Priceline Hotel: 5* London (Regents Park-Baker St) Landmark Hotel

[londonfirsttime]

Hello, I am new to this site but have done my best to try and understand everything. I have found things to be a little intimidating, so I apologize if I am missing something basic.

Would appreciate any comments on the strategy I am going to try:

I would like to get a 5* in Regents Park - Baker Street area (appears to be the Landmark) from 4/24-4/28. It looks like the hotel can be attained for around $125?

I am going to attempt $100 and then if it doesn't work go higher trying the following:

f rejected, add Bloomsbury - Marble Arch $105

if rejected, add Finsbury and Islington $110

if rejected, add Hammersmith $115

if rejected, add The City and London Bridge $120

Would that work or should I start my bid higher/lower?

[Romelle]

I'm just a member, but looks to me like you've really done your homework as to a bidding sequence.

You surely won't get your desired spot below the $100, so that is a safe place to start. And if you aren't successful at the $120 point, after 24 hours you can just run through the series again starting a few $$ higher.

There is a more complicated process that would yield more bids but you've got a little time and plenty of free-rebids to do it the direct/simple way you are planning. I'm always in favor of keeping things simple if possible.

My question is as to how you figured the $125 would work? The best number I can find for the 5* Landmark in Regent's Park is $283 on their site. The $125 is only 44% of that. Bids have been successful at such low %s, but ....??? Even 50% would be good, and that would be $142 by my calculations.

On the other hand, bidding is free, and after you've done your first series, you will know for sure whether it works or not.

I wish you well - that hotel looks gorgeous.

Romelle

[londonfirsttime]

Thanks, Romelle! Hmmm, I thought I would be able to get around $125 because I saw someone post that they have it for $135 and wished they had bid lower....Well I will try it but maybe I should bid 50% like you said if it doesn't work.

[Romelle]

Thanks, Romelle! Hmmm, I thought I would be able to get around $125 because I saw someone post that they have it for $135 and wished they had bid lower....Well I will try it but maybe I should bid 50% like you said if it doesn't work.

If you do as you suggested for the first pass - 100, 105, 110, 115 and 120, then on the next pass (at least 24 hours later) do 125, 130, 135, 140, and finally 145, you will know just what does and doesn't work. However, if you start at the 50% point you will never know if lower might have worked.

You could just start at a little higher number like even the 115, so you cover those 125 and 135 points the first round.

Rates are very date specific, and then the overseas ones are further complicated by currency shifts. At the moment the US dollar is losing ground to the British pound so one needs to bid higher when in US currency. You don't mention the dates for that $135, but the currency exchange rate could be a factor in it needing to be lower or higher today.

Do report back what you've learned. If you look down at how many people are on line, at any given time there usually are about 10 visitors for every registered member. There probably are several more people either watching this bidding sequence now, or will benefit from it another time.

Incidentally, you are likely to get counter offers as you go. Always a good idea to just ignore them and keep with your plan. The only reasons I can think of for accepting counter offers is if one has run out of time, bids and/or nerve.

Romelle

[thereuare]

If you're intersted in bidding higher, you could try the following which is the more 'complicated' strategy Romelle referred to above:

Using your FOUR re-bid zones (NOTE: 're-bid zone1' is not the same as priceline's Zone1, 're-bid zone2' is not the same as priceline's Zone2, etc, etc)

Select 5* Regents Park-Baker St...

Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone3...

Bid $120, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 5* Regents Park-Baker St and re-bid zone4...

Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone3...

Bid $140

There are further permutations you can use, but as you didn't mention your maximum bid, you can start with the above and we can take it from there.

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[londonfirsttime]

Thanks, so far not working, and I retried after the first time like you both suggested, going as high as $140. I am flexible with my max but still want to see if I can at least get it for the $135 that the previous poster got, albeit different dates.

They are having a marathon on Sunday April 25th in London, perhaps that is why I can't get it? Should I try bidding for the other dates separately to get a lower rate for those dates?

[Romelle]

The way to answer your question about different dates is to get on the hotel's web site and check the individual dates. If they are all the same, you can just bid the full span. If some of the days are quite different from the others, you should consider splitting your bid, bidding the lower group of dates first. (I took a peek, and the high day is your first day and then the others are all the same at a lower rate.)

If you bid the low group and are successful, you might find the "add a night" feature offered by PL. It likely will be for a higher rate, but you still will have improved your average. Unlikely, but it can be offered at the same rate as your winning bid on the other nights.

If you want to hold out for a lower win, it is a good idea to make a cancelable back-up reservation. Then you can comfortably bid up to the last possible day, hoping for the dollar/pound exchange rate to get more favorable to us and/or a last minute low-rated addition to PL inventory.

You can do some more bidding, just using the next logical step in thereuare's plan. Start with 5* Regents Park, zone 4 and zone 3 and make your first bid. Then add zone 1 for the next bid, and add zone 3 for the third.

You can also do some more bidding now with different dates - Apr 25-28 as an example. With the change in dates, it is a whole new ball game. The 8 bid sequence thereuare listed is available all over again. However, if you are going to do this, it would be a good idea to explore those lower rates a little before going on up - maybe starting at $125?

Romelle

[londonfirsttime]

Thanks again, Romelle. Unfortunately, while trying the new strategies, I made a mistake and didn't realize it when I was accepting a counter offer of $206. I thought I had been rebidding. I hit the back button when I realized what was happening and closed the browser but it didn't stop it from going through. I tried calling Priceline and of course they will not do anything. So this did not work in my favor. I guess it is still less than the regular retail price. It got booked for all 4 days, I started at 3 days with $130, then expanded to 4 days at $135. With tax, this hotel comes out to basically $250/night. Does anyone know what I will need to pay additionally when I get there? Or does this Priceline price include the 17.2% tax.

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear you accepted a counter-offer you didn't intend.

Can you please add a reply to this thread with the zone and name hotel you received so we can add this information to the topic title.

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

Thanks.

[MadFlyer]

To avoid any errors like this and to clear the slate, I always close the browser with the X and enter with the link again for each bid. A little more time consuming, but avoids any issue like this.

I know you are comparing your counter offer negatively based on your expectations of the $135 rate. The fact is a bid of $135 was unrealistic for these dates and you are spending at the most $25 more than you might have won this same hotel for with that counter offer. Counters for Mayfair those dates are coming in even higher I think.

If you really pushed Priceline that this was an error caused by confusion in re-bidding the best result would be a refund minus a $25 a night fee or $100. Thus your savings would be entirely eaten by this fee.

Your total was most likely $985 and included $161.68 in taxes based on that amount in London today.

Just so you know the best "opaque" rate on www.lastminute.com is around $1200 for a 5 star in London for your dates and if you won the Landmark, even with their pay 2 get one night free offer there the total comes to

[Romelle]

londonfirsttime,

I'm so sorry.

The bidding process can be a little hypnotic. And that counter-offer page is tricky, with the return to bidding in REALLY tiny type buried in a line. Whereas the accept-the-offer is a nice big obvious button.

A tough lesson, and a fairly expensive one. You sound like you are taking it well, and I hope madflyer's analysis helps. You are still way under the rack rate of 199 pounds for three of the nights and 200something pounds for the fourth.

I've got a few oopses in my bidding history too. Wrong date once. Booked a flight with a connection in London, but didn't notice it came into LHR and left LGW (I didn't make the connection). And my personal favorite was thinking I had a flight a couple minutes after noon, and it was actually a couple minutes after midnight of the previous day. I suspect most people here have had a lesson or two also.

Hope you have a wonderful trip.

Romelle

[londonfirsttime]

Thank you everyone, this makes me feel a little better. I like the idea of just closing the browser so this doesn't happen again. Thereuare, the hotel is the Landmark in the Regents Park - Bakers St zone. Like Mad Flyer called it, here's my stats:

Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$206.00

Subtotal: US$824.00

Taxes and Services Fees: US$161.68

Total Charges: US$985.68

And thanks Romelle for all your help each time!

[yellowdog]

londonfirsttime

Thanx for the follow-up!

Yellowdog.

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

[MrB]

Just got back from a priceline stay booked through the betterbidding.com PRICELINE link. Absolutely beautiful hotel, you will enjoy your stay. My room wasn't ready when I arrived (mid-morning) so they offered to upgrade me to a GBP 1,000/night suite for just an extra GBP90/night. I thought about it but realized my PRICELINE bid for about 90GBP/night already got me a superior GBP550/night room (with a doorbell!) so I didn't bother paying double as my room was really nice as it was. Check-in was then delayed to 3 pm but I was leaving the hotel immediately to do some shopping and then go to a game so it didn't bother me.

[londonfirsttime]

Thank you, MrB! Definitely a consolation to know it will be a great hotel. Will they charge me any other fees when I am there or are they covered by the Priceline bid?

[MrB]

No extra fees, taxes or charges unless you purchase something (e.g. meals, internet). Internet was GBP14.95/day which is the going rate for 5* hotels in London (vs. often free in cheap hotels!). I asked for and received an interior facing room overlooking the atrium (beautiful interior view, piano player etc.) although I don't think the windows to my Juliet balcony opened so that I could hear the grand piano better. If I had an outside room I may have been able to acces free internet - there is also an internet cafe a block or two away if you just need occassional use. To further put your mind at ease I checked Hotwire for your dates and a room at the Landmark (ok, I admit this is my educated guess that the 5* in Regents Park that appears is the Landmark but this seems a pretty good bet based on my research) is coming up at US$195 to US$199) so you basically paid Hotwire prices for a great hotel which is a pretty deal. The hotel was very accomodating so the fact you spent more may well get you an even better "superior" room if such a thing exists at this hotel. Other far inferior 4* hotels were popping up on Hotwire for these dates for US$150 and on my same trip this week I paid GBP180 + VAT for a hotel on business that was no where near as nice as the Landmark. I didn't spend much time in the area but the hotel is really convenient for the Marlybone train and tube stop which is directly behind the hotel as well as Chelsea FC's home team pubs (the Globe and Allsop's) which are closeby if a game is on and you want to participate.

[londonfirsttime]

Great, thank you!