Priceline Hotel: 3.5* Portland (Downtown) Marriott City Center

[koneng]

I'm going to Portland from 6/3/11-6/10/11. Yesterday I bid on 4* hotel in the downtown area. I started my bidding at $70 and increased it to $100 ($5 in increments) without any success.

Today I decided to include 3.5* hotels in my search and bid $70,73,75,78,80 without getting an accepted bid. Based on what others have recently paid for a 3.5* hotel in portland, I didn't think I should go much higher than $80.

My next strategy is going to try splitting my trip up into two sections: 4 nights and 3 nights. I thought that maybe my 7 night bid was causing my bids to be rejected. Has anyone had any luck doing this? Is this a valid strategy or should I continue to increase my bids for 3.5* star hotels?

Is there anything else I should try? I'd prefer a 4* hotel and I'd rather not go much higher than $100 or so, but I'm flexible. My flight has been purchased so my dates are firm.

Thanks!

I've been using your PRICELINE links to being my searches.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Yes, as per this thread SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID can be a viable strategy. However, i do think that you may be within $10/nite or so of a win, so you'll have to decide how much savings you would need to make changing hotels mid stay worthwhile. If you do decide to split the bid, it's usually recommended to try to get as many nites as possible with the first purchase, rather then assume that 4nites/3nites (or vice versa) is the best split. If you want to try to get the most number of nites on the first purchase you can loop thru your bidding strategy using the following date combinations:

6/3-6/10

6/3-6/9

6/4-6/10

6/3-6/8

6/5-6/10

6/3-6/7

6/6-6/10

Any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks for continuing to use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board for your travel purchases.

[koneng]

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately, I'm not having any luck with my downtown Portland search. :)

As suggested I tried several different date combinations for both 4* and 3.5* hotels. Based on what I see on Hotwire and individual hotel sites, it seems that Mon-Fri seem to be the most expensive days to stay at a hotel in Portland (and other major cities too, i'm sure). I tried to group those days together and bid higher, in hopes that I can bid on weekend days later at a lower price.

I'm going to continue to bid on some more 3.5* hotels. I'll update these post with my progress...

Any additional suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Previous Searches (all in 'Downtown' area only):

4* - 6/3-6/9

$70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100

---------------------------------

4* - 6/3-6/8

$75, 80, 85, 90, 95

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4* - 6/3-6/7

$75, 80, 85, 90, 95

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4* - 6/5-6/10

$75, 80, 85, 90, 95

---------------------------------

4* - 6/6-6/10

$75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110

---------------------------------

4* - 6/7-6/10

$80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115

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3.5* - 6/6-6/10

$70, 75, 80, 85, 90,

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3.5* - 6/7-6/10

$70, 75, 80, 85, 90

[thereuare]

However, i do think that you may be within $10/nite or so of a win...

I still believe that this may be the case, but my comment was based upon the complete stay, which factors in the average price over the course of your stay.

HOTWIRE has a 4* hotel for your complete stay for $121/nite with Restaurant, Business, Internet, Spa icons. More importantly, this property has a very high 4.5/5.0 Tripadvisor rating. I'm guessing that this is the Governor Hotel, and for what amount to about $35-$40 total more than you have already bid, it might be worthwhile to ensure a good hotel and/or not have to change hotels mid-stay.

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

Let us know your thoughts and how you decide to proceed or if we can be of further help.

[koneng]

I ended up getting:

-a 3.5* hotel (Marriott City Center) for $100 from 6/3-6/8

-a 4* hotel (Benson) from 6/8-6/10 for $115

These prices seem to be a little higher than what others have recently bid, but still a decent deal.

Thanks again for your help. I used your PRICELINE link for all of my searches/bids. I will create new posts for these wins to make it easier for others.

[koneng]

Started at $70, increased in $5 increments up to $100.

I will be in Portland from 6/3-6/10. I had to split my trip into two bids to get these prices. See this post for details on my bidding strategy.

I used the PRICELINE link for all of my searches/bids.

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

Very nice deal for this Marriott property! Hope you are looking forward to your stay.

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

Enjoy your stay.

[Colfax]

I ended up getting:

-a 3.5* hotel (Marriott City Center) for $100 from 6/3-6/8

-a 4* hotel (Benson) from 6/8-6/10 for $115

These prices seem to be a little higher than what others have recently bid, but still a decent deal.

You'll be in Portland during Rose Festival--the biggest event of the year--so I think you did very well. The Starlight Parade is June 4 and the parade passes in front of the Marriott City Center. Have fun!

p.s. to moderators: Subject line should say 3.5*, not 4*. :)

[koneng]

Nice, thanks for the heads up. I'll read up on the Rose Festival to see what all I can check out.