Priceline Hotel: 4* San Francisco (USE) Westin St Francis

[LadTravelsLots]

Please help ID this hotel.

July 30-Aug 2

4* USE

- Spa

- business center

-internet

- restaurant

- fitness

-smoke free

$124/night

I was thinking the Intercontinental on Howard st but it has a pool and the pool isn't listed in the ammenities...

thanks!!

[thereuare]

Please follow-up your previous Hotwire Hawaii thread with whatever you ended up doing for that stay... then click this HOTWIRE link and reply to this thread and we'll have a look at the offer above.

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

[LadTravelsLots]

Hi there

I replied to the Hawaii thread.

One more question. I need to book 3 rooms. Once I put 3 in the number of room section the hotel dissapears.

Any tips on how to book 3 rooms at this price?

[AaronJB]

If the listing disappears when searching for 3 rooms, then this would likely be a case of only 2 rooms at this property being available for these dates at the discounted rate.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[LadTravelsLots]

Oh no!! That's not good about only being 2 rooms... that could cause a problem since we'd obviously like to stay at the same hotel.

I'm thinking its the Parc 55. Can anyone confirm?

[thereuare]

Are you willing to stay in different hotels? Does a different hotel at the 4* hotel level appear in this zone if you select 3 rooms?

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

[LadTravelsLots]

Its really best if we stay in the same hotel. (long story)

Do you think more rooms come up as we get closer to the date? I keep seeing the Hilton pop up and then dissapear.

I can get 3 rooms at 3.5* so maybe I will look them up and see what they are.

[thereuare]

There is no way to know of additional rooms, or a different 4* hotel, will be offered in the future when searching for 3 rooms.

Let us know if we can help/confirm the 3.5* property which is showing.

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

[LadTravelsLots]

Hi there

I have to book 3 rooms for SF for July 30 - Aug 2nd.

I really wanted the 4* hotels but can't get 3 rooms with them. (I need the hotels to all be the same.)

There are 2 choices for 3.5* hotels.

1st one:

3.5* USE / $132 per night

Boutique Hotel

Fitness Center

Business Center

High-speed Internet Access

2nd one:

3.5* USW/$116 night

Boutique Hotel

Smoke Free Rooms

Business Center

High-speed Internet Access

Can someone help me ID these?

Do you think I could take the RISK and book 2 4* hotels and hope to get the same hotel again for a 3rd room??

[thereuare]

The USE property matches previous reports for the Galleria Park so that would be my best guess for that one.

If you go back to HOTWIRE does the USW property also show a Fitness icon? If so, it matches previous reports of the Adagio so that would be my best guess for this one.

If you need all the rooms to be at the same hotel i wouldn't risk booking 2 rooms and then hoping that it appears once again.

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

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[LadTravelsLots]

Thanks so much Thereuare...

I will check to see if there is a fitness icon.

Do you think it would be better for me to try bidding on 3 rooms on Priceline?

[AaronJB]

HOTWIRE is slightly-to-moderately more expensive than PRICELINE, but offers the ability to make an "educated guess" as to which hotels may be showing, based upon the amenities. If you are flexible regarding hotels, then by all means go with PRICELINE.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE, PRICELINE or Orbitz.com links to start your purchases and searches.

[LadTravelsLots]

You guys are awesome. I've been on the forum like crazy all weekend trying to figure this out.

I think I am going to start bidding on Priceline tomorrow. I see that it gives me the 3 room option AND I like the hotels ppl have been getting the last few days (4*, Hilton and Parc55).

I'll let you all know how it turns out!

L

[Colfax]

I get the same result as you on 4* in USE. It appears when searching for one or two rooms, and disappears when searching for three rooms.

BUT the 4.5* in USE is still there when searching three rooms.

I was thinking the Intercontinental on Howard st but it has a pool and the pool isn't listed in the ammenities...

I think you were maybe misidentifying the 4* USE that disappears as the Intercontinental. The IC is a 4.5*, not 4*. If IC is what you were hoping for that may be the 4.5* displaying on HOTWIRE now.

[LadTravelsLots]

Thanks Colfax,

I'd do the 4.5* but its still pretty pricey once you add the taxes etc. I prefer the 4* prices! LOL!

I'll keep you guys posted.

[slruud]

Not sure if you're tied into the Union Square area, but the 4* on HOTWIRE in the Embarcadero area, which might be the Le Meridien is going for $124 for your nights. Union Square is not really that far away from this area.

Also, Lastminutetravel.com has what appears to be the Hyatt Embarcadero for $109/nite "on request" for three rooms.

Good luck.

[LadTravelsLots]

Hi all

I just started the bidding process for 3 rooms in USW from 07/31/10 - 08/02/10 today.

Thought I'd keep everyone posted on my progress.

I just bid $80 for a 4*. I started at this price considering that someone got the Parc55 yesterday for $85.

I was rejected... will try again tomorrow!

WISH ME LUCK!

[LadTravelsLots]

My husband and I recently tried to book 3 rooms at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins for an upcoming family wedding.

We had an excellent rate on Priceline (not bidding) of $109/night for the end of July. My husband works with several hotels in the city we live in and knows that hotels hate losing extra money to third party websites. We looked up their Best Price policy and decided to book 3 rooms through the hotel directly and apply for them to adjust our price to the Priceline price.

This is where the terrible customer service began. We were sent through so many channels and had to constantly explain our story to a new person. We had proof of the lower rate, dates and booked our rooms exactly the same day than the priceline deal. No matter what we did they did not want to adjust our price even though their policy is clearly written on their website.

The chain ended up with us even dealing with a manager at the Mark Hopkins (Claudia). At one point through her communication with my husband she even admitted not to be clear on the BEST PRICE policy. I'm not sure how a manager could not be clear on something that is so important to the business. That,to me, is unacceptable.

After being constantly sent to other people and not getting a straight answer from the people at IGH hotels we decided to cancel our reservations.

We are extremely disapointed in the service we received and have no interest in ever staying in ANY IGH hotel in the future. I believe this company needs to train all their employees to understand their BEST PRICE policy or remove the information from their website and not offer it. They also need to remember that a happy customer will return and will spread the word. An unhappy customer will also do so.

Stay here if you want but keep in mind that the customer service seems to be dismal and not very helpful or informed.

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread... if you ultimately use PRICELINE we'll edit the topic title accordingly and move this entire thread to that section of the board.

It appears you have only made one bid but are willing to bid higher, are you familiar with re-bidding and are you utilizing your re-bid zones? (you have FIVE re-bid zones available at the 4* level... if you're new to the concept it's highly recommended you ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before bidding.

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

PS- regarding the BPG at the InterContinental, what was their explanation for not honoring their guarantee? I'm sure their answer wasn't "we don't understand the policy so we're not honoring it"... did they believed the PRICELINE rate was not lower then their own? (the hotel website's rate is currently lower than PRICELINE's by a few dollars... but i assume this wasn't the case when you booked and began your claim)

[Colfax]

Thanks for the progress report, LadTravelsLots.

Do you know about rebidding? Using rebid zones you could have tried $85 immediately after $80 was rejected.

What's your bidding limit? Someone can give a strategy if you want.

[BEAV]

With regard to your IHG Best Price Guarantee issues, did you complete and submit the form on the IHG website? Or did you try to orchestrate the price guarantee by solely contacting the hotel directly? Reason I ask is that although the local staff should know about the price guarantee program, these types of transactions are generally handled by a central office that handles claims for all properties within the chain. When you submit the claim form off the IHG website, they are directed to the central office for handling as opposed to the local hotel property.

[LadTravelsLots]

Hey

So I'm reading some of the posts from people that won bids for USW-Nob Hill.

I'm a bit confused. It seems that when they added other areas they still won USW-Nob Hill. I don't really want to take the chance to add an area that I don't want and end up with that area.

What's the deal with this? Should I stick to constantly bidding with only the USW-Nob Hill option?

thanks

L

[Colfax]

Free rebidding is a technique that lets you make multiple bids for the same zone without waiting 24 hours. For more info see this link:

Bidding Again Before 24 Hours

After reading the above link see if you can identify your FIVE free rebid zones for 4* in San Francisco. You can post their names here if you want confirmation you've got them right.

[LadTravelsLots]

Hi again!

Sorry... I can't see my last post about the same question. This morning I posted for help about re-bidding and I was sent to a great link about how to do it before 24hrs.

Dates I need are 07/30/10 - 08/02/10

I would like USW-Nob Hill

Yesterday I bid $80 and was rejected.

I would like to bid again tonight. Going up to $90. If I get rejected I want to add a zone (with NO 4* and bid a bit higher).

Here's how I understand it....

I check for areas that DON'T have 4*. If I understand it correctly, all I have to do to find these areas is look at Step 2 in the form. For example, it seems like Civic Center does NOT have 4*. So I can rebid with USW and Civic Center and would maybe get rooms in USW but not in Civic Center because CC does NOT have 4*??

I know this might seem like a stupid question and I'm sorry if it is. I just don't want to book 3 rooms for 3 different people and get caught in a zone that won't work.

Can someone please confirm this for me.

******** BTW - I'm always using the betterbidding PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links... thanks!

[Colfax]

Your new thread from this morning (with questions about rebidding) got merged with your other thread for these dates. It's all in the SF-HOTWIRE section now. This thread will be moved there too when a moderator sees it. Then please keep all posts regarding this stay in one thread, as it's less confusing. If you end up purchasing something on PRICELINE a moderator will move the whole thread to the Priceline section.

If I understand it correctly, all I have to do to find these areas is look at Step 2 in the form. For example, it seems like Civic Center does NOT have 4*. So I can rebid with USW and Civic Center and would maybe get rooms in USW but not in Civic Center because CC does NOT have 4*??

Sounds like you understand the concept. Civic Center is one of FIVE rebid zones for 4* bidding in SF. Just to be sure you've got them right feel free to post the five zone names here for confirmation.

Then we'll talk strategy.

What's your bidding limit for this stay, before tax and fees?