overhear

I've been bidding on Priceline hotels in Phila City Center for the past few days. Since I've not been successful I thought I'd try Hotwire and was hoping to identify some hotels on my own but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for some help. I checked BB Hotwire Hotel List but had trouble narrowing down the possibilities given that it seems that some amenities might actually be offered but not are consistently listed. The 2 offerings currently available that sound interesting are: 3.5* Center City West / University City area hotel - $81 Smoke Free Rooms Fitness Center Restaurant(s) Business Center High-Speed Internet Access TRIPADVISOR rating: 3.5 3.5* Center City East - Old City area hotel - $134 Smoke Free Rooms Fitness Center Restaurant(s) Business Center High-Speed Internet Access TRIPADVISOR rating: 4.0 Any help would be much appreciated!

Used the PRICELINE link on this site. Started bidding at $55 for a 4* hotel and incremented by $3 with each bid. I used all of my 9 free bids and won on the last bid at $76/night. I'm very pleased although the taxes bring the price to $98.60/night. :-( Thanks again for all the advice I received here last summer. It made this trip a breeze!

Thanks for your thoughts. That's very helpful to know. I'll use the link on this website and will post here if/when I land something.

OK, now I'm talking to myself here. I looked into the PL zones a bit more. The Mayfair-Soho zone has many 4-5* hotels that would be within 1 1/2 miles of the District line, which runs along the north bank of the Thames in central London. I also see that many betterbidders have been tempted to fish for the 5* Marriott County Hall in Westminster. Hmmm, it is tempting. Does anyone have a sense of how likely it is that a new 5* has been added to Westminster? If so, might those newly added 5* be far afield of the District line?

Yes. 2 Adults and 1 child. But not finding anything in my areas. Might I be doing something wrong?

Hello, I'm in a bit of a muddle and hoping to get some advice. I'll be in London with my husband and daughter from June 14-21. My husband would like to stay near his brother in Chiswick, whereas I think I'd prefer to be closer to the sights. Right now I'm thinking that a hotel near the District Line between Kensington and central London would be best -- i.e. Kensington, Chelsea, or Westminster on Hotwire, OR Kensington or Westminster on Priceline. It seems that given my location constraints, it would be best to use Hotwire where I can try to identify the precise hotel before bidding. That said, I am not seeing anything available on Hotwire in those areas. Although my post title indicates 4*, I am willing to pay a bit more if something comes up on Hotwire that looks like a very nice property. I would very much appreciate a reality check on this as I don't know London at all and could be way off, Thanks in advance, Kathy

Thanks for the tip, Aaron. Did check the Orbitz offer out -- using the link on this forum -- but could not determine if that offer also would include breakfast. If not, it's probably best to stay with the reservation we have.

Thank you thereyouare. I decided to book directly at the Steamboat Grand instead, as they have a AAA rate on 2 BDR condo for the same dates of $250/night, which includes breakfast. That comes to $1131 for 4 nights with tax. As always, thanks for all of your help, Kathy

I am traveling with extended family (3 adults + 1 child) for a 4-night stay in Steamboat. We need 2 rooms and are aiming for the Sheraton Steamboat Resort where we already have 2 rooms reserved for $127/night ($141 incl tax -- they waived the resort fee). Perhaps Hotwire isn't the best route, but I am hoping to find a discount on the Sheraton's villas to gain some living space. A Hotwire seach of 4* yields 1 property, (details below) which sounds like the Sheraton to me, but I don't know the area well. However, the price is similar to the AAA price I've already booked there. PL doesn't have any 4* hotels listed for my dates. I would appreciate any suggestions or advice. And of course I will use this forum's HOTWIRE link when I book. Thanks in advance!!! $114/room per night Resort Ski in/Ski out smoke free rooms fitness center pool restaurant business center TripAdvisor rating: 4.5

Success, finally! Got Delta Vancouver Suites Hotel bidding $112, plus $10 per night bonus bucks. This seems like it will be an excellent spot for the last 3 nights of our family vacation, so I'm very pleased. Thanks to all for your advice and endless patience! :)

I'm continuing to bid unsuccessfully in the $75 to $116 range. Still no rush as I'm not traveling until August, but I'm wondering if someone could clarify: 1) What is bonus money? 2) Why does the "median retail price" for my zone, date and hotel class change so radically from day to day? And does that price have implications for the level of bid that might be accepted? (For 4* hotel in downtown Vancouver the median retail price has varied from $191 - $288. Thanks much!

Thank you, Yellowdog. I had seen the Sheraton Wall Centre on successful PRICELINE bids in the Entertainment District. Does that location qualify as Downtown West on HOTWIRE? It does seem to be right on the border.

As a newbie, I very much appreciate the generosity of those who share their expertise on this board. I've certainly been learning a lot. After bidding unsuccessfully up to $116 for Vancouver 4* DT 8/13-16 for a few weeks, I thought I'd check out Hotwire today and found the hotel described below. Just wondering about the advantages/disadvantages of HOTWIRE vs. PRICELINE. The hotel listed below on HOTWIRE seems to offer a better deal than I've found so far on PRICELINE where nothing has been under $116. But doesn't Hotwire generally cost somewhat more? Thanks in advance for insights, Overhear *********************** 4* Vancouver - Downtown (West) $113 - Aug 13-16, 2010 Amenities: Fitness center Pool Restaurant Business center High speed internet Spa services Recommended in 80% of customer reviews 4.0 - Condition of hotel 4.0 - Quality of service 4.0 - Room comfort 4.5 - Room cleanliness 4.5 - Location TripAdvisor rating 4 stars Thanks for your help!

Thank you, thereuare. That's helpful to know. I'm using the PRICELINE link on this site each time. Still hoping that someone is familiar with Blue Horizon. If you're out there, please chime in. Thx!

I have been bidding up to $110 on Vancouver Downtown for the dates of Aug 13-16 unsuccessfully since Apr 2. As a backup, I have reserved at the Blue Horizon Hotel at the rate of $164CAD/night ($188CAD with tax). I see that there was a successful bid for Vancouver Entertainment District just posted on this board for July at $106. I would love some advice on whether it's realistic to expect a low-ball bid (say, $70-90) to be successful as August draws nearer, or if about $110 is the lowest one ever finds in Vancouver in the summer. Also, I read lots of reviews of the Blue Horizon on tripadvisor before booking, but if anyone has thoughts on how the quality and location of BH compares with the 4* Vancouver Downtown hotels obtained through Priceline, that would be very helpful. Thanks much for feedback!

Dear TerpFan, I am so sorry to hear of your loss. Glad to hear that you will continue to be enjoying traveling with your kids along. It's a great experience to share. All the best,

This is my first time using Priceline: Bid on 4/2/2010 starting at $65 and increasing by $5 increments to $95 without success. Bid today (4/3/2010) starting at $75. Increased by $5, then $10 increments to $110 without success. I already have a reservation at the Blue Horizon hotel for $164CAD (~$160US) per night, so I'm not sure how high I want to bid on an unknown location. I would love advice from those with more experience.

Thank you so much, g-man. For some reason I didn't notice that the stars greyed out when you chose a hotel-less zone. That was a big help!

Thank you for your reply. That does make sense, however the FAQs suggest that in order to make a second bid on a 4* hotel I should be prepared with information about which other zones have no 4* hotels. I'm unclear on how to identify those zones. Do I use the hotel lists on betterbidding to identify those zones? Or should I use PL's retail hotel listings? The PL retail listing for Vancouver has only one large zone for "Downtown Vancouver" which is not contiguous with the zones available in the Name Your Own Price area of the website. Thanks again!

So sorry for the trouble but I've read all the faqs and still can't seem to figure out how to see which hotels are available at t a given star-level on Priceline without actually bidding. I did the following: 1. Signed in 2. Chose my location and dates (Vancouver, BC; Aug 13-16). 3. Clicked on Name Your Own Price 4. Selected a zone (Downtown Vancouver) 5. Selected a star-level (4*) But there are no hotels listed at the bottom of the page. I also tried changing zones, star-levels and dates but nothing appears. Am I missing something? Thanks for any advice!