Priceline Hotel: Bidding for a 5* in Florence 25-30 March 2013

[ElPal]

Using your PRICELINE links, I was quite happy to see that Florence now has a 5* category in its NYOP range.

I looked at the seven 5* hotels on the retail site for Florence (not surrounding areas) and thought that most likely scenario was that it would be the cheapest of those six results.

On that basis, I thought that it would probably be the Montebello Splendid (which is also the 5* that HOTWIRE uses). For the period we are looking at the price per night on the retail site for that hotel was $218 per night. Accordingly, using the "up to 60% off" logic I decided to bid at USD$88 per night plus fees and taxes.

When I got the confirmation screen before proceeding with the bid I noticed that it said "Free breakfast" in the guaranteed amenities. This was not included in the retail rate for this hotel. Accordingly, I went back to the retail part of PRICELINE again using your links and determined that the most likely hotel was the Golden Towers which has a higher retail price as it is closer to the Duomo whereas the Montebello Splendid is closer to the station.

The bid of $88USD per night was rejected (as I then guessed it would be as it was only 25% of the retail price for what I am now guessing is PRICELINE's 5* property).

Three queries:

1) Has anyone else had that experience where the guaranteed amenities includes something like "Free breakfast" which then leads you to have a clue as to the PRICELINE hotel you are bididng for?

2) Do you agree with me that the hotel which is the 5* property is most likely the Golden Towers?

3) Is the PRICELINE NYOP hotel for an area often not the cheapest in the list?

Thanks in advance and apologies for the long post.

[thereuare]

1) Has anyone else had that experience where the guaranteed amenities includes something like "Free breakfast" which then leads you to have a clue as to the PRICELINE hotel you are bididng for?

When bidding, the amenities shown at a given star level are offered at every hotel in the zone that PRICELINE offers in that star category. Therefore, this information can't be used to determine which hotel you'll receive since the amenities shown are present at every hotel in the zone at that star rating.

2) Do you agree with me that the hotel which is the 5* property is most likely the Golden Towers?

There are likely other 5* hotels in this region, and as per above, it's impossible to use the amenities to determine which one you will receive.

3) Is the PRICELINE NYOP hotel for an area often not the cheapest in the list?

There is a low correlation between the hotel with the lowest retail rate and the one that you will receive when bidding on PRICELINE.

[ElPal]

It just seems very odd that PRICELINE would offer a hotel with free breakfast at NYOP that would not offer free breakfast at its higher retail rate. I don't see why a hotel would be more generous with its PRICELINE NYOP customers than its normal retail customers.

Could this be an exception to the rule that the amenities cannot be used to determine whcih hotel?

[thereuare]

If you visit PRICELINE's page for the Golden Tower Hotel and then click the AMENITIES TAB, a complimentary breakfast buffet is offered at this property.

As well, Expedia indicates:

Buffet breakfast is complimentary at Golden Tower Hotel and includes pastries and fresh fruit.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[ElPal]

If you visit PRICELINE's page for the Golden Tower Hotel and then click the AMENITIES TAB, a complimentary breakfast buffet is offered at this property.

Precisely. That's what I was saying above. I think that there is only one 5* property for NYOP for Florence based on the fact that the guaranteed amenity is free breakfast and the Golden Towers is the only hotel that has that at its retail rate. I therefore think that in this case the guaranteed amenities can be used to determine which hotel is being bid on. After all, why would hotels give free breakfast for a NYOP but not at retail price? It must therefore be the only one of the six which has free breakfast, therefore Golden Towers.

I wanted to check whether anyone agreed with me that in this case given the fact that "free breakfast" is a "guaranteed amenit[y]" that the hotel being bid on is going to be the Golden Towers at the 5* star level for Florence.

[Romelle]

Your logic is built on the short list of seven 5* hotels on Priceline's retail side. The hotels offered on the bidding side aren't necessarily the same 5* hotels as those on the retail side. TripAdvisor lists 15 5* hotels and Venere lists 13. Of course there are star level issues and zone issues, but there very easily could be at least one 5* on the bidding side that isn't on the retail side.

Not trying to be a killjoy here. Just don't want you to be surprised.

Romelle

[ElPal]

Not trying to be a killjoy here. Just don't want you to be surprised.

Not at all - I always appreciate the advice and assistance.

By way of update, I placed another bid using your link and the PRICELINE $7 per night bonus cash. I bid $108, plus $7 bonus cash so $115 per night for a 5* in Florence Central - REJECTED...

It's a shame the bonus cash is only valid for 24 hours as I don't want to change star level or area so will just have to use it towards bids for a different city instead- hopefully better luck there.

[Romelle]

There is one free rebid zone for 5* Florence bidding, if you wanted to sneak in another bid.

Hotwire shows $178 for "Old Florence" and $124 for "East Florence" for your dates.

One never really knows what might work, but with 6 months until your stay, the hotels may not have given rooms to Priceline yet.

Romelle

[ElPal]

Thanks for that. What is the free rebid zone for Florence 5*?

[Romelle]

There are instructions for determining free rebid zones up in the PRICELINE FAQ. It is important to know how to do it yourself, since you have to do it just before you bid. The zones and their contents change regularly.

Romelle

[thereuare]

If you don't know how to determine your re-bid zones, start with the following...

1) Use the PRICELINE search box on the upper right of this page, enter 'Florence, Italy' and your dates, and click "GO".

2) List each zone that is offered in this region.

3) Next to each zone list the highest star rating offered in the zone. The way to determine the highest star rating offered in the zone is by selecting the first zone i the list, then scrolling down to see the highest star rating selectable (ie- not greyed out). NEXT UNcheck the selected zone, place a checkmark in the next zone, and repeat the process for each zone in the region. Each time you take note of the highest star rating in the zone, make sure that only ONE zone is selected above.

4) post your findings and we'll take it from there

If you don't follow the above just post back and we'll break it down further.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[ElPal]

Using your PRICELINE link I placed a bid using the $7 per night bonus cash to try to bid for Florence Central 5* - this time I tried $115 so it was $122 per night with the bonus cash: REJECTED

Then went out used your links again and used the bonus cash to bid $118 plus $7 so $125 per night and clicked on Florence Central and Airport as that is the free rebid zone for Florence: REJECTED.

Fortunately, the bonus cash is actually valid more than 24 hours so we may decide to try again once the 24 hours are up but before the bonus cash expires - otherwise, we may take it as a sign that PRICELINE hasn't been given the inventory for late March yet and might wait a few months and try again then.

Also, by way of observation, whereas when I selected 5* Florence Central a few days ago the guaranteed amenitites included "Free breakfast", today the guaranteed amenities only include "8/10 guest rating" which I thought was interesting. Has anyone seen that happen before?

[AaronJB]

It is definitely early for these dates, although it's good to start trying low and working higher in the weeks ahead if lower bids continue to not be accepted. Guaranteed amenities may change with changes in inventory.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[ElPal]

Using the site's HOTWIRE link I have also looked at Florence 5* hotels.

I note again that one of the contenders is the Montebello Splendid.

Details are as follows:

5* Old Town - Duomo - Ponte Vecchio area hotel $179/nt, $1031.89 total

Boutique Hotel

Smoke Free Rooms

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

Laundry Facilities (self-service)

High-Speed Internet Access

Tennis Nearby

Free Internet

4.5/5.0 Tripadvisor rating

These amenities (except tennis nearby) allowed me to narrow down to 2 properties:

Montebello Splendid $203.03/nt, $1116.65 total

Villa La Massa $466.09/nt, $2563 total

My guess is that it would most likely be the Montebello Splendid - do you agree?

[thereuare]

The Montebello Splendid Florence would certainly be one of the likely candidates for this one.

Given you have only bid up to $125 on PRICELINE are you willing to pay $179/nite for a 5* on HOTWIRE?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[ElPal]

Would prefer not to but will do if that's what it comes to.

As always, will use your links.

Thanks

[ElPal]

Any idea about 4* hotel on HOTWIRE (found with your links) with the following amenities:

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

Laundry Facilities (self-service)

High-Speed Internet Access

Free Breakfast

Free Internet

In-room accessibility

Accessible bathroom

Roll-in shower

Narrowing down by free breakfast, free internet, business centre, restaurants and high-speed internet as well as the 3.5/5 Tripadvisor rating I came up with 2 results:

Hotel Londra Florence

Grand Hotel Mediterraneo

I see that some of these amenities match the Una Hotel Vittoria but even without trying to narrow down, this hotel does not appear in results for standard rates for these dates.

Any ideas?

[ElPal]

Can anyone help me with the above?

Also, I note that Grand Hotel Mediterraneo is already on our Hotiwre Hotel List but as a 3.5* so it must have been upgraded to 4*.

[thereuare]

The property above is in the Old Town-Duomo-Ponte Vecchio zone?

The Palazzo Ricasoli would be my best guess for this one.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[ElPal]

Tried bidding again on PRICELINE using your link with the bonus cash...

Bid for the Florence Central zone and 5* for $138 rejected.

Closed and used your link again - selected Florence Central and Peretola Airport, 5* for $161 rejected.