Priceline Hotel: 3* Los Angeles (Airport LAX) Holiday Inn LAX

[phi208]

Hello all, new to the forum and wanted to pick your brains on what price ranges would be good for Santa Monica-Marina Del Rey or Redondo-Manhattan. I'm looking for a decent hotel for my parents to relax and enjoy the beach and the surrounding tourist areas since this will be there first time out there. Looking through the forum posts, I see that these two zones are the ones that people try to get most often. Any other suggestions for nice areas near the beach that would be good for an older couple? Not sure if 3* is sufficient, or if I should go for 2* or 3.5* to 4*. Any suggestions would be great, thank you in advance!

Trip details:

Arrival: 06/20/2010

Departure: 06/27/2010

Budget: Anything up to $100/night (is that too low?) The cheaper the better of course, as I am on a budget but as long as the sleeping accommodations are nice and the rooms are clean its ok. My parents aren't the type to stay in the room much, so views/amenities and such aren't a big deal to them. Thanks everyone!

[thereuare]

See this Priceline Los Angeles thread where Coflax just provided another user with some information regarding these two areas. You can also search HOTWIRE for your dates to get a rough guide of what type of prices you're looking at for this time frame... PRICELINE will usually be a little cheaper (although both use their own star rating system, so a 3.5* on HOTWIRE may or may not be a 3.5* on PRICELINE... so you're not always comparing apples-to-apples)

I usually recommend sticking the the higher rated hotels, as they seem to offer better value than the lower rated ones (there is more room to deeply discount a $200/nite room than a $75/nite room)... and i would probably shy away from the low end properties in a beach area... sticking with 3* (or 3.5*) or higher should likely be 'safe'.

Doing a HOTWIRE search should should give you a good idea of pricing in order to figure out which area(s) and star rating are reasonable within your budget... once you've made that decision let us know and we'll suggest a strategy to follow.

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

[phi208]

Thanks again for the reply thereuare. I looked on HOTWIRE and it looks like a 3.5* or 4* in the LAX area is more fitting for my budget. It was in the $70-$89 range which is nice. Santa Monica and Marina Del Rey seem a little too pricey for me at this point. I figure LAX is close enough, and we'll have a rental car to drive to the beach, etc.

What are your thoughts for this? Thanks again for all of your help! :)

[Colfax]

Any other suggestions for nice areas near the beach that would be good for an older couple? Not sure if 3* is sufficient, or if I should go for 2* or 3.5* to 4*.

When you say "near beach" are you looking for something like across the street from the beach, or is a hotel a mile inland alright too?

Manhattan-Redondo zone is more mellow for an older couple than Santa Monica, and less expensive too. But the PRICELINE hotels in M-R aren't all beachfront.

If your parents want beachfront, or within a couple blocks, you should check HOTWIRE for listings with a "Near Beach" or "Oceanfront" icon, or book something conventionally.

[phi208]

Thanks Colfax, actually a little farther from the beach is ok too. They will have a car so it won't be a necessity to be beach front. Even something in the LAX area wouldn't be bad, as long as the hotel is clean and there isn't much noise. I appreciate the help!

[Colfax]

I don't know your parents but from what you've said I think they'd probably be happier spending a week in Redondo-Manhattan area than a week at LAX. LAX could be a good backup if you can't get anything in R-M zone, but with your $100 limit I expect R-M is in reach. (But if they prefer LAX let us know and we'll work with that.)

If you win the 3.5* Crowne Plaza they'll have a full service hotel (restaurant, bar, room service) near the pier, and walking distance to shopping and restaurants. But the CP charges for parking and internet.

The 2.5* or 3* will probably be more inland, not as much a beach atmosphere, but parking and internet probably free.

If you like the Redondo-Manhattan idea would you like to try for a 3.5* first, up to your $100 limit? (Crowne Plaza is only $121.14 for your dates so I don't think it you'll need to go as high $100 on Priceline.) Or do you want the lowest price 2.5* or higher that's available?

[phi208]

I'm thinking the lowest price 2.5* or higher that's available would be good. After talking to them, they would rather have a cheaper hotel that may be farther inland but where we would not have to pay for parking as they will have a rental car. They don't mind a short drive to the beach so I think that should be good. Thanks for your help Colfax!

[thereuare]

As Colfax knows this area best i'll let him advise to which zones might suit your needs best, but if for some reason he misses this thread feel free to 'bump' it (by adding a reply) after 24 hours.

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

[Colfax]

they would rather have a cheaper hotel that may be farther inland but where we would not have to pay for parking as they will have a rental car.

I'll offer a strategy for 2.5* or higher in Redondo-Manhattan.

Keep in mind that 2.5* and 3* bids can be upgraded to 3.5*. If your parents get upgraded to the 3.5* Crowne Plaza (which charges $20/night parking) it's usually easy to find free street parking within a couple blocks of the hotel, and it's a generally safe area for walking. If your parents bid LAX zone (I recommend 3* or higher in LAX zone to avoid a certain 2.5* hotel with issues) there's a likelihood of pay parking in LAX zone too.

When bidding for 2.5* in LA you've only got one free rebid zone, which is Lawndale. Lawndale only has hotels up to 2* so you can add Lawndale to your 2.5* and higher bids in other zones, without risk of winning a hotel in Lawndale. (Priceline never gives you lower than you bid for.) As ratings can change at any time you should verify on your own, before every bidding session, that Lawndale still only goes to 2*.

I suggest $40 for a 2.5* in Redondo-Manhattan. If rejected add Lawndale and bid $42.

Please start your bids with this PRICELINE link and let us know how it goes.

[phi208]

Wow, this is great! Thanks so much for the assistance with all of this, I really appreciate it! I will use your suggestion for a 2.5* for $40 in redondo-manhattan. Most likely it will be towards the end of this week (payday) and I will post my results here. Thanks again Colfax!

[phi208]

Hey all, sorry it took so long to get back to ya. Tried booking the room today with the options you specified. 2.5* Redondo - Manhattan from 6/22-6/29. First bid was $40 and was rejected. Added Lawndale and put in $42 and it was rejected. Will try again tomorrow, but just wondering if you guys had any other suggestions? What other area near LAX is a good place to stay for around $40 a night? At this point, being near the beach isn't that big a deal anymore. I'd rather get a nicer room at $40 a night a little closer to the airport or further north. All I care is that the room is in the L.A. area. Thanks guys!

[thereuare]

The airport zones are often some of the least expensive in a region... would the Airport LAX zone work for your plans? (although see post #6 above... LAX is a very different area than the area you have already bid)

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

[Colfax]

I'd rather get a nicer room at $40 a night a little closer to the airport or further north.

You haven't defined "nicer" but for $40 I don't think you're going to find TOO nice of a hotel in LA.

You could try $40 for 3* in Torrance-Carson zone. The Carson Doubletree's been reported at $40 before, but not in awhile, and parking is free there.

Or try $40 for 2* in Manhattan-Redondo.

Or $40 for 3* at LAX. Someone won the 3* Radisson for $42 last week. Most LAX 3* charge to park.

Or $40 for 2.5* at LAX. (But check TripAdvisor reviews for Hacienda Hotel first and see if your parents would want to stay there.)

[phi208]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help. I'm not expecting anything crazy when talking about "nicer" but more in comparison to what i'd be getting for a $40/night rate for some place inland as opposed to closer to the beach. I'm sure the cheap rooms closer to the beach areas won't be as nice as say a room closer towards the LAX area right? I dunno, I could also be assuming wrong haha. I think I'll try for 3* at LAX, and hopefully pull the Radisson. Thanks for all the great tips! And I've been using the links to PRICELINE from here as well. :)

[phi208]

Hey all, just wanted to give you my bidding results. They were all unsuccessful, so I'm going to try again in a bit.

Started with $40 3* at LAX - declined, told me I could rebid if I increased the price by $10.

Added Manhattan-Redondo and bid $42 - declined

Added Lawndale and bid $43 - declined

Added Santa Monica - MDR and bid $44 - declined

I'm going to try for $40 for a 2* in Manhattan-Redondo and see If I get better results. Thanks again for your help!

[phi208]

Finally won a bid!! Thanks guys! Used Culver City and LAX as the selection, 3* for $46 a night at the Holiday Inn Los Angeles Airport

Won the bid at:

$46 06/22/10 - 06/29/10

Used the PRICELINE link on this site. Thanks for all the great advice guys!

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you found something which works well for your needs, and budget, and hopefully are happy with the results.

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

Have a great stay.

[phi208]

Thanks a lot! And I really appreciate all the help, I will be sure to post any future wins on this site, as well as use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on here to bid.