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Started at 4* @$90 in (North Michigan Ave - River North) only. Added Hyde Park (bid up to $100) and Midway (bid raised to $110. Looking forward to a nice weekend in the city... used the link to Priceline....

Should probably have started a little lower, but this is a good price, I think. Intercontinental Hotel Chicago (Michigan Avenue) $71 & $18 taxes and fees. (Conference rate was more than 2x). Used the PRICELINE links here.

Hyatt Regency Minneapolis 1300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN, 55403 Tue, Aug 28, 2012 - Thu, Aug 30, 2012 Amenities Indoor pool(s) Fitness Center Restaurant(s) Business Center High-Speed Internet Access Tennis Nearby Accessible for the blind Accessible path of travel In-room accessibility Accessible bathroom Handicapped parking Roll-in shower Rate per night: $77.00 Nights: 2 Rooms: 1 Tax recovery charges & fees: $29.57 Subtotal: $183.57

Hi, I am seeing the same hotel for a two noght stay starting May 16 for two adults. Do you have an idea of which hotel it would be? By the way, the price is $65/night. The listing says 90% Customer Recommendtion.

OK, I've done that, I am still interested in help in figuring this St Paul West situation out. Thanks. Eric Well, please forget this... We saw an opportunity for a downtown hotel (on Hotwire), checked it out here - guessed it was the Hyatt - took it - and it was the Hyatt. So, no need to work on this one... done deal! Here's the good thing...we were also looking at just booking the Residence Inn in Roseville for this trip because when we first started looking at this trip, the downtown hotel prices were very high... - mid $250s or so - - and the Marriott website was showing $189/night for Res Inn in Roseville. So, we came back closer to departure and instead of paying something like $380 for 2 nights in the burbs, we are downtown at a hotel we've stayed at a few times before, for $154 for 2 nights. Completed via the HOTWIRE link here....thanks...

Hi, I am looking for a hotel between Minneapolis and St.Paul for August 27-28. There is one hotel in "ST. PAUL WEST" which fits the geographical requirement. Location: St. Paul West Star rating: 3-star Check-in date: Mon, Aug 27 Check-out date: Wed, Aug 29 The price is $113 and the hotel has 3* and these amenities: Indoor pool(s) Fitness Center Pool(s) Business Center High-Speed Internet Access Accessible for the deaf Free Parking Free Breakfast Free Internet Handicapped parking Also, it appears that it has a low recommendation rating-60%. I have been trying to find a clue about the name of the hotel. I can't find any St. Paul West hotels in the WINS listings and I could not find that area in the list of Hotwire hotels. So, I am wondering whether anyone can help identify this hotel. Thanks, Eric

Bid first at $85, rejected. Added Southgate zone, bid $95, accepted. Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $95.00 Subtotal: $95.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $20.89 Total Charges*: $115.89 I called the hotel earlier and the best available room price was $301 plus taxes. Not a bad deal for a very nice hotel. Used the link here to access PRICELINE. Thanks,

Bid $45 first, no win. suggested $55. Rebid expanding to Southgate. Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $49.00 (USD) Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Room Subtotal: $49.00 (USD) Taxes and Fees: $14.01 (USD) Total Room Cost: $63.01 (USD) Fees seem high as %of nightly price but that's life these days.

Tried 2 days before at $85 and $90, and was told that $107 would win. Waited and rebid at $95. Used the PRICELINE link on this site...

I am trying to bid on a Detroit 4* hotel - either the Westin Book Cadillac or the Marriott Renaissance Center would be fine, and I was checking my strategy. On Priceline, there are 5 zones listed: 1 Dearborn

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $74.00 Subtotal: $74.00 Taxes & Fees: $17.96 Total Charges*: $91.96 Got this with my first bid, and now I feel like I probably could have done better. Still, I know that I saved I think the Marriott was at $82& tax on HOTWIRE... and it was listed at $129/night & tax, on Expedia and Hotels.com.... so, even if I might have started lower, I still did ok, but not great. Missed using the BB link to PRICELINE this time. sorry. But still wanted to post. I think I was paying too much attention to the listed prices and not enough to the priceline wins that were listed here... oh well, next time.

I am trying to identify a 4* Orlando SeaWorld - I-Drive South, hotel for Jan 11-15, 2011. Priced at $149/night. Amenities: SmokeFree, Fitness, Pool, Restaurant, Internet, Business I think the description matches the Westin Imagine. Any other thoughts?

3.5* Chicago (Mag Mile-Streeterville) Doubletree Mag Mile, $65 The HOTWIRE listing did not completely match the hotel list description for this hotel, but I know its a good place to stay. The Hotwire listing shows Fitness, Restaurant, and Internet The Doubletree is a little further north than i had wanted, but ts a fine hotel and the location will work. I was kind of hoping to be a little closer to the river on Michigan Avenue, and I was thinking this would be the Club Quarters at Wacker and Michigan I have events in that neighborhood on the evening that I arrive and the morning that I leave. I knew there could be an issue - the listing didn't show LAUNDRY...... but there was not true match, so I took a shot. I used the HOTWIRE link on this page.... thanks... this is always a fun challenge - to try to deduce which hotel is which... sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. This time, I was a bit off... but the price is still right. Orbitz is showing this hotel at $189 plus tax... and I am paying $65 + $17.46 tax = $82.46. Not bad for the Doubletree. And I even get the free chocolate chip cookie.

Original bid for Mid-Size PIT November 17 -18 @$25. System returned good chance at $49, great chance at $51. Tried $50 and system said no deal, but $58 would work. Changed from Mid-Size to Compact at $51 and got the deal. What's going on in Pittsburgh that the prices are so high and availability so tight? (I've been trying to edit the post to get the topic and subtopic consistent with the format, but I can't find where I can edit the topic/subtopic.) But I used the PRICELINE link to bid...... :)

Sheraton Centre Toronto $75 10/19-21 First bid $75/night accepted - (sorry, tried to edit the topic header, but can't figure out how...)

I've seen things like this in Hotwire listings recently <(VP now showing: Shuttle, Restaurant, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Golf)> What is VP? Thanks, Eric

New York Helmsley 3

Knowing that the Boston Marathon was running on Monday, I wasn't sure what to expect. Listed rates on Expedia for Copley Sq. Hotel were $309 and $244 for Monday and Tuesday nights (Avg. $244.50). Bid 3.5* @ $125 and did not get anything. Added Fenway Park area and raised to $140 and got Copley Sq. Now I wonder whether $135 would have done it? Oh well, Beantown on Marathon Day... what an experience! Used the PRICELINE link above to get this.

I would think there's a problem with your bidding, because you it would seem that you should be able to get something at the $85 level... if you look at HOTWIRE for a comparison, there seem to be some reasonable rates there - slightly above the $85 level... and there's a 3.5* hotel with Boutique, Restaurant, Fitness, Internet and Business amenities at $79. Now the only hotel match I could find for that could be "4* Hotel Monaco Chicago (previously 4.5*) (moved from LOOP zone) Amenities: Boutique, Restaurant, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business" I don't know how the Monaco could have been knocked from a 4.5 to a 3.5.... but I have friends who swear by the Monaco...good location just south of Wacker Drive... close to Michigan Avenue and State Street. With regard to PRICELINE...I'd try again...and make sure the dates are correct and everything's right... because $85 is a reasonable offer....

So this is very strange.... we had booked 2 rooms at the [Hotel Sax for the previous night (3/25/09) via PRICELINE via BB...and we had won at $65/night/room. That was weird because the Hotel Sax really doesn't seem to have too much activity on Priceline if you judge by what is on the board here and because we have tickets for a concert at the House of Blues that night, which is adjacent to the Hotel Sax. But our friends wanted to stay in Chicago a second night, while my wife and I could not stay... They called the hotel and asked for a best rate given the circumstances, and the hotel said they were pretty booked and couldn't help...they offered $189. by the way, Priceline had offered us an extension on our rate, something I had never seen before, but required both rooms to extend and not just one. So we had to find another way to book a room for them at a 4* hotel. So, I coached them through PRICELINE through the BB link and they bid $65 again for the night of 3/26 for a 4* hotel...and lo and behold, they have the Hotel Sax again.. Given that there are no reports of HOTEL SAX wins that I can see between the one I last listed on March 9 4* Chicago (NMA-River North) Hotel Sax / $65 ... 3/25/09-3/26/09 and given that the hotel claimed that they were "pretty full" for the 26th, I gotta like the luck on this one... good luck to others... :)

First try and won at $65 for 2 rooms ... bid through the PRICELINE link here. Amazed that it was the Sax.... we are going into Chicago for a show at the House of Blues, downstairs from the hotel. got lucky on this one... or was it skill?

Used the information on this board and got it in the first try. Bid through the PRICELINE link on top here..... but I had been hoping for the Le Meridien King Edward or Sheraton City Centre because I wanted to be more in the centre of the city .... but at this price, who can complain? Wonder if a lower bid would have worked? But then again, I was paying this amount (3 night total is $161.76 USD) or more for 1 night in Toronto just a year ago. My how things have changed.

Well, I just found out the answer to this... the hard way.... I got it... and if I had known, I probably would have done something else. I was expecting this hotel to be the Monaco or the Hard Rock, but it turns out to be the Hilton Chicago.... not well described as being in the loop... its closer to South .... This is not the Palmer House Hilton, its the Hilton Chicago... well south of the loop. I paid $80.00 plus $19 taxes.... for Wednesday night 1/18/2006 This is an old classic Chicago hotel... great for conventions, but not so great for touring and visiting... which is what we're doing... taking a break.... Their website says that the gym costs an additional $13... and parking is $31 or something like that... Oh well....

Hotwire seems to have made some changes in their suburban Chicago neighborhoods that may be confusing to anyone who knows the local vernacular. They now list the following areas: Western Suburbs -Buffalo Grove - Arlington Heights North See map -Hoffman Estates See map -Schaumburg - Arlington Heights & Vicinity See map Southwest Suburbs -Bolingbrook - Romeoville See map -Hinsdale - Willowbrook See map -Lisle - Naperville See map -Oak Brook - Downers Grove See map North Shore -Evanston - Skokie - Niles See map -Northbrook See map Northwest Suburbs -Gurnee - Waukegan - Libertyville See map -Vernon Hills See map But anyone who is from the Chicagoland area or knows the area, would call the Hotwire "Western Suburbs" the Northwestern Suburbs, and would probably call the Hotwire "Northwest Suburbs" the Northern suburbs. Similarly, the Hotwire "Southwest Suburbs" are more commonly referred to here as the Western Suburbs. People looking for hotels in particular locations should be very careful in identifying the "area" they are willing to select from. Best, Eric

Just in case anyone is interested.... when I checked in, I asked whether the room had high-speed internet access. The room they had preassigned me did not, so they moved me at no charge to one that did have it. It was one of the nicest rooms one could imagine, at any price. Well equipped, wonderful beds, nice working space, etc. Even a view of the lake and the Cleveland Browns stadium. (The positive treatment may have had something to do with the fact that I showed my Starwood card, although I did not receive, nor expect, any Starwood points from that visit.) On the registration invoice, there was a notation showing "advance deposit" $35.80". On the bill when I left, this line item had been removed and there was only a charge for parking ($15). So, my Hotwire costs were: 1 room(s) @ $41.00 per night x 1 night(s) $41.00 Hotel Taxes and fees: $14.95 Hotel Subtotal $55.95 Total Price $55.95 and of that, the hotel appears to have received $35.80 of that, so there was probably a $20.15 margin for Hotwire, which isn't bad for a $55.95 deal.