whidbeyone

Hello Sleepless2- I have bid Washington DC quite a few time since I go there on business a couple of times per year. In fact I will be there from the 16th to the 20th of February, just after you are there. I won a bid for the night of the 19th for the 4* Liaison Hotel on Capitol Hill for $62 just a few days ago. If you are willing to split your bid, I think a similar price could be had for the 12th and 13th (weekend) and possibly the 14th (since the 15th is a holiday). (The 13th could be a little more of a problem this weekend than usual because of Valentines Day.) You could then bid a little higher for the nights of the 10th and 11th and still stay within your overall budget for 2 rooms at an average of $80 per room per night. I think that is very possible. Since you have so many free rebids at the 4* level you could start low and even get lucky for the weeknights. You would have to be open to the possibility of getting a different hotel on the two bids so you might need to move during your stay. I don't think there are any "clunkers" at 4* or even 3.5* in the DT-WH, CC-CH, or DC-WP zones, though the Omni Shoreham and Marriott Wardman Park are a ways out in the DC-WP zone, but there is a Metro stop not far from either of them and they are near the zoo if that interests you and are nice properties in any case. I saw a $65 win at the Marriott Wardman Park for a Mid-week Tues-Thurs stay the last week in January, so maybe you can catch a bargain there too. Having said that I think I would start with DT-WH even down to 3*, then bid CC-CH at 4* and 3.5*, and then move to DC-WP at 4* and 3.5*. I'd start my bidding at about $60 for all star levels, but be willing to raise your bid a little more per bid on the 3.5* and 3* bidding sequences since you won't have as many free rebids. If you get an offer to bid again for a certain increase in your bid, do not take it but make another bid for about 1/2 of the increase suggested by Priceline as they will almost always accept less than the suggested amount, sometimes even as little as $1 or $2. Good Luck and let us know what happens with your bids.

If you just check the Wenatchee box there is no possibility of getting a hotel in Yakima. In fact, you have Yakima as a free rebid zone if you bid for a 3* hotel in Wenatchee. Do you understand free rebids? The confirmation screen shows Wenatchee-Yakima as the "region" and Wenatchee as the specific area you are bidding on. It would be analogous to seeing Seattle as the "region" and Sea-Tac for example as the specific area. You are good to go if you just check the Wenatchee box on that first screen. It looks like the only 3* rated hotel in Wenatchee right now is the Coast Wenatchee Center Hotel which has been fairly consistently won at $45. You might try a little lower for a 3* bid if you want to make use of the free rebid. If not you might want to bid $45 right off the bat. If you don't get the 3* you could drop down and bid 2.5 star without waiting the 72 hours. You might get the 2.5* for a little less. There has not been much activity in Wenatchee at less than 3* so it is hard to say what might win there at tha level or even who is participating there at less than the 3* level. However, likewise, if you don't get the 2.5* at whatever you bid for that you would have to wait the 72 hours to rebid Wenatchee unless you wanted to drop down to 2*. At 2.5* and 2* you have no free rebids. Hope this helps.