Majikow

Started bidding at $75 and finally won at $110. Was offered rebids if I upped my bids $124.

I used the PRICELINE link, and started the bidding at $60 for 4* 5/22-5/25. PL offered to try again instantly if I offered $81, but I declined and kept adding re-bid zones bidding $65, $70 and then finally won it at $75. Hotwire was $114 per night.

I tried to see if I could get anything cheaper than $160, but I(unsurprisingly) had no luck. Last night I bought the Marriott giftcards since it takes a few business days to get them and didn't want to cut it too close. In the end, I'm happy with where I ended up. Next time before I book a trip I'll do a little more research on hotels beforehand so I'm not surprised when they are way more expensive than I was expecting. Thanks again for all your help.

So I've been slammed with work the last two days and haven't gotten a chance to actually bid again since earlier. However, I did put in a "Look-No-Further" best rate guarantee claim w/ Marriott for the Courtyard Copley Square (my original reservation was $499 Th, $309 Fr, $309 Sat, $299 Sun) and got approved for a rate of $201 (which I can pay for with Marriott giftcards and get about a 20% rebate in Southwest points, so I'm calling it $160 per night). Any chance I'm going to beat that deal? This was actually the main hotel I wanted to stay at in the area that I wanted to stay in, so I'm thinking this might be my best bet. I didn't think I had any chance at getting a rate like this without going through Priceline. Let me know if you think I could do much better. I clicked the "Priceline" link on the site a few times and will continue to do so as I really appreciate the help you've given me.

Yes, confirm those zones. I'm willing to take suggestions regarding 3 vs 3.5. We really just want a clean bed in a decent area, so if we can save a lot by going to 3*, then that's great, but its only going to be like $5 or $10 extra per night for 3.5*, then that'd be preferable.

I'm fine with a 3/3.5 star. We're saving up for a wedding, so we're just trying to save some money. Our back up hotel is currently about $200 per night. So if we could get to something less than $175, I would be happy.

Thanks everyone. I will add Quincy Market. I'm not too worried about the Fenway thing, as I know we can get there from the T. I'll probably bid later tonight and see what I can get. I made a backup reservation at enVision hotel in Mission Hill as back up for like $200/nt.

Can i ask how/why you determined these alternate zones? With some of these you run the risk of not being too close to a T station. This is only my second trip to Boston, and on the first one I stayed with a friend and it was snowy so we didn't get out much. These areas (Copley, Boston Common and Beacon Hill) I chose because they appeared to be in or near downtown and the touristy stuff. We're also going to a Red Sox game on Friday 9/21, so we wouldn't mind be close to Fenway. If you have better suggestions, I'm all ears, because I'm not really familiar with Boston so I may be mistaken. Thanks for all your help.

The three zones I'd prefer to stay in (in order of preference, high to low) are Copley Sq, Boston Common, and Beacon Hill. Because prices are so high, I think I'd like to shoot for anything 3* and above just to save some money. Also, if there's a chance that I could save more than $25-50 per night, I would also consider the following zones: Harbor Front, Quincy Market, Brookline-Brighton, and Cambridge West or East. Is there any chance that splitting my bid would help? We could also potentially stay out by the airport Thursday night since we're not getting in until 10:30 PM. Would we save a lot staying out there our first night?

I started bidding last night with Copley Square at $100 up to $140 (eventually including Boston Common, Beacon Hill, and Brookline) for a 3.5 star. No luck. Since it seems like hotels are pretty expensive, I'd consider a 3* so I don't have to spend over $200. Do you think there's any chance I can get a 3.5* for under $200? How about a 3* for less than $150?

My fiance and I will be going to Boston from Thurs 9/20 - Mon 9/24 and would like to stay somewhere close to downtown (Boston Common or Copley Square, or if anyone has recommendations, its our first Boston trip). Prices all seem to be $250 - $400 for 3-4 star hotels in the area. I'd prefer to get under $200, and preferably under $150 if possible. I clicked on the links for PRICELINE / HOTWIRE on the board. Am I looking too early? Any chance prices will go down as we get closer? Thanks!

I ended up booking the Radisson Blu Aqua through Otel.com for like $175 a night w/taxes included. I figured with the high prices on Hotwire and Express Deals that I couldn't save much by going through Priceline at this point, and I've been wanting to stay at the Radisson Blu anyway. Thanks for all your help. I'm still most likely going to book a room at O'Hare on Priceline for the night before we fly and I'll use the links on here. Thanks again.

Not sure. I'll probably bid up to $125 tonight for starters. Will I have a better shot as the date gets closer or is that just looking like an expensive week/weekend?

Tonight I used the link and bid up from $85-120 for 4 stars, starting with NMA and using my free re-bids with no luck.

I'd like to try and keep it less than $125 if possible for a 4 star. I'm also not against getting a 3 or 3.5 star if it saves me a good deal (like more than $20 per night). We won't be spending a lot of time in the room, so as long as the hotel has a decent location, I'm pretty open.

I have clicked both of the links and will use the links to do all my priceline bidding. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi, My fiance and I are going to Chicago for our first time and were looking to stay near the Magnificent Mile. We were thinking the NMA area would be great for doing everything we wanted to. I put off getting a hotel for awhile and now I have less than 2 weeks. From shopping around, it looks like rates are pretty high, especially for Fri (7/27) and Saturday (7/28). We'd like to get a 4 star, but could probably live 3 or 3.5 if it saves us some money (i.e. more than $20 per night). Hotwire rates for 7/25-7/29 are: 4 star Mag Mile North - Water Tower $132 3.5 star Mag Mile - River North $157 3 star Downtown - $120 When I split up the dates I get: Hotwire 7/25-7/27 4 star Mag Mile - Water Tower $103 4 star Downtown - $112 3.5 star Mag Mile - River North $133 3 star Mag Mile - River North $104 3 star Downtown - $97 Hotwire 7/27 - 7/29: 3.5 star Mag Mile River North $184 4 star Mag Mile Water TOwer - $171 3 star Downtown -$130 Would it make sense to split my dates up on Priceline, or should I try for 7/25-7/29? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I figured since Lollapalooza was the week after, we'd have no problem getting a hotel room, but clearly there's something going on in Chicago that I missed. Thanks!

I checked out this board and tried to match the hotel with the amenities offered which were: Boutique Hotel Restaurant Fitness Center Pool(s) Business Center High-speed Internet Access I thought I would be getting the Hotel Palomar since it seemed to be the only one that matched the amenities offered and the sticky with the Hotline hotels from this board. I was a tad surprised to get Donovan House since we were really excited about staying at Palomar. I also checked out the Donovan House website and the rooms are going for $109, so I only saved about $10. Hopefully I'll have better luck next time, and whoever moderates the board might want to un-cross out "Restaurant" under Donovan House since it appears they do offer a restaurant (confirmed after going to their website).