AinA

Denied! I am looking for a 4* downtown Seattle Pike-Place area. Started at $79 and did the following permeations: Bothell $82 Kirkland $85 Lake Union $88 Lynnwood $91 Mukilteo $94 North Everett $97 Renton $100 Seattle Airport $103 Seattle Center $107 U of Wa $110 Still denied :) I will ponder this over the next 24 hrs and figure out how high I am willing to go. There is a HOTWIRE room for $159 that is either Hotel Monaco or the W and 4* rooms are available for booking in the $270+ range so that is encouraging. I am just feeling like PRICELINE hates me these days, had a horror experience trying to bid for a room last weekend in the Aberdeen area (will have to post about that when the shock of that wears off) ended up in America's Best for a RIDICULOUS amount of money, only positive thing I can say about that is I won't need to go to the spa for exfoliation, their sheets and towels took care of that!!! :) I am so spoiled by BetterBidding. Used the PRICELINE link at the top of the page (of course!). AinA

But the W is SO worth it! I need to go back to use the anything button and hand them a live dungie! (LOVE the anything line) AinA

Were you happy with the Coast? I am surprised as well to see it come up. I have stayed there a few times when I couldn't priceline anything. Staff are nice, helpful (seems I always need to do laundry, too). I don't like the lack of restaurant/room service (they utilize the restaurant in the shared parking lot) but the upside is the complimentary breakfast bar, that is definitely a value. For the SEA airport hotels, I would prefer Coast over Holiday Inn any day. -A

Downtown and Waterfront would both be acceptable but they were exactly as you guessed it, my pseudo rebid zone since I figured no way would I get a place for $40 in that zone. It was Staybridge that we stayed at, it is going for $145 +tax right now. Extended Stay America (ugh!) is going for $56.99+ then when I navigated away they offered $10 off. Soooooo..... Will up my bid, next time, keep it at 3*. Have a few more days. AinA

Initiated bidding for two rooms in the Vancouver zone for a Portland, Oregon 3* at $32. Denied. Upped it to $34 & added Downtown. Upped it to $36 with Vancouver + S. Waterfront. Upped it to $38 and did all three previously bid. Upped it to $40 & added Northwest. Denied! Wasn't sure what Northwest was going for but that would be our second choice after Vancouver. I think it is the Silver Cloud which I have stayed at in the past at ::: gasp ::: rack rate! Wouldn't mind staying there again. Have time before the trip. Got the Residence Inn (I think???) for $42 (I know) last fall. Last time I was hoping for the Hilton and ended up pleasantly surprised with the kitchenette/suite setup. Will try again tomorrow, doing some research on prices and availability today. Used the PRICELINE link :) Eternal thanks for this site! AinA

First bid, $42, 2 rooms. Wondering if I bid $45 we would have got the Double Tree? I hate this obsession of mine to get the lowest price. Aaaargh! Still a GREAT deal and my friends are very pleased, but, they don't travel much so they're easy ;-) AinA

You're absolutely right. The breakfast will make a big difference cost wise considering there are 4 of us traveling. Also the kitchen might come in handy as well. Thanks, I love this board! AinA

First bid, $42 for 3* Vancouver. Two rooms, 18 Sept 2009 - 20 Sept 2009. Kinda bummed out not to get the Hilton, that was the hope. Staybridge will be a new property for us. Still, a huge savings. Used the PRICELINE link :-) AinA

I have not heard of any 2 beds without going penthouse type high end, but I am certainly not even close to an authority on this one! If you don't have any luck finding a 2 bedroom via hotwire or priceline, and you are really stuck on one, Seattle is pretty Craigslist savvy and I see corporate 2 bed rentals in the downtown condos at daily rates in both the sublets and vacation categories. The vacation category has quite a bit of outlying/out of town stuff, I just do a "Seattle" search and wade through it. Goodluck to you, AinA

After a failed one bid chance on Priceline for a room in Bellingham, I Hotwired a room for two people. A 2 1/2* came up for $68 with the following amenities: 2 1/2 * $68 Complimentary Breakfast Pool(s) Business Center Laundry Facility High-speed Internet Access With taxes/fees room came out to $80.55 total. Same hotel through Travelocity was $83, $92.87 with tax. First time Hotwire-er. It is a savings but nothing that makes me jump up and down. It is only for my husband and tool partner, should have made them sleep in the truck :) I was hoping for Holiday Inn Express, oh well, now we have a HOTWIRE hotel to add to the list though. Used the HOTWIRE link. AinA

Bid for same day on PRICELINE for a 2* in Bellingham. Saw there was a winning bid for this weekend at $55 so started bidding at that level hoping for Holiday Inn Express. That bid failed, and I was thinking backwards that I could up the star levels and re bid. Considering how long I have been at this I can't believe I made THAT rookie mistake! Oh well! Ended up Hotwiring a 2 1/2* for $68 (working on that post). I DID remember to use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links at the top of the page though! AinWA :)

Bidding for a 3* in Bellevue expecting the Red Lion. Really would prefer U District but I do not care for Hotel Deca. Started at $61 for a 3* in Bellevue. Rejected with a counter offer to increase bid by $17 for a 3* in Bellevue. Increased bid to $66 & used free re-bid of Bothell. Rejected with no counter offer. Increased bid to $71 and added free rebid of Everett. Accepted & upgraded to a 4* the Hyatt Regency Bellevue. My total price was $171.16 with taxes & fees, on Hyatt's website same rooms would be $538!!! What a great savings!

Not having done a review before please forgive me if I miss some important points. We won two rooms at this hotel Novemeber 2007 (the week after Thanksgiving.) I was very surprised as this was the first hint of a 3* in the U District. Check in went okay, not too terribly smooth. They did not have adjoining rooms which wasn't a big deal, I am not sure the hotel has any at all. The fact that we were Priceilne was mentioned repeatedly and I felt the desk clerk (he was the manager) had a bit of an elitist air. The atmosphere of the lobby was definitely want to be W-ish. Very dark, scattered with younger 20-ish people that I am not too sure were guests but rather people that wanted to be seen. Now keep in mind, I am completely at ease and comfortable at the W. The room was what I could consider barely adequate. The furnishings & fixtures were very stylish but upon close inspection were obviously very cheap. What it appears has happened with this hotel is that an old building was re-wallpapered, re-carpeted & re-painted. The fixtures were replaced but it appeared the original sink & bath tub were just re-porcelained. Now this wouldn't be so bad if the original doors and windows worked properly, in spite of the spruced up paint (very thick) they still had difficulty closing tightly. It was just clearly a very old building which in itself has character I suppose but it doesn't have the comfort I was seeking while receiving treatment at UofW. The bed was comfortable, a lot of pillows that were for decoration rather than use (no removable covers). The linens were acceptable. Wireless Internet worked well. Amenities were acceptable and parking was free. I guess the thing is that while it appeared very posh and very trendy it was such a surface level posh that it struck us as very phony. For future visits to the Medical Center at UofW we opt for Bellevue and the drive over the 520. AinA

Bidding for one night Seattle Airport/SEA zone. 1st bid $40, rejected. Was a little worried by the high SEA prices lately & was a same day bid so I decided I needed to not be too conservative. Added free re-bid Bothell & upped to $48, rejected. Added free re-bid Everett & upped to $53, accepted. :) Whew! Nice. Very happy to have a nice hotel room tonight. Used PRICELINE link. Thanks so much! AinA

Well, it's not the W by any means! I think it is more a Crowne Plaza at this point vs. a Holiday Inn. I heard that the change over will be complete in the next couple weeks. AinA

I wonder why it went so high? There could be a convention around that time. Midweek is traditionally harder to get deals on vs. weekends. You were bidding pretty early still yet. Sorry about the pool. If it is any consolation I highly doubt it will be terribly hot July 8th, now August 8 is a different story. :) I think in your case HOTWIRE would have been useful. I've never in the past found I paid more when I was looking for two rooms. Also, the single night is probably not a problem either.

Bid $37 for Convention Center. Rejected. Added Downtown & upped to $42. Rejected. Added free re-bid NW & upped to $45. Rejected. After my last failed bid attempt in this zone I upped it to $49 (instead of $48 hahaha) for my final free re-bid by adding Beaverton. Accepted! Yay! Won the Holiday Inn. It should be noted for future reference that the Holiday Inn is in the process of changing to a Crowne Plaza. Wonder if it will still be Priceline-able. After paying essentially $46/night at the ESA-Gresham I am so grateful for the comfy beds, bellhop, room service, great view of Downtown Portland, GLASS glasses, abundance of pillows, nice linens, bathroom amenities, convenient location, should I keep going? for only $3/night more. Used the PRICELINE link, I am glad that is on the page now, so much easier to start my bidding. Thanks so much!!! AinA (well... AinO for now)

The ESA charged $4.99 per stay for Internet & an extra $10 + tax/night for a 2nd bed. It is just me & the kids, ergo 1 room but definitely need the 2nd bed. So this ended up costing $46/night for me. Still a bargain comparably speaking. The hotel is kind of low budget but very clean and the staff are very friendly and helpful.

Bid $32 for 2* Beaverton, rejected, upped to $34 & added Gresham. Accepted. It is tough having friends & family in Vancouver & Beaverton, ugh! We picked Rose Festival for a visit this year and had hoped to be more central for the festivities (see other post) but ended up having to go out of downtown area. Will likely try for the West side for remainder of weekend. Used maps extensively for info and the PRICELINE link. Thanks for this site! -A

3* Portland (Convention Center-Lloyd Center), Rejected up to $48...06/05/08-06/07/08 Started bidding at $37 for 3* Convention Center. Rejected. Upped to $42 & added Downtown. Rejected. Upped to $45 & added free rebid of NW. Rejected. Upped to $48 & added free rebid of Beaverton. Rejected. It isn't a surprise it was rejected considering this is Rose Festival and the Grand Floral parade route is through that area. Ended up at ESA in Gresham for $34 (see other post). Was just hoping we might be able to sneak in to the area, oh well. Really appreciated the map feature for planning.

The Rose Festival is going on in Portland from 30 May - 08 June, that could be the potential problem. Hopefully the OP will let us know so we might be able to help.

Started bidding for 3* in the U District at $46 for two rooms. Declined, increased by $5/bid adding non 3* zones until I hit a win at $71. We have a new hotel though :) HotelDeca Their website is HotelDeca.com Looks a little uppity for my brood. We will be scurrying them straight into their room!!! AinA

Bid for 2 rooms. Initially bid on 09/17/2007 at $50, $53, $56, & $60 adding non 3* zones for rebidding, all with failed bids. Trip was a few weeks out so I didn't get too carried away. This morning (09/24/2007) tried again bidding for 3* airport starting at $56, rejected, added N. Everett at $60 and was accepted for the Holiday Inn. I guess the days of the $35 Double Tree are gone! Ali

Anchorage 1st bid $62 3*, failed. Added 2 1/2 star and knowing history of ANC knew not a chance so increased bid to $75, failed. Dropped to 2* and lowered bid to $52, still no win. Hotwire showed a 3.5* for $141 all in that I think was the Millenium. Other option was to book airport Microtel for $99 + 12% tax. Since it was for the hubby booked the Microtel :) We're not quite out of tourist season around here so the prices haven't dropped. Oh well. AinA

Little background, had reservations at the Sheraton through block pricing for conference at a price of $189, Internet price of $269. The Marriott was sold out for these dates. Started bidding at $90 and upped $5/bid for 3 free re-bid zones ( Brighton, Medford & South). Did not win and waited until the next day. Bid $110 and was declined, went through Brighton and Medford before won the Sheraton at $120. This is a bit higher than the historical winning bids but as the Marriott was sold out for my dates and the stay was for such a long duration felt it was reasonable to bid so high. Very, very delighted to win the Sheraton as that is where the conference is being held. Overall this is a savings of $414. Love, love, love it! AinA (Used the SavingsBarn link)