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Priceline Hotel: HELP: 4* Monterey area


acchang4
By acchang4,
in

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Hi there,

I'm booking a summer road trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco with my girlfriend, and I'd like to spend two nights in Monterey from 8/9 to 8/11. I was hoping y'all could help me find for the best deal at around $100. A look at HOTWIRE reveals:

3* Carmel area hotel with breakfast, pool, Internet and Golf for $109. I think this may be the Carmel Mission Inn.

3* Pacific Grove area hotel with boutique, no smoking, breakfast, Internet and golf for $133.

Lastminutetravel.com also reveals a 3-star hotel for $88 in Monterey, but no other details.

All of those could be fine by me, since we'll have a car -- but I'm open to other options too, so I was wondering if Priceline might turn up a better deal.

Can you suggest a bidding strategy? Thanks!

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Hi! I am happy to share my recent strategy for that area.

Quoting from your original post- "3* Pacific Grove area hotel with boutique, no smoking, breakfast, Internet and golf for $133" that is for HOTWIRE not PRICELINE- I double checked this before I posted this reply.

My input is - Bid the same amount posted as you found listed at Lastminutetravel - Use the PRICELINE link, Name Your Own Price, Monterey area, 3 stars only, and bid $88.

This has been my approach to using PRICELINE for the area of "Monterey"

I choose 3 stars only -at the time of posting this - the only hotel that falls into this range is Hilton Garden Inn- I start near the $75 range

there are a few times I would be too low, so I add the area of "Pacific Grove" which tops at 2 1/2 stars - allowing you to actually re-bid a higher price indirectly on the 3 star. HOWEVER, if the computer is showing you a default checkmark next to 3 1/2, and 4 - then close your browser and try to start over, sometimes it will work. On the few occassions I had to go forth with including the higher rated properties I would be upgraded to a 3 1/2* and it was still at a much lower rate.

I hope this makes sense! Good Luck and let us iknow!

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I think the LMT proerty is the Americas Best Value Inn and Suites, which if correct may or may not be acceptable for your needs, but would not be considered a 3* hotel on PRICELINE (is actaully 1* rated thru priceline), so not really an apples-to-apples comparison.

Is this still an option? Are you looking to bid on PRICELINE for the lowest price or are you willing to pay a little more to have an educated guess as to the property you may receive?

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

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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I don't have enough experience with LastMinuteTravel to comment on how their ratings compare to Priceline's.

Summer weekends can tough in Monterey but your dates are a Monday and Tuesday, and I expect you'll be able to find a 3* or higher for $100 or less on PRICELINE.

Do you have a preference between Monterey and Carmel zones? Monterey goes to 4* but Carmel only goes to 3*.

Or do you want the least expensive 3* or higher in either Carmel or Monterey? That is, given the choice which would you prefer---a 4* in Monterey for $100 or a 3* in Carmel for $75?

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Does this apply in general, that LMT's ratings are "easier"? I'd prefer a PRICELINE 3*.
I would stay LMT's star ratings at times can be a bit 'generous', but usually just by a half a star or so... if my guess above is correct, this would be an extreme example and not typical.
... can you explain what you mean by "pay a little more to have an educated guess as to the property"? Does that mean HOTWIRE?
Yes, was refering to HOTWIRE, since it usually costs a little more than PRICELINE, but gives you the ability to take a guess as to what you may receive.

Let us know the answer to Colfax's questions above regarding zones, star levels, and if you're willing to pay more for a higher rated hotel (vs. looking for the least expensive 3* or better for this stay) and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

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

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Thanks for the feedback guys!

I don't have a preference between Monterey and Carmel. Most of the stuff we're aiming to do will be with the car (17-mile drive, Point Lobos, the Aquarium and visiting Santa Cruz) so I think either will be ok.

Given the choice, I'd prefer a 4* in Monterey for $100 over a 3* in Carmel for $75, but if it were a 3* in Carmel for $80 versus a 3* in Monterey for $85, I'd gladly do Carmel for less.

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So which of these two approaches do you want to take:

1) First bid up to $100 for a 4* and/or 3.5* in Monterey alone. Then if rejected bid for a 3* in Carmel.

OR

2) Bid up to your lower limit ($75?) for a 3* in Monterey AND Carmel, which will yield the least expensive 3* or higher available in EITHER zone.

If #2 fails you can still try #1 after.

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When bidding for a 3* in Monterey/Carmel area you only have ONE rebid zone: Pacific Grove. Pacific Grove only has hotels up to 2* so you can add it to your 3* bids in other zones without risk of winning a hotel in Pacific Grove.

My suggestion:

Select Carmel-Carmel Valley and bid $50 for 3*

Add Pacific Grove and bid $55

If rejected close browser and reaccess Priceline.

Bid $50 for 3* in Monterey

Add Pacific Grove and bid $55

If rejected close browser and reaccess Priceline.

Select Carmel-Carmel Valley AND Monterey and bid $60 for 3*

Add Pacific Grove and bid $65

Please use the board's PRICELINE link each time you close browser and start over.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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Wooh, spent an hour on PRICELINE, no luck! I will try from a higher starting point tomorrow. I did as advised:

Select Carmel-Carmel Valley and bid $50 for 3*

Add Pacific Grove and bid $55

If rejected close browser and reaccess PRICELINE.

Bid $50 for 3* in Monterey

Add Pacific Grove and bid $55

If rejected close browser and reaccess PRICELINE.

Select Carmel-Carmel Valley AND Monterey and bid $60 for 3*

Add Pacific Grove and bid $65

Then I went in my own direction:

Monterey 4* $80

+ Carmel $85

+ Pacific Grove $90

Monterey 3.5* - $80

+ Carmel $85

+ Marina $90

+ Pac Grove $95

Monterey 3* - $85

+ Carmel $90

Monterey 4* $95 - duplicate request

Added Marina $95 - duplicate request

went to Monterey, Carmel, Pac Grove 3* - $95 ... rejected

come to think of it, those last series of 3* bids for Monterey should have been dismissed as duplicate requests, but funny they weren't.

Just as a benchmark, I went to hotwire to see comparables:

4* in Monterey for $139 near beach, oceanfront, no smoking, exercise room, pool, restaurant, biz ctr, Internet

3* in Carmel for $112 with breakfast, pool, Internet, golf

3* in Pacific Grove for $129 with boutique, no smoking, breakfast, internet, golf

So my next strategy will probably be:

Monterey 4* - $95

+ Carmel - $100

+ drop to 3.5* - $105

+ Seaside - $110

+ Pac Grove $115

restart

Monterey 3* - $90

+ Carmel - $95

+ Seaside - $100

+ Pac Grove $105

At this point, it's probably not worth the effort... the 3* in Carmel for $112 in HOTWIRE seems like a decent pick. Anyone have an idea what it might be?

Thanks for the help so far!

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Thanks for sharing your bid history...

The 3* bids were not duplicates since you lower your star rating... you can always bid again if you lower your star rating (but not raise your star rating since when you select a star rating it is the minimum that you are willing to accept)

The 3* Carmel property has not yet been identified but if i were to take a guess i think the Carmel Inn and Suites (at 5th and Junipero) would be a likely candidate. Note that it does have a 'not great' 3.0 Triapdvisor rating... i don't know the area that well but assuming each zone works well for your plans, i would probably sooner look at the 4* in Monterey for a little bit more given the higher star rating and higher TA rating (4.0/5.0)

HOWEVER, before considering either, i would bid on PRICELINE again at least up to the budget of whatever you consider to be your best deal of the HOTWIRE offerings.

If you'd like a revised bidding strategy let us know your new maximum bid and we'll advise accordingly (and probably also help you avoid the duplicate bidding message)

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your bidding and purchases.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Thanks for the explanation of the re-bids and the tip on the 3* in Carmel via Hotwire. You're right -- the Carmel Inn and Suites has a pretty low rating (#14 out of 14 in Tripadvisor). I guess I can do a little better in Monterey for a 4*... Maybe $125 for a maximum bid?

Let me see if I got the hang of this. My bidding strategy would then be this?

4* Monterey 100

+ Carmel $110

+ Marina $120

+ Pac Grove $125

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You can do a little better than the above and increase in $5 increments as follows:

Using your THREE re-bid zones. (NOTE: 're-bid zone1' is not the same as priceline's Zone1, 're-bid zone2' is not the same as priceline's Zone2, etc, etc)

Select 4* Monterey...

Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $110, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 4* Monterey and re-bid zone3...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $125

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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I'm looking for an hotel in Monterey too during that period of time and tried the biding strategy you suggested and it didn't work. I also used the same strategy up to 120$ for a 3.5* and it still didn't work. It looks like 125$ is still too low for Monterey. Would anyone have an idea of the price range in this area in August? Thanks!

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Welcome to BetterBidding!

Rates are date specific... so even a difference in dates of just one day can have a dramatic effect on rates. If you'd like help with your own stay please start a NEW TOPIC.

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

Thanks.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Closing off this thread too. I repeated the previous recommended guidelines for Priceline, and bid up to $140. No luck.

A bid for $145 would have brought me to a total of $335.28. There's a 4* on hotwire that's going for $146/night or $335.70 total. Not much of a difference!

Going with Priceline, I could get one of the four 4* in Monterey. However, I wanted to avoid the Hyatt, which is further inland. The one on Hotwire says oceanfront, so I thought Hotwire would be the better choice. The Hotwire choice also says pool, which eliminates the Monterey Plaza -- leaving us with the Portola or the Intercontinental. The Portola shows up more often, so I'm guessing that's the Hotwire choice. I decided not to go with the Portola... the TripAdvisor reviews are only so-so.

Right now, I'm leaning towards retail or Hotels.com. The Best Western Victorian Inn is lower stars, but higher rated, and would put me around the same price. Or the De Anza or Colton Inns, which are also lower stars but higher rated, but a little more out of town.

Keep us updated and let us know if we can be help along the way...

Please remember to start your bidding/purchases with the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

Good luck.

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Closing off this thread too. I repeated the previous recommended guidelines for PRICELINE, and bid up to $140. No luck.

A bid for $145 would have brought me to a total of $335.28. There's a 4* on hotwire that's going for $146/night or $335.70 total. Not much of a difference!

Going with PRICELINE, I could get one of the four 4* in Monterey. However, I wanted to avoid the Hyatt, which is further inland. The one on Hotwire says oceanfront, so I thought Hotwire would be the better choice. The Hotwire choice also says pool, which eliminates the Monterey Plaza -- leaving us with the Portola or the Intercontinental. The Portola shows up more often, so I'm guessing that's the Hotwire choice. I decided not to go with the Portola... the TripAdvisor reviews are only so-so.

Right now, I'm leaning towards retail or Hotels.com. The Best Western Victorian Inn is lower stars, but higher rated, and would put me around the same price. Or the De Anza or Colton Inns, which are also lower stars but higher rated, but a little more out of town.

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Let us know whatever you end up doing for this stay.

Please note from our support page that we are an affiliate of the Best Western, Hotels.com, as well as most other major hotel chains and online booking agencies... please check for and use the links there whenever possible.

Thanks, and good luck.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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