Priceline Hotel: Los Angeles First Time Trip

[peridot]

Need some advice. I'm relatively new to this forum. Just scored a successful bid for Jersey with help of thereuare so I am getting familiar with how priceline and hotwire work. I would like to try Priceline first for an upcoming LA and Vegas trip. I am not familiar with either area. Our First time there. Here are the details:

Los Angles March 23 - 27th: We will be renting a car to see the sights so any suggestions on places to visit are welcome, would like to see best spots in LA as well as drive to the coast. Our friends that will be accompanying us have already booked their hotel, so we would like to be as close to them as possible. They are splitting their hotels in LA staying at the HiExpress (3241 Cahuenga Blvd) then at the Westin Los Angeles Airport. Would like a 4* - Our Budget $50-$80 - is that realistic? Would go down to a 3* if price was good.

Vegas March 27th - 29th: (already secured a cancellable room at Treasure Island $109 per night) Do you think I should try for a better deal? I Would like same quality hotel 4* at least...pref. Treasure Island.

Our Budget: $50-$80 - anything good for those prices?

Price is very important to me, being Canadian I have to consider the exchange.

Bidding strategies? Tips?

Thanks!

[thereuare]

The Holiday Inn Express is over 13 miles from the LAX Airport (where the Westin is located)... and appears to be in the Beverly Hill/West Hollywood zone. You say above that you want to be close to them, but are you also planning on splitting your stay in the LA area? Which zone are you interested in?

Please start a new thread for your Las Vegas stay in the NEVADA >> Priceline section of the board so that we can keep each stay properly classified for others to follow and also accurately show each subsequent win in the title of each thread.

[peridot]

Ok, no problem - I'll follow up on the Vegas question in the proper forum.

As for LA - Yes, it seems in order to be close to them, we need to split our trip, unfortunatley. Would you have any suggestions on one hotel we could stay at that would be central to both areas so we wouldn't have to move?? If we do split, now that I've taken a closer look at area maps on hotwire, this is what we would need:

First 2 nights March 23-25th: Burbank, Universal City....my friends are staying at Holiday Inn Express on Cahuenga Blvd.

March 25-27th: Near LAX Airport....friends are staying on West Century Blvd.

We are sharing a car rental with them so we need to be sort of close. I think their plan was that we visit some touristy sights in Universal City the first 2 days then move closer to the airport the last 2 days so we could be closer to the coast and drive around....I'm guessing. Then we would drive to Las Vegas from there.

Let me know what you think the best bid strategy is for these areas....thanks for all your amazing help!!

[thereuare]

Are your friend's reservations cancellable?

Why not talk to them about cancelling (after success with Priceline or Hotwire) and then you can all be at the same hotel?

Given that you're sharing a rental car it seems that the ideal situation would to stay at the same property with them... do you know the rates they're paying?

[peridot]

I don't think they are cancellable, the hotels were booked on their points so I am not sure about the rates. Also, I don't think they would try the bidding concept - they wouldn't like not knowing where they are staying and I don't want to be held responsible if they are unhappy!

I don't think it will be that much of a problem to stay in seperate hotels - as long as we are in the same area...we'll work it out. I believe we will only be using the car the last 2 days to drive along the coast. Are these 2 areas I mentioned: Burbank Universal Studios & LAX Airport very vast? I have no idea how big LA is...

[thereuare]

LA is notorious for terrible traffic... but i don't know if it applies to these areas or not.

Maybe somebody local to the area could comment, but i would definately consider the 'worse case scenario' before bidding (ie- that you'll be in the part of the zone that is furthest away from where you really need to be) so that you can only be pleasantly surprised if it works out better.

You can see Priceline's zones by going to their website and clicking "view area details" for a close-up view of the zone.

[peridot]

I've heard about the traffic. Looking at the PL area map, looks like either Hollywood or Beverly Hills West would be good for March 23-25th - Hollywood being first choice. It seems that Universal City is within that area. Would you agree?

How are star ratings like in the 2 zones (LAX and Hollywood). What should my bidding strategy be for these areas? Is it realistic to start at $50-$60?? Price is most important but I am not sure how low I should be willing to go on star ratings since I don't know this area at all. Please advise.

Thanks!

[Scorp]

Looking at the PL area map, looks like either Hollywood or Beverly Hills West would be good for March 23-25th - Hollywood being first choice. It seems that Universal City is within that area. Would you agree?

No, Universal City is in a separate Priceline zone which is called Burbank-Universal City-Glendale. Enter Burbank rather than LA when you do a hotel search on Priceline and then you will see that zone.

It looks to me as though the HI Express that your friends are staying in is outside of the Priceline zones for that region. I believe they are staying north of the Hollywood zone and south of the Burbank-Universal City-Glendale zone.

Also, you are going to be there over the Easter weekend - expect a LOT of traffic and possibly higher than normal hotel rates.

[Scorp]

It looks to me as though Hotwire's zone for Burbank and Universal City is drawn a bit differently and actually includes some of Cahuenga Blvd - I wonder if it would be a better choice than Priceline's????

I see there is a 2* for $69 for your dates with Airport Shuttle, Restaurant(s), Pool(s) as its amenities.

[Scorp]

I checked the HI Express site and the Cahuenga location has rooms for $91, which includes a full breakfast. The reviews at TripAdvisor are, overall, very good. It is also within walking distance of Universal Studios.

How much would you have to save to make it worthwhile to bid on Priceline or purchase on Hotwire, knowing that you could end up miles away or in an awkward neighborhood???

As for the airport zone, I don't think you'll have a problem winning a bid for a reasonable rate, but what is most important to you? Personally, I would rather stay in Santa Monica (where you don't need a car and still quite close to the airport) or at the same hotel as my friends. (Westin has a $99 advance purchase rate.) Again, how much would you have to save to make it worthwhile and what are your expectations of the hotel and its location?

[peridot]

Scorp: Thanks for all the info, you've been very helpful.

Firstly, yes - our days in LA are from March 23 - 27th, this is over the Easter weekend....you are right about traffic and hotel prices, I did not think of that!

$91 sounds pretty good for HI Express. I was hoping to score a great deal on PL or Hotwire ($60 range)..I am Canadian so I have to consider the exchange...the lower the price the better! I guess my biggest dilemna is whether or not I risk getting a hotel that is further from our friends than I would like. Hotwire does seem to have a better defined area of Burbank than PL. Do you think a 2* in that area would be a big risk??? $69 sounds good to me.

As for staying near the airport, I would definitely consider Santa Monica - I'm not too concerned about how far our hotel is from theirs....we will be taking day trips so if we stay somewhere along the coast we will be fine. Now that I think about it a bit more, I will need to talk to my friends about what exactly the plan is...this is more complicated than I had hoped! :)

Do you live in LA or nearby.....would you have any suggestions of places to visit that are a must see??

[Scorp]

I think you are right to talk to your friends and clarify how you guys are going to organize your time. That will help make the hotel decisions, as well. If it's not too important to be really close, then yes, you will likely save money by booking with Priceline. But how will your friends feel if they have to drive across town to come pick you up/drop you off? :) OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but they might prefer that you be closer at hand...??? Check with them and let us know.

I don't live in or near LA, and have spent much more time in other parts of California! I did spend 5 days in Santa Monica a couple of years ago and had a really wonderful time. I enjoyed walking along the boardwalks and the beaches and visiting the Pier and the shops. Nice selection of restaurants and cafes.

LA has so many components, I don't know what to recommend. Depends on your interests, really.... Santa Monica was perfect for me, I had a lot of fun there, but it is a hard area to bid on Priceline and it is now combined with Marina Del Rey, which makes it harder to be sure of staying in a particular location. You would definitely get a cheaper hotel in the LAX zone.

Let us know what you think after talking to your friends, and we can take it from there.

[Guest aldo]

Do your friends a favor and stay where they are staying. If they don't know the city, you don't want to be stuck somewhere without a car, waiting for your friends and hoping they will find you. It will be worth the extra money for the peace of mind. Also, I noticed that HIExp only has like 43 rooms- better to book now, so it doesn't sell out the type of room you need.

While in Hollywood, you'll want to see: Universal Studios and City Walk; Hollywood and Highland's complex; the Stars on Hollywood Blvd; and Grauman's Chinese Theatre. All of these places will have additional info on other touristy stuff. Santa Monica isn't very far from LAX. Ask the front desk for the best streets to drive, so you don't have to get on the freeways. There's lots to do and see in this area, as Scorp said. You can also continue north on PCH to Malibu, which is a nice drive. Be patient, though, as traffic can be tough. The earlier you go anywhere in LA, the better.

[peridot]

Thanks for the tips everyone...good points. I will book the Hilton Express and will see about the 2nd hotel near LAX...maybe we could get away with staying at a different hotel in that area - in that case I'll try PL. I'll post my results.

Much appreciated :)

[thereuare]

... better yet, show your friends the value that exists with the opaque services and convince them to use their points for other stays since the deals are so great in these areas!