dave123

Swrnak, The 4* $82 is probably the Hilton Costa Mesa, right by South Coast Plaza. You could get a better price on PL but you may end up with some of the very nice hotels in Irvine (Hyatt e.g.) which unfortunately for you are not walking distance to the mall (but are still only a 5 min drive). I am sure you can get a 4* for $65 max for your dates. I don't think the 3.5 option will be as close to the mall as the 4*. It's probably in Santa Ana, thereby the low price. In general, a hotwire 3* is a priceline 2.5* Good luck

Basic hotel, nothing fancy. Was kind of noisy when I was there. My main complaint is that I got slapped with a "resort" fee of $9. No matter that the hotel looks everything but a resort, and that the Hyatt across the street is much nicer w/o the fee. Anyway, they said they can charge any fees they want. FYI, the fee is either for parking (which I didn't use, I was on business and took a cab), for business center (no use either), for shuttle to Disneyland (didn't go) or for some other reason they will make up (UNICEF or something). Whatever it is for, you won't know about it until you check out. Fortunately I was there for only one night. They seemed so completely prepared to answer my questions that I am sure they must have tricked many customers before and this should end. Either on the side of priceline that should not include them among the 3* hotels for the area (there is a "resort" category for other cities, why not here?) or on the side of this hotel. Otherwise, it's an okay hotel. Seen better, seen worse. So bottom line, just be prepared to pay the fee. If you're bidding in many zones or different star levels, take that into consideration when placing your bid. ALWAYS assume that you will have to pay another $10 for a 3* hotel in the "Disneyland area." This may lead you to consider other star levels or/and areas.

It's a 3-star, not 4-star. Made a mistake in the title... Check-In Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 Check-Out Date: Thursday, January 26, 2006 Your Offer Price: $53.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $53.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $13.48 Total Charges: $66.48 Not too bad you would think. But I got slapped with a "resort" fee of $9. No matter that the hotel looks everything but a resort, and that the Hyatt across the street is much nicer w/o the fee. Anyway, they said they can charge any fees they want, which is true (since we all check this little box saying that the price doesn't include addditional fees) but then, what's the point of using priceline if they can charge any price they want at the end? FYI, the fee is either for parking (which I didn't use, I was on business and took a cab), for business center (no use either), for shuttle to Disneyland (didn't go) or for some other reason they will invent (UNICEF or something). Whatever it is for, you won't know about it until you check out. Fortunately I was there for only one night. They seemed so completely prepared to answer my questions that I am sure they must have tricked many customers before and this should end. Either on the side of priceline that should not include them among the 3* hotels for the area (there is a "resort" category for other cities, why not here?) or on the side of this hotel. Otherwise, it's an okay hotel. Seen better, seen worse

bid 3* (costa mesa - irvine area) $39 rejected free rebid $42 rejected free rebid $45 rejected free rebid $47 accepted Your Offer Price: $47.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $94.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $18.74 Total Charges: $112.74 This is the Irvine (John Wayne Airport) Hilton, not the Costa Mesa one. Hotel is undergoing renovation so I hope it won't be too bad.

Sorry, it's 3/22-3/23...

Okay thanks for the feedback everyone. I started to bid last week but didn't get anything at a price I was willing to pay. My bid today was successful at the 3* level. Here is the bidding history 4* san jose 58 - rejected added free zone 63 - rejected added free zone 68 - rejected added free zone 73 - rejected gave up on 4* 3* san jose 35 - rejected. got offer from priceline to add $9 and retry the same offer. Declined 37 - accepted. Got the Hyatt Sainte Clair. Looks kind of old but it seems right by the convention center, so works for me. And the price is good :) So final bid is 37+11.18 (tax and fee) for 48.18. Thanks all, great site thereuare.

Thanks Scorp! It's helpful. :) The conference is the third week of March, it's only one day and I will be there for two days (so I have some free time). For this first visit I think I will just want to get a feel of the city, maybe do some local sightseeing. I'm okay with staying downtown. Just wanted to know if it was a nice area, some downtown areas in other cities are downright scary or dead at night (L.A.). Or if there was another area around SJ where people loved to stay and that they would highly recommend. The conf is at the convention center. THey offer accomodations at the fairmont but it's expensive.

Hi, I'm going to be in San Jose at the end of March and was looking at all the different options (hotels and areas). Can anyone recommend any of the areas? I'm going to a conference (downtown) but will probably rent a car unless transportation is easy to and from downtown from and to the other areas. How easy is it? I've never been to San Jose so if anyone has some recommendations/advice about how nice/not-nice some areas are, and what the tradeoffs are, I would appreciate it. I will bid later in the week and post my bidding history here