chasman

I wrote a lengthy review on www.tripadvisor.com that should be up in a few days giving it only 2 out of 5. Look for user name chasman1. Amenities- Airport Shuttle <amenity names only please... not descriptions> Complimentary Breakfast <amenity names only please... not descriptions> Pool(s) Property offers at least one pool area; hours and dates of operation may be seasonal. Restaurant(s) Property offers at least one restaurant on the premises; hours and days of operation may vary. Business Center Guests have access to business equipment and services; an additional charge may apply. High-speed Internet Access Guestrooms are equipped with high-speed Internet access; an extra charge may apply.

Just spoke with the 3 guys that stayed at the Coast and they did not think it warranted a 3.5* rating. I will mention this to Hotwire. The lobby was OK, but the rooms were old and tired they said.

Retail was about $200 CAD and got it for $115 US, so happy with deal. Booked it at 3pm the day of. A little surprised a Coast Hotel is a 3.5*, but I've stayed at Coast Hotels before and they are pretty good. Hotel 2 room(s) @ $115.00 per night x NoOfNights:1 night(s) silkHotSubTotal:$230.00 Taxes recovery charges and fees TaxesAndFees:$40.63 Total Some hotels may apply additional charges for incidental fees such as parking. Prices are in $USD. TotalPriceWithAddOnsAndSavings:$270.63 Downtown Vancouver West Amenities: Fitness Center Guests have access to exercise equipment; an additional charge may apply. Pool(s) Property offers at least one pool area; hours and dates of operation may be seasonal. Restaurant(s) Property offers at least one restaurant on the premises; hours and days of operation may vary. Business Center Guests have access to business equipment and services; an additional charge may apply. Laundry Facilities <amenity names only please... not descriptions> Tennis Nearby Property is located within walking distance or a short drive of at least one tennis court; an extra charge typically applies.

Pleasantly surprised I got this for $105. I've stayed here before - nice place. Remember that PL fees are an additional $26. Plus I'm sure they will nail me for parking. Wife will be happy, which will in turn make my weekend go more smoothly. Started at $90 in $5 increments. You have about 5 shots at re-bidding a 4* in Vancouver due to the 2* and 3* max hotels in the suburbs.

Thanks, WillTravel for the info. Will let you know how the room is. I've stayed at Hilton's in London before and enjoy them as their rooms are normally larger than a traditional London hotel.

This was a weird one. I was fooling around with the dates as well as with # of kids in my search on Hotwire. I am travelling with my wife and 5 year old. We land on the 16th, but I was not sure if we were going to stay 2 or 3 nights (Frankly, I still don't!) So I was fooling around with the searches on hotwire and I noticed that if I entered 1 CHILD the 4 star hotel at $121 did not come up. (It did come up if I entered zero in the # of CHILDREN field) Also, if I added the date of the 18th, the price zoomed up to about $200 per night vs. the $121 per night for the 16th and 17th only. I felt I had to jump on the $121/night and not claim 1 CHILD. (There is an extra $100 in Taxes recovery charges and fees! I am not sure how much of these are purely Hotwire fees or some local hotel taxes) So the total is $121 + $121 + $101 = $343 for 2 nights in a 4 star so averages out to $171 per night including all the taxes and fees. When I go to www.hilton.com I see a price of $134.50 GBP per night for the 16th and 17th so that works out to $505 US dollars. So if I did the math correctly, I saved $505 - $343 = $162. On www.Hotels.com I believe the total price would have been $392 so only a $49 savings there, but again if you type in that you are bringing 1 CHILD the Hilton Paddington does not come up. I just called the hotel directly and made sure that they take kids there. They said yes, of course. Seems to be some on-line discrimination for you if you type in that you are bringing a CHILD. You may want to fool around with that feature in your future searches you do and see if not being entirely truthful (i.e. not saying you are bringing a child) opens up some more options for you. Good luck! Amenities are - Restaurant(s) Property offers at least one restaurant on the premises; hours and days of operation may vary. Fitness Center Guests have access to exercise equipment; an additional charge may apply. High-speed Internet Access Guestrooms are equipped with high-speed Internet access; an extra charge may apply. Business Center Guests have access to business equipment and services; an additional charge may apply.

Thought I was going to get the Crowne Plaza. I believe the amenities were only 2 - restaurant and fitness center. Got this for my sister in law for just one night. Retails for $179 on their web site, so happy. - http://www.redlion5thavenue.com/ Not sure why Hotwire shows it only retailing for about $89. I'll ask her what it's like - reviews seem OK.

$51 appears to be the floor for this hotel. I got the same hotel for 16 Dec.

First bid. Not sure how low I could have gotten. $139 CAD plus taxes retail. It's tough to get a lot of free 4*re-bids going in the Vancouver area as there are only 2 or 3 zones - unlike Seattle area. Bid same day. Nice hotel. Just crashed there one night. One can walk 3 blocks to the seaplanes to Victoria. Starbucks across the street and Robson St about 5 blocks up the hill.

Feel free to file this under "TMI" (too much information)... So after getting the Millenium UN I checked out the reviews at www.tripadvisor.com and got spooked by a bad review. I checked in early (11am) with some trepidation, however I used thereuare's brilliant advice and said it was my anniversary (sort of true, in 3 weeks) and miraculously got upgraded to one of the nicest hotel rooms I've ever stayed in anywhere! Room 3527 - a corner room with an amazing view of the city. I was thrilled, as was the wife who arrived later in the day! We've been to NYC a few times and had a brilliant time - Yankees game, The Producers, nice meals at Balthazar, Gotham Bar & Grill (the $25 Prix Fixe lunch is hard to beat), Haru (sushi near Times Square) and Salude (Italian near Grand Central Station). One day I walked 100 blocks (from 14th up to 74th and then back down to 34th) just soaking in the city. Did not use the amenities (such as the pool) at the hotel since we were out and about most of the time. I don't know about other rooms or about renovations perhaps going on in another tower? of the Millenium UN hotel, but like I said it was a wonderful experience for us. (In the sprit of full disclosure a few very minor 'cons' of the hotel were - tub did not drain quickly (was fixed the next day), window washers at 7:30am, house-cleaning knocking on adjoining rooms at 8:15am, I noticed a long line to check-in at 6pm with only 2 people working behind the desk). It was sort of nice to be outside the hustle and bustle of Times Square as well - yet only about a 10-15 min walk away. Bring your walking shoes, go to the MOMA, The Met and don't shy away from bidding in this region of NYC on Hotwire. P.S. The nearest Starbucks is on 3rd between 44th and 43rd - 2 blocks away. :)

Amenities were - Restaurant, Pool, Fitness Center, Tennis, Business Center. Bid on it at 9:30am the day of. I do not believe the pinned list of Hotwire hotels on this BB shows these specific amenities - I could be wrong. Will try to get a higher floor. On Expedia.com it should as this hotel not having availability today - Monday. Hmmmm and only $199 on Tues and Wed so not an amazing deal, but anything under $200 in NY for a 4 star is a steal. No complaints. The wife will be happy which is all that matters. Right? ;-) On Expedia it also shows this hotel as being 3.5 stars. Was hoping to get the W Hotel. No biggie though.

Hey thereuare - Apologies in advance, if I did not post this in the right spot (ie perhaps I should have started a new thread). Was interested in your take on WHEN the best time to bid on NYC 4* hotels is. I believe Las Vegas hotel PL prices can drop the most about 7 days before one's trip, but was wondering if the same applies to NYC hotels. I am in NYC for 4 nights beginning on 21 Aug and wanted to know when you would recommend I start bidding. $110 for a 4* in NYC is a great deal and would like to get something like that. However, at the same time, do not want to cut it too close and not be able to find anything. Thoughts/Suggestions? PS Last time in NYC I got the Crowne Plaze for about $190/night. I guess it's impossible to predict availability due to demand and, thus, getting a great deal is a lot of luck (eg that no major convention is in town, etc.) PPS Love the new MAPS feature. Would also be cool to be able to see a list of, say, all 4* hotels in a particular city won in the past 6 months or so, to get a feel for what a good, great and lousy deal is based on historical winning bids. Keep up the good work!

Looks like the entry point for the Coast might be $42 now vs. the old $30. I just booked it for $42 tomorrow night - 9 April. I tried a weird bidding strategy so can't tell you if a few dollars less would have won it. Doubt it. I'm happy with it and free parking is good - no complaints.

I've stayed here about 3 times recently. Great value for about $30 on PL. I don't know why people stay in downtown Seattle. Bellevue is great. Bellevue Mall has every higher end shop you could want. Rock Bottom Brewery is a fun restaurant and my 4 yr old gets to make his own pizza. The Hyatt is nicer, but I like the free parking and simplicity of the Coast. You can be at SEATAC in 15 mins - especially in the carpool lane.

I'm a 35 year old guy with pretty mild expectations (compared with the mrs). Stayed here for 4 nights last week - early April 05 - with some buddies. No complaints about the value. Only paid $60/night. Only 2 things they could improve on - 1. The free shuttle FROM the airport took too long so I just jumped in a cab. It's only a $10 ride. 2. The front desk staff are nice enough, but not very helpful or apologetic when things go wrong. No biggie, though. I think this place used to be the Holiday Inn.

This was a first. Many times before I have scored the Coast Hotel for $30 in Bellevue. However, it did not come up this time, so I kept going up by $5 and finally got the Hyatt for $45. I checked the Coast Hotel website and there appears to be availablility. Actually, I'm happy with the result. For an extra $15, I get a hotel room that has a rack rate $100 higher than the other. Not to say it's better, but I'll let you know. It was interesting to me that I did not get the Coast for some reason this time. Check-In Date: Thu, Mar 31, 2005 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Fri, Apr 1, 2005 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $45.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $45.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $13.81 Total Charges: $58.81

If I'm not mistaken they are still the one's on the "pinned" list in this BB - Amenities: Shuttle, Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Golf, Business, Laundry ... that's what helped me be 90% sure I was going to get the Crowne Plaza. To your question - yes, I am happy with the deal I got. Will report back a review upon my return. Great BB! It rocks!

Website says $141 a night so happy to get it for $53. Hotel Details: 2 room(s), 5 night(s) Crowne Plaza Phoenix Airport 4300 E. Washington St. Phoenix, Arizona 85034 (602) 273-7778 Check-in: Thu, Mar 31, 2005 Check-out: Tue, Apr 5, 2005 Midscale Traveler and Billing Details Hotel 2 room(s) @ $53.00 per night x 5 night(s) $530.00 Hotel Taxes and fees: $65.95 Hotel Subtotal $595.95 Total Price $595.95 Some hotels may apply additional charges for incidental fees such as parking. Prices are in $USD

GAVE UP ON PRICELINE - Over the course of about 6 days, I tried to get the Buttes for up to $95 with no luck for the 31 March - 5th of April (5 nights), then tried to get a 3* in Mesa for up to $67 with no luck. So threw in the towel and got the 3* Crowne Plaza near the Airport for $53/night. Happy with it. Will post details on the hotwire side. Thanks for all your help.

UPDATE - Bid up to $75 tonight for a Resort in the Tempe area hoping for the Wyndham Buttes for 5 nights - 31 March - 4 April. No luck. Hmmm. Will try again in 4 days, I guess. It must be high season - $197 web rate available from www.wyndham.com. Not certain if a resort like the Wyndham in Tempe releases more rooms as the dates get closer like many hotels do in Vegas. Any suggetions welcomed. Thanks.

I don't know if it's cool to post links to other websites, but I find www.tripadvisor.com helpful for hotel reviews. However, I often find wildly divergent reviews from hotel guests. I guess you have to go with the majority view.

Thanks thesqueegeekid - You are the king! I now understand how using PL Vacation can help out. You're right that it's quite a steal. I just need to bounce the idea of being way out there with the rest of the group. I think I have a good understanding and strategy now thanks to you. Will let you know how it turns out. Thanks much!

Thanks much squeegekid and bbbb - Really appreciate the input. I think I will wait a bit and see if more rooms open up. I arrive on the 31st of March and believe Spring Training will be over by then, so not too worried about that. Might try to hit the Suns game on the 1st of April. Sounds like my "best" hotel options are - Hilton Mesa - i realize there it not much nightlife in Mesa Marriott Mesa - ditto Buttes - would be great to get for less than $60, but a long shot perhaps Sheraton Suites Tempe Scotttsdale Plaza (Resort) Embassy Suites Airport - good value, might be able to get in the $50s We will be getting 2 rooms and some guys are staying 5 nights so would like to keep the price per room per night in the $60 range if possible. Any idea when more rooms might open up and, thus, chance of getting a cheaper priced room is better - like in Vegas? I don't mind waiting until 2 weeks before the trip to book something. I do not quite understand how I can leverage the info on PL Vacations to my advantage. It will not let me put in that I am flying in from Phoenix, naturally, but then if it's a total of $400 per person from Seattle (for example), how do I know how much the room alone might go for? I am going down on points. Perhaps I just use PL Vacations to look for availability during my dates and then use this BB to search for probably prices? Thanks much.

Heading down to the PHX area 31 March - 5 of April (5 nights) for golfing with buddies. I've been to Scottsdale before so know the general area. I am a sucker for good value and it appears some folks have snagged the Marriott for $42 and the Buttes for $47. I realize it's spring break time (sort of) so might have to bid a bit more. Both places appear to retail for $199 on those dates at the moment. Any local advice on which of these 2 hotels would be "better"? How soon should I bid? Any golf course recommendations under $50? I saw that squeegeekid got a free 4th night at the Marriott??? If so, how? We are low maintenance 36 year old married guys, so will probably be out golfing and at the bars most of the time. Yet. it's fun to stay at a nice place. I've read mixed reviews on both places. I've used this BB and PL a lot in the past so am familiar with bidding strategies, etc. Any advice/suggestions welcomed? Thanks! I love this BB! Good job!

This was painful. I tried for about a week to get a good deal. My definition of a good deal is The Westin Times Square for $150. After re-bidding in $10 increments all over Manhattan, I finally landed the 3* Crowne Plaza at the UN for $200 a night for 4 nights - Oct 14-18. Not thrilled, but better than paying $300+ retail for a 4*. This BB is always a fantastic help! Keep up the good work.