Priceline Hotel: Los Angeles Hotel - 24 nights - Advice

[kegan5]

I've been on these forums all day trying to work out the best hotel, best area, for the best price.

I would like to pay $25 - $35 per night, Single occupancy, preferably in Burbank, Hollywood or Beverly Hills.

Does anyone have any advice on the best place to start with regards to star rating, areas etc ?

I am open to staying outside of the preferred areas I've mentioned, providing the areas are safe and have access to metro lines.

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated :)

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

Please provide the date/s of travel and desired star rating.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[kegan5]

Ah Many Thanks, I've added those details below.

Areas preferred: Burbank, Studio City, Hollywood and any area near Universal Studios.

Dates: 31st March - April 24th

Star Rating: 3* minimum preferred

Price per night:$25-$35

Given that the price I want is fairly low, I'm open to any suggestions of other areas that would be more likely to accept this price.

Also, I understand you can't pick your own hotel, but an area with good metro link lines would be something on the top of my list too.

[Colfax]

Any hotel in Priceline's Downtown or Hollywood zones would be within walking distance or a short bus hop to Metro. But $35 isn't nearly enough for a 3* in those zone. $55-$75 might be more realistic. $35 probably isn't enough for 2* in those zones and it might not be enough for 1*.

Priceline's Burbank-Universal-Glendale is a large zone and there's no way to insure that you'll win a hotel near Universal. You might win a hotel in Glendale. If you want to gamble $35 might be enough for a 2* in that zone though.

We hardly see any 2*/1* bidding in your preferred zones so there's not a lot of bid history to rely on. The last reported 2* win Downtown was nearly a year ago, I think, for $40 at the Mayfair Hotel, and that's not the greatest neighborhood.

If $35's your firm limit and you're okay with ANY location in Downtown or Hollywood I suggest bidding $35 on PRICELINE for 2*, then $35 for 1*.

Hotwire's cheapest are all $50+. 2* Hollywood $50. 2* Mid-Wilshire/Westlake $52. 2* Glendale-Burbank $54.

Also 21 days is the maximum stay for a PRICELINE bid so you'll have to break this 24 day stay into two at least. Hotwire lets you do a 24 day purchase.

For an extended stay like this I wonder if you might do better looking for an apartment or condo sublet on Craigslist? Is LAX zone acceptable? That might be your best shot at getting something for $35, but it's more time and connections to get to Metro from there.

[kegan5]

Many thanks for your reply, I have been down the sublet route but so far any good offer on location and rent for the stay have required a months deposit, which would be a huge chunk of my spending money.

I've considered a trip along the coastline too so perhaps I can split my stay up for a week at least, I'll keep this thread updated as and when I make any decisions or have any successes.

[AaronJB]

Discounted rates may not be available for the entire period at a particular hotel as well, so splitting the stay may be for the best in this case.

Thank you for keeping us updated.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[scottlevin]

Your prices sound to me to be incredibly unrealistic.

[kegan5]

Having looked at various hotel results on this forum, I came across the Homestead Extended Stay hotel in Glendale which seems to offer rooms for around $48 a night, the hotel website's normal rate is listed as $91.99.

When I enter my dates into the website, the normal rate changes to $66 a night... with this in mind, does anyone have any knowledge on asking for a lower per night fee based on the fee offered by hotel i.e. with my dates, offering $30 per night is this something that would be considered?

[Colfax]

I came across the Homestead Extended Stay hotel in Glendale which seems to offer rooms for around $48 a night, the hotel website's normal rate is listed as $91.99.

Where are you seeing the Homestead for $48?

with this in mind, does anyone have any knowledge on asking for a lower per night fee based on the fee offered by hotel i.e. with my dates, offering $30 per night is this something that would be considered?

I'm not quite understanding your question.

Are you asking is it possible Homestead might accept a $30 Priceline bid on nights when their rate is $66? Yes it's possible, but you could win some other hotel too, if you're trying to target Homestead in particular.

Or are you asking about calling the hotel directly, not using Priceline, and asking if they'll let you stay there for $30/night?

[kegan5]

Where are you seeing the Homestead for $48?

I'm not quite understanding your question.

Are you asking is it possible Homestead might accept a $30 Priceline bid on nights when their rate is $66? Yes it's possible, but you could win some other hotel too, if you're trying to target Homestead in particular.

Or are you asking about calling the hotel directly, not using Priceline, and asking if they'll let you stay there for $30/night?

On these forums $48 seems to be an average rate for the Homestead in Glendale, unless I'm mistaken :)

And yes you got it the first time, I meant when a rate is reduced by the hotel themselves would they accept an even lower rate via priceline.

I understand there's a risk another hotel might accept my offer :)

[Colfax]

I entered "Homestead Glendale" in the Quick Search box at the top of the page and I see Homestead's only been reported as a Priceline win twice--once at $53, and once at $48. Both wins were in 2008, so they don't give much guidance as to what you might expect to pay today, or even whether Homestead participates in Priceline anymore (although most of them do).

Since your trip's still a month away there's time to probe for the lowest possible rate if you want. Occasionally Homesteads in other cities come up in the high $20's/low $30's, so it's worth trying some lowball bids.

There are no rebid zones for 2* in Burbank-Universal-Glendale, so you can only bid once every 24 hours, unless you change some parameter like your dates.

To get around the 24 hour lockout you could try something like this:

3/31-4/7 (7 nights): bid $26/2*

3/31-4/6 (6 nights): bid $27/2*

3/31-4/5 (5 nights): bid $28/2*

3/31-4/4 (4 nights): bid $29/2*

3/31-4/3 (3 nights): bid $30/2*

If those reject wait 24 hours and repeat from $31 to $35. If you win something you like you can try Add a Night then to double your length of stay.

If you decide to try that plan please use the board's PRICELINE link and let us know how it goes.

[MurtleCake]

There are some really low quality hotels in downtown LA you could probably get that cheap, but I doubt anywhere else.. (my rent in hollywood is more than $35 a day haha :) )

Just a note, Burbank and Glendale are suburbs and don't have much public transit at all. It's very very inconvenient to travel by anything but a car. There is a metro subway system but it runs from Universal through Hollywood, to Downtown basically...

[kegan5]

Thanks, I have looked at hotels in Downtown like Cecil etc but from the reviews I've read the area seems to come with it's risks so to speak so I decided to avoid that area :)

With regards to the public transport, I was looking on the metro website and there seems to be a system that goes out that far... is it really slow? I'll probably end up hiring a car but since I've not driven in a left hand drive car I'd like a back up option i.e. a train or bus :)

p.s. since I've not come to any conclusion with my booking etc, should this thread be moved? I feel like I'm going off topic now

[Colfax]

Socaltransport.org is a handy site that gives the bus and train routes around LA with travel times. It says 1 hour on bus from Glendale to downtown LA, so it can be done. But on Priceline there's no guarantee you'll win a hotel near a bus stop.

Is there a reason you want to stay in Burbank-Univ-Glendale zone other than price? Without a car Hollywood zone might be more convenient for getting around in various directions, although $35 probably isnt enough for even a 1* in Hollywood. Still, if $35 is the budget that's probably what I'd try first...$35 for 2* then 1* in Hollywood.

If you rent a car keep in mind many LA hotels charge for parking, and $10-20/night isn't unusual.

Good luck whatever you decide.

[kegan5]

I have now changed the dates of my stay in Los Angeles, and will update this thread with any further information I have as and when I book :)

[kegan5]

I have updated my previous thread to inform of changes to my original dates.

I have since been trying to get a hotel through priceline with no luck so far.

My dates are 5th April - 22nd April, Looking at Studio City, North Hollywood, Burbank-Glendale-Universal, Hollywood 3* min preferably.

I have mixed my dates up, tried 1 night, 2 nights a week, 2 weeks.

I'm in the uk so my bids are on priceline.co.uk and are in

[thereuare]

It would be appreciated if you used the requested PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your future travel purchases.

[Colfax]

My dates are 5th April - 22nd April, Looking at Studio City, North Hollywood, Burbank-Glendale-Universal, Hollywood 3* min preferably.

...

I have bid up to

[kegan5]

Because I'd reduced the number of nights I was able to increase my bids a little, I was splitting them up though so trying $70 for 3 nights, $50 for a few other nights just to try and see where I could get an acceptance.

I have now ended up booking a hotel direct as I couldn't get anything accepted so perhaps this thread could be closed if it's no use to anyone else :)

I am also looking for a long weekend stay in New York so will post over in that forum too to see if there are any 'bargains' to be had :)

[thereuare]

Thanks for closing this thread with your decision.

Please check for and use the links in our support page for your hotel direct purchases whenever possible.

Enjoy your stay.