Priceline Hotel: 4* Los Angeles (Beverly Hills-West Hollywood) Hyatt Century Plaza

[rageisman]

Hello. We will be coming to Los Angeles for a Dodgers/Cardinals game the weekend of April 15. I'd like to use Priceline to stay in the most exclusive or best part of town for people watching, sightseeing, etc., but I don't know if that's Bevery hills - west hollywood, brentwood, Hollywood, or Santa Monica. Any opinions would be appreciated. It does NOT have to be close to Dodgers stadium

[yellowdog]

Santa Monica and Beverly Hills are two diffrent things.

Are you going to do classic sightseeing like Rodeo Drive and Home Of The Stars etc?

If you're aming for a 5* hotel is the Beverly Hills-West Hollywood zone the only one that got 5* bidding.

What do you have in mind when it come to hotel?

Yellowdog.

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

[rageisman]

We would like to stay in a minimum of a 4 star hotel. I doubt that we do a classic sightseeing tour, probably hang out at the hotel, find a nice place or 2 to eat, and drive around taking in the sights. The next 2 days we'll be down at Disneyland, a completely different second half of the trip. Thanks in advance for your input. Probably the only chance we'll have to be in that particular area.

[Colfax]

We will be coming to Los Angeles for a Dodgers/Cardinals game the weekend of April 15.

To clarify are you looking for a two-night stay 4/15 and 4/16?

I'd like to use Priceline to stay in the most exclusive or best part of town for people watching, sightseeing, etc.

For people watching I think Santa Monica area is best---Third Street Promenade, the pier, the beach, etc. Plenty of good restaurants in SM too. Santa Monica isn't necessarily the most "exclusive" area though if by exclusive you mean upper class. Every segment of LA from the wealthy to the homeless is in Santa Monica and you'll see them all.

Beverly Hills is probably more "exclusive" but it's low density and you won't see a lot of people in the street, other than in shopping areas like Rodeo Drive. At a BH hotel you may have to drive to restaurants and entertainment, while in Santa Monica you can walk.

Does one area appeal to you more? What's your general budget per night? Is one bed enough?

[rageisman]

I'm not sure that 1 area appeals more than the other. My wife would probably prefer Santa Monica. I tried for a 4 star there to $145, but was not successful. One bed is fine - the children won't be along for this one. We have occassionally found that, in other areas, if we drop below 4 star, we have been disappointed with the quality of the hotel.

And we are talking about a 2 night stay in that area, 4/15 and 4/16.

Thanks,

Ray

[Colfax]

It's been years since anyone's reported getting a 4* bid accepted in Santa Monica-Marina del Rey on Priceline. The 4* there either have very high Priceline rates (others have been rejected to $200, even during offseason) and/or they give Priceline little inventory.

If you want 4* in Santa Monica you may have to book conventionally. For your dates Expedia has these upper end Santa Monica properties:

Viceroy $312

Fairmont Miramar $297

Huntley $249

Most Priceline bidding in SM-MDR is at 3.5* level and you could win a 3.5* at the Marina Del Rey end of the zone. MDR's not a bad place to stay but from a people watching and nightlife standpoint it's not as lively as Santa Monica. For a guaranteed Santa Monica location Hotwire works better because on Hotwire you can usually ID the hotels in advance.

Hotwire has a 4* for $204 that looks like Sheraton Delfina, (which Priceline rates 3.5*):

Near Beach, Nonsmoking, Fitness, Pool, Restaurant, Highspeed

Delfina reviews are somewhat mixed, but you can look at TripAdvisor and see if this hotel will work for you. To view Santa Monica hotels on Hotwire you have to search on "Santa Monica", not "Los Angeles".

Switching to Beverly Hills-West Hollywood, Hotwire has a 4.5* for $184 that looks like Sofitel or L'ermitage. Both hotels have been reported with the same icons:

Fitness, Pool, Restaurant, Business, Highspeed

From a price and hotel quality standpoint the BH-WH option might be better. The decision depends on what's most important to you: price, hotel quality, or location.

You can likely win a 4* in Beverly Hills-West Hollywood on Priceline for $130 or less. The 4* you win probably won't be Sofitel or L'ermitage though. Intercontinental and Hyatt have been coming up most often recently.

Let us know which direction you'd like to go.

Please use the board's HOTWIRE and PRICELINE links for your purchases.

[rageisman]

Thank you very much for the excellent analysis.

I think we'll go with trying to get a 4 star in Beverly Hills - / West Hollywood. I can always use Santa Monica as almost a free rebid zone, as we would not be disappointed if we ended up there. I'll probably go up to $115 now, and then hold off for a bit until the trip is closer. I am nervous about using the Redondo area as a free rebid zone - With a 3 1/2 star there, I don't like to get that close to the 4 star I'm going for.

I've never tried HOTWIRE before, and I think I'll just stick with PRICELINE.

Thanks again for all the input, and I'll let you know how it works out.

Ray

[thereuare]

I am nervous about using the Redondo area as a free rebid zone - With a 3 1/2 star there, I don't like to get that close to the 4 star I'm going for.

Are you familiar with how to check your re-bid zones, as outlined in Priceline Re-Bidding Explained?

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

[rageisman]

Are you familiar with how to check your re-bid zones, as outlined in Priceline Re-Bidding Explained?

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

Yes. I have 2 windows open when I am bidding, the window I am bidding in (that I link from your site) and another window with the same area but the days 1 day shorter, and before I rebid, I check the zone again in the non-bidding window to make sure it doesn't have the star level I am going for. I guess I am being paranoid to not include a 3 1/2 * zone when I am going for a 4 star. Do you think that is OK to add the 3 1/2* as a free rebid zone when you are going for a 4*?

[Romelle]

A zone with only 3 1/2* and lower bidding is completely safe to use as a 4* free rebid.

A good idea to keep the second window open and check those free rebid zones. To ease your paranoia a bit, you don't even have to put any dates in that second window to have the zone information come up - just the city name will do.

Romelle

[thereuare]

Also, (and hopefully not too much tech talk) when checking your re-bid zones you want to do it on a 'fresh' browser... not from a previous search that you may have opened a few days prior (if you don't shut off your computer) or from a page you may have used "Save as" on to refer back to.

One additional point... you're not just looking for zones which don't have the star rating you're bidding, but also don't have anything higher than the star rating your bidding. So if you're bidding 4* and a zone doesn't have any 4* hotels but DOES have Resort class properties, then it's not a re-bid zones since PRICELINE could always upgraded your 4* bid to the higher rated resort property.

With the above noted, at the moment, Redondo-Manhattan Beaches is an acceptable re-bid zones when bidding the 4* level (you actually have THREE such re-bid zones available when bidding 4* in this area... feel free to confirm them with the board or ask any additional questions you may have)

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

[rageisman]

Thanks for all your help. Started at $90 and went up to $119 last night in $2 and $3 increments with no success (plus $5 bonus cash). Got a counter for +$35 at $115. With the winning bids on your site going for a fair amount less than that for earlier and later dates, decided to try periodically for a lower rate. I'll let you know when I finally win. Thanks again for all your help.

Ray

[thereuare]

Keep us updated and let us know if we can be of further help along the way. (and if you do win in the interim please remember to follow-up this thread with your results)

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

Good luck.

[Colfax]

At $124 ($119+$5 bonus cash) I think you might be just one dollar short of a win--even though the counteroffer was $35.

Rates are somewhat high for your dates so you won't necessarily duplicate a $110 or $115 someone else won for other dates.

Hotwire's 4* in BH-WH is $195. The 3.5* is $154.

$125 looks like a good rate for these dates relatively. Rates might drop if you wait but they could go up too.

[rageisman]

Started at $110 or so, worked up to $120 using the free rebid zones, then $1 increments after that until won the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza at $123. Used your PRICELINE link, and thanks for the help.

Ray

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

Superb deal for this Hyatt property.

Thank you for sharing your win and using the site's PRICELINE link.

Enjoy your stay.

[Colfax]

$124 rejected in February. $123 accepted in March. Patience is a virtue. Have fun in LA!