Priceline Hotel: 2* Middletown (Red Bank-Middletown) Extended StayAmerica Middletown

[FL-Gator]

I'm trying to get a specific hotel (Comfort Inn Middletown, NJ) for 7/23/10 thru 7/25/10. I have friends staying there so I'd really like this specific hotel.

I've looked on Hotwire and it shows 0 hotels in Middletown NJ, so I guess they do not have an agreement with Comfort Inn.

On Priceline the Comfort Inn Middletown is listed as a 1* hotel. If I restrict my search to the Middletown area for only 1* hotels it returns 5 hotels:

Comfort Inn Middletown

Red Roof Inn Tinton Falls

Neptune - Days Inn

Americas Best Value Inn Neptune

Knights Inn South Amboy

Tinton Falls, Neptune, and South Amboy do not fall in to the "Red Bank - Middletown" area map on the Priceline bid page.

Does that mean if I bid on a 1* hotel in the "Red Bank - Middletown" area that I am definitely bidding on the Comfort Inn Middletown and only the Comfort Inn Middletown?

On a more general question, do hotels already have set prices in the system that they will accept a bid on or does someone have to physically review each bid?

What I mean is if the hotel is listed on Priceline are they forced to accept certain bid amounts or can they choose to only accept their advertised prices?

Also, I'm a little confused that the Comfort Inn Middletown has an advertised rate of $149/night but on the bid page when I select 1* it says "Median retail price for a 1 star hotel in the area selected is $72."

Thanks for any help!

[szz]

Tinton Falls, Neptune and Perth Amboy are different areas on Priceline and if you don't include them in the same bid (I don't think Perth Amboy could be included) you can't get them. However, you can never be 100% sure that you will get a particular hotel. They may upgrade you to a higher grade hotel or have a different hotel or grade in the bidding system. If you need such assurance, don't use Priceline bidding.

Hotels offer their excess inventory to Priceline for a set price per hotel and date. Priceline takes what the hotel charges them and if you bid that or more, they sell you the room and keep the excess and a fee built in for their trouble. It is all handled automatically with databases...

[thereuare]

On Priceline the Comfort Inn Middletown is listed as a 1* hotel. If I restrict my search to the Middletown area for only 1* hotels it returns 5 hotels:

Comfort Inn Middletown

Red Roof Inn Tinton Falls

Neptune - Days Inn

Americas Best Value Inn Neptune

Knights Inn South Amboy

Tinton Falls, Neptune, and South Amboy do not fall in to the "Red Bank - Middletown" area map on the Priceline bid page.

Does that mean if I bid on a 1* hotel in the "Red Bank - Middletown" area that I am definitely bidding on the Comfort Inn Middletown and only the Comfort Inn Middletown?

PRICELINE uses a different universe of hotels on the "retail" side vs. the "bidding" side of their service... so there is no assurance that the hotels above (thru the 'retail' side) are the same/only hotels which would be used thru the 'bidding' side. See the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ for more info.

If you need to book the Comfort Inn direct please use this previous link or the one in our support page.

Let us know what you ultimately decide to do for this stay.

[FL-Gator]

Thanks, that answers my question. I think I will still bid on that area and see what I get. I also plan to bid for a rental car out of Newark. I will post the results.

[thereuare]

If you need help with a bidding strategy feel free to ask.

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

PS- please read your messages

[FL-Gator]

When I bid on PRICELINE is there a way to tell if the bid is not accepted because it is too low or if it is not accepted because there is just no availability for my selected dates/star level? Do you get the same "we cannot accept your offer" message in both cases?

[thereuare]

There is no way to know if there is no inventory at any price which is why we recommend doing a little research first, finding the best rate you can thru conventional booking channels, then setting your maximum bid near that (or at a discount to your best available rate to account for the 'unknown' of using the opaque providers)

How high have you bid? What is your maximum bid for this zone? Have you been bidding at the 1* level?

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

[FL-Gator]

I used the PRICELINE link from this site and I bid all the available star levels 3, 2.5, 2, and 1. I went as high as $112 (3s), $122 (2.5s), $122 (2s - Accepted), $102 (1s).

I was accepted at the (2s) Extended Stay America in Red Bank, NJ for $122/night.

PRICELINE was also offering Extended Stay America on their retail list for $134/night for the nights I requested.

I may have been able to do a little better, here are the bids I made on the 2s: $62,$72,$82,$92,$122 (not sure why I skipped $102)

[AaronJB]

Congratulations on your success. :)

Hope this hotel works well for your travel plans.

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

Enjoy your stay.