wishful

Found out the hotel was the JW Marriott in Orlando, it is not a known Priceline hotel, so we don't have to worry :) Wishful p.s. thanks thereuare

Sometime in the last month I read a WDW hotel review somewhere about a hotel that didn't allow you to call for a cab - you could only catch the "contracted" cabs out front. I think this also affected how you arranged for transportation to/from the airport if you needed it. I can't find the review now. I wanted to find out the name of this hotel so I could tell a friend what bidding zone/star level the hotel is. The review writer mentioned things like the hotel was across the street from a drugstore and s/he had to buy something (medicine?) but the way the grounds were laid out it was too far to walk at the time and the highway would be hard to cross, so she had to catch a cab and it was $14 each way - possibly there was a $10 mininum per cab ride also? The description reminded me of the hotel on the 192, SE of WDW, that is set back from the highway, the Radisson(?), but I never read anything like that about that hotel before... Sound familiar to anyone? Wishful

I'm relatively new, but I like both ideas. However, anyone willing to do their homework can find good user reviews/reports on tripadvisor.com and other sites. Most thorough reviews of hotels written by folks elsewhere seem to include "we also did xxxx off-property". I'm not sure what purpose photos would serve, you can't choose the specific hotel you bid for, so what's the use of seeing how nice a room is in the hotel you didn't get? Of course I'm sure photos can make you thank God for the hotels you didn't get sometimes too! :) While the official hotel website photos are usually too good to be true, board member photos can also be misleasing "accidentally": photos of renovated Room 510 may not look like anything in older Room 1100. I can imagine multiple threads of "My room didn't look like what so-and-so posted" and discussions like that already show up in the reviews. All they do for me is give me a heads up that you still don't know what to expect. I read and post all over the place, virtualtourist.com, mouseplanet.com, tripadvisor.com and one or two places mostly Disney-related. Even if BetterBidding.com provided the two new areas you suggest, I would use it, but also still look for information elsewhere - it's part of the trip plannning process and part of the fun. Maybe just put up a sticky or pinned note with the addresses of other sites that could be useful, and people can look for info there and also let us know here if they posted their own info on another site? Like a few people have said, it's pretty much up to you. BetterBidding.com is a community and communities change and grow. At the worst you create new areas of the board that don't get used and that's not the end of the world if it happens, and at the best you get all sorts of stuff posted and tons of new members. You can tell I'm wordy, so you know there won't be a lack of entries of tips from me! :) W

Today's US mail had 4 coupons (2@$3 and 2@$2.50) and a letter with details about a class action lawsuit that the Station Casino chain in Las Vegas settled. Basically the lawsuit alleged that the Casinos (hotels) improperly charged an energy surcharge fee and a telephone surcharge and they settled in this manner with customers who stayed there between 4/1/2001 and 6/7/2004. I think I only stayed there a few times in the last 3 years, so the amount seems right. I didn't sign up for anything - I guess they have my name from hotel and credit card records as the coupons are addressed to the combined abbreviation of my mom's name and my name. Nice to know those pesky charges can be fought! Wish we could do something about "resort" fees next. :) Anyway the website is http://www.surchargesettlement.com if you want more info.

I came over to BetterBidding because I was afraid of TOBB and the admin. Sometimes I cringe when I read posts there: it's almost like watching a scary movie - you want to scream "Read the FAQ!!!!" or "Run!!!" at your monitor when you see a newbie post. There is so much good information over there, but my God, they suck the fun out of it!! My first post here was in the wrong place/topic area and I couldn't move it, so I put in a little revision note at the top and "magically" it got moved. No one yelled, I wasn't berated, etc. Last week, a long-time TOBB user and Florida resident, desperate and stressed due to the hurricane, was practically begging for assistance in finding a place to stay for the night and the admin told him to send in the bidding request form or something like that. I mean come on, even if you truly needed all that information to help the guy, a little pat on the back or word of encouragment would have done him some good. I'm sure if someone had posted the Red Cross 800 number, it would have been removed as off topic. I know it sounds harsh, but obviously this guy (sorry for the slang, it was a he I believe) turned to a community he felt he was a part of and in my mind I saw him slammed by a cinder block. I don't see that attitude here. I think I'll stay :) W I love this board! :) I'm not afraid to ask for help! :) I'm going to London :o

Thanks for the info. Sent you a PM. W

Hello, I love this forum - I don't have a lot of money but it gives me hope I'll be able to stay somewhere decent when I do travel to London in October :) Has anyone used (purchased and had to make a claim) the Priceline optional insurance? From what I've read there's a trip insurance plan and a $5 reservation protection plan? I read about the trip insurance plan directly on Priceline, but heard about the $5 plan on another forum and didn't see it on the Priceline site. Just wondering if it's worth it - looks like the only things I'd ever need (knock on wood) are emergency evac or transport service, and lost luggage (above and beyond what the airlines provide?). I figure if anything comes up to make me cancel a trip, the few hundred dollars I lose won't be the worst of my problems. Off Topic (feel free to PM me) - Also considering short term health insurance plan for accompanying 65-year old mom, she has basic state medical coverage, but nothing else. Thanks and good luck bidding to everyone! W

Hello, This may not be relevant if indeed the hotel is undergoing renovations now, or if the touristy aspects of the hotel don't interest the reader. I stayed at this hotel from April 24 to April 28 2003. I got the same rate of $35 a night from priceline. I actually hated this hotel and the service so much I wrote priceline, Marriott, Disney and a review on another website. Hopefully my experience won't happen to anyone else. Reviews on other websites were average, I remember comments about customer service and cleanliness. The hotel was part of another chain before and under that name it had bad reviews. I don't remember the name, but I think it was a Double Tree. Some sites rate this hotel as high as a 4* (HotelKingdom.com), but I've usually seen it as a 3. I guess for me, the things that got me were that websites said the hotel had already been renovated - it had not been renovated by the time we got there and our room was musty and run down and damp with mildew. Furniture and fixtures in public areas were broken and missing pieces. Because one large family had an event there, the coffee shop and main pool were closed to the public and a makeshift barricade separated the other guests from the private party during the entire time we were there, not just when the event was happening. The hotel didn't let any other guests know about this event and the closures until check-in, even guests who made "normal" reservations in advance. The blinds in the lobby, which faced the main pool, were always closed and made the hotel seem very drab and dark. The rest of the guests (tourists, a group of tennis teams and business folks) had the use of only the snack bar and a temporary "bar" set up in the small video arcade room. The snack bar was constantly out of food because so many people had to use it with the coffee shop closed. Marriott Renaissance hotels are usually great hotels (think Renaissance Hollywood, Renaissance LAX, etc.), this was not the same class as other Renaissance hotels. I plan travel for a large company, even major conventions don't usually cause hotels to close so many shared facilities for the rest of the hotel guests, and I have stayed in better rooms at roadside motels. The hotel is 1 mile from Disney as noted on a lot of websites (even Marriott's), but it is 1 mile from the Disney property line, not the gates. This is important if you do not have a car. It is a $12-14 cab ride to the Transportation Center or EPCOT. The hotel has a scheduled shuttle, but it only goes to Animal Kingdom in the AM (8:30 and 10) and it only returns from EPCOT in the PM (9:30 and possibly a 7:30). There is no afternoon return, so if you go to WDW and need to come back in the daytime, it is a $24-$28+ round trip by cab. All in all, it was a place to sleep as long as you didn't get hungry since the coffee shop was closed; want a drink since the bar was not as stocked as well as some homes are; want to swim - with the main pool closed for one party, the entire rest of the hotel had to use one small pool; or need to be conveinently close to WDW. This was our first trip to WDW and since the hotel was so bad I let it affect the rest of our trip (and I admit it, I let it get to me). It did not help that the front desk staff lost our park tickets that were USPS express mailed to us (and the delivery confirmation stated the tickets arrived hours before we got them), but that's another story. For the money we spent on cab fare, food delivery from outside restaurants, laundry to get the musty smell out of our clothes (we had to wash our clothes during the trip it was so bad), and theme park tickets to replace the "lost" ones, we could have paid the AAA rate at a Disney hotel and had a better time. Priceline Customer Service was kind enough to email me a $10 coupon add-on to my next set of bids when I told them I thought they should reinspect the hotel. I still use priceline, in fact I'm using it for a trip to Vegas next week, but I have low expectations now with the Orlando area hotels and will probably bid only 4* or go straight to Disney property. Again for $35 it was a place to sleep, but I expected more based on the brand and the description. With the renovations maybe it will live up to the Marriott name. My mom still had a great birthday and I got a great photo with