Priceline Hotel: Request for Priceline Bidding Assistance San Francisco

[graciecatt]

I need a room for 4 nights in San Francisco from 7/30 - 8/3. I only want 1 room for 2 adults.

I need a good bidding strategy because there are several zones that I think would OK so not that many left for free rebids.

I also need advice on the zones themselves. I have never been to SF and am concerned about which zones are OK (e.g. not sketchy). I want to be sure that I don't pick a zone where the middle of the zone is perfectly fine but the edges of the zone start to get a little dicey. I was burned once in NYC because I didn't pay attention to zone boundaries and got a hotel near a zone edge that was awful.

Here are the 'Zones' that I would choose -

> - Civic Center (is this zone too big? e.g. are the border areas of this zone a problem?)

> - Financial District/Embarcadero

> - Fisherman's Wharf

> - Marina/Lombard Street (do I really want this zone if they only have 2* and below?)

> - SOMA - Moscone Center

> - Union Square East

> - Union Square West

There are no 5* hotels in these zones. I would accept a hotel that's 4* - 2.5*. My main goal is to not spend too much money but still be in a good location. This is the end of an 11-day vacation and 4 nights are going to really cut deeply.

My maximum bid would be $79 if I can do it.

Here are the free rebid zones.

4* Free Rebid

- Civic Center

- Fisherman's Wharf

- Marina-Lombard

- SFO North

- South SF

3.5* Free Rebid

- Civic Center

- Marina Lombard

- SFO North

- South SF

3* Free Rebid

- Marina-Lombard

2.5* Free Rebid

- Marina Lombard

I appreciate everyone's help and will navigate to PRICELINE through the link.

[Gallus50]

Hey There -

I used to live in SF/Oakland and travel there regularly.

Civic Center is sketchy. Very. USW can be sketchy around the edges, mostly the Tenderloin. SOMA can be a bit rough, but it depends on where you are. According to Colfax, most hotels are close to Market St and not too bad. I once stayed in the Mosser and thought it was very noisy, and I was pretty far up.

That's my two cents...

[WillTravel]

I know lots of people like the Financial District/Embarcadero zone, but I tend to think that at least some hotels in that zone are in places that are too quiet at night. In general, I agree with Gallus50's assessment.

Taking a look at some options for you, the Opal Hotel on Booking.com offers a cancellable booking for $86/night + tax, and includes breakfast. This is probably equivalent to your range of a $79 bid on Priceline, even without considering breakfast, because of extra Priceline fees. I would consider booking a backup like this, and then bidding carefully so you don't end up doing worse. Note this hotel would be in Priceline's Civic Center zone, but I think it's a nicer part (people with a more recent memory might like to comment).

[Colfax]

Welcome to the board, graciekatt.

I want to be sure that I don't pick a zone where the middle of the zone is perfectly fine but the edges of the zone start to get a little dicey.

I think the zones that are uniformly "nice" throughout are Fisherman's Wharf and Embarcadero-Financial District. USE too, although it's closer to the Tenderloin than the other two.

My maximum bid would be $79 if I can do it.

$79 might be enough for a 3.5* or 3* in Fisherman's Wharf. It's probably not enough for a 4* in Emb-FD or USE, but if you prefer staying Downtown over Fisherman's Wharf it's certainly worth trying to $79 Downtown first.

If you know which zone(s) you prefer let us know and someone will offer a strategy.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links for your purchases.

[austin_res]

Having stayed in the Embarcadero/Financial District before, I agree it is quiet at nights and on weekends. But the advantage of that is less street noise which makes it easier to sleep.

I prefer the Embarcadero/Financial District for the following reasons:

1) Bidding 4* basically assures a nice hotel, especially if I get the Omni or Le Meridien. All the 4* hotels in this zone have great reviews.

2) Less street noise at night as I mentioned above

3) Any downtown area can be reached by walking or using the Muni passport

4) Furthest away from the Tenderloin which is a sketchy area

After Embarcadero/Financial District, my other zone preferences are USE, SOMA, and Fisherman's Wharf. I try to avoid USW because some hotels in that zone are too close to the Tenderloin.