Priceline Hotel: 4* London (Westminster) Victoria Park Plaza

[Bonwah]

We're vacationing in London that week. For the past week I've been fishing for a super deal on 5* hotels in London, going as high as $185 in the six closest-in neighborhoods. No takers, although PRICELINE did counter-offer with $234 at one point. (HOTWIRE has 5* rooms in the $190 range right now.)

Today I opted to drop down to four stars. Results:

$102 - Mayfair (rejected)

$104 - Mayfair / Marble Arch (rejected)

$111 - Mayfair / Marble Arch / Westminster (accepted!)

The hotel is the Park Plaza Victoria London, at 239 Vauxhall Bridge Road in Westminster. (Note that Park Plaza has several other properties in London.) It's just a few blocks from Victoria Station and looks like a nice place.

Thanks, everyone, for the helpful comments elsewhere about London hotels. Much appreciated.

[Bonwah]

Also, I note that the Park Plaza website quotes 189 pounds a night for that property for those nights -- roughly $290/night -- so that seems like a good deal.

[Bonwah]

I'm curious: has anyone used Priceline travel insurance so far due to the Icelandic volcanoes? Does anyone know if that is actually a covered event?

I bought the $5/night insurance for our June trip to London, and I see others on this board saying they've bought it as well. However, it's not perfectly clear to me from the terms and conditions (https://www.priceline.com/hotels/Lang/en-us/infoctr/popup_TI.asp) that this would be a covered event. Here's how they phrase it:

==

Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption coverage for reimbursement of non-refundable Hotel penalties if You or Your Traveling Companion must cancel or interrupt your trip due to unforeseen, covered events such as:

* Job loss

* Illness, injury or death

* Home made uninhabitable by fire, flood or natural disaster

* Direct involvement in a traffic accident en-route to departure

* Jury duty

* Subpoena

* Terrorist act in your destination city

* Natural disaster at your departure/destination

==

I live in Ohio, so a volcano in Iceland is not a "natural disaster at your departure/destination." On the Stonebridge Casualty site, they further describe a "natural disaster" this way:

==

Natural disaster: flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, or blizzard which renders: (a) for the Flight Plan, your Air Common Carrier unable to provide a travel service due to a shutdown of all local airports for a duration of greater than 72 hours, and/or (:) for the Hotel Reservation and/or Rental Car Reservation Plan(s), a complete cessation of travel services at the point of departure (pick up) and/or destination (return) for the duration of your Covered Trip.

==

There seems to be lots of wiggle room there for the insurance company: volcanic activity is not a listed disaster, and a "complete cessation" of travel for 72 hours could theoretically be required to include train travel, busses, and so on.

So I'm curious about the volcano issue in general, but also wonder if anyone on the board has ever successfully cashed this insurance for any reason?

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you were successful and are seeing some nice savings on this stay... both in terms of the booking this hotel direct and in terms of 'chasing' the 5* hotel even higher than you had already bid.

If you want to know if the insurance would cover the volcano, it would be best to contact the insurance company and ask them. However, given the circumstances, both PRICELINE (and HOTWIRE) have been understanding thus far and accommodating users (even those who did not purchase insurance). You can read the experience of PRICELINE and HOTWIRE users caught in this situation here: Priceline Volcanic Ash

Thank you for sharing your results with the board.

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

Enjoy your stay.

[Bonwah]

Just following up here: we thought this hotel was a *terrific* deal. Highly recommended.

The location can't be beat (one block to Victoria Station, and many good restaurants and pubs in the area) and the hotel is a nice, solid business hotel. We asked for a quiet room and the clerk gave us one on the 7th floor with a rooftop view towards Parliament and the London Eye. Very friendly staff, and in the morning they have free Daily Telegraph and Guardian newspapers in the lobby. All in all, very satisfied with this deal. Thanks Priceline (and Better Bidding)!

[AaronJB]

Fantastic deal! Glad to hear that you had a solid stay at this hotel. :)