Priceline Hotel: 3* St Louis (Forest Park-Clayton) Crowne Plaza Clayton

[clueless]

Hello,

Newcomer to this site. Planning a 4 day stay and possibly another week afterward in St Louis. Looking for a 2.5-3* with free parking in the Clayton-Forest Park area. HOTWIRE lists a 3* with only business center and internet icon. Nothing else, but indicates 50+ total reviews and 75% positive reviews. No hotels are listed with these amenities on this website.

I'd appreciate your ideas. I don't want to pay for parking in both the two 3.5* hotels that are usually won in this area.

Thank you for your help,

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

This property has not yet been identified. Assuming the 3.5* HOTWIRE offering (at least on my own search) is the Crowne Plaza, adding the room rate + parking is ~$75/nite... are you able to find an acceptable alternate hotel in this area for $75 which includes parking?

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

[clueless]

Thank you for your help. I'll be using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links you've provided for my reservation.

I was leaning toward the 2.5* listed on HOTWIRE for the same rate of $64, which is probably the Holiday Inn, Forest Park that includes free parking, instead of the uncertain 3.5* (esp. if I get the Sheraton where parking is almost $12-15 a night).

If I try to bid for the 2.5* on PRICELINE for a possible lower rate on the HI (i.e. somewhere in the 40s), is it possible that they may involuntarily upgrade me to a 3 or 3.5* to either the Crowne Plaza or Sheraton?, esp. given that winning bids for both 2.5 & 3* have been in the same range of around $44/nite.

My current posting in St Louis is for almost the entire month of May, except for weekends, so the $10-15 parking/night really adds up. Hotels in the Westport, STL area are cheaper with free parking, but much too far for me to commute every day.

[AaronJB]

There is the possibility of being upgraded, but it doesn't happen all that often and I would not recommend bidding with the expectation of being upgraded. If you bid 2.5* in this zone, you could definitely get a 2.5* that has not yet been reported to the board instead of being upgraded to a 3*.

Are you looking for a hotel for multiple time periods in May?

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

[clueless]

No, I don't want the upgrade because I'd have to pay parking at the 3* that are usually won in the area. Instead, the 2.5* which AFAIK is only the HI in this area, atleast based on Tripadvisor etc, offers free parking.

Yes, I'm looking for hotels during the weekdays for all of May, I'll be driving home on Friday evening for the weekends.

[thereuare]

When you select a star rating on PRICELINE it is the minimum you are willing to accept... there is no way to avoid an unwanted upgrade to a higher level property.

You need to weigh the lower PRICELINE cost plus the potential for an upgrade and unknown parking fee VS. paying a little more upfront with HOTWIRE and taking an educated guess as to the property offered and therefore 'know' if there is a parking charge.

Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

Thanks in advance for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[clueless]

Decided to just bite the bullet, and bid $48/night (had tried upto $45 before) on PRICELINE. Used the PRICELINE link here. And as I suspected, got upgraded to the 3/3.5* Crowne Plaza Clayton, which charges parking :) But, apparently the transit garage at the Clayton Metrolink 3 blocks away offers free parking with a monthly transit pass (which I need anyway), so will try that out.

Thank you for your help and advice.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

While you received the unwanted upgrade you were trying to avoid, sounds like the deal with the monthly pass at the nearby garage will work well for your plans.

Thank you for sharing your win and using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.