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Priceline Hotel: if you know Toronto, Qs before bidding


TravelPhotographer
By TravelPhotographer,
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Need to take photos of shopping, dining, city life, culture, ethnic neighborhoods, etc.

& lodging from Sep 15-19; arriving via Pearson Airport; using public transportation;

Would (2) downtown zones be best choices? Both safe?

Do urban rail lines offer 5-day discounted pass?

Looking for room Internet included; breakfast included preferred;

Was hoping to get 2.5* or 3* for $50-60/night, is that unlikely?

Which skyscrapers have observatories-restaurants with views?

Any advice appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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Hopefully somebody local to the area will be able to give some 'inside' advice, but from what i could gather, there is no direct mass transit service from the airport to Downtown and the trip would require a transfer and about 60-90 minutes travel time... it's very reasonably priced, but not that convenient.

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

Keep us update on your progress.

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

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Thanks for response!

In addition to your PRICELINE link above,

do you have links to any short-term private room-apt. stay networks?

May use this strategy due to dearth of sub-$80 hotel rooms...

there is unfortunately no speedy direct public transportation service from pearson to downtown toronto. if you choose to take public transit, it will involve a bus ride (airport route, meaning most people will be travelling with luggage of some sort) to the subway and then a subway ride to the downtown area. it's definitely an option, but i would caution taking this route during morning rush hour with any sort of luggage. you'd be better off looking into a hotel shuttle, or forking over the $45+ dollars for a taxi.

the film festival will definitely make this a challenging time to find a bargain! at least you will be arriving during the closing portion of the festival as most stars seem to trickle out of the city as the final weekend approaches.

most of the downtown core is as safe as any large urban city. there are some less desirable pockets in the eastern part of the downtown north zone, but relatively few hotels there that i can think of.

you can get a weekly pass for the ttc (our transit system) for $36. a day pass is $10. on weekends and stat holidays the day pass is good for either a single person, two adults, or two adults and up to 4 children.

the cn tower is of course the most popular observation lookout. if you're looking for fine dining, you can eat in the revolving 360 restaurant on top of the cn tower, but it's not cheap! entree's are at least $40+. the horizons cafe (also at the cn tower) is a on a separate level and a little more affordable ($20+ a plate).

the other popular place that i can think of is the 180 panorama at the manulife centre. plates are $10+, cocktails $10-$15 and i believe it's open much later than the cn tower if you're looking for a late night drink/bite to eat.

hope any of this has been helpful. enjoy the city!

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most of the downtown core is as safe as any large urban city

Thanks for info. If possible, can you suggest any zones with easy "ttc" access to downtown,

that are closer timewise to downtown than airport zones -- where film fans are less likely

to have filled hotels...? (will bid using PRICELINE link above)

(am more interested in shooting panoramic views than menu, but will order something if required)

(any other buildings with window or terrace views open to public?)

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this is hard to answer because if i was visiting the city personally i would be choosing the same two areas that you already have, and i would fork over more money to stay in them. our transit system to me seems so archaic in comparison to places like nyc. the subway service and some bus routes shut down completely between 2am and 6am. streetcars might seem like a fun way of traveling, but are constantly at the mercy of traffic congestion, accidents, etc. there are hotels in further out zones that might be near transit, but you're looking at a minimum of 30+ minutes to get downtown from any of them it seems. toronto west seemed like an option, though puzzling because almost the entire zone is comprised of high park. the hotel listed to be in this zone is the four points which is literally right beside the expressway with fairly undesirable reviews.

as for the views, definitely scratch the 360 restaurant off your list, but you might enjoy the views from the observation decks. the film festival might squash more then a cheap hotel deal for you. most impressive rooftop views are hotels (thompson, park hyatt..) and unless you are bono's "+1" you will have a difficult time getting on them. at least in the later afternoon/evening hours. wish i could help more, but have no knowledge when it comes to restricted rooftops and how to get on them.

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Today's unsuccessful bidding using PRICELINE link above:

Z3; $75x2.5*, $70x2*

Z4: $75x2.5*, $70x2*

Z5: $75x2.5*, $70x2*

Z11: $45x3* ($62 offer :))

Z14: $75x2.5*, $70x2*

Counter offer a relief! If i StopOver inquiries for downtown

stays don't pan out, will bid seriously for Airport East.

Daily rail to-from downtown will be photo opp anyway.

Can I safely assume all Airport East 3*/2.5* include free shuttle?

Any chance that shuttle would also stop at nearest TTC station?

Are they likely to "include room" Internet &/or breakfast room?

(in US, IMO, 3.5-4* more like to charge extra)

Thanks in advance.

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Can I safely assume all Airport East 3*/2.5* include free shuttle?

Any chance that shuttle would also stop at nearest TTC station?

Are they likely to "include room" Internet &/or breakfast room?

None of this services would be guaranteed, but generally speaking i would guess that a Shuttle is likely, the chances of it stopping at a nearby TTC station less likely (not sure how far away it is, but given the lack of service from the airport, i suspect it's not that close)... free internet and/or breakfast would be a toss-up depending upon the hotel received.

You could research the hotels reported to the board at each star level in the Priceline Hotel list and determine which of the amenities/services are most likely included at each star level.

thankslforusing

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

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I live an hour and half from Toronto and priceline there alot for various reasons.

Generally the airport area gets the best priceline deals, and weeknights DT successful bids needed to be in the $100 range (at least for me last fall when I needed downtown on a few different nights) ....during the film fest though I imagine this is right out the window. The DT hotel I found to be the best priceline value is DT south 3* --Radisson Waterfront Admiral...very nice location right on the lake with great vistas for photography, a short walk to the Rogers Center/CN tower, on the harbourfront LRT streetcar line. You might want to just try their website. DT North zone 3* gets a bit dicey as the Best Western Primrose comes up -- its not a great hotel, (I got a room on the smoking floor) and is not in the best area -- same thing for the Hilton Garden Inn on Jarvis St.

IMHO the best bargain on priceline is airport west 3* where you you are virtually assured (based on many bids and monitoring boards) of getting either Marriott Courtyard or Delta Airport West in the 45-60 dollar range... (both nice properties in commercial areas and not on the usual airport "strip") -- sometimes less on weekends. These hotels however are not in Toronto but Mississauga so for transit downtown you would take a bus to the subway and need a separate fare (2.75 for TTC) not sure what it is for Miss. Transit. That trip would be about an hour. The airport east zone is the hotel strip where transit would be a bit easier (one fare), but the hotels are not as nice, usual 3*'s are Radisson airport and an older holiday inn. sometimes you could luck out and get the doubletree or one of the marriotts, but don't count on it. From anywhere in TO, the best way to get downtown is the subway, and getting hotel right on a subway line would be tricky with priceline. You would most likely be looking at bus+subway, 1 hour trip. Don Valley zone would be a good one to try. Avoid Scarborough-Pickering. Markham and Vaughan zones would have a transfer between 2 transit systems, like airport west, but have decent hotels that can sometimes be had and the transit situation would be somewhat bearable. Avoid all the other non "Toronto" zones (Oakville, Oshawa etc) they are farther out and you would be looking at a bus or taxi to the GO commuter trains which would be pricey and inconvenient. Hope this helps and good luck. Oh, from the airport to downtown there are "airport express" buses -- greyhound type buses that go to downtown hotels and union train station for about 25 bucks, you can store your luggage and its much quicker less of hassle than TTC from the airport, worth the $ for going downtown.

All the airport east and west hotels have shuttles to the airport. Sadly the subway goes nowhere near the airport, so as I mentioned it's always pretty much bus-subway. But any hotel on priceline would have some kind of bus service nearby that would eventually connect with the subway, except for the outer suburbs. If you got an counteroffer for anything downtown, for around $100 I would either accept it or if you have time, try splitting the difference 24 hours later. I would be very wary of a "B and B" for 65...could be a slightly polished rooming house in a questionable area, unless their website has alot of pics...and you could use google street view to check it and the area out.

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Gave it one last try -- no success via PRICELINE link above. Thanks all for help.

Have booked 4-night short term apt. stay private room-bathroom, breakfast included

via (if allowed) iStopOver; $65/night, $300 grand total; BetterBidding may want to

set up links to these kinds of internationl lodging arrangements? Wide range of

quality levels, able to target specific locations down to a street corner.

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