Priceline Hotel: 3.5* DC (Dupont Circle-Woodley Park) Marriott Wardman Park

[lvanhoe]

Hi there,

me and my girlfriend will be staying in Washington from 9/19 to 9/23. We were wondering what prices and area's we should try out while bidding on PRICELINE, as we are from the Netherlands and don't really have a clue what would work.

We have a rental car so i guess we don't really need to be in the most expensive area's. Our budget is up 100$ including tax/night and i think we want to go for 3* minimum. What would be our best shot at getting max value? I would love for you to suggest a bidding-plan with rebid zones as i've seen in other topics :) What would be our best shot at getting max value?

Thanks upfront, will use the forum-links of course.

Ivo & Linda

[thereuare]

I see from your other threads that you're heading to the NYC, Philly, and Boston too... is that the reason for the rental car? If so, and you don't intend to head out of the cities other than to travel to the next city, you can probably forgo the rental car, which will likely add considerable expense to hotel hotel stays... parking in each of these cities can easily cost more than $20/day... and that's if you find parking on your own outside of the hotel.

You can travel from city-to-city via plane, Amtrak, or the most inexpensive BoltBus or MegaBus (both of these latter services use new busses equipped with Wifi... fares start as low as $1 and top out at ~$15 or so)

Back to your hotel in DC... the most popular zones are Dupont Circle-Woodley Park, White House-Downtown and Convention Center-Capitol Hill. However, rates for your dates appear to be very expensive and i think you're going to have a hard time finding anything in these zones at the 3* level for $100 or less... even less of a chance when that figure includes taxes/fees. :)

You can also consider Georgetown which is within the city limits, but again, budget will be an issue OR look outside the city... Alexandia East and West, but the issue here is that you may not be within walking distance to the Metro, and i'm not sure (if you decide to stick with the rental car plans) if the nearby stations have parking available or how you would otherwise get into the city (driving into the city will also be problematic due to parking fees)

Let us know how you would like to proceed or if you have any flexibility in your budget and we'll take it from there.

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

[Melissa26]

September 20 - September 26, 2010 is a fashion week in Washington D.C. so the hotel price is increased almost twice. I'm also looking for a hotel for 9/20-9/22 and I tried priceline bidding for a week but it's not easy to be accepted. Even the Days inn (conneticut avenue, woodley park, 2*) is $159/night(This inn raise the price 4 days ago. It was $139/night). I tried the bid with $96, 2* today but still rejected. :)

[lvanhoe]

Yeah, the rental car we planned on booking is because we are touring the eastcoast, from Toronto-Philly-Boston-Washington-New York. We are now looking into the possibility of just taking a rental for the miles between the cities.

As for the Washington hotel, we might have to take a 2* and bid up to 100$ then. What do you consider to be reasonable for a 3*? Perhaps we room in our budget. Looks like a case of very bad timing as every city we visit seems to have the highest roomrates of the entire year.

[mattiegg]

You may want to look into something in Arlington along the Orange Line (if that's possible). This is a safe area with plenty of nightlife, all within an easy walk to any number of Orange Line Metro stops. DC itself will likely be on the expensive side, so looking in Arlington might give you a better chance at a reasonable price.

[lvanhoe]

I ended up winning the 3,5* Washington Marriott Wardman Park for 160$/night. It's in Dupont Circle - Woodley Park.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

While this was more than you originally sought to spend, this looks to be a good deal for these nites. Hope you're happy with the results and this works well for your plans.

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

Enjoy this leg of your trip.