). Since I am sharing a room, I could afford to go a little more luxe in the accomodations, set my target on the Hollywood zone since this one was likely (Renaissance also possible) and is in a more hoppin' area than most of the 4*s in WeHo/BH... 1st bid 4* Hollywood $90 rejected Added free re-bid Brentwood/Westwood $100 rejected Added free re-bid Culver City $105 rejected Added free re-bid Lawndale $110 accepted (Redondo/Manhattan Beach and Santa Monica/Marina del Rey were also free re-bids I didn't use) Roosevelt Hotel Hollywood Check-In Date: Mon, May 14, 2007 Check-Out Date: Wed, May 16, 2007 Your Offer Price: $110.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $220.00 Taxes & Service Fees:$40.57 Total Charges*: $260.57 Rate at the Roosevelt is $239 for my dates (Renaissance $199) Thanks to this board for the data. :)

I am visiting May 16-19 and found things are getting tighter by the day during that period, it was my intention to Priceline my hotel but I've ended up booking conventionally at a small hotel in The Haight. Two things that are taking up rooms or making them very expensive during that time period - The May 20th Bay to Breakers run, with 65,000+ runners and 100,000+ spectators and the American Thoracic Society annual meeting with 18,000 attendees May 18-23. So, I would come up with a Plan B...

Almost everything on your list is in or much closer to Hollywood than Anaheim except Disneyland (and Sea World), and with your lodging requirements you really might want to look at Orchid Suites right by Hollywood & Highland in Hollywood - it will meet all your requirements and it gets good reviews - and book that conventionally, and then perhaps shifting to Anaheim for a couple of nights to see Disneyland and maybe Sea World.

I would have, and met him for breakfast, but alas his new flight was at 12:30pm so there was no time. Actually, I had booked this for two nights since at the airport the earliest flight they could get him out on was Sunday night. But as he was going to the hotel, the airline called and said they could get him on a flight today. I was kind of stupid booking for the two nights since I know those things could happen. I called Hotwire this morning to explain the situation on a long shot to see if the second night could be refunded and, after they contacted the hotel, they did refund the second night, so we got very lucky!

Posting this for ID purposes because the hotel's not on the board. From a price perspective, this was a booking only for the desperate, which is what my British friend was since his flight out of JFK last night was canceled due to the weather and, due to circumstances with my apt. at the moment, he couldn't crash with me. So I was bidding on Priceline and browsing around at 9:30PM to no avail - with the lateness, the weather stranding thousands and people in town for the St. Patrick's Day Parade today, there was nothing. And nothing on Hotwire for under $400 in the city either except for this, so I took a deep breath and booked it. 2* Downtown-SoHo No Amenities is the Windsor Hotel, 108 Forsyth Street off of Chrystie, bet. Grand and Delancey. Got a bit worried when I found out what and where it was, but after looking at TripAdvisor and Venere reviews, I felt a lot better that he'd live, his lodging standards are quite low anyway. :) Actually, when he got there he said it was nice, nicer than where he'd been staying for the same price (somewhere around 29th and 8th, not the Chelsea Star or HI Express). The hotel is Chinese-owned, six years old and 41 rooms. Also very close to the subway, the B,D,F (orange) lines stop less than a block away and the JMZ another block further. Anyway, in normal times you can do way better for $180 but if it is a desperate time, this is there.

Amenities are: Restaurant(s), Fitness Center, Spa Services, High-Speed Internet Access, Business Center. Think the Spa Services are the giveaway on this one. Well I think a OS theory might be plausible as it consistently comes up $184 on XP (two diff machines and browsers) while it was consistently $177 on diff Win2000 machines/browsers. But it's probably as you say. :)

Normally I'm a Priceline gal for myself and the occasional co-worker and pals, but I had to be a bit more cautious with this one as this is for a guest for an event we're having at work. Had pretty much sussed out beforehand that it was this hotel and knew it was very acceptable, and with a regular cheapest rate of $299 for it for that day, I thought it was a good deal. So I made my first-ever Hotwire purchase. Total with taxes and fees was $210.95. BTW, I pulled this hotel up on Hotwire on another computer with IE/XP not 30 seonds before I brought it up on my Firefox/Win2000 computer and the price for the same was $184 on IE/XP. Also that computer had no Priceline cookies, mine does. Just a couple of observations.

Airfare wise, January-February is consistenly cheapest, but most of the time November is just as cheap as January. You have Nov.-Dec. up as a choice though, and the second half of December is not cheap. Hotel-wise, I would say that again January-February is the cheapest (hotels that have low season rates have them from Nov. or Dec through March 1 or 15) because there are fewer tourists, but the disparity is not as much as with airfares.