Bonwah

Thanks for the helpful thread! I'm looking at a 5-star in Notting Hill-Paddington (90% reviews) for $207 right now. I will update after I make a decision and let you know if it's indeed the Royal Lancaster.

It is, indeed, the Westin Crystal City. Thanks for the helpful opinion. The Metro stop right outside the door is a real plus.

I'm looking at a 4-star hotel in Crystal City/Reagan National Airport (outside of Washington, DC) for 3 nights -- June 17-20. The rate is $161 a night on Hotwire. It's 90% recommended by guests, and has these amenities: Airport shuttle / Boutique hotel / Business center / Fitness center / Golf nearby / Internet access / Pet friendly / Restaurant(s) / Smoke-free rooms The only 4-star hotel in the Better Bidding listings for Crystal City is the Westin. But the amenities don't seem to match. Could I be missing something, or could this be one of the 3.5 star hotels instead?

Thanks. I did use the links (I think!). And thanks for the Better Bidding Priceline Coupon.

Made this bid hoping for the Renaissance Warehouse district, which has identical amenties: indoor/outdoor pool, restaurant, free wifi, smoke-free rooms, fitness center. This is rather a boring selection for New Orleans, and a little farther from the action. But a decent price for five nights, including a weekend.

Hotwire win at $180 turns out to be the Hotel Sentinel in downtown Portland. Amenities: "Free Internet, Pet friendly, Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, Golf nearby" As an aside: Several downtown Portland hotels list "golf" as an amenity, which is a little weird: there are no courses nearby in downtown Portland. Plenty of courses 4-5 miles away, but... that's true almost anywhere. I don't think it's much help in figuring out which hotel is which.

I'm pretty sure the amenities were Pets Allowed, Restaurant, Business Center. Also "bed choice available" and yes, non-smoking rooms. It also did for sure have a 7+ guest rating on Priceline Express's system. Just FYI, recent commentors on TripAdvisor say that there is no longer a restaurant after renovations (which are currently ongoing -- elevators not in service, etc.). I'm just so bummed about this result; it's kinda ruining my plans already. Priceline's Union Square East map has a little panhandle that snakes down Powell St, presumably to include this specific hotel. That's just a miserable noisy spot.

Wait: I just double-checked and it *is* listed on the Union Square East list. That makes it even worse. A hideous choice, and I'm truly to blame.

I took a chance and got truly burned: the Villa Florence hotel in Union Square East. Deeply disappointed in this Priceline Express result; it's on Powell Street, just a block or so from the Cable Car turnaround. I know that area, and it's noisy and crowded with tourists. Just terrible. Not that I blame Better Bidding, but it was not one of the choices listed under Union Square East and 4 stars. I should have paid the extra $100 for the Financial District instead. Ugh! Really puts a damper on my trip.

My 3-star hotel in Sunnyvale, CA ("Free parking, Free breakfast, Free Internet, Pet friendly, Smoke-free rooms, Pool(s), Business center, Internet access") turned out to be THE GRAND HOTEL. This is fine, but it was *not* listed on the BetterBidding list of options for Sunnyvale (or nearby Santa Clara or Mountain View either). Hotwire told me "The last person got The Maple Tree Inn," so once again that bit of information didn't prove reliable. This looks like an OK place -- and it's a good rate during Fleet Week -- but it was unexpected.

Thanks! The list of amenities was an exact match, and it is indeed the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Perfectly happy with this deal, appreciate the help. One hassle: With Bidding Helper I first used the Easy View, and it would absolutely not let me check out. It kept giving me the address/phone/trip insurance screen over and over, with red stars that indicated "required field" -- yet I had already filled in all those fields. Very frustrating. I finally backed out, went through the whole thing again and chose regular Hotwire instead of Easy View, and then was able to check out right away.

Hi Friends, I'm looking at a 4* hotel for Chicago, Illinois on June 6-8, 2017. The room is listed as $109/night and has a 95% good rating from Hotwire users. Amenities: Free Internet, Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Restaurant(s), Business center, Self-service laundry, Golf nearby, Accessible path of travel Problem: I don't see a "Riverwalk - North Loop" entry on Better Bidding. (There is River North, but that's a different district.) So I can't try to figure out what this is. The Hotwire page does say, "The last person got the Hard Rock Hotel." Any ideas? Thanks for the help.

This hotel, as expected from BetterBidding, turned out to be the Innside New York Nomad. It's a stretch to call West 27th at 6th Avenue "Chelsea," but otherwise it looks like a good hotel. $240/night actually = $297/night after taxes and fees, and that such isn't a screaming good deal. Is it just me or did the fees go up from Priceline and Hotwire? Are they making us pay their cut now? In any case, thanks for the info, BetterBidding.

By the way, between the time we booked and the time we stayed, this hotel changed names. As of May 1st or so, this is now the Walker Hotel Greenwich Village.

This turned out to be the hotel the Better Bidding guru thought: the Jade Hotel NYC. (Thanks!) Reviews are good but not great, but the price was pretty reasonable for this (apparently) very expensive weekend in NYC. I waited about 10 days to actually commit, during which time the room rates went up from $301/night to $318/night. I used PRICELINE EXPRESS (using the BB link, of course!). I chose the 4-star hotel and it was, indeed, the Jade NYC, at $318/night. I waited about 10 days to make sure of my dates, so I don't really regret the rise in price from the original $301. The Dream NYC looks pleasant enough, but its reputation as a party hotel put me off. $318/night was more than I was expecting to pay, but this seems to be a very expensive weekend in NYC; whether that's the start of tourist season or college graduations or whatever.

One last question: I've been dragging my feet on the Jade for those 5/3-5/8 dates (though your guess seems to be confirmed by their pricing for queen bed vs. two twin beds, which matches the offerings on the Jade website). I'm now also seeing on Hotwire a comparably-priced 4.5 star "Meatpacking - Greenwich Village area boutique hotel" with a 95% rating from Hotwire users. With: Boutique hotel / Business center / Fitness center / Internet access / Pet friendly Pool(s) / Restaurant(s) / Smoke-free rooms / In-room accessibility Any guesses on this one before I jump one way or the other?

This is great info, thanks! The Jade looks great, if that is indeed the spot. I'll report back in a few days.

Oh! May 3 (Tues) through May 8 (Sun). We would go up to $325/night for a killer combination of location/rating, but would much prefer the $250 range.

Ah -- that explains it, thanks! I'm drawn to a 4.5-star Chelsea hotel that is much cheaper than other options this trip: $223/night. "Free Internet, Airport shuttle, Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access" per your bidding helper. Is this likely the Eventi? It's the only 4.5 I see in Chelsea. But in my preferred area, I'm looking at 4.5 stars, Meatpacking - West Village, $302/night, "Pet friendly, Boutique hotel, Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, In-room accessibility." As a backup, 4.0 stars, Flatiron - Union Square, $250/night, "Free Internet, Business center, Self-service laundry, Internet access, Accessible for hearing impaired, Accessible path of travel, Accessible parking." Hope that's not too much. Thanks for any insights you have.

Hi Friends, Been awhile since I visited Better Bidding; great to see it in such lively shape. I'm looking into Hotwire hotels in Manhattan for five days in May. (Using the Better Bidding tool, of course!) I'd like to stay in the lower part of the city -- the Greenwich Village area in particular. But while Hotwire has areas named "Meatpacking - Greenwich Village" and "Union Square - Flatiron", neither of those areas appear on Better Bidding's list. Does anyone know the correct Better Bidding geo-area to use when trying to judge which hotels I might be seeing in those areas? Thanks!

Here's the amenities listing: "Boutique Hotel, Smoke Free Rooms, Fitness Center, Restaurant(s), Business Center, High-speed Internet Access." I suspect the Cincinnatian is also the only "boutique hotel" in downtown Cincinnati at this time, too. The four-star hotels seem to be the Westin, the Hilton, and the Hyatt (according to others on this board) and they're all large business hotels. All four hotels are within about 3 blocks of each other. In my personal opinion, the Westin is the best of the latter three -- it's right on Fountain Square, and it's where the various pro sports teams stay when they're in town.

The Cincinnatian is, I think, currently the only 4.5* hotel in downtown Cincinnati. We live not far away and were looking for a fun night away from home. Very pleased with the $89 price. (Yes, we used the BetterBidding HOTWIRE link to make our purchase!)

That's actually an incredible price for the town that week. The annual (huge) Oracle trade show is going on at the convention center. Yesterday I bid $167/night for several downtown areas and got nothing. Congrats!

Awesome! Welcome to the US -- and have a great visit to a really lovely city.

I've stayed in both USE and USW several times on both weekdays and weekends, and have generally been able to find rooms in the $90-100 range. In USE the Grand Hyatt is generally available for under $100 -- sometimes even in the $80 range -- and I like that hotel very much. It's a block to Union Square, in a nice little micro-neighborhood, with good coffee in the immediate vicinity. Of course, if the Marathon is in town at that time then prices may be significantly affected. One other option for bidding: Financial District. I have twice taken hotels there via Hotwire and ended up with the Hilton Hotel Financial District, which is really only a few blocks from the Union Square district (and right across from Chinatown). It's a good location and a good and busy Hilton; not a super-luxury Hilton, but clean and comfortable.