crito

Hi falcons, just thought I'd add a little info. >What would be the best location or locations to bid for priceline hotel? >Would it be diffcult to drive around to locations on 3rd and 4th if we bid > on hotels outside of the white house area for affordability? I urge you *not* to drive around that day. The traffic will be awful, and you won't be able to park on the street. In the WH or Cap zones you could walk a lot of places -- you will mainly want to be around the Mall, for sure. The memorials -- Lincoln, FDR, Vietnam are my favorites -- are excellent. Especially with the kids, you'll want to duck into one of the museums on the Mall to get out of the DC heat and humidity -- don't miss the Air and Space Museum. (They're all free.) The Dupont Circle area is also good, and it's a very pleasant and quick trip on the Metro. For that matter, you could stay in Alexandria to save some money and take the Metro in each day. > on a side note, is there a good firworks show in DC for the 4th? Yes, spectacular. > is it convenient or a lot of crowd? Both :) There will be maybe a hundred thousand people out to watch the show, but the city does know how to handle it and it's really not a big hassle. (But definitely do not drive to that!)

$65.77 with tax & fees. Smoke Free Rooms Airport Shuttle Fitness Center Pool Restaurant(s) Business Center Laundry Facilities (self-service) High-Speed Internet Access Golf Tennis Booked it for three adults to be sure to get two beds. Argh, I forgot to use the BB HOTWIRE link. :)

4/17 - 4/18. Aha! Yes, there are 9 amenities, and the ninth is the Spa icon.

This is my wife's trip (sorry, she didn't know about using your links :) ) Ocean front Fitness Pool Restaurant Business Internet Tennis Golf (Definitely not showing the spa icon.)

Stephanie, LastMinuteTravel is showing the Hilton Chicago on those dates for $104. (Off the rack it's about double.) The problem with the Hilton Chicago is its location (south Loop). Long walk to nightlife or tourist sites or theaters... But it might be perfect for you. It is a lovely hotel and it's just a couple of blocks from the Red Line. I'm sure the parking is expensive.

Another thing you may not realize, if you're completely new: That 'average price' is the off-the-rack price, or avg. of Expedia, Travelocity, etc. The Priceline price is going to be much lower than that for a 2 1/2 * at Hopkins International. (On Hotwire I see one for $38, and a 3* for $45.)

First off, you should go to the Illinois Section of the Board. You can look in the HOTWIRE and PRICELINE hotel lists for Illinois, and just browse down to the Oak Brook/Downers Grove list. You'll see which hotels have been won at which star levels in that area. I think your next move would be to plug in your date and Oak Brook in HOTWIRE (use the link on the upper left corner of a Better Bidding page!), and see what comes up. I'm seeing a 4 1/2 * for $77 that night. I believe that's the Westin Lombard Yorktown Ctr., which is near restaurants, and they'll also provide a shuttle for you to nearby stuff. You would want to avoid the Hyatt Lodge at McDonald's Campus, which some people really like but you'd end up taking a lot of taxis. And I suggest posting your questions (after you've done the little bit of research) in the Illinois section of this forum, where you'll get the attention of the Chicago-area experts here.me serious experts). Oh, hm. I've just been assuming that the Oak Brook you're talking about is the one SW of Chicago, but there might be a dozen Oak Brooks in the US!

But it has been reported as a HOTWIRE win, in the North-Galleria area, so if you're particularly interested in trying to target that Omni you might try HOTWIRE.

Actually, the Comfort Suites is the former Embassy Suites. There isn't an Embassy Suites in downtown Minneapolis, that is; the hotel is now a Comfort Suites. Quite possible that they lowered the star rating after the change. You can see that it's the same place from the TripAdvisor reviews. It does have 3 1/2 stars from TripAdv.

Maybe the Graves, hiding its spa?

That HI Express is pretty close (four small blocks) to the Lechmere T stop. It's also walking distance to the Museum of Science, which is a great place for kids. You can get a bus to Harvard Square (too far to walk and the T would be roundabout). Somewhat dull neighborhood. But, free hot cookies!

Boston, not SF, Yellowdog! But there is no Copley/Financial district. In the Copley/Back Bay area, you'd be within three blocks of a T stop at any hotel. Not so sure about Quincy/Financial -- I'd have to look at the hotel locations. But definitely within five blocks.

There are two Hiltons on Marquette. One of them is called "The Marquette", and it's 710 Marquette Ave. The other is the big one, "Hilton Minneapolis", at 1001 Marquette Ave. I'm guessing you stayed at The Marquette, at 710 Marquette Ave, is that right? (I'm planning a trip to Minnie, although it's still a ways off in the future, just doing some early research...)

It's not really close, but it's walkable, less than a mile.

Parking at Hyatt Regency O'Hare: $25/night (or $28 valet) Parking at O'Hare Hilton: $45/night. Parking at O'Hare Intercontinental: $22/night. Parking at Marriott O'Hare, $24, listed on the front page of their site. Sorry, this thread doesn't really deserve to be continued, but in case other BB readers are thinking of driving and staying at an O'Hare hotel I thought they'd like to know what kinds of fees they should expect.

If your plan is to do some shopping and sight-seeing, Copley/Back Bay is probably the best but keep in mind that Boston is quite small and very easy to get around in. Quincy Market, Common/Theater District, Financial, any of those would be pretty good and central enough to make shopping and sight-seeing easy. You could even stay in Cambridge and be just a few minutes by T (the subway) to Park Street. I think you'll find better prices in November than October.

Guesses for each: The 4* Loop is the Palmer House (the pool is a give-away). The 4* Mag Mile could be the Swissotel but more likely the Sheraton. The 4.5* is the Conrad, Intercontinental, or James. (I hope I'm not usurping Aaron's role!)

Oh, and I did get two bathrooms! Completely useless since I was traveling alone, but still kind of cool :)

Following up with my experience... When I phoned in advance, the person I spoke with was pretty "official", telling me that she would list my preferences (king bed, high floor, away from elevators, no smoking) but repeatedly told me that they were not guaranteed. When I checked in, I handed my (silver) HH card with my id, and the clerk happily typed in my number but pointed out that I wouldn't get points for the cost of the stay itself. There would be no problem with my preferences, he said, but he asked if I wanted to *purchase* an upgrade, at $35/night. I went for it. I think it was worth it (the Exec level has better rooms, free breakfast and cocktail hour snacks, separate elevators which really were an advantage for this stay since there were three groups meeting on the lower levels and heavy elevator use). I should note, though, that a friend who has HH gold status and booked through the hotel web site got a free upgrade. Anyway, thanks for the tips. I think my Hotwire price plus the upgrade fee got me an amazing deal. Pretaxes it came to $124/night, compared to $213 for the Exec rooms or $144 for the regular ones, and I got exactly the hotel I wanted. One other thing: the Congress Plaza is being struck by Local 1. Can Aaron or Thereuare or someone help me find the right part of this bb to post that fact? It might help other Chicago travelers...

Oh, right. No, if I do go to Chicago it will be in June -- I just thought it might be a good information-gathering strategy to see if the TripAdvisor numbers came up on a similar-looking hotel on earlier dates. I didn't realize there was a benefit to this board just by doing my searches using your links, even when I don't book. I'll certainly do that from now on.

Hi, I just checked late May (5/28 - 5/31) and saw the same amenities but without bed selection for the same price in the same zone. It has TA approval 80%. 300+ total reviews, 4.5 overall rating. Does that help?

It looks like it could be the Viking. Put it this way: no amenities are listed that the Viking doesn't have (and I agree, it could certainly be considered a boutique hotel). The Viking now has a spa, which isn't showing up in the amenities for this hotel, but that could easily be omitted for one reason or another. Very good deal if it's the Viking. Great location.

The Hilton Financial would be quite a long walk from the Garden, and it isn't close to any T stops. I suggest the 3.5* in Copley/Back Bay, which is listed at $89. Would that be the Sheraton or Hilton? (Yellow Dog or other expert?) The reason is that those are both about three blocks from the Copley T stop. (The Garden is on the Green Line, so you wouldn't have to change or anything.) In my experience, taking the T after a Boston Garden event is much more pleasant than getting a cab or (shudder) driving. Another good option, which I just noticed, is the 4* in Cambridge. It has a boutique icon, so wouldn't that be the Marlowe? If so, it's just a couple of blocks from the Lechmere station, which is also a very easy, direct T trip from the Garden. That looks like the best bargain in town, too -- $89 for a 4* boutique hotel. Anyway, the real point is that even though those hotels are in different 'neighborhoods' from the Garden, they are at least as easy to get to as the Hilton Financial. I hope your boss appreciates this! :)

I'm not a HOTWIRE expert (I'm relatively new here), but I do know this area. Nobody has reported a 3.5* in Warwick/Cranston, but my bet is that one's the Sheraton (at the airport). Great if what you're after is convenience to the airport, otherwise, eh. Oh, my reason for this ID is that Expedia has bumped the Sheraton from 3* to 3.5*, and it does have a pool. The Hampton Inn, which has a pool, has been downgraded to a 2.5* by Expedia, and the Crowne Plaza, which has 3.5*, doesn't have a pool. My bet for the 3* is the NYLO, mainly because it's been reported a few times recently as a Priceline win. Most people would say the NYLO is a definitely nicer place to stay than the Sheraton... but maybe not everybody. It's more fashionable and boutique-y. I have no guess on your 2.5*. Sorry.

There is a moderately useful site, Wi-Fi-Freespot, that lists (unsurprisingly!) free wifi spots around the country. There's a list of airports, a list of hotel chains that always/sometimes/often offer free internet, and you can also look by state and city. So, for instance, you can find a pretty good listing here: http://www.wififreespot.com/la.htm That includes hotels but also cafes. (I was so happy when I discovered that there are web sites listing free wifi coffee shops in cities nationwide -- that seriously increased my Quality of Life!) Hope that's helpful.