BEAV

If I understand this correctly, if you're able to bid successfully in any of the other zones for your travel dates, Priceline will refund your original purchase less a $25 fee? Can you make multiple bids (over several days, for example) until ultimately successfull, or does PRICELINE just give you one shot at it?

This just in....... Received an email from Kimpton Hotels this afternoon advertising SF sale rates now through Sept 6. http://www.kimptonhotels.com/landing-pages...2_2008.aspx#HCT I plugged in your dates of 8/26-8/30 at most all properties on the list and found the following: Prescott Hotel - $169 per night - Club Level room with two double beds. This rate is available all four nights of your stay, and club level benefits include continental breakfast and afternoon wine/cocktail reception with appetizers from the hotel's famous restaurant, Postrio. The rate is cancellable without penalty with 24 hours notice. This would be a decent back up whether or not you're ultimately successful with Priceline. As info, the Prescott is a 4 star hotel on both Priceline and Hotwire. Triton Hotel - $129 per night for room w/two double beds. This rate is available for three of your four nights, 8/27-8/30. The Harbor Court is available at $109 for your last two nights, however only a room with one queen bed. I believe you'll be ultimately successful with Priceline at a lower rate for your last two nights. If you're interested in any of these rates, be sure and include the rate code SF5 when you reserve. To thereuare: Get acquainted with Kimpton Hotels and obtain an affilliate link since they have properties in many major US cities! :)

Note to thereuare: This property is on the hotel list as "not yet confirmed under Marriott ownership". Please update when convenient! :)

Agreed. Do you have a cancellable back-up, rynodaddyo? (forgive me if the answer to that question is buried somewhere in this thread!)

A few observations...... HOTWIRE is selling the 3 star Hotel Whitcomb (Civic Center South-Hayes Valley zone) for $69 for two nights 8/26 and 8/27. When you add the night of 8/29 to the equation, the price per night jumps to $95. So Tues/Wed nights are the bargain rates here. 4 star hotels on Hotwire are very high ($200 and up) for pretty much all days 8/26 to 8/30. If HOTWIRE rates are $200 and up, IMO there's little chance of success at $100 (or under) for 4* on PRICELINE. Also, I did a Priceline vacation package search (air + hotel) for 8/28 to 8/30 and discovered the 4 star hotels are very high when compared to 4 star hotels in the SFO airport area. The only exception to this is the 3* Holiday Inn Golden Gateway (Cathedral Hill zone) where the price in the vacation package is very low by comparison to 4* USE/USW zones. Check out the vacation package and see for yourself! The vacation package prices are a good indication the 3* Holiday Inn Golden Gateway can very possibly be achieved for under $100 for 8/28 to 8/30. This can all change the closer we get to the actual travel dates, however is a synopsis of what the picture is today! An example of last-minute price changes: A few weeks ago I was closely monitoring SF hotel rates on both Hotwire & Priceline. Prices for 4 star hotels were very high on both Hotwire and in Priceline's vacation packages. This all changed the DAY BEFORE check-in, when I noticed the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero went from over $200 on Hotwire down to $139. This is the same date we noticed under-$100 "wins" at the same hotel on Priceline. I know you can't necessarily wait until the day before departure to finalize your hotels for this trip, however this illustrates how prices can change (for the better) when you're able to wait until the last minute. Continued good luck!

One day advance bid for friends. Initial bids of $38, $40, $42 and $44 rejected. Accepted at $46. This is the former Crowne Plaza and Pleasanton Plaza, and now finally Marriott Pleasanton. TripAdvisor reviews indicate Marriott has done an extensive refurbishment. Pleasanton Marriott Pleasanton - San Ramon 11950 Dublin Canyon Blvd Pleasanton, California 94588 Check-In Date: Wed, Aug 13, 2008 Check-Out Date: Fri, Aug 15, 2008 Bid placed through BetterBidding direct link to PRICELINE.

Congratulations on your successful bid and thanks for posting. Note to thereuare: Move to SF Priceline board when you get the chance!

Welcome to Better Bidding! I did a HOTWIRE vacation package (air + hotel) search for your travel dates (as well as other dates), however no 3.5 hotel in USW with matching identities displayed. So with that in mind, I can offer two possibilities: 1. The hotel you're seeing is already on the list here at Better Bidding, however Hotwire has changed the star level and/or amenities since last reported. 2. This is a new property not yet reported here. If that is the case, the best guess I can come up with is the Hotel Donatello. You will notice the HOTWIRE hotel you're seeing has a 4.5 Tripadvisor.com rating. So does the Donatello. In addition, Expedia allows you to select hotels based on selected amenities. I punched in Complimentary Breakfast, Business Center, Restaurant and Hi-Speed Internet and Expedia replied back with only one possibility in all of San Francisco. You guessed it, the Donatello. Again, this is just an educated guess! Best of luck!

Thanks for posting your experience. Obviously each experience is unique as someone else could have approached HOTWIRE with the same situation and come away with a completely different outcome, as thereuare pointed out. I would also encourage you to post both your Hotwire and Priceline purchases/wins. On a philosophical note, we often rate hotels in our minds based on cleanliness, employee attitudes, personal experiences, etc, when in fact HOTWIRE & PRICELINE rate them by the amenities they offer. I believe this is what causes a lot of confusion when it comes to the ratings game. Anyone can stay at a 4 star hotel (a hotel that offers all the amenities required of such a rating) but come away with a 1 or 2 star "experience". Does that experience justify the hotel to be downgraded? In my opinion, it is still a 4 star hotel, however one with "issues". As long as we rate hotels by their customer reviews while HOTWIRE & PRICELINE rate them by amenties offered, confusion and disagreement over ratings will continue to be the rule. Just my opinion!

Congratulations on your success. There are two Residence Inns in this zone, Pleasanton & San Ramon. Can you confirm which property you won? If it is the Pleasanton property, it is the same hotel you saw earlier on Hotwire!

I doubt this would be the San Ramon Marriott since that hotel doesn't offer complimentary breakfast. Also, generally speaking, Hotwire would rate a full-service Marriott hotel 3.5 or even 4 stars. I did a Hotwire Vacation package search (air + hotel) for your dates, and the amenities you listed are a match for the Residence Inn Pleasanton. In case you're unaware, Hotwire's vacation packages positively identify hotels, which is a great tool when you're trying to unmask their opague hotel-only product. Good luck!

Note to thereuare: Please edit the thread title to show the winning bid price ($145) vs the starting (rejected) bid price ($103). Thanks! :)

I've bid twice recently for friends who've wound up at the Marriott San Ramon. They reported parking next door in the Target parking lot rather than use Marriott's $10 per night lot. YMMV! However, fundamentally, I agree with your assessment 2.5 upgrades to 3 star often result in extra charges, which can be unfortunate if you're truly bargain-hunting and trying to keep your costs low.

New property for the Nevada Hotwire list. Apologies for not posting sooner, however this was a very last minute purchase. The Summit at Grand Sierra Resort 2500 East Second Street Reno, Nevada 89595 Check-in: Wednesday, July 9 Check-out: Friday, July 11 Price Per Night: $69.00 per night SubTotal:$138.00 Tax recovery charge and fees $20.59 Total: $158.59 http://www.grandsierraresort.com/accommoda..._sierra_resort/ Amenities: Casino Fitness Center Restaurants Laundry Facilities Golf Spa Airport Shuttle Pool Business Center Hi-Speed Internet Tennis Children's Activity Program This is the same property as the 3.5 star Grand Sierra Resort. The differences are as follows: Floors 1-16 is the Grand Sierra Resort and is rated 3.5 stars by Hotwire. Floors 17-24 is the Summit at Grand Sierra Resort and rated 4 stars. The Summit at Grand Sierra is a vacation ownership property. It is not a timeshare in that owners are not able to trade at other properties. Unsold/unoccupied rooms are sold on a per night basis as hotel rooms. The rooms at the Summit have undergone extensive renovation since previously owned under the Hilton brand. Summit rooms have premium mattresses, flat-screen TVs, marble bathrooms (huge shower, no tub), TV in bathroom, refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker. In addition to vacation ownership, the rooms at the Summit are part of the Summit Hotel/Resort Group. http://www.summithotels.com/ I've stayed at this property over the years since it's inception in the 70's as the MGM Grand, followed by Bally's, Hilton and now Summit Grand Sierra Resort. The upgraded rooms in the Summit portion of the property are superior to anything under previous ownderships. Finally, non-Hotwire rates for our dates varied quite a bit. Rack rates were $80 on the Summit website. Expeida was running a sale at $60 ($9 lower than Hotwire). Bookit.com selling for $40 per night with a two-night stay. I filed for Hotwire's double-the-difference claim against the Bookit.com rate of $40 and was given a refund of $58 per night, for a final rate of $11 per night. If that opportunity presents itself again, I'm sure we'll be back! Purchased through BetterBidding's link to HOTWIRE.

Welcome to Better Bidding. Please list the amenties HOTWIRE is displaying for this property so that we can assist you.

The Omni is our favorite Priceline hotel within the USE zone. The rooms are spacious, nicely appointed and quiet. Equally important is the service and attitude of the entire staff. You never encounter Priceline "attitude" at this location. A guest is a guest no matter how much or how little you paid. If I were you, I'd be thrilled to get the Omni at this price.

Now that's an offer you don't see every day......

Sorry to hear you got bounced from the bar at Michael Mina's, especially given the fact just about "anything goes" in San Francisco. I've pretty much boycotted the St Francis ever since they closed the classic Compass Rose and replaced it with the contemporary Michael Mina bar/restaurant. So good for you for taking your business elsewhere!

You have the theory and strategy of rebidding correct. For example, if you want a 4 star hotel in USW, and strike out on your first bid, then you can add a "non-4 star zone" to your next bid, so on and so forth. This maximizes your number of bidding opportunities for 4 star USW. After 24 hours has passed, you can repeat the entire process all over again. If you're content to secure a 4 star hotel in either USW, USE or Fisherman's Wharf, I would bid each zone separately, however, rather than including all of them in a single bid. Below is an example: Bid 1 - USW Bid 2 - USW, free rebid zone (zone with no 4 star bidding) Bid 3 - USW, first free rebid zone, another free rebid zone So on and so forth. After exhausting all your free rebid opportunities for 4 star USW, then try this: Bid 1 - USE Bid 2 - USE, free rebid zone Bid 3 - USE, first free rebid zone, another free rebid zone So on and so forth If you strike out there, then repeat the process again, this time trying for 4 star in the FW zone. I also suggest slrud's advice to post regular hotel rates in the zones you're targeting. That can help in formulating a bid strategy. Good luck and welcome to Better Bidding!

$189 is a good rate for the Omni on Fri/Sat nights. I see that Sun/Mon nights are $299, which is typical as this is a hotel in the Financial District. Weekend vs weekday price fluctuations in this area are common, and can make PRICELINE bidding a challenge. If you want to book all 4 nights at the same hotel, chances are you'll have to overpay for Fri/Sat nights in order to come up with a rate that will get you into a hotel for all 4 nights. The only way to circumvent that is to split your bids weekend vs weekday. But then you run into the possibility of getting assigned two different hotels for the four nights. Something I don't recommend this far out. Since time is on your side, I would still limit my bidding to $105 if I were you. Continued good luck!

I bid for these friends about a month ago, with the exact same results ($11 counter offer on $38 bid, accepted at $42, etc). For the life of me, I can't understand this hotel having such a low Priceline rate on weeknights. Weekends a different story, though, as the hotel is smack dab in the middle of a very large business park (Chevron headquarters right across the street, for example). But no complaints if Marriott wants to give away excess inventory so cheap! Boy are my friends going to be mad if they have to pay $50 (or more) next time! I'll just tell them to find someone else to do their cheapo bookings for them!

Thanks for the tip! It will be interesting to see if PRICELINE rerates this as a 4 star property when it converts to Marriott.

Bidding for a friend, initial bid of $38 produced counteroffer to add $11 ($49). Added a free rebid zone, increasing bid to $42 and accepted. Marriott San Ramon Pleasanton - San Ramon 2600 Bishop Drive San Ramon, California 94583 Check-In Date: Tue, June 17, 2008 Check-Out Date: Thu, June 19, 2008 Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $42.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $17.25 Total Charges*: $101.25 Marriott.com rate is $239 per night. Bid placed through BetterBidding link to PRICELINE .

A Priceline vacation package search 6/17-6/19 reveals the Holiday Inn Walnut Creek (Oakland/East Bay - Concord-Lafayette zone) has been downgraded 3 stars to 2 stars. As info, there are two Holiday Inns in this zone, one in Walnut Creek, one in Concord. The hotel list doesn't specify which hotel was won at the time it was added to the list. But to clarify, the Walnut Creek location is downgraded to 2 stars, while the same vacation package search indicates the Concord location remains at 3 stars.

Below is a link to the Better Bidding hotel list. From the list you will see this would be a match for the Warwick Regis Hotel, so that would be our best guess. As info, the Sir Francis Drake lies in the Union Square-East zone, not Union Square-West as you had questioned. Hotwire Hotel List Good luck and let us know if we can be of any more help.