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2.5* Shelton_Trumbull -Bridgeport Holiday Inn

Only needed one day and had one bid so just took a guess at it and won at $52. $65 after fees.

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Shelton-Trumbull 2

I'm checking out today. I agree its a good deal for the price I paid. Not bad ,but lots of little annoyances.

Small Bathroom, Vents falling out of the ceiling, Towels that Goodwill wouldn't take, no hot water sometimes. Unfriendly.

Several more minor issues. Nothing major but I can see why people who paid more money than I did may be annoyed.

Buffalo Millennium 3* $32 Sep 7-10 2010

Bid on 3* of all areas except Down town (usually omit Downtowns because of parking fees) up to $46 for the dates of 9/7 - 9/12

No good (had a rebid offer for $59 but didn't want to go that high)

Found out there was a Football game there 9/12 the day we wanted to leave so started rebidding on 9/7 - 9/10 date range

Got the Millennium on my first bid of $32

I used better bidding for the first set of bids but got off track when I changed the dates and may not have used it for my winning bid

- sorry about that.

Trip advisor rates this #8 out of 8. All negative reviews. Often tripadvisor is more negative than I think the property deserves so hope that the case this time too.

First bid $36 for 3* Got bumped to this 3.5*

It looks like this just got a 3.5* rating from a 3* on priceline but tripreviews.com are not very favorable

I used the BetterBidding PRICELINE links. Thanks

3* Madison WI Radisson

Bid $40 3* on the West zone. Got a counter for $50

Bid $41 3* on West and East.

Bid $42 3* on West East and south (no 3*)

Bid $44 3* on West, East and SW (no 3*) Got it (After taxes and fees $54.50/day)

Trip Advisor rates it #34 out of 61

Complimentary Breakfast? says so but we'll see.

Expedia says:

Radisson Hotel Madison offers a restaurant and a bar/lounge. A complimentary breakfast is served each morning and a complimentary reception is also offered (may not be available daily). In addition to an indoor pool, Radisson Hotel Madison provides a spa tub and a fitness facility. Business-related amenities at this 3.0-star property include complimentary wireless Internet access, complimentary high-speed (wired) Internet access, and a 24-hour business center. Meeting and conference facilities measuring 8000 square feet include conference rooms, a ballroom, banquet facilities, and meeting rooms for small groups. Transportation options at this property include a complimentary area shuttle within 3 mi and a complimentary airport shuttle at scheduled times. This property also offers an arcade/game room, a picnic area, and complimentary newspapers in the lobby.

Onsite parking is complimentary.

Radisson Hotel Madison is a smoke-free property.

I used PRICELINE via BetterBidding.com. I hope it worked.

3*! geesh. well someone can call it a 4 or 5* if they want. Everyone has their standards. I equate a 3* with a Marriott type hotel. If someone thinks this is in the class of a Marriott then they will be happy here.

If a hotel that has the front door open into a noisy parking lot and the back of the unit has a noisy Air Fan about to fall out of a rusty window opening to an area that I would not want to go can be called a 3* then someone is easy to please. Maybe it IS a 2.5 or 3* because they give you a piece of toast and a scrambled egg. (If all you want is a glass of OJ, you have to pay).

I think this used to be a local family owned hotel that was nice in its day (60's-70's), became run down and then was bought, painted, and a few chairs put inside. The CORE is still a 1* in MY opinion. The annexed restaurant and the paint job help. It will be fine for a 1 night stay but it is not a Marriott type hotel.

The people who ran it were pleasant and it was as nice of a stay as they could make it. I was most upset with Priceline.

I stayed there in FEB for $46. This pace is NOT a 2.5*. I almst quit using Priceline after staying here. Its not really bad but its more of a 1* hotel with fresh paint and a restaurant that seems to be enough to bring it up t a 2.5*.

I'm sorry to hear they are still calling this a 2.5*. I learned not to trust priceline in small towns.

Bid on 8/17-19 for Duluth (used all areas in re-bids)

Took the 3* to $60 and got a offer to rebid at 75 ( I decided I didn't even want to try $62)

Took the 2.5* to $58 and failed. no offer to rebid

Hope this helps someone.

Any extra 'gotcha' fees like an addition fee because it was a resort or a parking fee?

3* $40 Holiday Inn (North Tallahassee) 4/23-25

Hotel Name: Holiday Inn And Suites Tallahassee

2725 Graves Road

Tallahassee, Florida

Internet - free

Parking - free (I think)

pool/hot tub/exercise room

microwave/refrig

Bid $40 on the South section -fail

added the East section and bid $42 - fail

reset and bid $40 on only the north section - success

Could NOT use better bid access point to priceline, cookie problem (?)

cookies enabled for betterbidding AND priceline but this method doesn't work

for me

First bid $40 and got it. Bid was made 3:30 today, the first day I stayed here.

No extra parking, resort, or internet fees charged.

Courtyard San Antonio Seaworld/Westover Hills11605 State Highway 151

San Antonio, TX 78251

210-509-3700

Check-In: Thursday, February 11, 2010-03:00 PM

Check-Out: Saturday, February 13, 2010-12:00 PM

Amenities: Remote control TV w/ premium channels Radio Alarm Clock Business services Telephone w/ voicemail Iron and ironing board Hairdryer 24 hour front desk On-site Dining

Not listed but they also have indoor/outdoor pool and hot tub, and exercise room. lounge, internet......

Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $40.00 (USD)

Number of Rooms: 1

Number of Nights: 2

Room Subtotal: $80.00 (USD)

Taxes and Fees: $21.28 (USD)

Total Room Cost: $101.28 (USD)

This is true. Others pay a parking fee and so should priceline customers. The part that isn't good is the non priceline customers know in advance that there will or will not be a charge and make their decisions. This is all hidden from priceline customers but they are still must pay for it. - Surprise!

If all hotels had the same 'extra' charges then it wouldn't matter in the bidding. It would be like knowing priceline will put fees and taxes on the final price. That is known and expected. But the extra fees can vary from $0 - $$$$?

The only way a Priceline customer can logically bid is to bid very low because there MAY be extra fees.

They warn that there MAY be undisclosed fees. If you happen to know which location you are bidding on then it is easy to check but I have no idea which unit I am bidding on. What I think is a MAJOR problem with priceline is someone could think they are bidding $29 on a 1* (or better) hotel and still end up paying $70 (or more, I see no limit to what these undisclosed fees can be). They may get a better hotel than they thought but if they were willing to take a 1* unit so they could get it cheaper these unknown fees seem pretty sneaky. You are not bidding a price any more, you are just throwing darts blindfolded. Another point is even if you are bidding on a 3.5* + when some have the 'fee' and some don't how is this fair to the ones that have no fee when the ones with fees can go to lower bidders. Say one would take a $40 bid and have no parking fee but you bid $35 and get a unit that adds $30 parking fee. whoopee.

I only use priceline when I think I know the area and am 99% sure there are no parking fees. So I don't use Priceline often anymore.

AND the surprise of $22/night parking fee! Total price doesn't sound bad but never knowing what - or IF - there will be for extra fees is why I hardly use priceline anymore. Some 3.5 * may not have any parking fee so it's hard to bid.

Why don't they just give it to priceline for $20 dollars and compete with 1* hotels -- and then surprise them with $60 parking fee.

Thanks for the comments. FWIW, I decide my max bid like this.

If I'm bidding on 2.5 or 3*, I compare prices to one level down, a 2*, that I know I'm OK with. I look at something like the Comfort Inn and I get senior rates. Then I add 10% for my estimated taxes. I will not pay more than this (including taxes) for a 2.5 or 3*. There is not 'bargain' if I do. There is risk of the unknown. I've stayed in priceline 3* that I would not classify as a 3*. There are no gotcha charges. internet, parking etc. There can be no cancellations. There are no bonus/reward points. If things are not cheaper for these 'risks' than there is no reason to go with priceline.

PRICELINE has some good deals and I will continue to compare their prices. But all that glitters is not gold.

Thanks for the info...

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

The coastal cities are 300 miles from Grants Pass. That's why I put them in separate posts. I didn't see the connection.

I reached my maximum bid for these and now have other arrangements now for this date. I may rebid on either of these for next week.

2.5* Grants Pass reject, 10/16-10/18 bid $60 rejected

Hope this helps someone

Oregon Coast - rejects, 2.5* Newport $63 & Seaside $65 rejected

Just posting to help someone know what didn't work.

Dates I was going for was 10/16-10/18.

1 bad thing is the Internet. it's of a pay online PER COMPUTER variety. .

Do you remember what they wanted to charge?

This is what I fear about priceline - unknown charges. In this case it was optional but some can ding you an extra $30/nt for parking etc. and you have no choice but to pay.

buyer beware- but you have know way of checking ahead of time if you don't know which hotel. grrr

I forgot to show the fees. I still haven't figured these out. Sometimes they add almost 30% and sometimes it's less. This one they only added 17.9%. This includes taxes are about 10% (est).

Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $58.00 (USD)

Number of Rooms: 1

Number of Nights: 2

Room Subtotal: $116.00 (USD)

Taxes and Fees: $20.84 (USD)

Total Room Cost: $136.84 (USD) = $68.42 per night

One chance so one bid.

There were no 3* hotels listed when I checked their motel list but it showed up on the bidding list. Like explained to me before the lists are not the same....

Amenities: Remote control TV w/ premium channels Radio Alarm Clock Business services Telephone w/ voicemail Iron and ironing board Hairdryer 24 hour front desk On-site Dining

Orbitz gave me more info:

Hotel amenities include an indoor and outdoor pool, three spas with river view, sauna, steam room, fitness center and more. Free unlimited local and domestic long distance calls and free high-speed internet access now available in all rooms. Each guest will receive a breakfast voucher for a free breakfast in the restaurant. Hotel is completely non-smoking. ***

Sorry If this didn't go through the Betterbidding.com PRICELINE. I started out right but too many changes.

The only way you can be absolutely sure that Priceline doesn't have a 4* in a particular area is if Priceline grays out the 4* option when you select only that particular area.

Good point. Thanks

2) the 'retail' hotels aren't necessarily the ones you're bidding on, there could be others not listed in the 'retail' list, as well as those listed in th 'retail' list which don't participate in the 'bidding' section of PRICELINE. See the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ for more info.

So it may not be safe to re-bid on a 4* by including another area that I 'know' does not have a 4* - because I can't really know that - it's risky

I think I started with a link from Betterbidding. Will I be able to tell any difference? When I get to PRICELINE, I have to go back to the price page to see what hotels I will be bidding on so maybe I lose the link by doing that.

Is my bid record saved somwhere for a cut/paste or do I need to remember everything and retype it to enter it on the fourm?

Thunderbird / Red Lion - Doesn't really look like a 3 star but it will be OK

First try at PRICELINE, first bid.

2 nights 9/18-9/20

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $55.00

Subtotal: $110.00

Taxes & Fees: $20.12

Total Charges*: $130.12

Amenities: Remote control TV w/ premium channels Radio Alarm Clock Business services Telephone w/ voicemail Iron and ironing board Hairdryer 24 hour front desk On-site Dining

This is all the amenities that showed when I did a cut paste but it did have pool / weight room / dining ...etc