Priceline Hotel: 4* DC (Convention Center-Capitol Hill) Grand Hyatt

[HopperBunE]

We (family of 3) are flying to Reagon National airport the week of March 25-April 1, have (cancellable) reservations for the Hotel Harrington in downtown DC the whole week. (First four nights at $89. last 3 nights at $107). While the HH has a fantastic location near the National Mall and White House, our teenage daughter would like us to try to find an affordable hotel with an indoor pool for part of the trip. Wondering what you can recommend on a bidding strategy that might maximize our options for an indoor pool, that is also near a Metro station, for our last 3 nights (March 29-31).

Trying to research availability and it appears that possibly Arlington zone might be the best bet? We also plan to spend a day visiting Mount Vernon and Old Town Alexandria, so convenience to Metrorail/bus is desired, also for return to National airport on April 1.

Let us know if you think the above is possible and what strategy you would recommend. We appreciate any help you can give us!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

As Priceline gives you the least amount of control over the actual hotel received, i think a better options would be to do a HOTWIRE search for areas you're interested in and then try to figure out the actual name of any hotels that are shown with a pool icon in order to see if it's an indoor pool.

Another option is to use the EASYCLICK SEARCH TOOL (utillize all 3 inputs... left and right dropdown menus as well as inputing the city name) to see if they offer good prices on any hotels in the area which you know offer an indoor pool.

After you do a little research and find hotels that have indoor pools let us know how we can be of further help.

[TravelGuy]

What I would do is at least try puting in a bid on Priceline of $80 at 4* in the Capital Hill/Convention Center zone. The only 4* that has come up in that zone in years is the Grand Hyatt, which has an indoor pool, sits on top of a Metro stop and provides an excellent location for seeing the sights. In the worst case, very, very unlikely scenario, you'll get another 4* hotel, any of which will be a world of difference from the Hotel Harrington. You'll be asking for 7 nights, which could be a tall order, so if that doesn't work and you wouldn't mind splitting your bid, I would suggest trying the weekend nights first.

[HopperBunE]

Thanks for the ideas. Tried the other above links without much success in finding hotels with indoor pools that were affordable (we travel on a tight budget). :) But... we really liked the idea of trying for the Grand Hyatt 4* in the CH/CC zone, since it's really in the same general area as the HH (and much much nicer!) :o . Would like to know exactly what strategy to use to maximize getting the lowest rate possible there (while recognizing the remote possibility of ending up in a different hotel).

Had originally hoped to find something with a lower bid to substitute our last 3 nights at HH (higher rate), thinking we wouldn't find anything else in a similar location downtown. But now, wondering if we should go ahead and try bidding for 7 nights first in CH/CC zone, or go with splitting the bid first, to maximize chances of success? We don't mind making a change in Hotels midweek, if that happens. Not sure we understand how many bids are allowed, before having to retry in 72 hours or however it works? Our trip is only 2 weeks away. :)

Just wondering, do the 4* hotels also tack on extra fees beyond the Priceline rate, and do we need to keep this in mind?

Thanks for the help!

[thereuare]

I would try for the complete stay, if that is rejected try for a partial stay.

Try an $80 bid for each... if that fails post back how high you are willing to bid and we'll take it from there.

Any questions feel free to ask.

[HopperBunE]

Tried bidding $80 4* CH/CC zone for all 7 nights, bid rejected.

Rebid $80 again, but for last 3 nights only, bid rejected.

Rebid $80 for first three nights (Friday thru Tuesday), bid accepted for the Grand Hyatt!!!! :)

We are thrilled to stay at the Grand Hyatt for such a great deal! Thanks so much for all the advice.

Trying to decide whether to try bidding again (same zone) at a higher rate for our last 3 nights, or just stay with the HH? What strategy would you recommend to continue with this, and still keep the cost no more than about $100?

[HopperBunE]

Whooops noticed above I said bid accepted for 3 nights, but it's 4 nights.

[TravelGuy]

Ok, you're already over the hump!

As for the remaining nights, Priceline has a feature where you can add nights to your existing reservation. Click on "help" at the top of the Priceline.com homepage, then go to the hotel FAQ, where you will see the instructions on how to do this. The Grand Hyatt's regular rates are very high for the remaining dates, but it's worth a shot. One of 3 things will happen: you'll either be able to get the additional nights at the same rate you paid for the others; be told that they're going to cost more (in which case you don't have to accept), or they'll say there's no availability for the additional nights.

Good luck!

[thereuare]

I would suggest waiting a week before trying the "Add A Nite" feature... if your bids were just rejected at this price previously the chances of their currently being availabilty are very slim. At least by waiting a week you give the chance for them to have adjusted rates closer to your bid price... and you only get one chance to 'add a nite'.

Glad you were able to get this upgrade from your previous reservation!

Enjoy your stay.

[TravelGuy]

If it were me, I would most likely go ahead and try "Add a Night", as only the previous $80 bid was rejected, and perhaps there may be availability at a higher rate, in which case that latter is what will be offered. In any event it's probably really six or a half dozen of the other with regard to "Add a Night" or regular bidding in this zone, with the Grand Hyatt being the only 4* that's come up in years. You can always do a regular bid if "Add a Night" fails, with the odds being overwhelming that if anything turns up it will be the Hyatt.

[HopperBunE]

Had a busy week, so didn't get a chance to try the Add-a-Night feature yet. Thought we would give it a try this weekend, but wondering now whether it would be better to try for just one nite or go ahead and try to add our last 3 nites, with the regular rates being higher for all of those days? :)

[thereuare]

You only get one chance to add a nite, so i would try for the complete stay.

If not successful and you'd like to continue bidding (or using HOTWIRE, EasyClickTravel, or some other service) please start a new thread and they'll be for different dates (and likely a different hotel) than this thread.

Good Luck.

[HopperBunE]

Tried to add 3 nights today, but bid was rejected. Thanks for all your help on our various bidding strategies, we look forward to our trip coming up in a few days! :)

[TravelGuy]

You might want to consider bidding for nights 5 & 6 up to $110, and, if that fails, just the 5th, if you haven't done so already. Hotel Harrington has a 24 hour cancellation policy.

Or perhaps even better, I would consider bidding the Downtown/White House zone @4* up to $110 for all of the remaining nights. You might want to throw in the Dupont Circle/Woodley Park zone as well. If you were to get the Omni (which looks to be clearly within striking rage given their rates for 3/29-4/1) that would be such a better experience than Hotel Harrington. The Omni is away from the National Mall in Woodley Park, a fairly residential area (which might be a nice change from being downtown for 4 nights), but there's a Metro stop right across the street and it's less than a 10 minute Metro ride from the Grand Hyatt.