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Priceline Hotel: 3.5* Los Angeles - San Fernando Valley (Van Nuys - Mission Hills - Sherman Oaks) Best Western Plus Carriage Inn


lmasterz
By lmasterz,
in

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I will need a hotel within the vicinity of UCLA preferably between 3* - 4*. I will be staying there for a minimum of a week starting 5th September. What would be my best option and how should I go about it? Also what price would I be looking at per night? Would it better if I choose a hotel 20 minutes away from UCLA, as it would be considerably cheaper?

Lastly, did anyone ever try Name your Own Price when it comes to cars? Recommendable?

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Please click this PRICELINE link and reply to this thread, we'll then have a look at your stay above.

When will the length of your stay and check-out date be firm?

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

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Please click this PRICELINE link and reply to this thread, we'll then have a look at your stay above.

When will the length of your stay and check-out date be firm?

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

Done. :)

As of now, it'll most likely be from 5th Sep till 16th Sep. I'm not familiar with the UCLA area at all. Never been. So I'm relying with whatever help I can get.I did realize however, the close to UCLA, the higher the price. Also, just like I mentioned, I will also be renting a car, so maybe i'm better off to drive there. ideas?

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It is a well kept secret, but there is a pretty decent bus system in the LA area. As well as some convenient local trains. Reasonably priced too.

And driving in the area is quite the challenge.

After you get your hotel, and before you rent that car, I'd urge you to see if public transportation will work for your visit. If you use a Google map from the hotel to some building you'll be frequenting, you can select the Bus option and see what buses you could use.

UCLA is in Los Angeles Zone 10 Westwood - Century City.

Romelle

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What's your general budget per night? A 4* in Westwood-Century City usually costs ~$110-150 on PRICELINE, and parking extra. There's not much recent bid history for 3.5*/3* in WW-CC zone (like none), but I'll offhand guess $75-110, plus parking.

If you'll drive for lower rates and cheaper parking (not necessarily free though) some zones to consider are: 3* Culver City, 3.5*/3* LAX, and 3* Van Nuys-Mission Hills-Sherman Oaks. That's the cluster of suburbs north of UCLA up the 405.

Lastly, did anyone ever try Name your Own Price when it comes to cars? Recommendable?

Sometimes it works well; other times no. Once your dates are finalized you can start a separate thread in the Car Rental section of the board if you want help with that.

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It is a well kept secret, but there is a pretty decent bus system in the LA area. As well as some convenient local trains. Reasonably priced too.

And driving in the area is quite the challenge.

After you get your hotel, and before you rent that car, I'd urge you to see if public transportation will work for your visit. If you use a Google map from the hotel to some building you'll be frequenting, you can select the Bus option and see what buses you could use.

UCLA is in Los Angeles Zone 10 Westwood - Century City.

Romelle

Given it's my first time there, I'd rather avoid public transport as I can be on a time constraint the first few days am there. However later through my stay that is surely something to consider.
What's your general budget per night? A 4* in Westwood-Century City usually costs ~$110-150 on PRICELINE, and parking extra. There's not much recent bid history for 3.5*/3* in WW-CC zone (like none), but I'll offhand guess $75-110, plus parking.

If you'll drive for lower rates and cheaper parking (not necessarily free though) some zones to consider are: 3* Culver City, 3.5*/3* LAX, and 3* Van Nuys-Mission Hills-Sherman Oaks. That's the cluster of suburbs north of UCLA up the 405.

To be honest, since my stay is going to be over 7 days, I'd want to look at the $50-$60 range per night, preferably tax inclusive, if possible. I'd also be looking at a 3*. The zones you mentioned that require a drive, how long of a drive would I be looking at, with traffic? Lastly, parking prices, are they similar to Chicago or on the cheaper end?
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For a ten-night stay $60 tax inclusive means a maximum bid amount around $52/night. (Priceline's transaction fee per night gets smaller for longer stays. A one-night stay at $45 has about $15/night in tax and fees; a ten-night stay at $45 has about $8/night in tax and fees.)

And parking, where it's charged, is extra and could range from free to ~$50/night, depending where you stay. The zones near UCLA have parking rates at the higher end. Suburbs and airport area have lower parking rates. Lower end hotels in Hollywood sometimes charge $5-10/night. Even Motel 6 in Hollywood charges for parking.

$52 won't be close to enough for a 3* near UCLA and it's probably not eneough for a 2.5*. UCLA is on the Westside, and that's generally the most expensive area for hotels. There may be some suburbs where you can get a 3* for $60 or less but you're looking at a drive, maybe 30-60 minutes depending where you land.

Once your dates are firm let us know your bidding limit (not a range like $50-60, but one number....the highest amount you're willing to bid) and someone will suggest alternatives that might come in for that price, in zones that have lower parking fees than Westside.

Please use these HOTWIRE and PRICELINE links for your purchases.

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An Air+Hotel+Car package might cost the same, or less, than purchasing the pieces individually. You'll have to do some rate research to see.

Find a package deal with a hotel you like. From the package's total price subtract out the lowest airfare you find. Then subtract out the lowest car rental rate you find.

What's left is the hotel component. Is that amount more or less than $600, the approximate cost of a ten-day Priceline bid at $52?

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So I decided to stay at Culver City as it would be way cheaper than the UCLA/Century city area and not much of a drive to UCLA. However, I just tried Hotwire for 6th Sep - 15th Sep just to see what I would be up against roughly when trying to bid on Priceline. There seems to be only a 2* (for $85/night) on hotwire, couldn't find any 3*, which is weird as I was able to find a 3* hotel through hotwire (with the name showing) for less. Does that go the same with Priceline, so basically it would be pointless trying to bid on that area? If that is the case, what other area should I be looking for which isn't too far from UCLA yet $50-$60/night range hotel.

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So I decided to stay at Culver City as it would be way cheaper than the UCLA/Century city area and not much of a drive to UCLA. However, I just tried Hotwire for 6th Sep - 15th Sep just to see what I would be up against roughly when trying to bid on Priceline. There seems to be only a 2* (for $85/night) on hotwire, couldn't find any 3*, which is weird as I was able to find a 3* hotel through hotwire (with the name showing) for less. Does that go the same with Priceline, so basically it would be pointless trying to bid on that area? If that is the case, what other area should I be looking for which isn't too far from UCLA yet $50-$60/night range hotel.

Priceline tends to be a little less expensive than Hotwire, and can have a different population of hotels. Bidding is free. So, no, it would not be pointless to bid Culver City on Priceline even when you are seeing limited availability on Hotwire.

But there is another issue - you have a fairly long span of days. For you to be successful on either Hotwire or Priceline with this span, you have to find a hotel with availability all of those days. If you are willing to move part way though your visit, you may find better results breaking up your stay into at least two different shorter blocks of time. There usually is at least one problem night in a longer span of time - holiday/sport event/concert/conference/??.

You can get a better idea of this if you play with Hotwire a little. For starters, I'm assuming you are traveling by yourself? You will find different results if you just put in one person rather than the two person default. Usually just a little less expensive, but sometimes entirely different offerings.

I looked at your dates one night at a time on Hotwire. Interestingly enough, there was 2* availability every night at $68, EXCEPT for 9/10 when there was only 3* availability at $103.

With Priceline tending to come in less expensive than Hotwire, bidding Culver City in that $50 to $60 range could well work for most of your nights. IF you bid 9/6 - 9/10 and 9/11 - 9/15, then addressed at 9/10-9/11 separately. You can of course 1st try the full span, and then start breaking it up. As long as you change the dates, you can keep bidding within the same 24 hour session. That single Saturday night might be somewhat more expensive, but your average will still be pretty good.

If you do bid 3* in Culver City, there are two free rebid zones. If you aren't familiar with this concept, the FAQ area has an explanation.

The first post in this Los Angeles - Priceline area has lists of hotels other bidders have reported as winning. The 3*s in Culver City look to be quite nice national brand ones. While there is 2 1/2* bidding available, there are no reported wins for that level. At the 2* level is an Extended Stay.

Romelle

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I'm echoing some of Romelle's comments here:

Some hotels participate in Priceline but not Hotwire; so don't assume Priceline has nothing for nine nights just because Hotwire doesn't.

You've got two rebid zones for 3* in LA, which are Lawndale and Inglewood. Those zones only have 2.5*, so you can add them to your 3* bids in other zones without risk of winning a hotel in Lawndale or Inglewood. (You should verify the * ratings on your own before each bidding session, as ratings can change at any time.)

Earlier you talked about a $52 bidding limit, which I think may be a little low. I think $60 might be a more realistic limit here, but you've got enough time to try some lowball bids first. If you're ready to bid and you want to try for all nine nights I suggest:

$45 for a 3* in Culver City.

Add Lawndale and bid $50.

Add Inglewood and bid $52.

If that fails for all nine nights, try the same for your first five nights only. Then for your last five nights.

Please start each series of bids with this PRICELINE link, and let us know how it goes. Good luck!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Any interest in trying for a 2.5* in Priceline's Van Nuys-Mission Hills-Sherman Oaks zone?

The 2.5* Best Western Carriage Inn in Sherman Oaks is roughly the same distance from UCLA as Culver City...about 8-9 miles; only north of UCLA instead of south. And the BW has free parking, while the 3* hotels in Culver City charge.

Some other 2.5* could come up too, but so far Best Western is the only 2.5* reported to the board in VN-MH-SO.

If you're interested someone will provide strategy.

You also might win a 3* in LAX zone for less than you've bid in Culver City. But that would be farther from UCLA than Sherman Oaks is, and will probably have pay parking too.

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The Best Western is $94 for your dates. Another bidder recently won it on Priceline for $65, for different dates than yours.

Unfortunately there are no rebid zones for 2.5* in LA-SF Valley, so you can only make one bid each 24 hours, unless you change your dates.

I suggest $50 for 2.5* for 9/6--9/15.

If rejected close browser, reaccess PRICELINE and bid $55 for 9/6-9/14.

If rejected close browser, reaccess PRICELINE and bid $60 for 9/6-9/13.

If rejected close browser, reaccess PRICELINE and bid $65 for 9/6-9/12.

If you win something then attempt Add a Night to win the rest of the nights.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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  • 3 years later...

Thank you for closing this thread with your decision.

Please remember to follow-up your threads with your wins/decisions as you make them so that others can benefit from the information.

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

Thank you.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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