Roythe13th

Was looking for a property centrally located for Disneyland, the beaches and LA. I often stay in Long Beach but wanted to try something different on this trip. Was curious about this property since it seemed to be the only 3.5 in the area and felt confident I could get it for a decent price. Won on first try. Maybe should have started a little lower but with trip coming up quickly, I wanted to be safe. With free parking, great reviews and my needs, it still seems like a spectacular price. Used the PRICELINE link. 4 nights plus tax came out to $236.64

A few weeks ago, I actually won the 2 1/2 * Best Western Eagle Rock Inn for these dates. I checked in on Tuesday and the place was not a 2 1/2* by no means and also had a serious bug problem. I got a refund from Priceline and using my iPhone in the parking lot and using 10 dollar bonus cash that was recently emailed to me from Priceline, I scored the Hilton Glendale for $66 ($56 plus the 10 dollar bonus cash). Since I was bidding same day, I went with a serious bid and got it first try. Room cost: $56.00 (USD) Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 5 Room Subtotal: $280.00 (USD) Taxes and Fees: $51.40 (USD) Total Room Cost: $331.40 (USD) I've stayed at the property before and am happy with the hotel. And I actually won this property at a lower rate than the BW Eagle Rock.

So for the last couple of weeks, I've been trying to get a winning bid on PRICELINE for the central LA area. I've been using Priceline for hotels for about 5 years now and my track record has been great on getting a good deal for a hotel in various major cities across the country (including good deals in LA before). Usually a 3* with about 50%-65% off the going rack rate. I've always supported Pric.eline because it has made it possible for me to travel much more than I ever thought I could. Recently I was given an Entertainment Book with the PRICELINE 10 dollars off coupon. I was pretty excited because I was planning for my upcoming LA trip and thought I could get an even better deal than normal. I will be in LA area almost 2 weeks but wanted to use the discount for my 10/5 - 10/10/2010 leg of my trip. I was bidding up to $80 ($70 plus the $10 ent. rate coupon) and being denied a win for a 3* and up hotel in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills/W Hollywood, Brentwood/Westwood & Hollywood almost everyday for most of September. Since I was going to be spending a lot of time in Burbank/Griffith Park area/Universal City, I started bidding on hotels in this area this week thinking I would get the Glendale Hilton for that rate. No dice. Dropped down to a 3* in the area and bid $65 + $10 ent. rate and no win. I couldn't believe it! So in a regrettable move of desperation, I dropped to 2.5* and only dropped down to $62 (plus $10 coupon) and won the Best Western Eagle Rock Inn for the winning bid of $72. So winning bid of $72 but paying $62. $62.00 x 5 = $310.00 plus $57.00 taxes = $367.00 total paid. The rack rate for this property is $97 for this stay and sites like hotel.com and even PRICELINE itself offer the property for $83. Not exactly an amazing deal but I will admit I should have started lower at this star rating. But I've been reading this board for LA PRICELINE wins for weeks now. It seems the majority of people are getting the best deals at almost literally the last minute. I'm leaving in one week and wanted to have everything settled before leaving but even less than 2 weeks before my dates still wasn't close enough for a good deal. Winning bids for late September/early October for the same property can vary greatly according to posts here. So is the game changing for PRICELINE, at least in LA? I've got great deals in LA 2 months in advance before, even for this same time period. Is there any events going on making this time period difficult this year? Is the $10 off Entertainment Book coupon causing the problem for some reason? Or maybe 5 days is too long for a good deal in LA right now? I'm just brainstorming here. I've never had such a hard time getting a winning bid on PRICELINE before. And since I come to LA once or twice a year, I'm just wanting to understand the dynamics more. The hotel I won doesn't seem so bad. Reviews mostly seem to indicate the property is somewhat outdated but clean and free parking and fridge help a lot. Also paying ten bucks less a night than the winning bid helps too but still stings compared to my past PRICELINE successes.

Although issues may arise once I'm on property, right now, I think I will upgrade from mostly pleased to very pleased. I've been reading reviews today for both the Holiday Inn on Walnut and the one on Manchester and actually think I got the better property. The Holiday Inn on Walnut is right behind the Mickey & Friends parking garage making it seem you could easily walk across and take the Disney tram to the front gate but all reviews seem to indicate you must walk past the M & F garage and walk much further and circle back around...across busy traffic trying to get into the garage and there aren't ways to cut across parking lots it seems. Also the resort fees there seems a little steep for such a non-resort property. The Holiday Inn on Manchester is further away but still fairly close and with the free wifi, parking, mini fridge and nicer pool and the option of the shuttle or driving and parking at Disney for what I was expecting to pay for parking at the hotel, I think this is a more desirable property. I'm used to visiting Disneyland by driving from a hotel in Hollywood or LAX area and having to get up at 6am to fight traffic on the way down to the resort so even just being a mile away will seem like a dream. I've visited the site over the last couple of years for winning bids on Priceline to ball park a bid but never really read the posts. I didn't even know about helping the site by using the links. So today, I joined and will use the links in the future and report wins. I will be spending almost 2 weeks in the LA area on this trip. Although I will be spending some nights with friends, I plan to bid on another property more in Los Angeles proper and another stay back in Orange County the last few days of the trip to finish off my Disneyland multi day ticket and to be closer to John Wayne Airport for my departure day. I will definitely use the PRICELINE link on this page!

Was trying to get the Holiday Inn on Walnut because it was much closer to Disneyland. Seeing a recent win of $38, I tried that. 3 *. 'Disneyland - Anaheim'. Denied. Added 'Disneyland - Orange - Garden Grove', raised price to $40. Denied. Checked website and rooms going for $81. But it's Gay Days Anaheim that weekend so maybe less available rooms. Waited 24 hours. Bid $45. 3 *, Disneyland - Anaheim. Denied again. Raised price to $48. Added 'Disneyland - Orange - Garden Grove'. Bid accepted. Holiday Inn Anaheim Resort (on Manchester) 10/1/2010 - 10/5/2010 Price $48.00 x 4 nights = $192.00. Taxes & Fees = $33.88. Total for stay = $225.88. First disappointed because hotel is a little further away for walking to Disneyland. But after doing research, this hotel has mini fridge in room, free wifi, FREE PARKING, and no resort fee, and Disneyland is a very short drive or can take the shuttle, and now feel much better.