jhMLB

Thank you for editing, on Priceline it shows 3 stars, but on Google it shows 4 stars. Either way I am very pleased!

So I was looking on google and priceline express deals and everything in this price range was 2 star hotels, motels, etc. I felt really bummed out, and I knew I had a lot of success with Priceline bids in the past. Initially I looked at Boston, MA, but then I moved my target west when I started bidding in Westborough (I targeted the 3 star zones) - it showed only 2 zones I could bid. I bid on the "cheaper" zone $50. (median was $159) It failed and asked me if I wanted to add $29 to my bid. That made me very suspicious as I thought that it probably means I can probably win a bid between $50 to $79. So I went back and added the other zone, and I bid $60 and I won!! I was shocked at the win, because I was expecting a nice 3-star hotel. Instead it was a 4-star hotel!! And the the booking cost is $169 online. I am super happy with my bidding process this time, it is usually really hard to get a good hotel deal in the Boston area, my wife and I are very pleased. Address: 75 Felton Street, Marlborough , MA , United States $73.15 total after taxes Hotel Amenities: Free internet Indoor Swimming Pool Fitness Center Swimming Pool Free Parking Car Rental Motorcycle Parking

This is what shows in my hotwire account: Hotel details Amenities: Free parking Free breakfast Free Internet Indoor pool(s) Fitness center Pool(s) Business center Self-service laundry Internet access Golf nearby Accessibility: Accessible bathroom Accessible parking

It is the crystal city area I just assumed wrong because of the Arlington in the hotel's name, thank you for checking up on me! Please edit my original post

Amenities Free high speed internet connection Indoor pool Exercise gym On-site business center Restaurant Non-smoking rooms (generic) Parking Free airport shuttle I've been trying a couple of days by searching for 3.5 star hotels on Priceline and bids up to $57 per night failed. I checked the winning bids and I decided to downgrade to 2.5 star hotels on searches. I checked the acceptable areas and desires and started with $30 bids and raised in increments of $2 and $3. When my $48 bid failed, I noticed something very interesting - the next median average for the hotels showed up $88, and I bid $1 more at $49 and I got an accepted bid in Arlington - VERY close to the DC area and an area closer than I was expecting (I was prepared to settle for $56-66 range as far as Fairfax). I ended up getting a 3 star hotel according to Priceline (and 4 stars according to google) Yes!

Amenities: Free parking Free breakfast Free Internet Indoor pool(s) Fitness center Pool(s) Business center Self-service laundry Internet access Golf nearby I tried very hard to look for 2-3 star hotels in the Boston, MA area, and I even bid up to $84 per night using several Boston, MA areas without success. I finally went back on hotwire and decided that the 2 star guaranteed deal was best for our 4 person group, and we ended up getting a 3 star hotel (at least according to google, 2.5 stars according to hotwire). I am very pleased with this alternative hotwire option, the prices elsewhere was getting to $80-$100+ for the Boston area. I am okay driving a little bit in order to pay for a cheaper per night option especially with the place offering free breakfast and internet.

This is my first time researching into flight bid attempts, im hoping to save a lot compared to the $1100+ listed prices. Travel dates right now is from 2/5/12 to 2/20/12, sunday to monday. Can leave later than that sunday, but im hoping to be able to come back on that monday.

I really regret not starting with a lower price. For some reason I thought $60 would be too little to start with and rejected for sure. Maybe it's also because I'm reserving 2 rooms? Anyways I had $5 extra cash per room, so I ended up getting 2 rooms at $65 per night, and they are usually $179 per night. I guess I don't have too much to complain about, I would have just liked to have tried some lower prices first along with the 15 free rebid zones to see how low I could have gotten it. Total with taxes came out to $432.60 for the 2 rooms, 3 nights.

The hotel I won was 1365 Peachtree. I didn't realize there was another, thanks for the question so I could clarify.

So this is my second time at this. I learned a LOT last year when I was trying to do the same thing. This year I made sure to use my free rebid zones :) The areas I were focused on were 3* downtown, midtown, and buckhead. The non 3-star free rebid zones were: 5 Forest Park 10 Jonesboro 15 Morrow 20 Stockbridge 22 Union City I started with downtown at $30, 35, 40, 45, 50, and unfortunately 55 (last free rebid zone) did not work I switched to midtown at $35, 40, 45, 50, and then 55 worked. I'm very happy with the $55 price as it is significantly cheaper than the $169 online retail price, but I was hoping to get the downtown area (not sure what bid would have eventually worked though). Also for those curious this hotel was purchased for the sake of Passion 2011 (where 20,000+ college students will gather), so I think that's why the 3* might have been a bit pricier than usual.

ahhh that is what you meant by free rebid zones. I thought it was something that popped up or something, I didn't think of that, that some areas would not have 3 star hotels. That is really helpful, ty.

ty thereuare, now I understand a lot better how to bid, will definitely keep this in mind for next time.

TY for your advice, and yea I saw that everyone was getting a lot better prices at that 3* range than what I went for. I probably should have reset it with Buckhead, definitely need to live and learn. But I didn't notice any rebid zone while I was trying out prices, maybe I should have just waited longer. And there's going to be 20,000 college students coming for the 1/2-1/5 dates for Passion 2010, I wonder if that is playing any factor in making it harder to find a good deal. Definitely going to try to be more patient next time.

I initially attempted to try 4* and then 3 1/2* My final 3 1/2* bid was for $62 at Downton, Midtown, & Buckhead I switched over to 3 star, and started with a $50 bid on Downtown Then $55 on Downtown & Midtown Then $60 on Downtown, Midtown, & Buckhead. I was awarded Residence Inn Buckhead Lenox Park for $60/night for 3 nights. I checked their Marriott website for flat rates, and for 2 guests it is $149 & for 4 it is $219 (all for one room), as I will have 4 total people I hope that we will each have a bed to sleep on ^^ Going to call them up and confirm that we will be able to have 4 people in the room I booked. TY everyone for your pricing tips, it really helped a lot :) Edit: I called and found out that it was 1 Queen sized bed, 1 Sofa bed, & non-smoking. Sounds like it's going to be pretty tight in being able to handle 4 people. Maybe once we get there they can provide an extra cot or something. There is also a free complimentary breakfast & hi-speed wifi.