jkaustin

I didn't end up booking the room, but I also realized I made an error: the Stephen F. Austin does, in fact, have an indoor pool, so it's the only possible option unless Hotwire's description is erroneous.

Okay, I'm flummoxed on this one, if only because I can't think of any downtown Austin hotels that have an indoor pool (and that aren't already on Hotwire). Here are the details: 4* in Downtown Austin / Town Lake (and classified as a four-star hotel generally) Quoted rate of $129/night One-night stay (6/24-6/25) Listed amenities are boutique hotel, business center, fitness center, indoor pool(s), internet access, pet friendly, pool(s), restaurant(s), smoke-free rooms 4.5* TripAdvisor rating w/1000-1500 votes The only hotel I can think of that's new to Hotwire and comes close to fitting the description is the JW Marriott - except it doesn't have an indoor pool, though I suppose that could be an error in the listing. That said, the JW isn't really a "boutique" hotel; actually, it's the largest hotel in Austin by a wide margin! (with over 1,000 rooms) Only two other hotels, period, have a 4.5* TripAdvisor rating (with 1000-1500 votes) as well as a "boutique" classification: the W Austin and InterContinental Stephen F. Austin, but again, neither is new to Hotwire. Any ideas??

Here's the full list of amenities from your bidding helper tool: Pet friendly, Boutique hotel, Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, Spa services, Accessible for visually impaired, Accessible for hearing impaired, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Accessible bathroom

This is an incredible rate for the W, which normally costs $300 or more per night. Its listed amenities are boutique, pool, business center, fitness center, pet friendly, restaurants, spa services, and accessibility for mobility impaired. It's also 4.5 stars on TripAdvisor with 1000-1500 reviews, which no other boutique property in the area lists.

Just FYI, HOTWIRE has apparently recently broken up its Downtown Austin zone into two areas: Downtown - Town Lake and North Downtown - University of Texas. The hotels that I know for certain would be in the new North Downtown Zone -- defined as anything north of Seventh St. (and I live in Austin btw and know its geography very well) -- and have previously shown up on Hotwire are the AT&T Hotel & Conference Center; Hotel Ella; Hampton Inn & Suites at the University/Capitol; Sheraton Austin at the Capitol; DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Austin; DoubleTree by Hilton Austin University Area; and La Quinta Inn Austin Capitol.

Just FYI, the Van Zandt is an awesome hotel, and this is the cheapest price I've ever seen for it.

I'm a big Kimpton fan, so I was happy to end up with the Monaco for such a low rate! It was listed at $206/night for my dates on all the major OTA sites. Since I knew Seattle has around a dozen PL rebid opportunities for a 4.5* property, and only two zones that include them, I started out with an unusually low bid ($82) just to see if it'd somehow work. It didn't. I kept upping my bids in $5 increments while adding zones, and finally got lucky with $107. Btw PRICELINE has recently reconfigured two of its three areas in downtown Seattle. It also looks like they changed their boundaries for the zones as well. The one with the Monaco is now listed as "Downtown - Shopping District - Convention Center - Capitol Hill." Since the only other known PL hotel in downtown Seattle, the W, is right across the street, I assume it's also now in this district (and it appears so if you compare the PL zone map with the W's location on Google Maps). The question mark, then, is the rezoned "Downtown - Pike Place - Waterfront - Stadiums" area, which is listed as having at least one 4.5* hotel, though it's not yet been ID'd here. I suspect it may be the new Thompson Seattle, which just opened a few months ago and is located near the water and adjacent to Pike Place Market. (It's also now listed as a 4.5* property on Hotwire.) Alternately, its possible the nearby Hotel 1000 was downgraded.

Sure, here ya go! "FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Pet friendly, Boutique hotel, Fitness center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, Golf nearby, Kitchenette, Accessible for visually impaired, Accessible for hearing impaired, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Wheelchair accessible, Accessible bathroom, Accessible parking, Roll-in shower." Oh, and I don't know if you can edit my subject line, but the price has dropped to $212/night for 8/4-8/6.

To my surprise, I just received an offer for a five-star Galleria-area property for the first time. HOTWIRE was nice enough to give me one of its "hints" about who lasted booked the property, and it turns out the property is the Hotel Granduca. The rate I received for an 8/3-8-5 booking request was $254/night, but OTOH TripAdvisor has it as its current #2 property in the whole city, behind only the Lancaster downtown. It lists the following perks: free Internet, boutique hotel, business center, golf nearby, fitness center, pet friendly, pool(s), and restaurant(s). It also cites a "100% recommended" stat, though that's an average from a very small sample size (only 15 reviews).

Similar to another poster two weeks ago, I landed the Omni Riverfront -- except I got it for an almost shockingly low $92/night. Granted, I'll be there for three weeknights, but OTOH it's spring break season and a number of hotels are already fully booked. Here are the listing specs, though they're identical to the earlier poster's: FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Fitness center, Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, Accessible for visually impaired, Accessible for hearing impaired, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Accessible bathroom, Accessible parking, Roll-in shower A couple of other notes, as a frequent NOLA visitor: this was formerly a Wyndham property (and frankly a mediocre one), but reopened under Omni management quite recently (within the past 3-4 months) following what sounds like a hard reno. (A "soft reno" is what most hotels do every few years, replacing just upholstery and carpet and whatnot. A "hard reno" is pretty much a gut renovation, which is much more expensive but yields much more impressive results.) The hotel has two sections: a historic wing that I'm assuming used to be a warehouse of some sort -- it *is* the Warehouse District, after all -- as well as a building that's fairly recent. I'm looking forward to checking the place out!

Just as a heads-up, Rampart St. can be pretty sketchy at night. I'd also say it's a little deceptive for Hotwire to classify this hotel as being in either the Quarter or near Bourbon St. Yes, it is technically in the former -- Rampart is one of its borders -- but the hotel is a full five blocks from even the outermost edge of the main stretch of Bourbon (the north end of which ends around St. Ann).

Only one known 3.5* in this area -- the Holiday Inn Downtown -- has been identified thus far. However, it is not the hotel in question, seeing as there's a separate 3.5* non-boutique listing in the same area that's presumably the Holiday Inn. Features: 100% recommended - though note that it only has five reviews thus far, implying it's a new addition to HotwireBoutique hotelSmoke-freeRestaurant(s)Business center4 out of 5.0 on TripAdvisorThe listed rate is $130, reduced from $189. Any ideas?