Tennisman

Amenities Oceanfront Property Indoor pool(s) Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center High-Speed Internet Access Golf Nearby Tennis Nearby Spa Accessible for the blind Accessible for the deaf Accessible path of travel In-room accessibility Accessible bathroom Also, for some reason, trip only came up when I included 2 kids for the 2 rooms. When I entered 2 adults, 3 kids, Hotwire search did not provide me with option for Hyatt hotel (perhaps because rooms originally given had 2 double beds). No matter - I re-ran search with 2 adults, 2 kids (for 2 rooms).

Was using 2 free nights (Chase Hyatt Visa - nights expire 7/31) at Hyatt Regency Newport. We had stayed there last August using Pricline and got $136/night. However, Priceline now groups Goat Island with other areas, so I couldn't be sure I would get the Hyatt when I bid on the Priceline site. Since I knew I was staying at the Hyatt on Friday 6/29, I needed to be sure I got into the Hyatt 6/28 as well. (The other Priceline Hotels are in Middletown, Newport...and I think the Marriott might be a **** hotel) (By the way, I have another free night for the Chase Hyatt Visa this year, but it won't work on this hotel. That's because the hotel is a Hyatt Class 5 and the free nights on the "anniversary year" are only good for Class 1 through 4.) I called Hyatt directly and the best they would offer was $214/night companion room rate, or $38 more per room than the Hotwire rate. From the Hotwire site, it was pretty clear what they were offering for $176 was the Hyatt. The hotel is listed as Ocean Front, and I think most of the other area hotels are NOT ocean front. The kicker was the Hotwire site also noted that the hotel carries a resort fee. I don't like the resort fee ($35 in prime season), but at least it pretty much verified that they were offering the Hyatt. The $176 rate seems high compared to the $136 I had gotten before, but I wanted to make sure we got the hotel, and it was better by $38 than what Hyatt would do for me directly (rack rates on all sites are about $399). Sure enough, came up to be the Hyatt. Total cost for 2 rooms (including taxes) of $404.92, NOT including the $35/room resort fee. So, nearly $500 total for both rooms. Sometimes, they will waive the resort fee for the 2nd room for a family splitting up a room - will try. As always, bid through Hotwire Better Bidding link. Regards, Mike

Very busy in Pittsburgh these two days. I struggled to find any successes on Hotwire and Priceline for these dates. Other sites verified that many downtown hotels were sold out. Started bidding at $75 for **** hotel in downtown. When that failed, upped my bid to 76 and added *** 1/2* and ***. No luck. Added Southside location, and even University City, and Airport with various variations over 3 days. No luck until today (3rd day), with my bids upped over $100. Might have been able to get University City slightly cheaper for *** hotel - that was my last change - adding university City and upping bid to $103. Finally achieved some success with Holiday Inn University Center, which is a good distance from the downtown seminar I plan to attend (Sheraton Suburban Station Square - which was sold out). Got the hotel for $103/night x 2 nights = $206 + $39.06 in taxes, so $245.06 for 2 nights ($122.53/night). Still well less than the AAA rate of $159/night + taxes. Hotel seems to be near University of Pittsburgh.

Got $136/night for 2 rooms at Hyatt Regency Newport (Goat Island) for Thurs & Fri 8/11 and 8/12......used PRICELINE through BetterBidding link. This compared to $404/night on Hyatt's site! I started with bid of $100 for one room (2 nights) and was denied. Couldn't increase my bid unless I changed one of the search categories, which I didn't want to do. Later bid $117/night (2 rooms, 2 nights). Was denied, but Priceline suggested rebidding at $136/night. I did this, and in worked.