Queerasmoi

A reasonable question. I think if you fill it up to maybe 3-5 miles from the return location and then drive directly there, you're fine. When I returned a car to LAX, I exited the highway a few exits early, parked for a moment, and opened the WHERE app on my Android to get nearby gas prices (Nowadays I think GasBuddy is better). I found a small-chain station in the neighbourhood that was significantly cheaper than big names beside the airport.

Okay thanks! They all seem like decent hotels close to the MAX. Would save me some decent money compared to downtown. I'll post again if I end up going for it.

Okay I clicked the link. I don't know that I'll even be travelling that weekend but it seems to be a recurring deal and I'd like to take another trip one of these days. Any ID help is appreciated. Thanks!

I searched 5/27-5/31 and found this result: $56/night Convention Center-Rose Garden area hotel Smoke Free, Fitness, Restaurant, Business Center, HS Internet Any idea which this would be? I don't see an exact match on the list. Thanks.

I had a nice time at the Whitcomb too last week, but it definitely has its quirks. My room had no 3-prong outlets except in the bathroom, and very few if any spares at all, which made me wonder how to charge my netbook. My friend brought a power bar in from Oakland and it turned out there was some sort of block that the TV is plugged into that includes one spare 3-prong outlet in it. So I plugged the bar into that, and my netbook into the bar. The Internet was slow but you get what you pay for. The login screens didn't always work and it sometimes stalled. The TV had a greenish cast to it, and the tint controls were locked out. I was able to borrow a bike while in town, but unlike many hotels I've stayed at, they asked me to put it in storage rather than in my room. Minor hassle. Earplugs were helpful as I was facing the street, with the F streetcars squealing all night.

Interesting, I tried doing a few searches... Whitcomb drops out of the LMT results completely after the last day of April. It's not that the price goes up, it just drops out. I know that the company behind LMT books a number of rooms to set aside for customers, so I'm wondering if this just means they only book so many months in advance. Obviously you have a non-refundable booking now so it is what it is... but it'd be interesting to watch and see if any Whitcomb results pop up for May once we're into March.

Right so at least 3 possible methods to identify from LMT. For that reason, here is my likely strategy for future trips: 1) Use LMT to locate and positively identify the cheapest hotel that fits my criteria for the trip in question. 2) Look at some direct hotel web sites as well that are likely to be PL & Hotwire wins for comparison. 3) Check if any Hotwire properties beat the LMT options, see if any are easily identifiable. Note the best price I can find on a property that fits my criteria - WITH the proviso that I have to be a bit more cautious without a positive hotel ID. 4) Browse this forum and the other one for recent Priceline wins - is it likely that I can beat the best options I found in steps 1-3? If so, prepare a bidding strategy but *stop* when I get close enough to the best price from 1-3. 5) If PL failed to beat 1-3, then pay the best known price available on LMT, Hotwire or direct booking. The equation seems to change from city to city. San Francisco has a few hotels that make an LMT booking very competitive to PL. Seattle actually appears to be cheaper on LMT for getting a likely good property than via PL or Hotwire. But Portland, Oregon seems to get some dirt-cheap PL rates at 3.5-4* properties that beat the pants off LMT's selection at the same price range.

It's well-known that LMT's "opaque site" isn't really all that opaque. Pretty much every hotel I've pulled up on their site can be identified positively with good Google skills. Strong identifiers include the map area shown, photos that match ones shown on other sites for the same hotel, number of floors and guestrooms. In the case of Whitcomb, a search from the description text of the $61 "3-star hotel in Downtown/Union Square/Nob Hill/San Francisco" led to: http://www.ixigo.com/hotels/us/whitcomb-ho...i?tab=amenities which has pictures and text matching the LMT item identically. Based on this, I proceeded with my booking and indeed got the Whitcomb. But let's not wave this in their faces too loudly, lest they make any big changes =)

I went with LMT as well! I actually had 4 nights booked at Whitcomb from 2/17-2/21, and went this route because it seemed better than anything I could get at Price.,line or HOTWIRE. It turned out that I had made an excellent choice when some circumstances came up later. My friend who was to host me in SF for a few days before the hotel stay had a family emergency and would be out of town until 2/21. After examining all the options, I called up LMT to inquire about changing the reservation. I postponed my whole trip by exactly one week (reservation is now 2/25-3/01) and there was to be only a $25 fee. They entered the change and said, hey, good news, our system didn't charge you a fee at all. Then I changed my flight (no change fees on Southwest) and I was good to go. Had I won any of my failed Priceline bids, then rescheduling the trip would have been a royal pain. Too bad that I missed the salsa dancers though!

I will just add that I had a great time on this trip and many people were shocked to hear I got such a good deal on this hotel! I basically got 4 nights for the price of 2. The hotel room was small but cute.

Thank you! I changed my mind about the booking dates and got an even better deal. Jupiter Hotel Checkin Fri Oct 9/09, Checkout Mon Oct 13/09 Hotel rate per night - Hotwire hot Rate: $52.00 Nights:4 Rooms:1 Subtotal:$208.00 Tax recovery charges and fees:$29.55 Total price:$237.55 And I did use the HOTWIRE link you suggested.

I search October 16-20 for a Portland hotel, 1 adult, and I deselect all but Downtown, Convention Center and Northwest. I sort by price and I get a 2.5 star hotel, $77, Convention Center - Rose Garden. Amenity icons are: Boutique, restaurant, laundry facilities, high speed internet. On some other weeks it is cheaper. Owing to the "boutique" symbol, I'm guessing this is Jupiter Hotel (which I'd be interested in staying at, incidentally). Does this sound about right? Are there any other "boutique" hotels in that part of town which might be behind this listing?