Priceline Hotel: 3.5* or 4* Boston (Copley) - Bidding help

[eurobecca]

Hi there- I'm a first timer and I've just spent the last 2 hours reading many different posts and threads and doing my "homework." I'm hoping to share my strategy and get feedback from the veterans of the group.

I'm traveling to Boston on Monday for a visit to Fenway and an overnight stay on 8/1/11. I understand the re-bid strategy and as long as I am looking for a 3.5*, I have 5 zones that are eligible for re-bid. From the Calendar of Wins, it seems that $95 is the best rate in the 3.5* Boston Copley area. I was thinking I would start with $90 and increase by $2 each time while adding one of the five lesser star zones to my desired Copley zone.

Was hoping for a hotel that included parking, but am willing to take the gamble and maybe even park at a station and take the T into the city as I won't need my car once I'm there. Any advice about safety of parking at the stations, or even info about how late the T runs is appreciated.

One question I have that I haven't seen... At 3.5 stars, I'm assuming that hotels have a non-smoking room option. That is something I just can't bend on when staying in a hotel.

Thanks for any and all help!

-eurobecca

[eurobecca]

Tried between $90 and $140 at the 3.5* level starting with Copley then adding Brighton, Fenway, Medford, North Cambridge, and South Boston with no luck. Going to do a little more research...

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Sorry to hear your bids were rejected.

Rates are date specific, and unfortunately, high for this nite. My guess is that you're probably looking at ~$160-$180 for a 3.5* for this stay. Note that with PRICELINE all that is guaranteed is a room which will accommodate double occupancy... number of beds, smoking/non-smoking, etc. can be requested, but whether hotel is able, or willing, to accommodate your request is at their discretion. Usually to accommodate your non-smoking request you would have to use HOTWIRE and select a hotel which shows the Smoke Free icon, but you're in luck (excluding the high rates for your date) in that all 'downtown' Boston hotel rooms are designated non-smoking, as per city ordinance.

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

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

[eurobecca]

Thanks for all your help, and sorry not to have replied sooner. After using the re-bid process, I got up to $185 per night in Copley with 3.5* with no luck on Priceline. Started to check out Hotwire and stumbled upon The Liberty Hotel on Charles Street. It was listed at $209, down from their $345 website price. Tried to do the amenities search to narrow it down to name our own price, but wasn't finding it. It was last minute and we decided to book it through Hotwire because the hotel was very unique and only slightly higher than naming our own price through priceline.

The Liberty Hotel was BEAUTIFUL and the staff was wonderful. Highly recommended! I will use your site from now on when booking hotels. Thanks for the support and help, and I'm sorry if I posted this in the wrong place...

[sailorJ]

I am new to the bidding process as well and am looking for a similar hotel on 8/5-6. Do you think you could maybe walk me through how I should go about bidding for a hotel?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Additional information:

-Looking to spend as little as possible for at least 3 stars

-Will pay max $150 (but for only a 3.5-4 star)

-Copley, or Quincy works for us

-Looking to sleep 3

-Am not sure if this is this unrealistic

[sailorJ]

ok 150 was realistic. Looking to stay under $250.

[thereuare]

eurobecca,

Glad you found something that worked well for your needs and budget. It's not clear from your post, when you bought on HOTWIRE, did you know the name of the hotel before your purchase?

Can you please add a reply to this thread with the amenities shown before your purchase... you can still view this information by going to HOTWIRE and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

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

Thanks in advance for the follow-up.

sailorJ,

Please start by reading your messages. Then for help with your own stay click this PRICELINE link and start a NEW TOPIC for your trip.

Thanks.

[eurobecca]

Thanks for all your help, and sorry not to have replied sooner. After using the re-bid process, I got up to $185 per night in Copley with 3.5* with no luck on Priceline. Started to check out Hotwire and stumbled upon The Liberty Hotel on Charles Street. It was listed at $209, down from their $345 website price. Tried to do the amenities search to narrow it down to name our own price, but wasn't finding it. It was last minute and we decided to book it through Hotwire because the hotel was very unique and only slightly higher than naming our own price through priceline.

The Liberty Hotel was BEAUTIFUL and the staff was wonderful. Highly recommended! I will use your site from now on when booking hotels. Thanks for the support and help, and I'm sorry if I posted this in the wrong place...

Sorry for the confusion everybody!

While looking for hotels in the areas we wanted to stay, I came across the Liberty Hotel while searching. Loved the idea of the hotel, and decided to head to hotwire to try the amenities search. I looked up Liberty and it's amenities:

4.5 Star Hotel w/

-Boutique Hotel

-Smoke Free Rooms

-Fitness Center

-Restaurants

-Business Center

-High Speed Internet Access

I began the search through Hotwire for specific amenities and locations, however, none seemed to match. We were running out of time, and I am sorry to say we ended up booking the hotel through Hotwire in the "show me" section. We booked the room for $209, which was just $20 more than we were bidding on priceline for that particular night. We decided to to go for it since it was a boutique hotel with a fun back story.

We will use this site in the future and especially when we have a bit more time!

Hope that answers your questions. I would highly recommend the Liberty Hotel, especially if you could find it in an amenities search!!!

[AaronJB]

Only one HOTWIRE listing shows at each star level in each zone for each set of dates - unfortunately, this property may not have been showing for these dates. However, glad to hear that you were able to get it for not much more than you have been bidding.

Enjoy your stay! :)

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