boutique designation and rebidding

[rebelfan]

I have never bid in an area that has the "boutique" designation before, so I have a couple of questions.

In New Orleans, only 1 zone has boutique (which is what I prefer) Would my free rebid zones be all zones that don't have a 4*? In other words, by bidding for boutique I could be upgraded to a 4*, but never downgraded to a 3*, right?

Also, a certain other bulletin board (which I have recently been banned from for no apparent reason) says that PL will NOT upgrade a boutique bid to a 4*, but I saw a post on this board by thereuare, that said PL had emailed him that boutique COULD be upgraded, because in the hierarchy it is between 3* and 4*. Does anyone have experience with this?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Here is the PRICELINE RATING HEIRARCHY post.

I always prefer to heed on the side of caution, and although priceline's customer service has a less than perfect track record, i'd take the conservative route.

Best advice is to post the dates of your stay and other pertinent info and we'll try to come up with your best options and/or a bidding strategy.

[betsybug]

Also, research to see what the Boutique hotel might be. You may decide that you would be happy with it and so would use that zone as a free re-bid. In New Orleans I would prefer almost any boutique hotel to the mega-tourist hotels. They tend to be closer to the Quarter and unique. But it's an individual choice.