baldheadcat

Dear Freshley, thaks so much for your kind reply and positive review of this hotel. I'm looking forward for my stay and dine in the Kulettos. Regards

Dear all, Just want to report my bid result of SF trip. Details of the pervious bid please refer to this link : USE Marriott $82... 6/18 to 6/21 Try a few times these days for 4* USE zone , bid up to $100 with no counter-offer and also out of my budget. Hotwire showed $90 3* hotel which may be Harbor Court, close to my conference venue (Haytt Regency) but still too expensive. Hotwire also got $70 - $100 3* and 3.5* boutique hotel in USE and USW zone, not that interested, so change my mind and considered PL boutique in USE. Using the same strategy, start a new bid for Boutique at $60, got conunter offer of adding $17 The starting rate seems too high, close window, start a new bid at $55, got counte offer of adding $15 ?! Not quite understand , anyway, close window again, start again at $50, no counter offer. Now pretty sure the target room rate should be around $55 + 1/3*$15 but more than $60. Start a new bid at $61 , no counter offer :) Start a new bid at $62 , got Villa Florence Your offer : $62 No. of night 5 Total : $365 The best room rate online I can found for the above period is $149 for first 3 nights and $139 for the last 2 nights (Expedia) , about 60% saving !! The overall review of this hotel is pretty good (except samll room and noisy) and location is perfect, (next to Union Square, Bart station, cable Car..) It is also very close to my next stay - Marriott in 4th street so I can just bring my stuffs and walk to Marriott. I'm very happy to have this boutique hotel and can't thanks more to all users in this forum who teach me a lot. Special thanks to thereuare , we won't have this wonderful site without your effort , thanks again. Regards

Dear all, Just want to report the progress of my bid. I' ve decided to split my trip into 2 parts. To my suprise, I supposed hotel rate will be higher for Sat-Sun than for weekday However, I've check out hotwire, Marriott and Hyatt website and all confirm room rate is lower from 18 June to 21 June (Sat to Tue) than 13 to 18 June (Mon to Fri) , I'm not sure why it is, may be due to big conference held in these hotels. So I start a new bid for the 2nd part of my trip , 18 June to 21 June. Target at $80 and aim at lower room rate, I start my bid at $65 again :) then $68, $72 I got counter offer at $75 by adding extra $22. Thansk to the users in this forum, their bid history showed that I should add around 1/3 of the counter offer , i.e 1/3 x$22 =$7 to win my room Of course , some lucky guy can even get thier room by adding just $1 ! I then continue to bid at $1 increment: $76, $77, $78.... finally got my room at $82, confirm the 1/3 thoery again. Here is what I got : Marriott San Fancisco Downtown 18 June in , 21 June out Your offer price : $82 Number of night : 3 Total : $291.82 The room rate from Marriott web site for the above peroid is $189 per night (excluding tax) , My friend has stayed in this hotel last year ( to attend the same annual conference ) and have a very good impression about the hotel and service. I'm really happy for this bid and look forward my stay. Thanks to all who have post in this wonderful forum ! :)

Hi there, Just want to report my first attempt result. The acutal stay should be 13 June in and 21 June out , total 8 days Using the a, a+b, a+c, a+b+c ....., USE 4* have 5 free re-bid zone which end up with more than 20 rebids. I start at 62 :) , 64, 66..to 70 and then adding $1 for each re-bid , end at $85. I understand that 8 nights may be too long for PL, will seriously consider splitting up my stay. Regards

Hi thereuare, thanks so much for your quick respond! I will check out the free re-bid zone right before my bid. However, do you have any advice about the split stay issue ? Thanks again

Dear All, Hi there, it is baldheadcat from Hong Kong. I'm new to this wonderful forum and it is my first time to US, any input will be appreciated. I'll attend a medical conference on 14 June to 18 June in Hyatt Regency (USE) and then stay behind for a few days until 21 JUne. The group discount rate is offer from the conference is $210 per night (compare with the normal rate $250 from Haytt web site) and only valid before 21 May. I understand that there is no way to bid an specific hotel via PL. I'm not sure how large the USE area is , considered that the conference start at 7:45 am EVERYDAY ! Get up early at 6:00am then take 30 mins on bus/muni/cable to catch the conference sound crazy ! My Lord, let me get the Haytt !! With limited training allowane from my hospital, my target room rate is $US80 per night (average) before tax and any 4* hotel will do. Here are my questions: 1. Should I wait until 21 May so that Haytt may release some room hold for this conference (provided that they are not all sold out !) or should I bid now ? 2. should I split my stay ? if yes, should I split according to the conference date i.e 14 June to 18 June, which include a Saturday then 19-20 June. or 14 June to 17 June (weekdays), 18-20 June (Sat to Mon) I just think that the room rate may be higher on Sat and Sun, so I can bid a lower price for the weekdays. 3. For my last 2 days, which zone (USE, USW, SW..) will be better for a solo tourist like me ? I will do some shopping, walk around, visit the pub for a drink.... Thanks in advance for all your help ! Regards

Hi, I need a room in mid-June for a conference too, Can anyone suggest where can I find fully cancellable backup online hotel reservation service ? (I live outside US, so an online service will be better). Thanks in advance.

Dear lars32 and thereuare, hi, I new to this forum and have very little experience with priceline, I need to attend a conference in SF (USE Hyatt Regency) in mid June, your input is really valuable to me. I've seen this a+b, a+c , a+d, a+b+c , a+b+d, a+c+d, a+b+c, a+b+d...a+b+c+d strategy in this forum before, which give you a lot free re-bid chances (that's espically works in SF if you want to bid 4* hotel in USE zone). However, I also notice that everyone stress that YOU MUST CLOSE THE ACTIVE WINDOW before making a new bid. To investigate this , I've tried to bid the 4* hotel in USE zone yesterday starting with starting $30 :) rejected right the way then add catherdral hill at $31 :) then I want to add South SF ONLY , BUT CATHERDRAL HILL IS GREY OUT, i.e , I can''t de-select this zone try to close the window and start over again, however, it takes years for priceline to load the reuslt page , any suggestion ? besides, I also want to know when will the 72 hours rule apply ? using my example again, If a 4* USE zone at $30 bid was rejected, can I simply close the window and then bid right the way at , say $32 without adding any other zone and/or change my check-in / check-out date ? thansks for your advice