Priceline Hotel: PL Help Needed 3* London Stay

[grenmom2]

We're a family of four - and because of that - we have to bid for 2 separate rooms.

I've been bidding unsuccessfully for over 2 months at 4 stars. Yet, the rates for 4 Stars are far beyond our budget, mainly due to the fact that we have to bid for 2 rooms.

So, now we're forced to bid for 3 stars.

Our dates: July 13-18th. Yes, we know that those are peak summer months, but that cannot be changed.

Our zones are fairly flexible. I just don't particularly care for Wembley or the Docklands. Maybe, Docklands if we absolutely have to. But I'm pretty sure that Wembley is just too far.

* Are 3 Stars in Europe really all that bad :)? I'm a bit concerned by some negative reports. Yet, the 3 stars are chains - Novotel, Thistle, etc. How bad could they really be?

* Our last few bids for a 3 star in almost all zones have been in the mid-high $80 US dollar range. Last time, we bid for a 3-star for $87. How high should we go? I'm getting frustrated after bidding every single day for more than 2 months :) .

Yes, I will use your links from now on :o .

Thank you.

[yellowdog]

See my answers/comments in your Paris post

But we need to know your max budget be room/night before tax/fee for a 3*?

And we need to know the zones you're willing to stay in (post the names, not numbers) in order to help you.

Thanx for using boards PRICELINE and HOTWIRE link!

Yellowdog.

[Romelle]

* Our last few bids for a 3 star in almost all zones have been in the mid-high $80 US dollar range. Last time, we bid for a 3-star for $87. How high should we go? I'm getting frustrated after bidding every single day for more than 2 months

Thank you.

This far out, perhaps you could bid just once a week or something else a little less frequent than daily? I don't deal with rejection well either, and find that helps.

It is possible the hotels just haven't given rooms to Priceline yet, as the whole purpose is to sell otherwise empty rooms.

There are a number of colleges and universities in London that rent rooms out during the summer. You can find them with a simple search like "summer college housing", or something similar. While I've not done them in London, I've done them in Dublin. Old beat-up dorm rooms, but access to a kitchen. Friendly staff and other visitors.

Romelle

[mom2gren]

Thank you again.

But we need to know your max budget be room/night before tax/fee for a 3*?

And we need to know the zones you're willing to stay in (post the names, not numbers) in order to help you.

I would have thought that a 3 star should certainly be no higher than $85 or so. But this doesn't seem to be the case.

The Zones I have been bidding in:

St. Germain - Latin Quarter – Montparnasse

Eiffel Tower – Porte de Versailles – Montparnasse

Champs Elysees - Opera Quarter West

Opera Quarter East - Les Halles

[mom2gren]

This far out, perhaps you could bid just once a week or something else a little less frequent than daily? I don't deal with rejection well either, and find that helps.

Thanks, but I feel the pressure. I can't stand the uncertainty either.

It is possible the hotels just haven't given rooms to Priceline yet, as the whole purpose is to sell otherwise empty rooms.

I just asked my husband, a hotelier, and he says that it may be possible that they haven't yet given their rates for that specific time period, but I have a hard time believing that. So frustrating. I've never, ever had such problems with PL and I've been bidding with them for more than 7 years.

There are a number of colleges and universities in London that rent rooms out during the summer. You can find them with a simple search like "summer college housing", or something similar. While I've not done them in London, I've done them in Dublin. Old beat-up dorm rooms, but access to a kitchen. Friendly staff and other visitors.

Romelle

Yes. That would be a definite last choice. At the age of 43, I'm so not into that, unless if I'm forced to. BTDT. I feel that at my age, I do deserve a bit better than what I did say when I was in my teens and early 20s ...

Thank you so much. This whole thing is really annoying.

[yellowdog]

mom2gren

You have posted the Paris zones in your London post.

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

Yellowdog.

[Romelle]

I've never, ever had such problems with PL and I've been bidding with them for more than 7 years.

I REALLY hope you will start posting those winning bids! Even with the excellent administration here, this site needs the member bid submissions to be effective.

Romelle

PS - I'm LOTS older than you, but the Dublin Trinity College dorm rooms made a summer week feasible for me when other options were way too expensive. It let me tour the Jamison Distillery and the Guinness Brewery, and see the Book of Kells, and eat Irish scones, and all sorts of other fine adventures.

PPS - The weak dollar is part of the problem, and apparently tourism is up generally. Lots of "sticker shock" reported this year for lots of different cities.

PPPS - Have you checked your "My Rewards" on Priceline to see if you have any bonus money? And if you have an Entertainment Book, there is a coupon in it good for $20 (3* or better and 3 days or more bids).

[codycharles]

Have you thought about staying near Heathrow? This is what I do when I visit London now. Easy but of course more time consuming to use the tube to get in and out. Very nice 4 star hotels available.

[mom2gren]

I REALLY hope you will start posting those winning bids! Even with the excellent administration here, this site needs the member bid submissions to be effective.

I will do so from now on. Unfortunately, I don't remember my wining bids from before. I have a rough idea. I used to frequent another board, but was tired of the coldness/rudeness. I heard great things about here from others, so I've joined these boards.

PPS - The weak dollar is part of the problem, and apparently tourism is up generally. Lots of "sticker shock" reported this year for lots of different cities.

Not good at all, but thanks for letting me know.

PPPS - Have you checked your "My Rewards" on Priceline to see if you have any bonus money? And if you have an Entertainment Book, there is a coupon in it good for $20 (3* or better and 3 days or more bids).

I will, thank you. Had never even heard of that. :)

ETA: Just checked. No rewards and no Entertainment Book.

Have you thought about staying near Heathrow? This is what I do when I visit London now. Easy but of course more time consuming to use the tube to get in and out. Very nice 4 star hotels available.

Thank you. That would be a last choice. We are doing that for 2 nights on route to Israel. But we would really, really prefer not to - plus the transport costs would add up also - I know that LHR is much cheaper than Central London.

My bid today for 3* in London (in every zone except the Docklands and Wembley) was for $86 for 2 rooms. Got rejected. Yet again. :)

[Romelle]

A few things yet to try...

Always a good idea to reserve a cancelable back-up. Then you can continue bidding more comfortably, in hopes of finding a better deal. There are lots of links directly to hotels and the general sites under the Support/Travel tab.

I looked at your dates in Expedia where rates are listed by individual day. No obvious pattern of a few of the days being unusually high (indication of a holiday/event/??). Still, if you are willing to move mid-stay, sometimes splitting one's bid into two blocks of time can help. Probably the Wed and Thur in one block, and then the Fri, Sat and Sun in the other. You can first bid the full span, and then in the same session come back and bid the two blocks. PL considers this a different bid.

You really do have quite a bit of time left. No point in bidding to your absolute max yet. The dollar might strengthen and/or some hotel might decide to place more rooms in the PL inventory at a better rate.

In fact, in your bidding sessions, you can avoid overpaying for a new hotel that just came in (at a lowish rate) if you use what I like to call a "sweep" technique. Start lowish with the less expensive zones like Kensington, and then increase your bid a little as you add more zones. Adding the more expensive ones at the end. You can also sweep for the 4*s, close out your session and then come back in and sweep for the 3*s.

Are you getting any counter-offers? They are always a good clue that one is close, although bids are also won without previously seeing any counter-offers.

Romelle

[grenmom2]

Thanks so much for your very helpful tips.

Nope, no counter-offers yet. :)

My husband and I looked at the hotels list once again as well as winning bids that others have posted. We realized that there are far more 4 star PL hotels than 3 stars. And at times the price for a 4 star doesn't seem to be significantly more than what I'm close to paying with a 3 star. Maybe $10 or $20 more ... we figure, we may as well bid on 4 stars rather than on 3. And just bid a bit more, increasing it by $3 increments each day until hopefully we get something.

[yellowdog]

grenmom2

You're correct, you should go for the 4*. Kensington-Earls Court and Notting Hill-Bayswater zones are your best friends for the moment.

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

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

Yellowdog.

[grenmom2]

07/13 - 07/18

All Zones Except Docklands and Wembley

2 Rooms

5 Star - $125

4 Star - $125

3 Star - $105

2 Star - $95

Still trying.

I know there's NO chance with a 5 Star, but I did that one for fun.

Getting angry and trying to not take this personally. :)

[yellowdog]

Please keep all posts in the same thread (same for Paris) since posts are for the same stay.

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

Yellowdog.

Edit. Take a look at HOTWIRE Kensington-Earls Court zone. They have 4* and 3* to lower prices than you have bid at PRICELINE. I did the search for 2 rooms/4 adults.

[Romelle]

And you can enter either 4 adults or 2 adults and 2 children in HOTWIRE. It could work?

Romelle