Priceline Hotel: Florence - 16-19 October 2011 - Tips please

[ElPal]

Hi,

I am looking for a hotel in Florence - preferably somewhere Central. I see from previous bids listed in the search results for Florence that people have been able to get 4 stars for between $92-$150 but that being for peak season of July/August/early September. I would guess that rates would be cheaper in mid-October.

I have used your PRICELINE link to attempt a bid and bid for the full date range for Florence Central for a 4* for $60 figuring it might be rejected but that I could go up incrementally. It was rejected so I added 3* and tried $63 also rejected. Then I tried a lesser date range 16-18 Oct for 3* at $64 which was also rejected.

I see that a lot of the people who have posted their successful Florence, Italy bids have bid about 6 months in advance - is there something particular to Florence that means you need to book that far in advance to get good deals on Priceline?

I see that PRICELINE only has 2 areas for Florence one being the city and the other being the airport. Does anyone know whether the airport is near the city and whether it would be worth adding it to the bids?

Thanks

[Romelle]

I'm not personally familiar with that airport, but I took a look at the Priceline map of the two zones. The airport zone is quite large, with the airport itself on one side of the zone - closer to Florence. If you happened to get a hotel clear on the far side of the airport zone, the mile scale seems to say it would be about 10 miles from the city center. While Florence has a good network of buses, IMO that might eat up quite a bit of your visit time. There didn't appear to be any train tracks running though the far side of the zone (you can zoom in on those maps), and Florence doesn't have a metro.

Romelle

[thereuare]

Hopefully somebody more local then myself will be able to add some additional insight, but from a few web searches i have read that the distance from the airport to the city center is not that far geographically speaking, but there is no direct train service (although there is a bus that goes from the airport to the city). However, this seems like a bit of a hassle (and costly) if your only option is to take a hotel shuttle (hopefully offered) to the airport, then a bus from the airport to the city... although i do enjoy public transportation in cities i'm visiting, this option doesn't seem very convenient, imo, and i'd stick with the Central zone if your budget allows (unless you hear otherwise from somebody more local or experienced with the area)

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

[ElPal]

Thanks to both of you. It does seem like Central is the way to go... I think I will bid up to $80 on PRICELINE (using your link of course) but if that fails just book by the conventional means as I can probably get something by the conventional means for not that much more and know exactly where I am.

[thereuare]

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.... if you do end up booking direct please check for and use the links in our support page whenever possible.

Let us know whatever you decide to do for this stay or if we can be of further help.

Good luck.

[ElPal]

Using your PRICELINE link again I tried 4* for Central at $70 per night and was rejected.

Tried 3* for $67 and was rejected.

Strange because there are 3* hotels on the PRICELINE retail site for around $95

[Romelle]

I've always been suspicious that the Priceline inventory in some European places is low - especially in Italian cities. Results are very hit-or-miss, not the almost predictability of lots of US places. By all means, do keep trying for Florence, as something could well pop up. On the other hand, a "Plan B" is good - in the form of cancelable back-up reservations.

There are a number of links under the Support/Travel tab. Also, good old www.kayak.com. And one that sometimes works for me is www.venere.com.

Romelle

PS - if you are successful with bidding, you don't need to start a new post. Just add it on here and keep the whole story intact.

[thereuare]

Strange because there are 3* hotels on the PRICELINE retail site for around $95

Have you confirmed that these 3* hotels are in the 'name your own price' Central zone? Also, in Europe i think you have a greater percentage of hotels which participate in the 'retail' side of PRICELINE and not the 'bidding' side, which is another likely scenario.

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

[ElPal]

Have you confirmed that these 3* hotels are in the 'name your own price' Central zone? Also, in Europe i think you have a greater percentage of hotels which participate in the 'retail' side of PRICELINE and not the 'bidding' side, which is another likely scenario.

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

Good point. I will have a look and report back.

[ElPal]

Your list of PRICELINE HOTELS has only one 3* hotel for the Central zone being the Hotel Sempione which is listed on the retail site as being from $97 but when I put in my dates it comes up at $154 per night and one room at this rate.

There are only 7 x 4* properties on your PRICELINE HOTELS list and on the retail site for my dates:

Hotel Albani - $274 per night - 2 rooms at this price

Ambasciatori $266 per night

Hotel de la Ville $455 per night

Hotel Kraft $249 per night - 3 rooms at this price

NH Anglo Americain $235 per night - 5 rooms at this price

Una Hotel Vittoria $316 per night- 1 room at this price

Your list has NH Firenze as a 4 star but on the retail site it is a 3* and at $237 per night - 5 rooms at this price.

So I am guessing that if all 6 4* properties are actually available for my dates on Name your own price that they would be ranked in order of price in the same way as on the retail site with NH Anglo being the cheapest and Hotel de la Ville being the highest. I therefore assume that if I were to make an acceptable bid I would end up with the NH Anglo Americain which would enable Priceline to make a bigger profit on that particular hotel even if another hotel has a room at the rate I bid?

So if priceline says up to 60% off the price for a hotel (which rang true for my Paris successful bid) should I bid up to 40% of the lowest 4* retail price being 40% of the $235 so $94?

[ElPal]

To update on my bidding using your PRICELINE link:

Bid 4* for Central zone $70 - rejected

Bid 3* for Central zone $65 - rejected

Bid lesser date range (taking out the Sunday 16 Oct):

4* for Central zone $85 rejected

3* for Central zone $70 rejected

Given that the lowest retail price for one of the 4* hotels on the Priceline Hotels list for the period of my stay is $235 and as I stated in the last post - 40% of that is $94 - I think that I will wait my 24 hours and try to bid again this time bidding on a 4* up to around $94. I know that PRICELINE SAYS "UP TO 60% OFF" but I figure the 60% off is a good indicator of a good bid - particularly based on my Paris experience.

For a 3* - I don't really want to pay more than what I have already bid being $70. $62.80 would be 60% off the Priceline retail price for the lowest priced 3* on the list.

I will keep you updated re the 4* property.

Thanks

[Romelle]

IMO 40% of Priceline retail can be a good and safe starting point, but I am very happy if I score something at the 50% level.

I've seen a few wins at the 35% level, but I've also seen a lot at the 60% level. And even higher.

Odds are you won't be successful at the 40% level, but I'll be happy for you if you are. Other bidders will also appreciate the good news. I'd guess it will take at least 50% to win.

I even personally bid once, very methodically slowly inching up $1 at a time. Success, finally. Then when I checked the hotel web site I learned I could have gotten the hotel for $5 less via that site. 105% bid to win! Annoying lesson, but I've never forgotten to do my homework since.

Regarding whether one usually gets the least expensive hotel on the possible list - there might be a tendency there, but those other hotels are on the list because somebody actually reported getting them at some time.

The NH Florence (Firenze) probably had its star level changed. There are these sorts of changes very steadily. Good that you reported the change, as it will help other bidders.

Romelle

[thereuare]

So I am guessing that if all 6 4* properties are actually available for my dates on Name your own price that they would be ranked in order of price in the same way as on the retail site...

Not necessarily, there is actually little correlation between the hotel with the lowest retail rate and the one which you will actually will receive. Based upon the prices you quoted i would say that you're least likely to win the Hotel de la Ville since it is so much more expensive then the others... but the others are priced close enough to one another that i wouldn't make the assumption that you're most likely to win the least expensive of the lot.

...I figure the 60% off is a good indicator of a good bid - particularly based on my Paris experience.

Your Paris experience doesn't have much relevance to this Florence stay, as some cities are easier/harder to win then others... in some you can often count on a very deep discount, while in others it can be difficult to get even a small discount to retail rates. 60% off would be an excellent win... but to expect 60% off is probably a bit aggressive, imo (which isn't to say you shouldn't try... but i wouldn't expect to win at such a deep discount)

Keep us updated on your progress, and thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

[ElPal]

Thanks both of you again! You are so wonderfully helpful.

I will keep you updated.

[ElPal]

Bid $88 using your PRICELINE link for a 4 star for the entire stay and was rejected. Closed the browser.

Bid $74 using your PRICELINE link for a 3 star for the entire stay and was rejected.

I am able to get other 4 star properties in Florence for around $87 per night so I think I will do that.

Thanks for your help.

Also, do we know whether the PRICELINE is being constantly updated or if there is one day a week that all the new rooms get added?

[thereuare]

Hotels update their PRICELINE rates continuously based upon supply/demand (occupancy levels) at their property.

If you decide to book direct, please check our support page where we have link to most of the major hotel chains and online booking agencies, please use the links there whenever possible.

Let us know what you ultimately decide to do for this stay.

[ElPal]

Thought I'd try one more time through Priceline. Bid $89 for 4 star. It was rejected.

[ElPal]

Using your link:

Tried $95 for 4 star for Florence Central (being $90 + $5 bonus cash) - was rejected.

Tried $94 for 3 star for Florence Central (being $85 + $9 bonus cash) - was rejected.

Definitely think I will now be booking through conventional channels possibly using your links depending on the prices.

Not sure if there is something in Florence over that period as to be rejected at $94 for a 3 star seems too high.

[Romelle]

You are definitely running into some sort of event there. Hotwire 3 1/2* was $116 (and Hotwire's 3 1/2* can be more like Priceline's 3*). The rate was high for all three days too, so splitting your bid wouldn't help.

Romelle