urbantracker

hot and muggy - but that is DC in July. Other than that my stay at the JW Marriott was very comfortable. We stayed over on a Sunday night (July 17) and departed DC in early evening on the 18th. About a week before arrival I called the Marriott's 800 number to confirm my reservation and they were very helpful in allowing me to set up with the specific requests for NS rooms with 2 beds. My sister got to DC at about 3 PM and got a room with a fantastic view of the Capitol and Washington Monument. I got there just before midnight due to flight delays and ended up with a court yard view. By the time I arrived, the Marriott had run out of parking so I had to use another garage about two blocks away. Metro station was close and made it easy for getting around to all the sights.

I will be taking my great nephew to Space Camp in July and after we return we decided to do a short, one day tour of the National Zoo, some of the Smithsonian museums, and the Spy Museum. My target was 2 rooms (my sister is meeting us there) at a 4* in the Woodley Park zone. I did an openning bid of $95 in just that zone. Struck out on that. I elected to expand my zones and did a 4* search in Woodley Park and Downtown (third option would have been to add the Convention Center zone) while bumping up my bid to $101.00. I hit on the Marriott on Pennsylvania Avenue, two blocks from the White House and one block from a Metro station. Played around with a price check on Expedia for comparison and the cheapest room for the Marriott on that Sunday night was $309.00 per room.

My wife and I went to Nashville to attend the CMT Video awards and was able to book 3 nights at the Sheraton - Downtown on a Hotwire Best Value of $53.00. The Sheraton - Downtown is listed as 3.5 *. Just a few comments on what we got - a room on the 18th floor with a few of downtown. The room had two double beds. It was a non-smoking room and I did not pick up on any smoking odors. There were 4 elevators and they were fast - almost too fast. Those mornings when the elevator would stop every other floor were a little stressful on the tummy. On the down side - upon arrival the bell boy managed to break the exterior door handle when we were moving into the room. We discovered the next morning the carpet had not been swept well - if at all. There was a conference badge on the floor along with an empty soft drink bottle. The AC vent grill was filthy. On the next to last day, housekeeping forgot to replenish our towels. On the up side - maintenence responded very quickly to the fix the door and then we were comp'd with a free breakfast (we had a choice between breakfast or a movie). When we complained about the carpet and other problems, they were addressed quickly and management would call back to make sure the problem was corrected to our satisfaction. While the response to problems was outstanding, these are not the types of problems that should be found in a 3.5* hotel - or any hotel for that matter, especially over the course of a 3 night stay. The most efficient and orgainzed unit at the hotel seemed to be the valet and bell service personnel. Valet parking was $16.00 a day while self parking was $14.00. Overall, at such a good rate of $53.00 the value in terms of location and friendly staff the glitches were not major stressors and at that rate I would stay there again. I do believe that some consideration should be given to lowering the hotel to a 3* until they bring their house back into order.

Finally settled on dates for Nashville (April 10 - 13) and put the suggested bid process to work to try and score a 4* in the downtown zone. Since the only 4* hotels are in that zone, it was easy to rebid with the suggested increments. After topping out at $79.00 with no takers I folded my hand with PL. Just out of curiosity I thought I would check what was happenning with HOTWIRE. In the "Best Buy" catagory I found a 4* through HOTWIRE for $51.00 in the downtown area. After researching the amenities listed the unnamed hotel I was able to eliminate the possibility that is was the one hotel I did not want end up with. I purchased the dates and ended up with the Downtown Sheraton which has a good location to most of the events we plan to do and places we want to see. Reviews I have read are mostly very favorable. A lot of the negative reviews seem to center around the $14.00 a day parking fee that a lot of people did not seem to know about when they checked in. At $51.00 a night for a 4* (my first experience with a HW rated property, it will be interesting to see how their 4* ratings compare) hotel, even with $14.00 parking I should be satisfied. Many thanks to thereuare for the suggestions. :)

In this order - Downtown, Airport, Opryland, Brentwood, Franklin, and after that - a bit of a toss up. My wife received an email from another country music fan advising they priced a 4* (zone unknown) for $63.00 through Hotwire. I have no Hotwire experience so I don't know how their 4*s stack up against PL's 4* rating. Thanks in advance for your help.

My wife and I will be travelling to Nashville on April 9 to 12 to attend a country music awards show. I have used PL twice before to get 4* hotels for other cities for $75.00. Looking at the winning bid history list, I am seeing some nice 3* hotels going in the $36.00 - $50.00 range. I have not seen any hits for 4* hotels. Since I have time to play with this, are there any suggestions for targeting 4*, willing to stay outside of the downtown, and have a $75.00 max bid. If I totally strike out - I will adjust strategy for going after a 3* with an emphasis on price and location. Previous hotel experience in Nashville, several years ago, Embassy Suites and Opryland Resort. Thanks