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Hotwire hot Rate 3* for Saturday August 18, turned out to be the Red Lion. Free Internet and free breakfast.

Hotwire hot Rate 3* for Tacoma, WA at $65 (+ $16.89 tax) Saturday August 18, 2012, turned out to be the Red Lion. Free Internet and free breakfast.

Hotwire hot Rate was $68 for 3* (turned out to be Holiday Inn Express) (+$14.25 tax, so $82.25 total). Includes free breakfast and free high-speed Internet. Priceline bid of $79 for the same Saturday date and same area was not accepted.

I admit I was lowballing here, but I had $52 accepted last March. No takers at that price for Thanksgiving and no takers at $60 either on my free rebid. (I think Thanksgiving is treated as the start of ski season in Bend even though there is no snow this year and the ski resorts aren't open yet.) I eventually just bought a room at Super 8 (they had a special deal at 15% off for two-night stays) for $57. I don't know how many stars the Super 8 is but we certainly won't be returning to that hotel as it was on the crummy side and the hallways were smoky (even in non-smoking area).

Bid of $52 accepted for a Saturday night on my first try. Red Lion Inn. Their website lists AAA rate of $86 for that date.

Failures: $50 2.5* Eugene $50 2.5* or 3* Eugene (free rebid) $50 2.5* Eugene or Springfield (free rebid) Since I really needed a hotel room for Thanksgiving night (11/22/07), and not really having time before the holiday to wait a second time to be able to bid again, I put in a $65 bid for Eugene 2.5*, which was accepted. Priceline automatically upgraded me to a 3* at that rate. The $65 bid may well have been too high. (Two years ago I got a rate of $50 on Priceline for Thanksgiving night, but obviously prices have gone up since then.) Regular room rate according to the hotel's website is $159.

We liked the Courtyard by Marriott when we stayed there last fall, so I put in an identical bid of $50 for a 2.5* in Springfield, OR and it was accepted, also by Courtyard by Marriott. This is for a Saturday night. Bid: $50.00 Tax: $13.02 Total: $63.02 Regular rate for this room is $109.00 plus tax http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/EUGCY

Since I was booking 8 months in advance of my trip, I entered an extreme lowball bid (Priceline popped up with "your bid has a very small chance of being accepted"). Bingo! 2.5* Country Inn & Suites for $40 (this is for a Tuesday night arrival in Charlotte). We'll see if this turns out to be a true bargain or not. Room rate $40.00 Tax 12.79 Total $52.79 Hotel website is http://www.countryinns.com/charlottenc The website says they have high-speed Internet, deluxe continental breakfast, airport shuttle, fitness room, located two miles from CLT airport.

After striking out on various combinations of 2.5* and 3* for Eugene and Springfield at $35, $40 and $45, the Courtyard by Marriott 2.5* in Springfield accepted my bid of $50. I then went back in and bid $50 again for a second room for my friend and that was also accepted. This was for Thanksgiving night, 11/24/05. Bid: $50 Tax: $13.02 Total: $63.02 (per room) Regular rate for this room is $99 + tax http://marriott.com/property/propertypage....arshaCode=EUGCY A typical business-person's hotel. Rooms were nicely appointed with free high-speed wired Internet access and there was an attractive lobby with wireless Internet. A breakfast with cooked-to-order eggs and omelettes was available for $8.95 (including juice and coffee), but was otherwise fairly mediocre. My wife and I laughed because we had never seen a "bacon, mushroom, cheese omelette" in which the eggs had been folded over a whole strip of bacon--usually the bacon is crumbled up, I think. Our room seemed smoky and there was at least one instance of the people in the neighboring room going out into the hall and smoking during the night. The staff promised to follow-up on this when informed of the problem the next morning. (For the record, my friend's room, same floor but at the other end of the hall, did not suffer from any smokiness.)

No takers on 2.5* or 3* for Eugene/Springfield bids of $35 and a rebid of $40 for two rooms on Thanksgiving night 11/24. I got takers last year on Thanksgiving at about this price, so I'll wait the 72 hours and try again with a higher bid. Perhaps the two rooms is doing me in? I've never tried for multiple rooms before.

I will only add that my room (118) had an ethernet cable in it, but I didn't bring my laptop on this trip. I bid $35 (August, 2005). If you are using Priceline, you should call the hotel if your bid is accepted and you want a room with two beds as they only had king beds when I checked in.

This is a very nice, clean hotel, free high-speed Internet (though I didn't take my laptop on this overnight trip to attend a wedding). The non-smoking room was truly smoke-free (my wife is really sensitive to this). The staff was super friendly; they provided an extra blanket for my wife and the desk clerk was able to print out directions to the nearest Costco to buy gas. The breakfast buffet is $8.95 (didn't try it) and the restaurant appears to be open for lunch and dinner as well (didn't eat there). One thing to be aware of is there are no services within walking distance. This hotel is basically at the junction of two freeways (I-405 and WA-167), so you'd have to drive anywhere you wanted to go. I would definitely return to this hotel, and my bid of $35 is a great, great rate for a property of this caliber (2.5*).

I got 2.5* Courtyard in Lynnwood for $35 and I saw another person get that same rate, so try that, though holiday weekends might be more problematic this is really a businessperson's hotel so you might get lucky.

Old trip, posted here for completeness. First bid for a 3* was accepted. If I were doing this again I'd bid down to a 2.5* hotel and a much lower price since free Internet is very important to me. If I definitely wanted a 3* I'd start lower. (I made this reservation the day prior to my arrival, so I didn't have the freedom of playing around with lower bids.) Offer price: $75.00 Tax: 14.89 Total: $89.89 Westfields Marriott Dulles Airport (IAD) 14750 Conference Center Drive Chantilly, Virginia 20151 703-818-0300 This is a huge convention hotel (and well-known conference center) not too far from Dulles. Internet access was $9.95 per day.

First bid. Offer price: $35 Tax: 12.14 Total: $47.14 Hilton Garden Inn Seattle/Renton 1801 East Valley Road Renton, Washington 98055 425-430-1414

Old trip, just posting for completeness. $75 was my first bid, made three months before the arrival date. Hyatt Arlington 1325 Wilson Blvd Arlington, VA 22209 This is a great hotel with free high-speed Internet access. One block from the Rosslyn Metro station makes this an ideal location for a tourist in the DC area, IMHO. Offer price (per night) $75.00 Tax (per night): $12.49 Total for four nights $349.95

Old trip, just posting for completeness. I tried Greensboro West and Greensboro Airport Priceline areas at several lower prices for 2.5* with no takers so finally went up to $55 and 2* and got this. Offer price (per night) $55 Tax per night: $10.12 Total per night: $65.12 ($195.36 for the three nights) Candlewood Suites Greensboro (2*) 7623 Thorndike Road Greensboro, NC 27409 The hotel is nice, in a quiet location about a mile from the airport, but potential bidders should note that the Candlewood suites are all queen beds (no option for two beds which is what my wife and I prefer). Full kitchen and free high-speed Internet access in each room.

No takers on a bid of $30 for a 2.5* in Springfield, OR, so I rebid $31 and added Eugene, OR and still no takers. This was for Easter night (Sunday).

Offer price $35.00 Taxes and Service Fees $12.21 Total $47.21 I initially put in a $30 for a 2.5* in this area, but I got the page that says "your bid has a slim chance of success", so I upped it to $35 which was accepted on the first try. (I was a bit nervous that a business-area hotel wouldn't take a low bid on a Thursday night.) I initially was going for the UW district in Seattle, but was surprised that the highest-rated hotel was only a 2* in this area, and I'm more comfortable with 2.5* minimum. Thanks to mikkirm for nice reviews of this hotel. I've never stayed in this area before so I appreciated the information he/she provided. The free high-speed Internet access at this hotel will be very helpful.

For the record, here are the phone charges for the Eugene Hilton (3*). I assume these charges are typical for hotels of this class. Wireless Internet Access: $9.95 per day Local calls: 50-cents per call, + 10-cents per minute after 60 minutes (to prevent you from using dial-up Internet, presumably) Long Distance: AT&T Daytime Operator Assist Rate + 40% (over $6.00 per minute, I think) Long Distance International: AT&T Daytime Operator Assist Rate + 50% Directory Assistance: $2.00 Toll-free calls (calling card or 800 numbers): no charge under 60 minutes; 10-cents per minute after 60 minutes Website: http://www.eugene.hilton.com

I got the Eugene Hilton for $38 (plus $11.52 tax for a total of $49.52) for Christmas night 12/25/04. We had previously stayed at this hotel at Thanksgiving and I paid $50 plus tax, so it was helpful to read this board and put in a lower bid. Since the bid was accepted on the first try, I assume I may have overbid even at $38 (regular room rate for this room is $99 plus tax AARP rate at hilton.com) and next time I will try a lower amount, go for a 2 1/2 star hotel, or both. As I believe I mentioned in a previous post, the Hilton has exorbitant phone rates (use a calling card to avoid these, but watch out for calls over 60 minutes long as a per minute charge kicks in at that point). And of course the $9.95 per day for Internet access is annoying.

Got the Eugene Hilton (downtown) 3* for Wednesday, November 24, $50 on the first bid. (This was Thanksgiving eve). The Hilton is undergoing remodeling, and seemed pretty empty, but I was disappointed to find that their wireless Internet access is $9.95 per day so I didn't use it.