Shoob

Hey all! Planning another trip... This time with a few med students. So this will be the first time I need two rooms. We have a budget of $100/room/night; although, I think rooms are available for much less through NYOP. So, we'd like 3.5* or 4* (hopefully we get a hotel where breakfast is complimentary!), in either Dearborn or Detroit Airport DTW areas for two nights (14th thru 16th). Obviously, though we have a budget, we'd like to get rooms for as low as possible (I see some Express Deals). Any help would be great. Thanks! Oh, and I've already clicked the PRICELINE link here :)

You got it Romelle! I certainly will in just a couple days. I'll tell you this much, though... the hotel was everything you'd expect from a 4 star property. And Minneapolis was a truly pleasant vacation. We loved it... It went by way too quickly, but the place has tons of just nice people, great eats, scenic beauty, tons of art, etc. You'll see a review in a bit. thanks for all the help... to you and Thereuare!

Thereuare, I was about to start bidding with your plan for the 3.5*. The $71 offer is still there. But before I started that... I said, "heck, why not just try again for a 4* since the 3.5* is still available". I couldn't figure out what to bid, but seeing that I went all the way up to $86 yesterday, using up all my rebids, I was about to start way high (because I was going to only bid once or twice), but rethought it, and started with $60. Well... turns out, the price was right! $60/night got us 3 nights at the Hilton Minneapolis Bloomington! I'm glad I waited it out till now! I probably could have used the exact same strategy as yesterday (starting at $50), but obviously, this is nothing to complain about! Thanks again for your patience, guys, and for all the help!!

Thanks! Yea, I'll go ahead and try for it again today... last shot at it, I suppose. Just disappointed that $86 wasn't enough for the 4* there. The 3.5 stars in that area are mostly good, but still some variability. We just want a real decent place to stay (given that this will be our last leisure trip for a long while!). I think it'll probably be most wise to stick to the Bloomington area to avoid parking issues in downtown (a lot of the guests at some of those hotels were complaining a lot about the parking).

No luck. I bumped it past $80 just to gamble it, went up to $86 (there were more rebids available)... Drop down to 3.5*? Too late for the 5% off I guess...

Yes, that's the zone I'm referring to... it's close enough to the Mall, and about a 15-20 minute drive to/from Downtown; free parking at most places. As for the max bid... that's tough to say, but I've seen someone win at $60 at the Hilton there (probably an anomaly, right?), but I've seen some others win up around $80 recently. So maybe keep the max at $80? Is that reasonable for that area? And, let's try the Bloomington on its own. If that's not a reasonable way to go, I'll drop down star level given that there is one available in Express deals @ $71.

This might annoy you guys... but after looking at all the places we have to go, my wife wants to try in Bloomington. Now... I don't know if I can get an expedited response (it's almost 12am... i.e. 10/30 deadline for the 5% off is almost here)... but we see a 3.5* @ $71 in Bloomington West. Could we shoot for a 4* at all in that area? Some of their 4* hotels look amazing and have great reviews. Let me know as soon as you can! Thanks!

Thanks for all the help. After talking about it, the $80-90 range was unnecessarily out of our budget so we decided to try for Madison East. After toying with it for a while, I saw the $51 room in Madison East and bid in small increments towards it. I won at $43 at the Crowne Plaza Madison (East). Doesn't look like a bad drive from there to Downtown (5.5 miles) :) Again... THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE HELP! And as always... used your PRICELINE link each time ;) Now on to the MN hotel.

Thanks for the update! Unfortunately, I don't see that offer (or it has gone up since you posted that message!). still have a few hours to keep trying I guess. I'll keep you updated.

Istanbul! Nice! That'll be a fun trip, I'm sure. I've friends from there (some of my family lives not far from there), and well, it's simply a great place to be this time of year. Enjoy yourself. And Madison... well, we're stopping in Madison on Friday night and mid-day Saturday, we will drive to Minneapolis, so if anything, I'd pick to stay in Madison East instead (so we're not back-tracking). Hopefully I see a nice downtown Express deal sometime today! And thanks for the well-wishes for upcoming test... tough stuff, but has to get done! Have a safe trip.

Okay... let's see... I still want Downtown, but if that's not working out, I suppose Madison East is a zone I could consider. It's just that the hotels are about 20-30 minutes from where we want to go (capitol building, U-W campus area, etc). We'll be going there on Friday night, and then again on Saturday morning before leaving for MN, so driving back and forth from the hotel that distance (about 10 miles) does add up. Thoughts? Oh, and my wife knows the drill as far as bidding when we use your help :) We love this site and all the help we get from you guys. Thanks again for that!!!

Thanks for that info. By the way, it looks like there is a 4* in downtown right now for $63 on Express Deals. Should I revise the bidding strategy? If so, how? I have a feeling that the hotel that is available is the Hyatt Regency, which people like, but comes with no extras (like parking, internet, etc.). My last option will be to find a hotel near the mall as suggested earlier. I'll keep my eye on this thread to make sure I keep updated. I'm also studying for a final while doing this... tough!

Okay guys, so I couldn't win even at the 3* level. And apparently that $62 Express deal is gone now, lol; in fact it doesn't look like any good deal is available on there right now. Any suggestions? Should I just settle for something outside of Downtown, then? I bid up to $60 at the 3* level. My wife could rebid for us from work today, so any help would be appreciated!

Got it! Thanks. Hope all is well with you, by the way.

Hey guys, Romelle thanks! And yes, I do remember who you are. I'm taking the advice you gave me before about trying to figure out gems in any given city :) Thereuare, I'll take the gamble and try again tonight... if I'm not successful, I'll try @ the 3* level. If nothing works out, I'll shoot for a PRICELINE EXPRESS deal. In any case, I'll keep you guys updated! Thanks again... PS Romelle what was it that you didn't say that Thereuare remembered? I'm curious... Apparently I don't see it.

Thanks for the help! Unfortunately, I didn't win with that. I definitely will not go over that budget since this is literally a one night stop; I'm more willing to spend higher on a hotel in Minneapolis than here. So... do you think I should go ahead and re-bid the same strategy after the 24 hour mark and hope that something will change? Or should I just drop down to the 3* level? In case I do drop down to 3*, I see that there is one on Express that's $62... so my assumption is that I could start at a much lower price point for 3*. Let me know your thoughts! Thanks again!

Thank you Romelle (and Thereuare). This helps. I think I'll try downtown first... especially if there are places to just get out and walk around and experience at night (are there???). You guys have been seriously awesome... I'll keep you all updated!

Once again, guys, THANK YOU so much for the prompt reply. The ideas really help... but I think we know some of what we plan to do there this time. Last time we went to Madison, Obama came to town (this was literally two days before his last election), so we couldn't see the state capitol building from inside. So we plan to go there for a tour followed by lunch at The Old Fashioned. After that, maybe some shopping (and not sure how long that Farmer's Market is, but we might like to check that out... thanks for the idea, Aaron!). And that Mustard Museum sound interesting, too... But in any case, last time we went (literally a year ago), we stayed at the Clarion (or some name similar to that) and it was decent... but just outside of the main downtown area. Didn't mind it, but maybe Downtown stay would be better. 3.5* is what I'd like if possible at around the price I stated earlier. I hear that parking is free from 6pm in Madison... but starts up again at 6am. No problem... I don't mind paying a couple hours worth of parking. Not sure if this helps... but I do know we'd like to be closer to the capitol building than farther away. Again, thanks a lot!!!

Thank you both for the quick reply. You guys are awesome! Okay, so the way it sounds, Romelle, if we're only planning on going to the Mall of America once on Monday, and then spending most of our time in the major cities on Sunday and Tuesday, we should just get a hotel in one of those cities, and not in Bloomington, correct? It seems to me like the best option will be to stay in Minneapolis (near Downtown) I think it will help you guys if I tell you some of our plans... we're hoping to get into town on Saturday in the evening, around 7pm and have dinner/bowling at Bryant Lake Bowl. On Sunday morning, we we want to go to the Wabasha Caves in St. Paul for a tour in the morning, and eat lunch at "The Nook" in St. Paul. In case you're wondering... whenever I go on a trip, I find out what places to eat have been featured on TV... and go. But after seeing the mansions there, we'll be done w/ St. Paul, and then most of the evening will be in Minneapolis. By the looks of it on Google maps, we'll be mostly in Minneapolis. At some point we'll be going to see the sculpture gardens, Minnehaha falls, the river, Lake Calhoun walk (can we rent bicycles to ride there?), etc. Anyways, the only places I see with 4 star are Downtown Minneapolis and Bloomington West. I'm willing to drop to 3.5* to nail the price range I said in the previous post, but the number of rebid zones drops. So any help with strategy (especially because of how big this place is) would be VERY helpful!!! -Shoob

Hey guys, I poted about the continuation of this trip in the Minneapolis section. Anyways, for Madison, we'll be there for the night. I was hoping I could try for a 3.5* in the $60 to $70 range... doable? I'd like to start bidding by this evening, so please let me know how I should proceed! I see that there is a 3.5* for $101 in the Express Deals. A bit high for what I want... so I'd drop down to 3* in that case to pay less... but i'd definitely like to shoot for 3.5* first. Hope to hear back soon! Thanks in advance! -Shoob

Hey guys, One last trip before I really have to buckle down... and I need your help. I'll be stopping in Madison the night before, so I've posted about it in the appropriate section. But from Saturday night (check-in) to checking out on Tuesday, I plan to be in and around Minneapolis. I don't mind taking two separate hotels if need be (especially in order to get better rates), but it's obviously not ideal. I know that most of what we want to do (activity-wise) is split between Minneapolis and St. Paul, so I would assume a hotel in one of those towns would be best. We plan on going to the Mall of America on Monday; I'm not sure how difficult it is to get around in this area, but I would think it's best to shoot for a hotel in Minnie-St.Paul rather than Bloomington. Any ideas, guys? This is another "first visit" for us, so we've not much of an idea. Anyways... I'd like to go best star level for under $80 bidding. Is this a long shot at 4*? How about at 3.5*? I've already used your link (as usual), so strategy would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! -Shoob

Sorry for the late reply. Unfortunately, the trip didn't work out, and I haven't been able to get on here to let you all know. Thanks for the help though...

Thanks, Thereuare. I'll let you know how it goes!

Hey guys... Hope all is well. Looking for some bidding advice again for Portland, ME; 8/16 through 8/18. I want to nab a 3.5*, and I've seen some wins here under $100 at that level... not sure if it's doable, but if so, let's try! I don't mind going over $100 (upper limit around $130 or so), and I don't mind dropping down to the 3* level if need be; pretty flexible this time around. Starting in South Portland, I have 2 rebid zones. Any help is greatly appreciated as always! Thanks again! Oh, and I've used your PRICELINE link. :)

Ha! It'll be a bit of time before I get that title, but I'll probably hold that title by the time I get over there! Hopefully I get a chance to come out there sooner rather than later though... Thanks again for all of your guys' help!!!