Priceline Hotel: 4* Central London Priceline Feb 16-20

[valencia]

I have been bidding 4* in Mayfair/Westminster/Bloomsbury up to $90, and have recently added Kensington Earl's Court up to $80 using Wembley as free bid zone.

All have been rejected, and have got no counteroffers up until now, but twice it has asked me to come back later to re-chcek status, if that means anything.

Any faint idea of what it will take to get a 4* in these areas for those dates? Unfortunately there is nothing yet on the calendar of wins for a 4*.

We COULD stay at Gatwick the first night( 16th) if all else fails, as we get in very late ( 11 pm) , which I assume would open up the offerings a bit but do not want to do that until absolutely necessary.

Max bid would be $95-$100.

Thank you.

[Romelle]

You probably have already noted the Feb 3 win for $101. (Unfortunately that bidder didn't mention what their prior bid was, so there is the possibility of an overbid there?? Still - a clue.) For that same date, the Copthorne (always a good bellwether) is $155. For your dates it is $162.

I've not scored in Regent's Park North so can't speak for the area, but sometimes good rates can be found there. I see it has several Underground stations so one could get to other areas reasonably efficiently. Including more areas obviously increases your odds.

You've got almost 2 months still, although if you are like me you'd rather have things all tied down NOW. I think I'd creep gradually up to my comfortable max and hold it there until mid-January. Then seriously look at your other options - other areas, 3 1/2*s, first night at Gatwick, etc. (I even stayed in a youth hostel downtown once when rates were totally out of sight. A challenge at my age, but they threw in breakfast AND I was in London!)

When you arrive at 11:00 pm, you might be really happy to just make your way to an airport hotel rather than still have the trip downtown. Then leisurely make your way into London the next morning. The airport hotels do tend to be quite a bit less expensive.

Romelle

[thereuare]

At the moment rates in your preferred zones appear to be a bit higher than $100, although Kensington Earl's Court looks like it might be possible within your budget.

I think that $100 would appear to be a good deal for these dates and i'd agree with Romelle in gradually increasing your bids closer to your limit.

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

Keep us updated and let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help along the way.

[valencia]

Using your PRICELINE link

Bid K/Blooms/Wemb $81..counteroffer $101

closed browser

new Bid Kens/Mayfair/Wembley $82..counteroffer ..$102

closed browser

new Bid K/Westminster $83..counteroffer $108

Unusual combinations you might say, but I had maxed out all my Mayfair/West/Blooms bids earlier today so had to be creative.

Getting closer! Will keep you posted. I think tomorrow I should have a win.

I have not included Regent's park yet, although I might just do that. I won the Marriott Regents Park earlier this year and it was quite nice.

I do figure that it won't take MUCH more time to wait for a shuttle/ or the expense, although small, of a taxi to go to an airport hotel round trip.. than to just bite the time bullet and get into London even late at night to start out right there in the morning. In the end, probably would only save $15-20 or so. I have read the shuttles are a bit unreliable, also cost about $5/person each way.. ( a taxi is little more) so even though a London hotel will be more.. not a bad trade-off for waking up where we want to be and not change hotels again. We WILL be spending the 20th at Gatwick due to a VERY early flight.

[thereuare]

What are all of the acceptable zones?

Thanks for using the PRICELINE links to begin your bidding :)

[valencia]

Mayfair

Bloomsbury

Westminster

then when they fail I bid Kensington starting lower, adding zones and doing new bids each time to max out possibilities.

K

K+May

K+Bloom

K+West

K+Wemb

K+May+Bloom

K+May+West

etc.etc.

and then last night gave it a round with Regent's Park up to 85E. Received no counteroffers with RP bids. I had not added Kensington into those bids.

[Romelle]

and then last night gave it a round with Regent's Park up to 85E.

I'm guessing you meant $85 rather than 85E (about $111)?

Not getting any counter-offers doesn't necessarily mean anything. I've had quite a few bids accepted without ever seeing a counter-offer.

Romelle

[valencia]

oh yes.. meant $85!!!

hope to do some bidding tonight once my 24hrs is up!

[valencia]

Have gone up to $93 in Mayfair/Blooms/ and Westm

up to $88 in Kensington with $112 counter offer at $87, and a $113 counteroffer at $88

quitting for now

[Romelle]

Have gone up to $93 in Mayfair/Blooms/ and Westm

up to $88 in Kensington with $112 counter offer at $87, and a $113 counteroffer at $88

quitting for now

That increasing counter-offer as one increases one's bids is a fairly common Priceline thing. Lots of people get scared, thinking - "Oh, the rate must be going up" - and accept the counter. Please don't be one of them. Just keep on working your way up gradually.

Romelle

[valencia]

Have now gone up to $90 in Ken/Bloom/West/May

and up to 91 Chelsea/May/Blooms/West

When Kensington is part of bid get counteroffers asking for $25 more.

Acceptable zones are Kens/West/May/Chelsea/Blooms

Might look deeper into adding notting hill or the City today.

[valencia]

Added Notting Hill up to $90. Got one sole counteroffer at $82 for $102.

Now need to think if it is more logical to go much higher and get a Mayfair/Blooms 4* as it looks like this weekend will be pricey anyway. Have seen the 50% off with breakfast at Hilton Kensington $442 for the 17th til 20th. The 16th could them be at Gatwick as we arrive very late.. or.. I see the NH Kensington at Travelocity for $518 for the four nights with no breakfast.

Those two hotels are my markers.

Hotwire has a 3.5* and a 4* available but unidentifiable although they are 3.5+ recommended.

I am using your support links for all searches and bids.

[Romelle]

Have you looked at the list of hotels to see what people are getting at the 3* level? They are major chains like Holiday Inn and Thistle and Novotel. Undoubtedly not as poshy as the 4*s, but the savings could buy you several nice cups of tea and muffins in high style somewhere. Might let you stay with the more central areas and not do the one-night airport thing.

I just checked - at the moment 3 1/2* bidding isn't an option in London. Would have been a nice intermediate step.

One factor we haven't talked about is how the dollar is working against the British pound. If the dollar does get stronger, the same $$ bid will actually be worth more on those London hotels. It has been wobbling around lately, but seems to be getting a tiny bit stronger.

It is good you are sharing you adventures as you go. Take note of how many people have viewed this particular thread. You are helping others perhaps more than you realize, even as things aren't working as you would prefer.

And the counter-offer can occasionally mean that just one more dollar will do the trick. Generally it is more like 50%, but I've seen the additional dollar work every once in a while.

Romelle

PS - when you are bidding a lot of areas and working your way up, do be sure to get the less expensive areas in at the lower bids. If you add them in at the higher levels you risk missing the lowest point at which they would have worked.

[valencia]

always do that.. tomorrow's another day. I may have a few combinations I can still use today .. will keep you posted.

Not sure why my quote included your entire post. I shadowed only the last line about " putting cheaper areas in at lower bids".

[valencia]

Have gone up to $96 in the Mayf/Blooms/West areas

[valencia]

Have also gone up to $91 in Kensington/Chelsea/Regents Park with constant counteroffers.

The $70 win at downgraded 3* Hilton Olympia would be nice, but one wonders what ELSE could come up at 3* ( besides the Kensington Close?)

[Romelle]

Have also gone up to $91 in Kensington/Chelsea/Regents Park with constant counteroffers.

The $70 win at downgraded 3* Hilton Olympia would be nice, but one wonders what ELSE could come up at 3* ( besides the Kensington Close?)

It is not my choice of techniques but some people bid part of their stay, and then if they like what they have and extensions are offered, they extend their bid to the other days.

If this interests you, you need to know that you can only extend as many days as your original bid. And PL charges their basic fee again for the extension. I don't know if there is any other relevant fine print, but I'd suggest you check the details in the PL Help FAQ area.

Romelle

[valencia]

This is just going to be more expensive than I had hoped. Not sure about downgrading outside of Kensington.. and thanks, romelle for all your details. I do not want to break up the stay because the price to extend is not necessarily the same you won with your bid. so that can back fire if

1) you are NOT offered to extend the stay

2) the price you ARE offered is much higher than what you paid

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

[valencia]

went up to $92 starting at $85 in K, Blooms, Chelsea,RP,Notting H, Mayf,West receiving $25 counteroffers until I got to $91 and $92 and there was none, just a delayed status request.

Can't bring myself to bid 3* Kensington although i MIGHT get the Hilton Olympia which I know and like.

Not many 3* wins on here for london.. it seems like such a risk.

[thereuare]

In addition to not much 3* bidding in this area, it's also unknown how the Hilton will be pricing rooms at the 3* relative to other hotels in the zone... so it is a bit of a roll of the dice.

[valencia]

Have gone up to $95 in all areas .

[valencia]

I have to admit that I am surprised and disappointed having received a counteroffer of $101 in Kensington when I bid $80, and now have gone up to $95 with no win.

[thereuare]

Sometimes it takes $1 more than the bid... sometimes $1 less than the counter-offer... and i've even personally once seen a bid at the counter-offer price rejected only a few minutes after the counter offer was received.

Hang in there!

[valencia]

At this point I am seriously looking at the Hilton's 50% weekend B+B deal from Thursdays til Sunday but something similar is offered even for Wednesday at other websites. The Hilton Olympia is offered.

Am also considering a 3* B+B price of $89 at Kensington/Earl's Ct with a 90% approval rating at Hotwire for 16th-20th.

Will keep you posted. Am doing all searches from here, except of course, lastminutetravel.com ( no longer a link).

[valencia]

Hilton weekend rate gone now at the Hilton Kensington.

Went up to $98 in all acceptable areas ( K/NH/BLOOM/MAY/CHEL/The City). Receive counteroffers some of the time when Kens. is part of the bid.

Have not pursued Regent's Park area today past $89

The 3* Kensington/Earl's Ct w/ Brk on Hotwire must have had the taxes wrong or something as although it is still at $89, today the total is $83 higher than yesterday. ($369.96 vs. $453.00)