ozgirl

Hi, I deceided to add The City - Financial District zone to my bid and bid $70. This offer was rejected, so I added Bloomsbury and bid $75. Got my hotel! Details are :- THISTLE TOWER Check-In Date:Sunday, May 21, 2006 Check-Out Date:Saturday, May 27, 2006 Your Offer Price: $75.00 Number of Rooms: 2 Number of Nights: 6 Subtotal: $900.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $176.90 Total Charges: $1,076.90 The reviews for this hotel vary from excellent to terrible. It's supposed to be going through a facelift and has being changed to a Guoman. But the location is good so I'm happy. Something happened during the bidding process that was a bit weird - the priceline system went down as I put my offer of $75 and I couldn't see what had happened to it. I finally called priceline and was e-mailed the details. I'm not too worried or fussed about the 2 night stay 4-6 June so I will continue bidding low and see what happens. Thanks to willtavel and everyone else who helped out. Ozgirl PS used Savingsbarn link

Hi, Need some advice and guidance please.... After some research I saw that the 3* hotels in Bloomsbury/Marble Arch seem to be Ok. So I thought I'd try for my short stay of 4-6 June (2 rooms). I bid $55 in Marble Arch and received counter offer of $77, Added Mayfair and Bid $65 Rejected After reading some previous posts I realized that I could have saved my counteroffer if I hadn't added the 2nd zone and closed out of the browser. I'm guessing that the counter offer is for Holiday Inn Bloomsbury. I was wondering if there's any way of determining this to some degree of probability (without actually accepcting the bid)? Any thoughts?? Thanks, Ozgirl

Thanks! My bidding history as follows:- Bid 4* in the Eiffel Tower Quarter - Grenelle - Montparnasse zone on 18/02/2006 $100 Reject, Added re-bid zone Batignolles - Montmartre - Republique and bid $115 Accepted! Thanks, Ozgirl.

Hi, Well, I certainly got a surprise today. After many rounds of bidding, waiting, bidding - I finally managed to score the Hilton Paris in the Eiffel Tower Quarter - Grenelle - Montparnasse zone for $115. Check-In Date: Mon, May 8, 2006 Check-Out Date: Fri, May 12, 2006 Your Offer Price: $115.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 4 Subtotal: $460.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $44.65 Total Charges: $504.65 I am really pleased with my bid. I had booked a 3* hotel but continued bidding on priceline on the off chance that I'd get something in the 4* range. I even played around with my dates but still no success. I researched the Eiffel Tower Quarter - Grenelle - Montparnasse zone and decided to add this to my list of acceptable zones. The rate on the hilton site for my dates is showing $239.50USD inclusive of tax, so that's a saving of over $100!! And of course, I used the savingsbarn link. Thank you. PS I still need to find a hotel in London but my faith in priceline has been restored and I will continue trying. :)

Hi Willtravel, You are right in that the savings on priceline are really good. You wouldn't be able to get these hotels for these prices in any case. But I guess now that I've started bidding on hotels on priceline, I become spoilt and want a specific area as well as 4* hotels at cheap prices! Human nature to be greedy.... :)

Hi Thereuare, No actually I only got the counteroffer for 21-27 May for 2 rooms in the Marble Arch and Mayfair zones when I bid $65 in both these zones. Hi Zigzagidiot, I was thinking the same thing. But I was thinking of booking a back up ...just in case. Hi Willtravel, I have considered Kensington and Westminister but I thought that Bloomsbury & Mayfair were perhaps more central and Marble Arch/Bloomsbury I thought would be cheaper. Also the hotels in these zones seem to get the better reviews. Kensington seems to be a really "iffy"zone. What are your thoughts on this? Thank you for your responses, Ozgirl

Hi Willtravel, I did receive a counteroffer of $98 when I bid in the Marble Arch zone. Any thoughts on what might be an acceptable offer? Thanks, Ozgirl

Dear all, After much thought and debate, I ended up booking at a hotel parents of a friend stayed in last year. It's a small (only 20 rooms) 3* near the Louvre. I was given a rate of E107 per night for a single, which works out to approx USD125. But I figure I'd rather be in a good location close to all the tourist attractions and my friend's parents were very impressed with this place all round. So thank you for all your feedback but I guess this time I just didn't feel like taking a chance my accomodation. I will continue to use priceline for other bookings I need to make in London. Hopefully with better results :) Cheers, Ozgirl

Hi, I'm trying to bid on 2 seperate dates for our travel in the UK. 2 rooms for 21-27 May and 2 rooms for 4-6 June. I've so far bid upto $70 (used the savingsbarn link). I was hoping to get something like Thistle Marble Arch but no luck. Not sure if it's due to the length of my stay or the fact that I need 2 rooms. Any suggestions or advice please? Thanks, Ozgirl

Hi, Had a another go at bidding. Used SavingsBarn.com link and tried the following:- Bid 4* Champs Elysee on 27/01/2006 upto $95 - Rejected and received counteroffer $193 Bid 4* Latin Quarter on 27/01/2006 upto $95 - Rejected Added Champs Elysee and bid upto $105 - rejected Bid 3* Latin Quarter on 27/01/2006 upto $90 - Rejected I am looking for a cancellable back-up hotel and will book something this week. Hopefully I will eventually get lucky with priceline. Or book something on lastminute closer to my date of departure. Thanks :)

Hi Valencia, I think I agree with you. I wouldn't mind booking something as a back up. But I can't find many hotel hotel sites which will allow me book but not prepay and allow cancellation (just in case I do get lucky with Priceline). Any suggestions? I had a look at hilton - hilton arc de triumphe have rates of 350 Euro and hilton paris have rates of 250 euro. Thats over my budget range. Did you use a promotional code? Thanks, Ozgirl

Hi, I have been trying to bid for a 4* or 3* hotel in Paris for my stay 8 May to 12 May 2006 unsuccessfully :) . The 2 areas in which I'd like to stay in are Champs Elysees - Opera Quarter West and St. Germain - Latin Quarter - Montparnasse. My bidding so far:- Bid 4* on 13/01/2006 upto $90 Reject Bid 3* on 14/01/2006 upto $75 Reject, counteroffer $102 Bid 3* on 18/01/2006 upto $78 Reject, counteroffer $102 Bid 4* on 23/01/2006 upto $95 Reject, counteroffer $191 Bid 3* on 23/01/2006 upto $80 Reject in Latin Quarter, counteroffer $103 Bid 3* on 23/01/2006 upto $80 Reject in Champs Elysees, counteroffer $100 Bid 3* on 23/01/2006 for both zones, upto $85 Reject My aim was to get a 4* for $95 - should I increase to $100/105? Or a 3* for $85. My budget is $105. Any suggestions or advice please?? :) Thanks, Ozgirl

Just a general bit of information about the weekend of the 21st and 22nd May. There is a U2 concert in New York (at Madison SQ Gardens) on the 21st. This may be why it's difficult to get hotels at "reasonable" prices .....? (we did try for tickets but any decent seat was priced at around $1500 to $3000!!!)

Hi, Thought I'd update my hotel drama in DC.... Was rejected at the Hilton Washington. Fortunately, I came across a hotel booking site advertising Omni Shoreham for $173. (It says this rate is inclusive of tax. I guess we'll find out once we get there. ) Anyway, called the Omni Shoreham and their cheapest rate was $289 (excluding tax). I asked if they dealt with the site I was thinking of booking through and they said they did. So I went ahead and booked. Confirmed with the hotel again after I saw the charge on my credit card. Thank you for all your help Travelguy and thereuare. This is a great site and you guys were really nice about helping out.....

Hi, Thought I'd send a quick update. I looked at the Beekman and Eastgate. But in the end got a deal through the airline I'm flying with at the Southgate Towers for $858 AUD for 3 nights (includes tax). So worked out to roughly $180USD per night (excluding tax). I saw that the Southgate was recently renovated and right near Macy's (for shopping!). Thank you for all your help and advice. Cheers.

Hi, I tried upto $130 in the 3 areas...still no luck! So I thought I'd try for 3*. Rejected to $110 there too. Started to panic. I ended up booking the Hilton Washington on EasyClickTravel for $154 but it's on request. Hopefully I'll get it. Will feel more comfortable once I get a booking somewhere!

Hi, I bid upto $110 in Dupont/Woodley Park Zone and was rejected. Not sure if there's something on during the week.....? Any suggestions for back up bookings? Thanks.

Hi Travelguy, Thanks for that. Don't know much about the Dupont Circle/Woodley Park area. First time visit to Washington so I really don't know any area but was recommended the Capitol Hill and Whitehouse areas as being central to transport and easy to get to all the tourist viewing sites. But from the reviews I'veseen looks ok...so I will bid as suggested. Will post results tomorrow. Cheers, Ozgirl

Hi, Tried to bid upto $100 for a 4* in the Convention Centre - Capitol Hill and Downtown - Whitehouse areas for 16 May to 19 May, but was rejected. Looks like busy times for New York and Washington. Will wait, and try again. Thinking of alternatives....any suggestions? Thanks

Hi, Thanks for the strategy. Unfortunately was unsuccessful...... Will keep trying. But will also book the backup hotel as suggested. Thank you for your help. Was wondering if my expectations are unrealistic......

Hi, I was wondering if I could get some advice about how to go about bidding for a hotel in New York MTW, MTE and UMT area on priceline? We are hoping for a 4* hotel and have set a budget of $170. The dates are May 19 to May 22. The hotel prices seem very high during this period and in most cases there is no availability at all! Thanks.