Priceline Hotel: 4.5* Vancouver (Entertainment Distr.) Metropolitan

[thehuges]

First post - let me know if I'm not following any protocols...

Wife and I will be staying in Vancouver for 1 night 5/29 before getting on a cruise to Alaska the next day. We'd like to stay downtown. If we can score a great deal on a 4 or 5-star hotel, super, otherwise we'd probably go 3-star to save money.

I've been looking on EasyClickTravel and Hotwire before bidding on Priceline. I can't seem to get the EasyClickTravel Reverse Lookup to work for any of the "off the record" hotels they're showing me. They show the following:

3.5* $78

3* $113

3.5* $117

4* $153

4.5* $160

none of the URL's pasted into the reverse lookup page yielded any results. Am I doing something wrong? Here's the first ($78) URL as I cut and pasted it:

http://www.easyclicktravel.com/PageHotelDe...archCompleted=1

(I was able to hunt this one down just by googling the description: it's the "Holiday Inn Express")

On Hotwire they show (in the "Entertainment District"):

4.5* $150

4* $161

3.5* $155

3* $83

2* $92

I'm especially interested in the $150 and the $83 deals ... anyone know what these are likely to be? (Or if any others are likely to be especially good?)

And lastly ... Priceline ... I think I understand the "adding a zone to get a re-bid" concept, but can anyone who knows Vancouver suggest a bidding strategy? I guess my first goal would be to see if we can get a very good deal on a 4* or better hotel, and if that fails go down the food chain looking for a bargain. What should my starting bid be for a 4* in downtown?

Thanks a lot - I've already learned a lot just by reading through the forum here.

-L

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

The REVERSE LOOK-UP TOOL has instructions on what to do if a hotel is not covered.

For the HOTWIRE hotels, there is more than one hotel at each star rating offerend within each zone, so you need to provide us with all of the amenties that are listed to describe each property. "What is the 3* hotel..." doesn't give us anything to go on, but "What is the 3* hotel with Business, Complimentary Breakfast, Fitness, and Bussiness..." is something we can help to try to figure out.

However, it sounds as if you're somewhat committed to going with Priceline anyway, so why don't we just try that route (if i'm incorrect let us know). Let us know your maximum bid and we'll suggest a strategy to follow.

[thehuges]

I posted on the priceline forum yesterday, but now I think I'll probably go with Hotwire, given that I can try the GIFTCARD06 code and I also have an Entertainment Book so I can try to get their $30 mail in rebate. Does anyone know if I can do both (or what the restrictions are on the GIFTCARD06 code in general)? It's my first time using Hotwire.

The hotels Hotwire is showing are (all in the Vancouver Entertainment district):

4* $160 Boutique Hotel, Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Fitness Center, Spa Services, Kitchenette

3.5* $155 Boutique Hotel, Restaurant(s), Fitness Center, High-Speed Internet Access

3* $83 Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Fitness Center, Business Center

Does anyone know which hotels these are? I think we would go with the 3* deal unless someone tells me that the more expensive ones are phenomenal, or maybe if we could only use the $50 discount code at the more expensive hotels.

Thanks for any advice you can offer...

[thehuges]

and now there's another listed (which was there yesterday but disappeared this morning):

4.5* $150 Selected amenities include: Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Fitness Center, High-Speed Internet Access, Business Center

It doesn't look like this is the Westin, which is the only other 4.5* hotel I see posted (but I'm new so I might not know where to look), since the Westin boasts of Suites and Kitchenettes.

If anyone knows what this is, let me know. I think I'll book it if no-one warns me off...

thanks

[thereuare]

Here are our best guesses:

4.5* Metropolitan Hotel

4* Terminal City CLub Towers Hotel

3.5* <unsure>

3* Sandman Hotel

Let us know what you decide to do and please use this HOTWIRE link to begin your purchase.

If you we can of more help let us know.

[Scorp]

I think the 4.5 * MIGHT be the Metropolitan Hotel, which gets some very good reviews at TripAdvisor.

Oops, posted at the same time....

[thehuges]

Thanks ... you were both right ... it's the Metropolitan.

$150 + $29 in taxes/fees - $10 for the GIFTCARD06 code == $168.95

more money than I was hoping to spend, but the reviews made me think it might be worth the splurge. And we'll hopefully get $30 back from the Entertainment Book rebate (I don't see any minimum stay requirement for that).

Thanks a lot!

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad we were able to help and it went as expected.

You should have no problem with the Entertainment Book HOTWIRE COUPON REBATE.

Have a great stay.