deafcorn Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 I'm traveling to DC June 20-23rd and will have a total of 11 people in my group (7 adults and 4 kids [ages 10-17]). Can I take advantage of Priceline's name your own price with this many people in my group? The prices I'm seeing people posting about via naming their own are great when compared to what hotwire and pricline are currently offering. I'm looking for 3 rooms, but could go 4 if the price was low enough. Link to comment
AaronJB Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 Good afternoon.One can use PRICELINE when traveling with more than 2 people, but the issue is that PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy/1 bed. One can request more than 1 bed from the hotel, but they can say no or charge an additional fee for a room with two beds.Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches. Link to comment
deafcorn Posted April 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 thanks for the info! Link to comment
deafcorn Posted April 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 To be close to the tourist sites, is Dupont, White House and Capitol Hill the best areas tio be in? Link to comment
thereuare Posted April 21, 2010 Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 Those zones are generally considered to be convenient for the typical visitor, but i'll caution against using PRICELINE in this situation... how will you handle it if the hotel is unable, or unwilling, to provide you a room with more than one bed? It's still a risk if you're seeking 3-4 rooms and just one of them needs to accommodate more than double occupancy, but you're looking for 3-4 rooms and just about each one of them needs two beds.What is your desired star rating and expected budget for this stay.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
deafcorn Posted April 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 Yes, PRICELINE and only double occupancy being guaranteed has been in the back of my mind and probably the reason I haven't made a serious bid yet. Last night, via PRICELINE, I tried offering $70 for 3 rooms in the 4* White house area and didn't get selected. I upped it to $75 in the White House and Capitol areas and still didn't get selected. Final offer was $80 a night and added in Dupont and chose both 3.5 and 4*'s, but still didn't get selected. I know those were low ball figures, but was just getting a feeler out there.For this trip, I would like to be at a 3.5 or 4*. I've used both HOTWIRE and PRICELINE in the past, but didn't know about this site, so just blindly went in hoping for the best. Most times I was happy with the result. Ideally, I would like to spend no more than $100 a night per room, but from what I've been seeing online, that may be unrealistic....... unless of course I want to stay out by the Dulles airport. If I can get into the White House, Capitol or Dupont areas, I'd be ok with going up to $150.FYI.... since being referred to this site, I now use your links everytime for HOTWIRE and PRICELINE. This is a great source of information!!!! Link to comment
thereuare Posted April 21, 2010 Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 If I can get into the White House, Capitol or Dupont areas, I'd be ok with going up to $150.You're not too far off at the moment...Searching HOTWIRE for 3rooms/7adults/4children there is a 3.5* in the White House zone for $183/nite and a 3* in the Dupont Circle zone for $163/nite... but not sure if you're willing/able to stretch your budget even further than you're already considering. (NOTE: if you're willing to accept a little risk i think i may be able to get the 3* Dupont Circle property down to $136/nite, if that is of any interest... my guess for the property is the Holiday Inn Central (1501 Rhode Island Avenue Northwest)... or you can continue to bid higher with PRICELINE.Let us know your thoughts on the options above.Thanks for using PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board for your purchases and searches. :) Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
deafcorn Posted April 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 What type of little risk comes with the 3* in Dupont? Is getting the price down to 136 guarantee beds for everyone or is that thru PL? (Does that Holiday Inn have a pool?) Link to comment
deafcorn Posted April 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 One more question for you..... I'm looking to travel roughly 2 months from now. Is this the "right" time to be looking? In your opinion, should I be looking to book a place now, or do I still have some time to check if prices will drop any in the next couple weeks? Link to comment
thereuare Posted April 21, 2010 Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 The $136 rate is thru HOTWIRE searching for the correct number of guests (so bedding for everyone)... the risk is that the purchase is made in two different transactions.I've already checked to make sure that what appears to be the same hotel (based upon star rating, amenities, percent recommended, and number of reviews) is offered for each leg of the purchase, but it's always possible that after the first purchase the same hotel is no longer offered when looking to make the second purchase. This would be an unlikely scenario, but it is possible, and i always try to suggest 'what could go wrong' just to cover all the bases... the other risk is that you receive a different hotel for the second purchase than you received for the first, but again, i've matched up much more than just the amenities that i think the chances of this is also very low.The Holiday Inn has an outdoor pool.Nobody can say if rates will drop between now and your stay... or if they will go even higher. You're already having to kludge this stay together to find something which meets your needs and budget, so i think the risk is that things get tougher... not easier, but nobody can say for certain. For additional information in this regard see the "bid early or late" link in our PRICELINE FAQ.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.Let us know how/when you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
deafcorn Posted April 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 Decided to go with Hotwire and the guarantee of having actual sleeping positions for everyone in my group. I was looking for 3 rooms (7 adults / 4 kids) for June 20 - 23. Via your link, HOTWIRE listed a 3 star hotel in the Dupont Circle - Embassy Row area that has a fitness center, pool, restaurant, business center and laundry. This hotel has an 80% customer satisfaction rating and a trip advisor rating of 3.5 circles. After 10 days of watching the price for this hotel (at least what I thought to be this hotel because of the area, stars and amenities listed) fluctuate between a low of $124 and a high of $144, I finally decided to grab it when it hit $124 for the second time. Here's the hotel information: Holiday Inn Central1501 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20005Phone:(202) 483-2000Price Per Night: $124.00 # Of Nights:3# Of Rooms:3SubTotal:$1,116.00Taxes And Fees:$176.92Total Price:$1,292.92Location is listed as being on the closer side of Dupont Circle to the White house/mall area, so happy with the location in relationship to typical tourist spots. As mentioned earlier, I watched this price for 10 days. The first time it hit $124, I didn't buy as I was noticing a downward trend in price and hoped to see it drop lower, but that was as low as it went and the next day jumped up to $139. Over the next two days though, it slowly dropped back to the $124 and I grabbed it at that time. On the "wins calendar", I see that someone else booked this same hotel back in early March, with a check in date one week earlier than mine and paid $144 a night. I checked again just prior to this post and the hotel is still listed, but now back up to $139. I know I took a gamble with not booking right away, but it ended up saving me $180 over the length of my stay and basically paid for my parking. In the future, if I don't see what I'd consider to be an all out, great deal right up front and still have a decent amount of time before my travel dates, I'd price watch again.Thanks to everyone for their input on this thread! Link to comment
yellowdog Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 deafcornCongratulations on your success!Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding :) Great to see that everything worked out well for you and your group.Enjoy your stay.Yellowdog. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Register now, we have a huge community of travel enthusiasts to answer any questions you might have.
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountAlready have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now