Priceline Hotel: 3* Austin (Central) Doubletree

[greg77059]

Landed this deal at $48 per night plus taxes and fees. Started bidding out at $43 per night and was rejected. Increased bid amount by $5 and added area six to search and bid was accepted. On Hotels.com and directly through the hotel's website while researching Austin hotels, I saw a promo they had that when you booked three nights consecutively for this hotel at $99 per night you got the third night free. Their posted rate for that promo was $99 per night, bringing the effective rate to $66 per night for the three nights when you factor in the third night at $99 is free, but still got a much better deal by ending up with this hotel unknowingly when I blind bid it through Priceline. I did remember to use the betterbidding.com PRICELINE link to book my deal.

One side note, I had up to $25 ($5 a night when booking five nights) in bonus cash that I utilized by Priceline, thereby saving myself $15 for the three nights' stay, bringing my net daily rate to $43 a night. I was disappointed to find out that this hotel charges $8 per day for self-parking and $15 a day for valet, which will bring my total to $51 (plus taxes and fees) a night if I elect to go with the self parking. This hotel is outside the downtown area, so I'm surprised that they charge guests for parking. I was hoping to get a complimentary breakfast and free parking by electing to choose a three-star hotel instead of a three-and-a-half star, or four-star, hotel. Still not a bad price. I understand that this hotel also charges for Internet, which again I was hoping to have included with a three-star hotel. I understand from calling the front desk that the hotel is located three-and-a-half miles from Downtown. I looked the address up on Mapquest and it is a little over five miles from 6th Street, a popular night spot for Austin nightlife and the music scene there. Overall, I'm satisfied with this deal because I got a three-start hotel at substantially less than booking it through another site and getting the third night for free, which would have been $66 per night plus taxes and fees versus my winning bid of $48 per night minus the $5 per night PRICELINE bonus cash offer I used when bidding on this stay.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Nice job researching this stay! (a laborious task many don't take the time to do) Glad to see you're pleased with the results and the deal you receive. I took a quick look at other 3* hotels reported to the board in this zone and i don't believe any of them offer a complimentary breakfast, so at least that's an amenity you shouldn't feel that you 'missed out' on when bidding 3* in this zone.

Thank you for sharing your win and using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay and the holiday weekend.

[greg77059]

Thanks for your nice comments and especially for the laborious time I know you expend in creating and maintaining this site for all the the users' benefits! The reason I choose this area to begin with is because I saw Priceline had tagged the Central area to have the best value for a 3-star hotel. Again, I'm a happy customer, as 2-star hotels, like Super 8 and Motel 6, would charge more than the price I paid per night, I bet, and I'd much rather be a smart consumer and utilize your great site and PRICELINE and HOTWIRE and obtaining terrific hotel deals. Thanks again for your great site. It's an awesome tool.