ravinia

OK, "East" Memphis was mentioned, and that's where the "Marriott Memphis" Thousand Oaks is; Hotwire has it in there "East" zone and Priceline "Southeast". The Main St. Marriott property is in "Downtown" zone for both.

Two Marriotts in Memphis. The Marriott Downtown is self explanatory. The Memphis Marriott is the one that comes up on Priceline SouthEast; Thousand Oaks Blvd is address. It has a huge 10 foot fence around the giant parking lot.

In our experience, the 3.5* Memphis East is the Doubletree. Not bad, but not up to the quality level of the Marriott. Priceline has them as 3* SE, but we've been bidding up to $55 lately, even with Marriott.com rates AAA as low as $85, with no luck. Would be a surprise if they were on Hotwire for that price range.

OK, dumb question here. Looking over both the PATH and subway sites, I see no mention of the proximity of transfer between them (PATH to 1/2/3/9 line at WTC station) -- do you go up to the surface, is there an underground passageway? Thanks!

Having stayed at all three, conventionally reserved, I'd guess that the Avenue Plaza, Ponchetrain and Hampton Inn may be likely suspests for Hotwire. The Avenue Plaza used to have a nice pool in the back courtyard. These would probably be a pleasant respite from the extreme traffic, both in the lobbies and outside at bigger players in the CBD, FQ, CC.

Tried bidding this last week when hotel webrates were $159, no luck up to $35; stopped there as higher bids are known to get other hotels. Not that they're less nice (except for one) but that they're less conveniently located. Well the webrates dropped to $79 the day before and first bid of $32 worked. Maybe could've started even lower!

Thanks, we'd presumed that all the zones in the group had at least 3*; not so! Still wonder if anyone has won the Hyatt recently; it's so convenient to Ikea!

We've scored at $28, and know many other PL users have as well, when the webrates for the largest hotel in the zone (Hyatt Woodfield) were much higher than the $79 (even lower for AAA) for this date. We're also pretty sure it won't take the full $35 counteroffer to score A room, but we're hoping someone else has bidding data for, say, $29 or $30 bids. And whether that scores the Hyatt or one of the other perfectly nice (but for our case not preferred) hotels in the zone. The Hyatt has been so common here, perhaps people feel that posting their success is redundant. Thanks for the info throughout the year and happy holidays!

We fished the bottom here, after bidding 3* Southeast up to $58. Known (former) participant with PL, the Marriott Memphis SE, had web rates as low as $89. They must not want any priceliners these days.

Or, you may have been upgraded. Either way, this is a nice smaller hotel with a very cool rooftop area. Thanks for showing us how far in advance some Priceline rates are available.

Did you bid 3* or something less? If Radisson took their name away for quality issues, you'd think Priceline would reevaluate the property. Especially with so many truly deserving 3* hotels in all the zones. Yes, I know it's New Orleans and all the guidebooks say (and hotel managers agree) that you pay more for less cleanliness here than throughout the rest of the continent. And some of the streets are, well, dirty and poorly maintained and full of potholes. And there are some local officials sometimes found to be corrupt. But I can attest that it's insulting to every other Priceline rated 3* hotel in town, including the airport zone, to continue to rank the Radisson at 3 stars. Hope you shared your thoughts with Priceline, if they're the ones who sent you. Maybe you'll get a form letter but with enough hassle spending time answering customer complaints, they may reconsider this hotel's rating and even participation.

Actually, the current Memphis Hilton (formerly Park Vista) IS in the Priceline East zone, as is the former Memphis Hilton, (now Doubletree). In the PL Southeast zone is the other "Memphis Marriott", a nice place to be sure, with free parking surrounded by a spikey 10 foot fence-- must be a reason for that, or maybe just decorative. We used to get them on PL a lot, but recent bids up to $59 Southeast during periods of low occupancy (Marriott.com for $89) came up empty. Looks like bidding "East" likely gets you the Doubletree. While on the subject of Memphis East, the Belmont Grill serves a nice menu 'till pretty late; it's close to most of the "East" hotels.

This is definately the bottom for this date; we tried $42 just to see. Looks like the other NMA hotels don't have a chance at this level and bid range. Their loss.

Forgot to add, this came up as "BEST VALUE". The same 3.5* is showing for a lot of Memphis dates.

This is very interesting, though all we know of the Newark area is the Portuguese district around Ferry St. Do you happen to know if there is convenient rapid transit to the city from the Hyatt vicinity?

"An even better idea would be to come to NYC and get the Hyatt that others have been receiving for under $40/nite!!" OK, where is the report on this? Thanks for any details.

This was a period of fairly high demand. First bid "fullsize" at $21, rejected. 8 days at $23 + $58.42 total tax and fees made for $242.92, or $30/day total. BUT, the airport rental location had no "standard" cars at pickup and offered free upgrade to "fullsize". They also offered upgrade to SUV (Chevy Trailblazer) for additional $8/ day. We took this offer!

The Marriott definately has a business center, but I guess Hotwire doesn't need to list all amenities; just need to provide the ones that they list. Pretty tricky if they're enhancing the 'opaque' listing by putting up two identical offers. This is where we all need more posting of results from all those lurkers, especially out in the boondocks. :)

This listing was reportedly the Marriott, according to a previous post. It most certainly is not, and Hotwire continues to offer the same 3.5* (restaurant, pool, fitness) at $50 or $64.95 total. The Marriott is rather nicer than this place, the former Hilton. Luggage was strewn about the lobby, unattended; we were given keys to an occupied room. Police were on site to handcuff a small woman for overimbibing at the hotel bar. Windows leaked during the thunderstorm and the bathroom smelled like, well..... The possibility of a "planted" post by hotel employees seeking to steer traffic is one theory as to the misleading info. I would rate the Doubletree no more than 2* Hotwire. The Marriott easily qualifies for more than its 3* Priceline rating.

Maybe 2* NMA would've given you a shot at the Raphael, actually a really nice little boutique property near the Hancock; main drawback seemed to be slow elevator at busy times. In this case a "downgrade" to 2* would have been better! When all else fails to cheer you up, just imagine rack rates!

Interesting. We see Hotwire offering the same deal for our dates about a month out, though the Marriott lists rates a bit higher for the dates on their site. But a Priceline bid that usually snags it was a no go. Also noted at similarr property that the Hotwire price (before tax and fee) was several dollars over the price paid to hotel (the hotel revealed it on the TV invoice). Seems hotel would have been happier with PL; they get more, we pay less too. BTW, the Marriott was offering $89 + tax for the posted night, cancellable.

We think the Palmer House is great. It IS huge, with 5 digit room numbers and a seemingly infinitite number of floor plans. The lobby is spectacular, and you go out to State St. behind and Wabash (one block off Michigan) in front. Going west on Madison some blocks will take you to the Greektown enclave, a thriving restaurant row and all that's left of a once vibrant Greek business/residential neighborhood. To the East is Grant Park, with the new Millenium Park and right by the Art Institute. Symphony Center and Lyric Opera are short walks. State Street has the old line department stores Marshall Field's and Carson's (in its famous Louis Sullivan building.) The Chicago Public Library Cultural Center at Washington & Michigan is close; check out their free performances, gallery space and just the incredible building. The 'El' train is near and subway right out back. Cabs are everywhere, always. We've had somewhat busy distracted checkins here both conventionally booked and Priceline. You may wait in line when they're busy, and they seem really strict about the 11:00 AM checkout -- places that cut some slack, say 'till 2:00 PM get our return business vote, unless we have to leave earllier anyway. Summing up, a great location and a demonstration of the city's vibrancy. And if you still need to go to the North Side, or even North Michigan Ave, you can get ther from here.

Just a word on the Congress Hotel: we've walked past many times in the last year and there has been an active job action, i.e. strike, by employees for a rather long time. We've stayed there a few times, used the self check-in machines because of hour long lines at front desk, but not since the strike started well over a year ago. There's a website for updates, maybe they'll settle this eventually but it's a real loud freakshow out front at last look. http://www.congresshotelstrike.info/index.asp The 2* NMA places, such as Seneca, are actually quite charming in their own ways, certainly nicer than a lot of PL 3*s in some other cities. (See New Orleans Radisson)

Sometimes one may need to traverse the great unpopulated areas of the continent, in order to travel between two more "important" destinations. And sometimes along the way you may encounter dramatic scenery and an occasional decent meal. (Montana Ale Works in Bozeman). But you also encounter areas with no Priceline participation, and I'm going to share the fact that paying rack rate for a scary Super8 is not a highlight of these areas! You may even say upon reaching your room, this really }%!#\^*s!

Tried $31 @ 2.5*, got counteroffer for $39. Went the "change items" route and added two bucks. We'll be too late for the free drinks, probably won't want to cook and may not want to get up and have a large breakfast, or we would've tried 3* for Embassy Suites.