LoneStar

Ah, so you really are a Norwegian wife. :) The Gellert at half price (with Entertainment, it should be less than 130 Euros -- I stayed with my family there last summer in a grand 2 bedroom apartment for less than that using the Entertainment discount) is slightly more expensive than SOME priceline bids, but well worth it in my opinion. It is, hands down, THE place to stay in Budapest -- character, history, views, location and the famous "baths." I think I've stayed there 4 times now and I couldn't imagine staying anywhere else in town! FWIW, I don't think you'd actually need to produce the "card" to get the Entertainment rate. And, also, FYI, at least a couple of years ago, Entertainment sold a Scandanavian discount book. The Movenpick and Renaissance hotels are priceline properties, and you can see the cheap rates paid last summer by reviewing the posts here.

There certainly seem to be several of them. That is so wrong -- it's a shame that priceline is screwing up their rating system abroad (a little like hotwire does in the US). Marriotts and Holiday Inns are not in the same league. The Holiday Inn brand that would be comparable is Crowne Plaza. I guess one just has to bid low in places where a Holiday Inn has popped up.

A super deal, and I understand the hotel is decent, but isn't it wrong to classify it as a 4-star? How many 4 star holiday inns are there? Looking at their rates, which are readily available on the weekends for 80 pounds, I would submit that this is really a 3 star property. As long as folks bid low in the sector, though, it's hard to complain too much about getting this property for this price.

It's never too early to bid -- or at least too early to bid LOW -- if you've researched your trip and your plans are VERY firm. Read a couple of guidebooks and see what areas/activities interest you. A lot of people like to spend some time on the North Shore and some on the South. I think that's generally a good idea (but keep in mind that Kauai just had a disasterous flood this week and there is extensive damage to the island -- I think you'd be OK by September, however). Then read a couple years worth of Kauai bidding history and recommendations here (there's not that much -- maybe 20 minutes of work!). Use the tricks that are mentioned, like looking at the packages feature and Hotwire. And then bid low for what you want. I wouldn't bid any higher than the lowest successful bids until much, much closer to your arrival date, since more inventory could certainly be added.

Hmmm, not surprised that Edinburgh has the same "problem" as York. Indeed, I suspect rates are even higher there. You can obviously try priceline bidding, but there's only one Marriott. I've actually stayed in it, and it's a very nice hotel. I'm skeptical they'll have good priceline rates, but certainly worth a try. I see the Ramada hotels participate in Entertainment, but I have no idea whether they'll actually offer a "deal." The other fall back is the Premier Travel Inn and Travelodge chains. If you can't find any "reasonably priced charm," I'd probably make a refundable reservation with one of those. The UK online services like laterooms will probably deliver something reasonably priced (albeit not cheap) a month or so before your arrival time. If you decide to priceline bid, please post your results as a guide for others. FWIW, don't stay in Glasgow to see Edinburgh. First, it's too far. Second, Edinburgh is a great city, so you might as well enjoy it!

A funny analogy, but I'd bet it works. :) FWIW, I find it disgraceful how we, as a country, "hassle" our young adults. But I guess there aren't enough voters who care.

Looks like you found a nice place, lanoneus. I'm a fan of "English country" accomodations, and their setting looks nice. Very good value price, too (especially for parties of more than 2). From my own search, I don't think you could get near that price on the outskirts of York. In my situation, where I've got essentially 2 days and 1 night for York, I'm better off staying at the fancy Marriott and not having the "commute." If it was a choice of the cottage or staying at the Premier Value Inn, it would be a tough call -- charm vs. convenience.

Success!! $96 got me the 4-star Marriott York for 7/1. Called the hotel and they gave me a 2 double-bed room. This is an interesting hotel. Not beloved by everyone, but I think it will suit my family well. It's a historic property that has had a modern addition (with lots of amenities like an indoor swimming pool), on the outskirts of town adjacent to the famous, and supposedly scenic, racecourse. For York in summer, I think the rate is quite a bargain. As I noted in my original post, I had a hunch this property was "out there" due to the widespread participation of UK Marriotts in the priceline program. (Indeed, if you're touring the UK "with priceline," it's probably wise to first figure out where the Marriotts are). I was a little sloppy in my bidding. I started converting my bids to pounds, so my last bid was $87 (50 pounds). I didn't really think I'd get hit under $100 (given the published rates), so my next bid was the surprisingly successful $96 (55 pounds). So if anyone also wants to go to York, you could try to shave a few bucks off my winning bid.

Speaking of all this, is there any plan to "separate" the various countries (or at least regions) for overseas bids (like the way states are separated)? The current all-in-one format is cumbersome. And if you feel like separating things, I'd make Arizona its own separate listing, too. :) For Norwegianwife, I'd offer the following tips. For Budapest, do not bid. Get an Entertainment Card, and stay at the Gellert Hotel if they will give you the 50% off rate. Most interesting hotel in town, great location, and fun "spa." For Prague, try to get the Movenpick hotel that I won through priceline last year. Consider the cheap Renaissance hotel in the "west" zone in Vienna, too. German bidding should also net good deals. Have fun!

Well, I think I have something to add to this topic. :) In November, I stayed at the Westin Rio Mar for 3 nights. I then stayed elsewhere on the island for another 5 nights. Toward the end of my trip, I noticed some pretty severe itching around my ankles, like I had some really bad mosquito bites. But they weren't mosquito bites. I did some research into this and found that Puerto Rican beaches are infested with a type of flea. Sure enough, the itching I experienced occurred the day after I spent several hours lying on the beach. So the bottomline is that I think you can go to the Westin without worrying too much about bed bugs. I'd also mention that housekeeping at the hotel seemed quite good. But, obviously, I'll read future reports. :)

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd suggest the UK and the US systems have exactly the SAME prices. They seem to work off the same interface. Out of curiosity, I recently bid for a hotel in York, England on the US system, and then tried to "rebid" it on the UK system within 24 hours. I got the typical "you can't rebid" message in response. Since your credit card company will charge you a fee for converting pounds back to dollars (a few credit card companies only charge 1%, but most charge 2 to 4%), I don't see the value of using the overseas affiliates to bid for the same hotels.

You're right. I had heard that PHX just opened a new rent-a-car facility, and I assumed it was like the facilities that are springing up all over the place (especially in Florida) where you can once again just walk to your car. The good citizens of Phoenix, however, seem to have decided to stick their facility in Siberia. I guess it means I'm likely to be riding the shuttle bus to the Holiday Inn the next time. :) http://phoenix.gov/AVIATION/park_trans/rental_car_info.html

Yes, unless it is significantly more expensive, it is better to stay in the Park. That's pretty much true at any National Park. It's like the difference between commuting and being right there. You're not going to the Grand Canyon to use the internet or swim, right? You're going to enjoy the Canyon. So you might as well stay there. Yavapi is certainly not my favorite Grand Canyon Lodge, but it's not bad either. For instance, it's a pretty short walk to the new visitor center (and beyond to the rim). I'd also urge you to follow my strategy of trying to get a room at the Bright Angel. The cabins are particularly nice (in a rustic, National Park way), but some of the regular rooms represent extraordinary value with the same great location. If you feel like a splurge, consider having lunch at the famous El Tovar, on the rim near the Bright Angel. Good value for lunch (and if you happen to be travelling with kids, they have an inexpensive kids menu).

You're right -- it does look like a nice hostel. It also looks like a very expensive hostel! Not much cheaper, if any, than the budget hotels.

Yeah, I know about the Travelodge promo. I'm actually spending a night with them at a motorway rest-stop outside of Manchester. How bad could it be for 10 pounds? :) I don't think there ever was a chance of booking York for 10 pounds, but I would pay 26 pounds for their property there. Not sure if it was ever offered. They seem to dump a lot of rooms onto the market at the cheapo rates periodically -- and then advertise the fact. Any way to guess when the next Travelodge "room dump" will be? I presume they'd have one more before summer.

Thanks for the tips. Yeah, I found those rather stale Holiday Inn and Novotel bids while searching the web. Presumably they are both still participating, and are still classified as (weak) 3 star properties. The Premier Travel Inn scores better than both of them on TripAdvisor (although I suspect they are both slightly fancier hotels). Given the uncertainty of the bedding situation, it's hard for me to bid more than $60 or $65 at that level for those properties. BTW, the other budget chain in York is the travelodge (a big UK operation), but their York hotel consistently gets much worse reviews than the Premier, so I think I'll avoid it (it's maybe $10 or $15 cheaper). I've also thought of the currency situation and, indeed, was planning on making "50 pounds" my top 4 star bid. My hunch is that it won't be enough, however -- given that, as noted, British hotels don't seem to like to discount much above 33%. The Marriott wants 130 pounds on its website (all in). I've made my cancellable Premier Travel Inn reservation, and if I don't get hit at $87 on the 4 stars, I think I'll just wait until a few weeks before arrival and perhaps try a rebid. I know that sometimes the European hotels have good summer promos, so perhaps I can look for one of those as well.

What I did last year for a similar rental was to take a hotel shuttle to the Holiday Inn in Tempe and rent the minivan from the counter there -- saving well over $100 week in taxes on a minivan. I think it's Dollar that has a counter there. Hopefully, they won't close this loophole. As you can see, in Phoenix, the tax is a major percentage of the rental cost. If it's any consolation, your rate is good, so other than the tax, you did fine. It's hard to get a minivan for less than $200 week in PHX. And I understand they just built a new rental facility there, so you will have some added convenience (supposedly no shuttle bus needed).

I'm thinking of spending a night in York. Even though it's a major tourist destination, I can't really find any priceline bidding history to suggest what might be out there. It's also a single zone destination, so it's cumbersome to "go fishing" (thank god for 24-hour bidding!). On a couple of nights in June and July, I've tried bidding up to $75 for a 4-star, $55 for a 3-star and $50 for a 2-star. So far, just plain vanilla rejections. My hunch is the 4-star category might be most rewarding because there's a newly-branded Marriott in town, and I know Marriotts tend to participate in the UK. I'll probably go up another $10 or $15 and stop, perhaps trying closer to my arrival date. York hotels (actually, mostly b&b's) are fairly numerous, but they tend to be expensive, and particularly so if you're got kids travelling with you and you have to pay the "per person" rate. There's also an obvious risk of getting only 1 bed in a European 3 or 4 star priceline hotel, but from what I can tell from the particular hotels in that city, it's a relatively small risk. So far, my best bet seems to be the Premier Travel Inn -- a large and fairly well regarded budget chain in the UK -- at $116 incl. tax. The property is well located for sightseeing, and kids eat free for breakfast. It would seem that even a mediocre b&b would cost me significantly more.

I hate to say it, but I think the odds are very much against you getting a cheap airport hotel for the night. You're not the only one on spring break, and So. Fla. has been busy -- and expensive -- this winter. Without a car, your geographic options are quite limited, which makes your search all the more difficult. Frankly, finding anything ANYWHERE cheap in Broward County that night would be difficult. Unless you get luckly, you're probably going to have to stay in a pretty crummy place to get much below $100. If you have access to an Entertainment Book, I'd look up participating motels and start calling. I'd also call the properties listed on roomsaver. com. Let us know how it goes. In the future, if you're travelling during a busy time, you might want to factor in the hotel logistics before booking your airline ticket. These days, hotel rooms can be more expensive than airline tickets.

Congratulations and enjoy! But it's your honeymoon and you're going to Hawaii. Honolulu is fun -- stay a few more days. :)

Charging a "resort fee" on a 2 star hotel is just a rip-off. There oughta be a law! :) Really bad for priceline users, because it allows an ethically-challenged hotel to underbid competitors and then tack on an additional charge which can result in a higher total tab. Not sure why priceline doesn't just tell its participating hotels that they must include the resort fee in their bid price. I guess priceline is afraid they'd lose a few customers who wouldn't bid high enough, but I suspect they'd net gain customers thru higher customer satisfaction. Also, the door is currently open for real abuses of the resort fee charge -- like what if the Ramada charged 10 bucks? FWIW, I stayed in the 2 1/2 star holiday inn Nikki Bird in this area which, coincidentally, recently eliminated its resort fee. It was certainly no palace, but for less than 10 bucks more all in, might be a better option than bidding at the 2 star level for basic Disney-area accomodation.

Thanks to paulieuk, I had reason to believe this hotel was "out there" at a good price. After reading the tripadvisor and guidebook reviews (both extremely favorable), I was quite interested in trying this hotel. It's apparently a restored Victorian-era cotton warehouse, with large rooms and lots of character. It started its modern life about 10 years ago as a private hotel for a nearby TV studio, and until last year was a Le Meridien. Summer weekend rates start at 95 pounds (incl. tax -- unlike priceline bids!), so the savings are considerable, although perhaps not as huge as on luxury hotels in the US these days. As my travel plans are firm, I wanted to bid now for this hotel just to make sure another property didn't step in at a lower price (apparently unlikely, though, given reports of earlier woes with Manchester bidding). I started bidding a couple days ago, and was slowly marching my bid up. My last unsuccessful bid was $72, so if anyone wants to try to shave it closer, you've got 3 bucks to play with!

Looks like a good deal for 35 bucks -- and it's definitely getting harder to stay in Orlando for $35. I've never stayed at an Amerisuites -- although it seems inevitable because they keep popping up on priceline. :) From reading some of the reviews, they seem decent but somewhat hit or miss -- perhaps a step down from Residence Inns. Is the free breakfast decent?

I wrote this a few years ago, but the advice is still good: don't stay outside the park at Grand Canyon unless you absolutely have no choice. It is a much better experience, and a better value, to stay in one of the in-park lodges. http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showtopic=1210& Looking on line (remember, you have to call to get complete availability), Yavapai seems available for your nights below $100. Another trick which I don't think I mentioned before is grab what you can and then keep calling back -- especially about a week before you arrive and then every day until check in. Your odds of ultimately snagging a room at the Bright Angel would be very high. Enjoy.

No. Especially in a city like Ft. Lauderdale, a one star property is risky. There's a good chance you'll wind up staying in a bad part of town and/or a dilapidated property. Not that any harm is likely to come to you, but the odds that you'll have a pleasant experience are 50-50 at best. In large cities, I really don't recommend bidding for anything below 2 1/2 stars. Besides, the "better" properties are where the values tend to be on priceline. You can usually get a 2 1/2 star or better hotel for half price or less. On a 2-star property, maybe you'll save 15 bucks. Better to choose your own hotel in that category (you can look for coupons in places like roomsaver.com), or "upgrade" to a better hotel on priceline.