jraway

Thanks to Betterbidding for confidence that I'd be getting the Westin- which I wanted. Went via Bidding Helper, checked Hot.wire, PRICELINE EXPRESS and did Price.line bids. I'm booking only 3 days in advance so have to endure a higher price than reported by most here! Hotwire Easyview: $164 4* Downtown LA on the above dates. Amenities: Boutique hotel, Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, Accessible for hearing impaired, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Accessible bathroom, Accessible parking, Roll-in shower. From forums: most likely LA Hotel. Priceline Express had a 4* for $200 with amenities that Better Bidding says likely Westin: Business Center, Restaurant, Indoor or Outdoor Pool, Fitness Center. Pursuing the Westin: Priceline Bidding started at $148, Priceline offered Increase bid offer by "only" $72 for $220. Added half of $72 with bid zone for $186: Priceline offered increase to $220. $190 with bidzone: Priceline offered increase to $220. $220 via Choose Your own Price vs $200 Express?! I went with the Express deal. And it was the Westin. Of note is that though the Hotwire offer seems to be $35 cheaper per night, Hotwire's taxes and fees were $308.16 vs Priceline's $269.36. Seems to me that Hotwire adds $50 to most of the bookings I try. Something to consider if prices are closer...

I just got the same hotel, I *think* it was via your link but I had a few open... sorry if it wasn't. Amenities are Free Parking Free Internet Pet friendly Smoke Free Rooms Fitness Center Pool(s) Self service laundry

Tried several times in the last week (mostly via your PRICELINE link) for around $60-$70 via Priceline, always summarily turned down. Hotwire had been expensive, but today's $66 looked good. The result is a surprise- I was sure I'd get the Crowne Plaza on the river again. The Doubletree is a more convenient location and usually costs about $132/night, so no complaints!

Glad you were able to duplicate my win! One of the risks of the 4-star upgrade is expensive add-ons. E.g. another member commented on parking and I've been charged $14/day for internet at other 4 stars. Can't comment on parking at the Hyatt but unusually it does offer free internet. Replied here so it's in the most recent win post!

Bid $54 for 3.5 Star O'Hare South: immediately accepted for 4 star Hyatt Regency. Used the site's PRICELINE link, as usual.

Offered $58 for 3* LAX, PL counter-offered $72. Added USC and offered $64, accepted. Total price $81. Used the Betterbidding PRICELINE link, as usual.

Bid $32 for a 2.5 star at Orlando airport, not accepted. Bid $38 for a 3 star at Orlando Airport+Winter Park, counter-offer for $53. Bid $43 for a 3 star at Orlando+Kissimmee, upgraded to 3.5 star Airport Hyatt Regency. Non-opaque Priceline cost is $193/night so no complaints here! Used PRICELINE link at the forum, as usual.

Bid $40 for 3* Dallas Airport North, counter-offered $55. Bid $40 for 3* Dallas Airport South, accepted immediately. Used the forum link, as usual.

Bid $40 for 3* Fishers, accepted immediately with upgrade to 3.5* Hilton Indianapolis North. Have stayed here before: nice hotel, but they sting $14/day extra for internet access, which won't hurt as much having paid only $40. Used the Forum PRICELINE link as usual.

Tried various combinations of LAX and Lawndale, 3* and 3.5* starting from $35. Reached $40 on day 2, 3* LAX + Lawndale accepted by Holiday Inn, LAX. $40+ $12.97 taxes and fees=$52.97 total. Best non-opaque Priceline price is $80 + $11.04 t&f = $91.04. Used the board PRICELINE link, of course.

Bid $42, accepted immediately by Hyatt Place. Used forum PRICELINE links of course!

Thank you. Used your link to make the bid, of course. ;-) Hilton's internet price is $12.95 for 24/24. I'm starting to think maybe it's better to bid for 3* as internet generally is free. Is this the right place to put internet, parking etc prices for these hotels?

Bid $42, accepted immediately by Hilton, $55.25 inc tax. Which was a surprise- I've bid 3 times this year for 3.5* at LAX and got Crowne Plaza every time.

Reviewed LAX wins here, used your PRICELINE link to bid $42, accepted immediately. Additional charges are Internet $10, parking $12.

Jealous ;-) - I'm the guy who paid $60 for the Marriott Windsor 1 day earlier. How was your stay? Weather had made roads at the Windsor treacherous on the 6-7th with the airport shuttle unable to enter the Marriott Windsor property because of ice and the bus sliding around on the road while they considered closing the service(!) Where is the Sheraton? The Marriott Windsor is miles away from the airport- taxi quoted at 22-25GBP (which is comparable to the airport-downtown rate in some cities) and it took half an hour to reach Terminal 1-2-3 in the direct shuttle. I do not believe this would be considered an "airport" hotel in most other cities even though Terminal 5 is a bit closer. The issue of taxes and fees is diverting. Thanks for pointing out www.lastminute.com which quotes "full" price rather than a base rate whose unpredictable taxes/fees are revealed only after you show interest.

Plenty of explanations indeed. Thanks for pointing out that a VAT change explains some of the difference, but even so the room still costs $6.50 more (>10%) when there is only a $1 difference in base price. Thanks also for pointing out that I'm comparing Hotwire with Priceline. Certainly from now on I'll be actually clicking Hotwire offers and noting the total cost (rather than just noting the base cost) before making a Priceline bid. I'll also be paying more attention to the Priceline total cost rather than just my bid. Some changes already are visible. For example, right now on Hotwire I can see that a Heathrow hotel room costing $69 has more taxes and fees than a room costing $79. Since we don't know what the hotels are, it's price to which we have to respond meaning that this sort of imbalance is not useful to consumers. Perhaps Priceline/Hotwire should build their fees/margins/costs apart from taxes into their base rates so that all that gets added is taxes, meaning that base rates are reliable and comparable again.

Hmm, I've been taking note of the Priceline taxes and fees. My $60 room came to $77 with taxes and fees. I can see that another poster's $59 room at LHR at about the same time translates to $69 including taxes and fees, meaning I actually paid $8 more for a $1 difference in room rate. Also I see that another poster's excellent $50 result converts to $65, only $4 less than the $59 result. IOW the fees/taxes seem to vary a lot. I'm guessing that Priceline knows that people focus on the pre-tax price, meaning that Priceline can manipulate taxes and fees to "accept" lower bids accompanied by higher fees that may more than make up the difference. Something for all of us to watch!

Tried variously over several days between $50 and $60 with counter-offers >$70 before $60 accepted for Marriott Heathrow Windsor. Total $77.24 including tax. Could not use your link because "Heathrow" offers places in Florida via the link, but certainly shall continue trying in future.