footloose

First bid $45.00 for 2.5 star property. Offered a room at $55.00. Added Batesville to the bid, kept everything else the same. Won hotel at $50. Total with taxes and fees is $61.40. Just need a place to sleep and have breakfast while travelling south, so this should be perfect. Used Priceline link on BB, of course!

My three bids, each 24 hours apart...

$48 for 2.5* ... denied

$50 for 2.5* ... denied

$52 for 2.5* ... accepted

$66.59, total with taxes and fees

Used PRICELINE link!

My first bid was $48 for a 4* in Southfield, rejected.

Second bid, $50, Southfield and Downtown (free rebid), rejected.

Third bid, $52, Southfield and Taylor (free rebid), accepted.

Used SavingsBarn.com

Placed 6 bids using the 5 free rebid zones available, $50, $52, $55, $57, $59, $60. Finally accepted for $60.

Total for 2 rooms is $145.16 including taxes and fees.

Priceline's lockout period used to be 72 hours but has been reduced to 24 hours.

Three days ago, I bid from $48-$80 for a 3* using my chosen zones of Downtown-Charlestown and Copley along with various combinations of free rebids and all bids were rejected.

Today, I started at $60 and was accepted right away. I'm thankful to have gotten something decent since this is Spring Break week for many schools and probably a busy time in Boston. Also, My daughter and I are taking the bus in from NYC so the high parking fee at this hotel won't affect me. Thanks, betterbidding!

All bids through SavingsBarn.com link.

Our Saturday night stay at the Kalamazoo Residence Inn was very enjoyable for a $55 winning bid. When we arrived, about 3:00pm, the friendly front desk staff assigned us to a King Studio room. It was exactly what we hoped for, with a very comfortable bed in a large, immaculately clean room with a full kitchen. The furniture and fixtures all appeared nearly new and well cared for. The bathtub-shower combo had a curved shower rod to give more room in the shower and an adjustable massaging showerhead with awesome water pressure. This hotel is a short, easy drive to the State Theater where we attended an evening concert. We took advantage of the free breakfast buffet, which included scrambled eggs, sausage patties, fixings for breakfast burritoes, and a large number of cold breakfast food choices. I look forward to returning the next time we need to stay overnight in Kalamazoo.

Hi, I don't see any hotels listed on your post. Which hotwire listings are you wondering about? I am looking on Hotwire at the Burbank-Universal City area for August. One of the listings is for a 3* for $69 with this list of amenities:

Fitness Center

Pool

Restaurant

Laundry

Tennis Nearby

Children's Program

The children's program has kind of thrown me off, too. I'm wondering if this could be a Holiday Inn since they have a "Kids Eat Free" program. Has anyone out there had any experience with a Hotwire reservation that included the children's program icon? Please help!

My first bid was $70 for a 3*, that bid was rejected.

My second bid was $55 for a 2.5*, bid accepted.

Placed bids through SavingsBarn.com.

With taxes and fees of $13.86, the total came to $68.86.

Hubby and I have tickets to John Prine in concert at the State Theater in Kalamazoo and decided at the last minute that we would rather stay overnight in K-zoo than drive home to Holland after the show. That gave me the chance to place my first Priceline bids in way too long! Withdrawal can be sooo painful!

First bid $35 for 2.5* in Buffalo Downtown, rejected.

Added Buffalo Airport, raised bid to $40, rejected.

Added S. Buffalo Hamburg, raised bid to $45, rejected.

Added E. Niagra (only free rebid zone), raised bid to $50, accepted!

It didn't matter which zone we ended up in, just needed a place to sleep in the general Buffalo area. The lowest price for this night on the hotel's website was $151. Used savingsbarn.com , as usual. Thanks again, betterbidding!

Yes, this was my first bid in this zone.

Glad to be of help, dmarzo. This site has saved me tons of money. Now, if only I could find a site that would give me a big price break on game tickets! Have a great time.

We usually stay in suburban hotels to save money, but we wanted a place in town on this particular night since we're going to the Red Sox game. I even stayed within my preferred $45-$55 a night price range. I wish I could say our game tickets were in that price range!

I tried bids from $46-$55 for 2.5* hotels in Natick/Framingham, Newton/Waltham and Needham/Dedham zones on three seperate occasions with no luck. Decided to try a new part of town since we have a car and wanted to stay near $50 a night. It appears that this hotel used to be a Crowne Plaza, but I can't find any more information about it. Hope it turns out to be OK. If any locals know this place, it would be great to hear a little about it. Thanks betterbidding.com!

This was my first bid in this area. I was hoping to get this hotel, which is a great value for our family.

Today, April 25, is free cone day at Ben & Jerry's shops.

Check Spirit Airlines, they have flights from DTW to NYC for about $160 right now. I'm not sure if that price is available for your dates but it won't hurt to check their website.

$38 was my first bid, which I placed on 8/18/05.

$342.00 for 3 rooms, 3 nights

$57.84 for taxes and fees

$399.84 Total

My first bid of $52 was accepted. I placed my bid on 8/1/05. We wanted a downtown hotel because we were attending the Tigers-Red Sox game. Great hotel, great location.

Taxes and service fees were $14.48 for a total of $66.48.

Sorry I'm posting this so late. Hopefully, this is a case of "better late than never". I believe this is a new hotel for our list.

My first bid was $45 for a 2* in Brookville. Bid rejected.

Added Clarion, kept bid at $45 for 2*. Bid accepted.

Just needed a convenient overnight stop for a trip to NYC.

Used SavingsBarn as usual.

This property was an amazing value for our family! We stayed 3 nights in April, 2005 for a winning bid of $48 per room, per night. We had 2 suites, each with kitchen, living area with L-shaped sofa-bed, seperate bedroom, bathroom, and two TVs. Each morning we enjoyed a fantastic free breakfast buffet that included scrambled eggs, sausage patties, seasoned potatoes, assorted breads and pastries, fresh fruit, yogurt, cooked oatmeal with toppings, cold cereals, hot and cold beverages, and make-your-own Belgian waffles. After a hearty breakfast, we would drive to the Riverside Green Line T station (a 15 minute drive), park our van for $2.65, and ride the T into Boston. We would explore the city all day and then splurge on a great restaurant meal in the evening. The one evening that we came back to the hotel around 6:00pm, we took advantage of the free evening meal which on that night was tossed salad, chicken strips, and beverages. We enjoyed the pool and hot tub, although the hours are somewhat limited. Very clean and quiet property with friendly staff, easy highway access, and free parking. Great value for families. We loved this place!

This Hilton property is located just off Hwy 95 on Boston's southwest side. One block from the hotel is a train station where you can hop on a commuter train to downtown Boston. Our stay was for two weeknights in April, 2005. We asked for and received non-smoking, 2 bedded rooms. The lovely pool and hot tub provided a few hours of entertainment and relaxation after hours of walking city streets. The fitness room had a great variety of equipment. This was a very nice 3* hotel for our $55 winning bid. Plenty of free on-site parking, too.

I guess you have shown us why the very helpful moderator of this board tells us to ignore these "guidelines" offered by Priceline!

My first bid for these dates was $55 for 3* in Jersey City, hoping for the Hyatt but not expecting it because of the higher prices lately. My bid was rejected. I then bid $55 for a 2.5* in Secaucus-North Bergen and I was offered a room for a $15 increase in my bid. Instead, I added the Jersey City area and raised my bid to $60. Bid accepted!

Subtotal $180.00

Taxes and fees 34.50

Total $214.50

Amenities: Suites, Restaurant, Comp. Breakfast, Kitchenette, Business Center

This was my first time using Hotwire and I must say I feel very disappointed with the results. The most recent reviews I can find for this property are terrible! I normally use Priceline, but was concerned about getting rooms with only one bed and thought that Hotwire might be a better option this time for our party of 8. When I saw that this property had suites and a free breakfast I thought the $82 price was justified. Now I see that their "breakfast" is a small bottle of o.j. and a packaged muffin! I guess we've been spoiled by the fantastic free breakfasts we've had lately at the Amerisuites and Residence Inns. I really wish I would have taken the time to ask for help here before plunging ahead. Ah well, live and learn. I did use the Hotwire Giftcard06 code and received a $40 discount.

Thanks for letting me vent!

Hotel (2 rooms for 2 nights) $328.00

Taxes and fees 53.95

Subtotal 381.95

Additional Savings 40.00

Total Cost 341.95

About an hour before I bought this hotel, Hotwire was offering a 3* for $82 that had the same amenties as listed above but with the addition of the pool icon. It was also listed as a Customer Favorite. I thought that maybe Hotwire was trying to conceal the identity of the Embassy Suites by listing it as a 3*. When I came back to purchase, I saw the same $82 price with the pool and Customer Favorite missing and thought it was another cover-up of the Embassy Suites. Boy, was I in over my head!

I've been bidding for these dates every three days for 2 1/2 weeks without any luck. I would bid $50 for 2.5* Waltham-Newton, then $50 for 3* Needham- Dedham. I would add 2.5* and bid $50 again. Each bid was rejected, although I did get a couple of offers for a hotel in Waltham-Newton if I would increase my bid by $14.

Today, my first bid was, again, $50 for 2.5* Waltham-Newton, offered $14 increase which I rejected. Began new bid for 3* Needham-Dedham, my $50 bid was rejected. I added 2.5* and raised to $55. Finally, accepted at the Dedham Hilton. These are the last hotel nights needed for our 10 day Spring Break trip. All bids through Savings Barn.

2 rooms, 2 nights for $220 plus taxes and fees of $32.94.