Hotwire Hotel: 4* Toronto (Downtown East) Le Royal Meridien King Edward Hotel

[Charlie R]

Hi there,

I've been told to check out Priceline by a friend of mine as I am planning a 3 week trip to Canada and US in July. I have a couple of quick questions and then a request for help on how to bid.

1) Do you tend to get better rates on Priceline that Hotwire? (I've seen somewhere that a general rule is to bid 10-15% lower than Hotwire's price for a similar hotel in the same area.)

2) How successful are people at getting the room types that they want? I understand that Priceline just guarantees a room (of any sort), but if I wanted a double/queen/king non-smoking room, what are the chances of getting one?

3) This is Hotwire question, but maybe it can get answered here rather than creating another new post. One of the listings on there has 'Tennis Nearby' listed as one of the amenities. Would this likely be counted as 'Tennis' in the list of hotels in this forum? (It's a 4* hotel in MTE with Business Center, Hi-speed internet, Fitness Center, Restaurant, and Tennis Nearby. I was thinking it looks to be either Grand Hyatt or Intercontinental The Barclay)

In terms of my bidding help request, I am looking for the following:

4* hotel from 12 July for 4 nights (checkout 16 July)

I'm not totally sure on the areas in New York, I've never visited before, but having had a quick look I would say that we would probably like to be MTW (MTE probably as well), TS or CPS. We don't want to be in an unsafe area, and those 4 seem ok (I think...).

We would like to get something for less than $160 before tax, but could go up to around $180 pre-tax.

Hope I'm not asking too much or have left anything out. Thanks in advance!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

1) Do you tend to get better rates on Priceline that Hotwire? (I've seen somewhere that a general rule is to bid 10-15% lower than Hotwire's price for a similar hotel in the same area.)

PRICELINE is usually a little cheaper, but HOTWIRE gives you a little more control over the amenities the hotel will have and/or the ability to take an educated guess as to the hotel you will receive before your purchase. See this I've Never Used Priceline or Hotwire thread which goes into a bit more details regarding the similarities, and differences, of each service.

2) How successful are people at getting the room types that they want? I understand that Priceline just guarantees a room (of any sort), but if I wanted a double/queen/king non-smoking room, what are the chances of getting one?

Depends upon a LOT of factors... the greatest factor is hotel occupancy levels and what is available when you check-in, but hotel policy, mood of the check-in person, types of rooms available at the hotel, etc, etc all play a factor. For example, since you're taking about NYC in this thread, there are some NYC hotels where a room with a King bed or a room with two beds is considered an upgrade from 'standard', so it would be more difficult at a hotel with a policy such as this (although this hotel may be more included to let you upgrade for the current difference in price between the room you booked and the room you want)

3) This is Hotwire question, but maybe it can get answered here rather than creating another new post. One of the listings on there has 'Tennis Nearby' listed as one of the amenities. Would this likely be counted as 'Tennis' in the list of hotels in this forum? (It's a 4* hotel in MTE with Business Center, Hi-speed internet, Fitness Center, Restaurant, and Tennis Nearby. I was thinking it looks to be either Grand Hyatt or Intercontinental The Barclay)

Yes, in our hotel lists Tennis is the same as Tennis Nearby

In terms of my bidding help request, I am looking for the following:

4* hotel from 12 July for 4 nights (checkout 16 July)

I'm not totally sure on the areas in New York, I've never visited before, but having had a quick look I would say that we would probably like to be MTW (MTE probably as well), TS or CPS. We don't want to be in an unsafe area, and those 4 seem ok (I think...).

Based upon the above are you more interested in PRICELINE (ie- likely the lowest price but be willing to receive any hotel in the zone you select... or would you prefer HOTWIRE (likely cost a little more but take a guess as to what you may get) Are you ready to bid/purchase now?

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

Let us know the above and we'll take it from there.

[AaronJB]

Based on the rates showing on HOTWIRE, getting something within your budget in Midtown seems likely, although with HOTWIRE you can make an educated guess as to which hotels are showing, based upon the amenities showing. If you feel more comfortable with the possibility of a particular hotel, it may be worth spending a bit more on HOTWIRE Additionally, the new Yotel boutique in near TS is $149 non-refundable on Expedia for these dates, and coupon BRIGHT11 takes $10 off per night. While a 3.5*, thought I'd mention it as an option as it is a new/fresh hotel (opens in June) and offers breakfast (as well as apparently a robot named Yobot that handles baggage.)

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

[Charlie R]

Well in the end I decided to go with Hotwire. I used the incredibly useful lists for each of my destinations and managed to narrow down the possibilities to one or two in each city. I ended up with the following:

Toronto: $350 for 3 nights at Le Meridien King Edward (Downtown East)

New York: $785 for 4 nights at The Warwick Hotel (Midtown Central)

Washington: $330 for 3 nights at Capital Hilton (White House-Capitol Hill)

Quite pleased with all of those rates. Thanks for your advice and the useful guides.

Charlie

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success(es).

Can you please post each of your wins to the board as a NEW TOPIC so that others will be aware of your win when searching the topic titles on the board and in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins. Please include the star rating, city, zone, room rate, dates and amenities shown before your purchase... you can still view all of this by going to HOTWIRE and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

We'll use this thread for your first win in Toronto, please post a reply to this thread with the star rating, room rate per nite (before fees and taxes), dates, and amenities of the Le Meridien King Edward... then start NEW TOPICS for each of your other stays.

Thanks for sharing your results with the board, we're glad you found the information here helpful.

Please use the requested PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin any future travel purchases.

[Charlie R]

4* Downtown Toronto East

Amenities shown: Fitness Center, Restaurant, Hi-Speed Internet, Spa.

Dates: 7/7 - 7/10

Rate: $101 per night before taxes/fees

Ended up with Le Meridien King Edward

[AaronJB]

Thank you for the follow-up.