CosmicGirl

Thank you for trying to help, but I would rather not post the details publicly because the food being included without an upcharge is a glitch. I'd like to avoid drawing attention to it.

Thanks, I appreciate it. In that case it's not worth the risk so we'll book the regular old way. We'll probably add a few nights in another hotel, so I'll be sure to use your links.

Thank you for your quick response. Would this still be true if the "before discount" rate on HW matches the rate including food on the transparent booking? I'll use your links if we end up booking.

Hi, I am planning to book a hotel which is available on both transparent Expedia sites and HW. Thanks to biddinghelper I am 100% sure it is the same hotel. The hot rate on HW is about 15% cheaper than the cheapest transparent way to book the hotel with a discount code. We are planning a long stay, so this adds up. Now here's the tricky part: transparent Expedia inventory (including a transparent booking on HW) is only showing this hotel including half board, even though the hotel directly also sells rooms without food included. It is impossible to book the room without food on a transparent Expedia-owned site at the moment. Would I be correct when saying that the opaque hot rate room on HW would be coming out of this Expedia inventory, and would therefore also include meals? My gut is telling me it would, so we could save a good amount if going the hot rate route, but if meals are not included with the hot rate then paying for them would cost significantly more than the 15% savings. I'm trying to assess the risk of booking the hot rate. I would appreciate your insight. Thank you!

After a few failed attempts, this was my last try before settling for a slightly more expensive Hotwire option. The total came to C$137.91. I don't remember if I used your links to book this one, but I did use it to search.

Hi, I just booked one night using your HOTWIRE link for this property. The amenieties were: Free Internet Boutique hotel Fitness center Business center Self-service laundry Internet access On the details page there was a message saying that the last person got this hotel. With this info and my research on BetterBidding I was almost sure I would get this property.

I just booked this via the HOTWIRE link for $105 ($129.25 including tax and fees). The amenities were: Indoor pool(s) Smoke Free Rooms Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center High-Speed Internet Access Accessible for the blind Accessible path of travel In-room accessibility Accessible bathroom Handicapped parking Roll-in shower Thanks!

Thanks!

That is exactly what I was thinking and I didn't want to risk it. After another round of failed priceline bids I went looking on Expedia... to find a deal so good I can't help but think it's a glitch! I ended up booking the Doubletree Chelsea for $95+tax via the Hilton link on the Support Page. Who knew... my first Thanksgiving in NY is turning out to be my cheapest stay in the city ever :D .

Hi, Could you please help ID the following hotel? It's a 3.5* in Chelsea/MSG for 11/22-23, showing for $156 with a 90% recommendation rate. The amenities are: Free internet Boutique Smoke-free Fitness Restaurant Business High-speed internet Accessible for blind Accessible path of travel In-room accessibility Wheelchair access Accessible bathroom Handicapped parking Roll-in shower I could not find an exact match, so could it be possible that the star level changed? I would rather not end up in the Toshi (listed as 4*) but it could be a match it seems. I've been bidding without luck on Priceline as well for this trip and will of course book via the HOTWIRE link if I decide to go for this. I'll continue to support you for the help you've given me over the years :) . Thanks!

I just booked this through the HOTWIRE link. The listed amenities were: Indoor pool(s) Smoke Free Rooms Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center High-Speed Internet Access The Hilton was the only match for these amenities in the list, so I was confident that this would be the result. The best rate I could find on Hilton.com was $237 before tax. And for anyone interested: self-parking is $42/day.

Thanks for the tip! I've never been disappointed by the suggestions you guys have given me :) .

After a long series of attempts for a 4* all over Manhattan I got this property using my last free re-bid zone and a $2 bid increase. It will be my first stay downtown so I'm curious to find out how I'll like it.

Won the Hilton Bonaventure for one night last week. I completed the transaction using the HOTWIRE link in EUR, so unfortunately I can no longer see the exact rate in dollars. Given the exchange rate last week it should have been around $129. Amenities: Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center High-Speed Internet Access Accessible for the deaf Accessible path of travel In-room accessibility Accessible bathroom Handicapped parking Roll-in shower Given that the published rate was about 4 to 5 times as much, I was very happy with this result. Great hotel!

Hi, I just booked the Holiday Inn Express East Brunswick for three adults, one night from 9/17 to 9/18 using the HOTWIRE link. The amenities shown were: - smoke-free rooms - complimentary breakfast - fitness center - pool - business center - laundry. Thanks to this website I was relatively sure of this outcome, it's a very convenient location for a night stop along I-95.

Hi, I just booked the Capital Hilton for three adults, one night from 9/18 to 9/19 using the HOTWIRE link. The amenities shown were: - restaurant - fitness - internet - business center - spa. Thanks to this website I was relatively sure of this outcome, so we are definitely pleased with the result. For comparison purposes: on hilton.com the cheapest rate (AAA) for this stay is $341. Quite the bargain!

Update: as we didn't feel we would be getting much of a bargain with one of these properties compared to their regular rates, plans have slightly changed. I came across a fairly good refundable deal for the Belvedere on Expedia and decided to book that (added 9/26 and got 25% off). I'll keep my eye open for the next couple of weeks and if anything better pops up before we leave, we can jump on it. This way at least we know we have something in case we don't find a better deal. Thanks for the help!

Hi, Could you please help ID this listing found through the HOTWIRE link? 2.5* in Chelsea/MSG for 3 adults from 9/27 to 9/30, 95% recommended on Hotwire, 50+ reviews Amenities: - Smoke-free - Complimentary breakfast - Fitness - Business - High speed internet This doesn't appear to be on the Hotwire hotel list and despite my research, I find it hard to identify this property. Here's what I've come up with: - Hampton Inn Chelsea, 3* - Holiday Inn Express MSG - Fairfield Inn & Suites Manhattan/TS - Fairfield Inn & Suites Manhattan/5th Av - Hampton Inn MSG - (Residence Inn TS) - Suites? Another property within our budget is MTC 3* - $244 - 3 adults with: - Fitness - Pool - Restaurant - Internet This listing matches up with the Holiday Inn on 57th. I would appreciate your thoughts on the first property. What would you recommend out of these two listings? I was hoping to find something in MTE, as we really enjoyed our stays last February at the Intercontinental the Barclay and the Grand Hyatt booked through Priceline. Ess-a-bagel was fantastic for breakfast :). However, as there will now be three of us (two first timers + 3rd visit for me) Priceline doesn't seem to be an option due to room capacity issues. We can stretch our budget to about $270/night if it's worth it, e.g. for the Hilton Garden Inn Chelsea or Holiday Inn 6th which was listed for $270 last week when we weren't sure about the dates yet. Thanks!

Thanks to the priceline bidding strategy posted by mjoe I just booked the 5* Hilton in Shanghai for $81/night from June 1st until June 4th, 2011. I'm ashamed to say I forgot to book via the PRICELINE link, but I have many more hotels to book for this trip and I promise to use the link for those bookings! :) Price for 3 nights: $243.00 (USD) Taxes and Fees: $47.22 (USD) Total Room Cost: $290.22 (USD)

Thanks to your bidding strategy I just got the same priceline deal for my trip ($81/night actually)! Thank you very much for sharing.

It's nothing major, but I just noticed that this stay is misplaced on the calendar of wins. It's listed from 2/15-19 when it is in fact 2/11-15. Thx!

As promised, I'm back with an update on our trip. After the PRICELINE win for the Intercontinental Barclay from 2/11/2011 to 2/15/2011, I just booked the Grand Hyatt NY through the same PRICELINE link for $105 per night + tax from 2/15/2011 to 2/19/11, leading to a total of $520 including taxes. I was actually hoping to get the W NY deal that seems to have been going around for these dates, so I started bidding at $85, as suggested by another board member in the W thread. I added areas I was interested in (MTE, TS and ESB) and areas without 4* star properties, but ran out of tries on the first go. A day later I tried again, starting at $96 for MTE. I got a counter-offer for $118 but I declined. At $105 I had listed MTE, ESB and 2 or 3 areas without a 4*. This lead to the Grand Hyatt win, which I'm quite pleased with! The Hyatt website allows me to view the reservation using the Priceline confirmation number and it shows a queen room. Thanks again!

This post is a bit overdue, as I booked through the PRICELINE link on this website two weeks ago today. We wanted 8 nights in a 4* property from 2/11 to 2/19 in the MTE, ESB or TS area. I started bidding around $120 and kept going up by adding our areas of preference one by one, then continuing with areas which don't have 4* hotels. Around $135 I still didn't get anything or any counter offers, so we decided to split up the stay in two parts and play with the dates. We ended up with 2/11-15 at the Intercontinental Barclay for $141 per night. I'm still working on the other four nights, but if we end up using Hotwire or Priceline for those as well, I'll be sure to post the results on the board. Thank you for the website, it's been a great help!

Hi Rafimo, Do you happen to remember how many TA reviews were mentioned for this listing? I'm looking at the same amenities with 90% ratings and 100+ reviews, but I'd rather not end up with the Millennium Broadway. Thanks in advance!

Based on a post by BiddingNewbie on July 4 I figured it would be the Hilton due to the equal recommendation rating and the same price. I was happy with that, so booked through the HOTWIRE link. What a pleasant surprise when I got the Sheraton in terminal 2! The Sheraton was my first choice, but at and absolute lowest rate of 161 Euros it was over budget. Thanks to Hotwire and Betterbidding.com we now paid half as much ($89 + tax = $103)! :)