Congratulations on your success and thanks for posting your bid history/strategy, Entertainment discount info, etc.
IMO you should be more than genuinely pleased with your success! To obtain the same hotel for 12 nights for $100 a night is pretty dang good if you ask me.
Have a wonderful trip to SF and make sure you don't refer to Nob Hill as Knob Hill when you get here, lest you get the locals mad at you! :)
What's rehab like? Do they make you write 100 times on the chalk board....
"I will never bid a 1* hotel again"
Mention your "experience" to Priceline?? But then again, what can they do to downgrade a property already rated 1 star?
Moderators, please move to SF Priceline board. Thanks :)
Congratulations on your success! I'm glad the bid process worked for you.
To moderators or anyone else....isn't the Westin St Francis still in USE zone?
Are you sure you didn't book USE zone, too? Because I believe the Westin St Francis is still considered in USE.
You got it right! The zones you listed do not, currently, have any hotels rated 4* that participate in PRICELINE's "name your own price" product. This is not just for July 30-Aug 2, but at any time. If/when a hotel rated 4* in any of these zones starts participating, then you wouldn't see 4* "greyed out" like you do now.
I'm not sure what your $ bid limit is, however if you want to continue today, my suggestion would be to bid $100 based on your earlier $95 rejected bid. To do that, go back to the PRICELINE home page and this time select 4* USW as well as adding any one of the 5 zones you listed above except Civic Center (since you already bid USW/Civic Center earlier today).
Good luck!
Thanks for your reply. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience dealing with all the various departments.Hey BEAV (sorry, hadn't seen your comment til today)Nope, we dealt with the Best Price policy people first and they were giving us the run around. We were then transfered (a few days later) to Customer Relations and NEVER heard back from them. Then my BIL had luck with the manager mentioned so we thought we would try her too. We phoned and emailed and after a couple emails she never got back to us.
I am shocked by their standards of customer service. I think its a shame for such a big company to have lost 3 clients like this. I am spreading the word too... they haven't only lost us!
You don't have to wait until tomorrow to continue bidding. You still have four free rebids left!I will bid again tomorrow... where to start?
Getting back to your Priceline bidding, slruud was correct that USE zone is not a "free rebid" zone. That is because it, too, (like USW) offers 4 star bidding. You were 100% correct in identifying Civic Center zone as one of the free rebid zones at the 4* level. I think you should follow the advice of Colfax and list on this thread the other 4 free rebid zones. That way, we'll know you have a clear understanding if how this all works. To do this, check off each zone, one at a time, to determine the highest star level offered in any given zone. If you do that, you'll be able to name all five free rebid zones.
One suggestion -- if you're having trouble locating this thread whenever you return to this site, you can click options on the first post of this thread. This will allow you to subscribe to the thread and recieve an immediate email (and link to the thread) every time someone posts a comment.
Continued good luck and keep us posted.
With regard to your IHG Best Price Guarantee issues, did you complete and submit the form on the IHG website? Or did you try to orchestrate the price guarantee by solely contacting the hotel directly? Reason I ask is that although the local staff should know about the price guarantee program, these types of transactions are generally handled by a central office that handles claims for all properties within the chain. When you submit the claim form off the IHG website, they are directed to the central office for handling as opposed to the local hotel property.
Oakland-East Bay (Pleasanton zone).
Effective May 20, the Radisson Dublin-Pleasanton was rebranded to the Holiday Inn Dublin. Both Priceline Vacations and retail hotel products rate Holiday Inn Dublin 3 stars, which is an upgrade from from the former 2.5 star Radisson.
This thread should be bronzed and used as a reference whenever people become disillusioned with the bidding process. Just because PRICELINE won't accept your bid today, doesn't mean they won't tomorrow.
Congrats to the OP for hanging in there.
Jason, major congrats on a great score of $81! :)
If you're a SF newbie, you can trust slruud and Gallus50 when they say Hyatt Regency Embarcadero is practically Union Square. Whether on foot or by public transportation, it's a hop, skip, jump to USE area from Embarcadero. And, do visit the Ferry Building across from Hyatt Regency as Gallus50 suggested for ecletic dining, wining (if you're into that) and Saturday Farmer's Market.
As to your air issues, Priceline doesn't always give the bang for the buck w/airfare like they do hotels, but if you'd like, feel free to PM me and I'll give you a few tidbits of info.
Lastly, welcome to BetterBidding. :)
Hotwire displays no 4* opaque availability in both USE and USW zones for your dates. That suggests most of the participating hotels have fairly high occupancy and don't (at the moment) see the need to liquidate rooms via Hotwire. It can also help explain why you struck out at $131 with Priceline in these same two zones. Hotwire does, however, have a 4.5* in USE (presumably the Intercontinental) for $136. As info, while this property is in USE on Hotwire, it is in the SOMA zone on Priceline. You *might* be able to beat Hotwire's $136 price if you bid 4* in SOMA on Priceline.
I monitor SF hotel prices fairly often, especially on weekends, and the prices for your travel dates are a little higher than normally, with Saturday, June 26 being the highest. This is somewhat out of the ordinary for SF on weekends, so my guess is inventory is tighter (and prices higher) due to the SF Pride weekend June 26-27.
Also, Hotwire is selling a 4* in the Embarcadero zone for $119 if you're willing to stay in that area of town. Again, you may score a lower price in this zone on Priceline.
We have a number of resident SF experts here on this forum (hello Colfax and slruud :) ) who might offer some other alternatives and/or suggestions if they see this thread.
Good luck!
am i missing soemhting here? does anyone have any words of advice (or at least encouragement)?
Yes, you're missing something here. You didn't post your dates of travel! With that information, we're pretty much at a loss for giving advice and strategy (but we can still lend encouragement!).
So give us your travel date(s) and help us help you! :)
Also, for a basis of comparison, what are the 4* Hotwire rates for your travel date(s)?
Memorial Day weekend is typically easy to bid (and obtain decent rates) in downtown SF. However I see the American Urologists convention (18,000 attendees) begins this Saturday, so that is probably contributing to the higher rates and declining inventory.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
In principle, I do agree with you the Montego Bay 'motor lodge' section at the Peppermill shouldn't be sold and marketed as 4 stars. At least not when rooms in the main part of the hotel are also rated 4 stars (which is the case here). I don't think you'll get very far with your recourse however, for two reasons.
1) - You didn't have the time at check-in to pursue the issue further. IMO this would have been the time to try and get resolution, rather than after your visit was over.
2) - The retail side of Travelocity sells the Montego Bay rooms under the 4 star umbrella of the greater Peppermill property(as does Expedia). If retail Montego Bay rooms were sold separately at a different (lower) rating, then I think you'd have a legitimate claim here.
Both Priceline & Hotwire opague services sell the Montego Bay rooms at a lower rating category, and rooms in the main hotel at a higher category. IMO this is the way Travelocity (and Expedia) should sell them, too, but they don't. As info, the upscale Tuscany Towers at Peppermill are in fact sold separately as a category 5 star. It's too bad they don't follow suit with Montego Bay rooms at a category lower than rooms in the main part of the hotel.
It's difficult enough to identify Travelocity Top Secret properties, however it gets muddier when you're dealing with a property such as the Peppermill that offers 3 distinct different types of accomodations that should each have separate rating categories.
Please keep us posted of any further developments.
Congratulations on your success. Historically on BetterBidding, September can be a very difficult month to bid, especially this far in advance. Fall is high season in San Francisco, so not only did you get a great deal, but also snagged a terrific hotel. Enjoy your stay!
Welcome to BetterBidding.
Although Hotwire doesn't list TripAdvisor or customer review information for this property, my best guess is The Langham Huntington Hotel based on the 5 star rating. Although each travel-related website uses their own rating criteria, the Langham is rated 5 stars by nearly every site (Travelocity, Expedia), etc. Also, it's not like there are a host of other 5 star hotels in the Pasadena zone, so the Langham would again be my guess if I were in your situation.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.
I did a Priceline vacation package search (air + hotel) for both May 20-23 and May 21-23. When comparing the results it was apparent that Thursday (5/20) will require a higher NYOP rate than Friday and Saturday. So I'm of the opinion you haven't been successful for all 3 nights at $100 (or lower) because Thursday night, currently, requires a higher bid price.
If the Embarcadero zone will work for your stay, Hotwire is currently displaying a 4* hotel that appears to be a match with the Omni for $119 for all 3 nights May 20-23. This property consistantly receives positive customer feedback and you won't have the double bed issue here.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.
Welcome to Better Bidding and thanks for posting your winning bid. Can you confirm you won the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins in the USW zone? The reason I ask is because you included SOMA in your last bid and there's an Intercontinental hotel in that zone as well as in USW. Enjoy your stay!
According to the Hotwire hotel list here at BetterBidding, this appears to be a match with the US Grant Hotel.
Good luck!
Thanks for the great information. Yes, I'm Hotwire Express, too, although I haven't used them much lately! I'll go through my past purchases and see if there's any properties I'd like to block, and if so, give them a call.
How many $$$$. Agree with BEAV, could be either one...but if Hotwire rating is 95% it's the Omni...90% Le Meridien.Good luck.
It was $119 when I just looked a few minutes ago.....
Didn't know you had previously been able to differentiate 95% vs 90% in order to pinpoint the exact hotel. I vote you for Embarcadero zone expert of all time! :) A complimentary entree for you at Tadich Grill!
Wow. I never knew this 'service' existed through Hotwire Express. Kudos, Steve, for maximizing your use of their express service! Can you post a link if this option is printed somewhere on HOTWIRE? I'd like to read/learn more about it.
Hotwire is listing a 4.5 Tripadvisor rating for this property. Both Omni and Le Meridien are currently rated 4.5 on Tripadvisor, so my guess is that it's one of these two hotels. I have stayed at both properties on multiple visits and recommend either one. Good luck!
Quick update......I found that Orchard Garden offers special rate on its webpage even lower than the guessed Hotwire price.
So I went straight to book with the hotel instead of taking a risk. Thanks for the help.
Could you share with the board the price you got directly from the Orchard Garden hotel? Thanks!
Help ID please: 4* Napa Area $159
in Hotwire Hotels - California (all other cities)
Posted
My best guess is the Harvest Inn in St Helena.
As info, the Harvest Inn used to be listed in HOTWIRE Vacation packages back when hotels in that product were positively identified. Also, HOTWIRE indicates the hotel you're seeing has a 4.5 Tripadvisor rating, which is also a match with the Harvest Inn.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!