Arlingtonman13 Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 I'm pretty good on the forum, but this one has me baffled.Here's what I'm looking at:JULY 8-11 TRIP TO BOSTON4.5* Boston Quincy Market Hotel - $156 per nightSmoke free, fitness, pool, restaurant, business, high-speed internet, spaRecommended in 95% of Hotwire customer reviewsAfter reading the hotel list provided on betterbidding.com, I know this could be either the intercontinental boston or the langham hotel. I want the intercontinental over the langham. I am thinking this is the Intercontinental for these reasons:1) Hotwire has 500+ reviews of this hotel. Makes me thing big hotel...Intercontinental double the size of Langham.2) Reading Tripadvisor, a lot of people booked it through hotwire at this star level in this zone.3) Old cases from betterbidding.com for this same star level/zone have often been intercontinental.4) Room rate for the room at Intercontinental is $217.00 per night, compared to $290.00 at Langham.So what do you thing? Is my logic good or totally irrelevant? All help appreciated! Link to comment
thereuare Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Your thinking is logical but far from conclusive.These two hotels look identical before purchase so you'll need to be prepared for either. The InterContinental is won more frequently then the Langham, but that doesn't say what will happen in this particular instance.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... and your searches too!Let us know what you decide and how it goes or if we can be of further help. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Arlingtonman13 Posted June 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 So I have a few other questions...Given the dates July 8-11, 2011, needing a room for 3 people (so preferably 2 beds), my top 3 choices are the Intercontinental, Fairmont Battery Wharf, Langham, in that order. I checked out the forum and it looks like the Intercon. and Fairmont are 4* Priceline hotels in the Boston Harbor Front - Aquarium zone. However, given that the Hotwire rate is $156 per night for the 8th-11th, and I don't want to pay more than that. Do you think (or can you tell) if bids $100-$150 would be accepted for that hotel on Priceline? Any opinions? Is there a limit on # of Priceline bids? I trust you folks, the experts, given that i've never booked on priceline, unlike hotwire, which I am very familiar with. So what would you do if you were in my spot?Thanks,Arlingtonman13 Link to comment
thereuare Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Given the dates July 8-11, 2011, needing a room for 3 people...PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy, after that it's at the discretion of the hotel, and you could receive a room with only one bed. While you can call the hotel you win and request a room with two beds, the hotel may not be able, or willing, to honor your request. Is this a risk you're willing to accept? If not, HOTWIRE allows you to search for up to quad occupancy and ensure sleeping accommodations for everyone you include in your search (although this usually means two beds, the second 'bed' could be a sofabed, rollaway, etc) Are you willing to accept the single bed/double occupancy risk of PRICELINE? Did you include triple occupancy in your HOTWIRE search above?Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Arlingtonman13 Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 I'd depend on the price...If we're talking PRICELINE vs HOTWIRE at $156 per night, i'd obviously do Hotwire since I'm guaranteed a room for 3...however, if I can get a room for less than $150ish on PRICELINE at the Fairmont or intercontinental, I'd be tempted to do that...So what do you think my chances are? Help a PRICELINE newbie out! Link to comment
AaronJB Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 HOTWIRE is going to be more expensive than PRICELINE, but you are getting the benefit of being able to make an educated guess as to which hotels are showing because it's a less opaque service, plus if you search for 3, you are guaranteed bedding for your party. PRICELINE is going to be less expensive, but it only guarantees one bed/double occupancy and there's no way to make an educated guess as to which hotel in a particular zone at a particular star rating you may get. Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches. Link to comment
Arlingtonman13 Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Well given the information provided to me, I'd feel a bit better booking through Hotwire. But I do have a question regarding telling the Intercontinental Boston and the Langham apart. I've been playing around with dates (Throughout the summer) and have seen one noticeable difference in the 4.5* Quincy Market-Financial District listing. There are two different hotels dependent upon the dates because both have over 500+ reviews and 95% of hotwire travelers recommend. However, when you look at the individual rankings, there are the following criteria:Overall satisfactionCondition of hotelQuality of serviceRoom comfortRoom cleanlinessLocation of hotelOne listing shows 4.5 ratings for all of the criteria. Another listing has 4.5 ratings on overall satisfaction, quality of service, room comfort, and location of hotel, but has 5.0 ratings on condition of hotel and room cleanliness. Given my past experiences at Intercontinental hotels and knowing how they are always impeccably clean, and given the fact that the Intercontinental is quite new (in comparison to the old langham), do you think (Anyone is welcome to answer) that there is a greater chance that the later of the two (showing 5.0 ratings for condition of hotel and room cleanliness) would be more likely, in your opinion, to be the intercontinental?Thanks,arlingtonman13 Link to comment
AaronJB Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 The HOTWIRE % rating is not a reliable indicator and has been seen changing from search-to-search at times. Both the Langham and IC have been seen with this amenity set, and either remains a possibility.Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches. Link to comment
allygator Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 My Experience here is that the Intercontinetal has the 4.5* rating, has a pool and spa. I'm not familiar with the Langham but $156 is the lowest price i've seen...The problem with PRICELINE here is that they only offer a search perimeter of a 4* and you probably won't get the Intercontinental. Link to comment
Arlingtonman13 Posted June 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Thanks to you both, Aaron and allygator...I'll give it some thought, and let you know what I come up with and if I decide to book, I'll post my results. I'm a priority guest at the kimptons so I can get in at the Onyx for $161 and some change, so I don't know which I'll end up deciding to do.Thanks, though, to everyone...Arlingtonman13 Link to comment
thereuare Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Please close this thread with whatever you end up doing for this stay (even if it's not PRICELINE or HOTWIRE).PLEASE use the requested PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your future bidding, searches and travel purchases (or check our support page for any hotel direct bookings you may make) Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Arlingtonman13 Posted July 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 So here's what happened in the end:I had to change the dates for my trip to boston to July 19-23, 2011 to accommodate my work schedule. Hotwire's 4.5* Quincy Market-Financial District was $246 per night (more than I was willing to spend) so I started searching for a good deal at the Taj, my original hotel of preference based on location.Found an interior view room for $184 per night on oyster.com, but, needing 2 doubles, called the hotel. They told me to go ahead and book it and they'd upgrade me to a 2 doubles city view room. In the end, I ended up getting the $375/night room for $184/night. Only downside is I have to settle for no pool....sigh....but location and the hotel make up for it.Thanks, though, to everyone for all your help Link to comment
AaronJB Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Thank you for closing the thread. Enjoy your stay. Link to comment
Arlingtonman13 Posted July 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Thank you for closing the thread. Enjoy your stay.I know I already closed the thread BUT I needed to book two upcoming stays in Boston in August and late September. I booked the 4.5* Quincy Market Financial District both times and got the Langham once and the intercontinental once. I realized the way to tell the two apart by making careful notice as I booked both. As of now, the Langham is recommended in 90% of customer reviews. The intercontinental, on the other hand, is recommended in 95% of reviews. For your info, since I figure you'll ask, I got the interncontinental in august from the 19-20 for $212 per night and the langham in september from the 24-26 for $193 per night. Booked both of these a few days ago so IDK if you'll still see them or if they sold out/changed at all..Your friend,Arlingtonman13 Link to comment
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