Priceline Hotel: Am I guaranteed one of these two 3* hotels in Santa Monica

[Ahmad]

The cheapest 3* hotels in Santa Monica zone are these two:

Marina Del Rey Hotel ($132)

Best Western Plus Gateway Hotel Santa Monica ($128)

I also like these two because of the free parking. The cheapest non-free parking is Hotel Erwin at $164. Is it safe when bidding well below $100 that I won't be getting Hotel Erwin and end up paying more for the parking?

Thanks guys for the amazing site!

[Romelle]

No, it is not safe. You could get any of the previously reported hotels, a new hotel as yet unreported, or a hotel that has had a change in star level. There might be some slight probability of getting a lower priced hotel, but no guarantees.

Romelle

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

I'll add to the above...

1) Please read your messages

2) There is often little correlation between the hotel with the lowest retail price and the one which you will receive via PRICELINE

3) See the comments at the top of the Priceline Hotel List as well as the related link our PRICELINE FAQ regarding using the 'retail' section of PRICELINE to determine what you will received when 'bidding' on PRICELINE

If you're looking to target a specific hotel HOTWIRE can often be a better, although slightly more expensive, option.

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

[Ahmad]

Thanks guys, that was really informing. My issue is that without knowing the expected parking rate, I'm simply not naming my price (I've recently been hit with $50+/day parking rate in Chicago :( ). Is it possible to choose "free parking" when naming my price? What about "suite" instead of a room?

[thereuare]

Is it possible to choose "free parking" when naming my price? What about "suite" instead of a room?

No and No.

However, using your Chicago stay as an example, while $50 parking is not cheap, it is not out of line with the costs in this city, and you're free to park elsewhere at a non-hotel garage (where you could probably find parking for about $25/day). If you don't want the inconvenience if parking outside of the hotel, even at $50, you're not likely to find hotel parking that much cheaper... so even if you could 'choose' a hotel with parking at $30/nite (making the difference $20), you could likely stay at a better hotel and save at least $20 per nite on the room rate by using PRICELINE. On the otherhand if you MUST know your total costs before purchasing a room, then the opaque suppliers are probably not the best option for your travel plans.

If you'd like help with an upcoming stay please start a NEW TOPIC.

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

[Romelle]

Sorry, "free parking" isn't a selection criteria with either PRICELINE or HOTWIRE. Nor is "suite". One does get to select the star level, and the higher star levels get more suite-like. In some cities "condo" and/or "resort" can be selected, but not Santa Monica.

With Hotwire, it might be possible to make an educated guess as to just what the hotel is, and then determine from its web site that it has free parking. But the hotel determination is still only a well educated guess, not a guarantee.

You may want to just go to the non-opaque side of either PRICELINE or HOTWIRE and select a specific hotel to make sure you get the free parking. I only did a tiny bit of research here, but the first one that came up listed free parking - the Sheraton Delfina on HOTWIRE.

Romelle

[Ahmad]

My max bid for 100 for 4*, 90 for 3.5* and 80 for 3*. Hopefully not too unrealistic.

For the rebid zones, I got the following:

- Inglewood

- Lawndale

- USC

These zones are free rebids for all. Can someone double check them for me please?

And I'm booking through the reference PRICELINE link :)

Thanks a bunch.

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

What are the dates of your stay?

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

[Ahmad]

Thanks man for the merge.

My dates are 12/31/2011 - 1/5/2012

[thereuare]

My guess is that your bids above will likely fall short since your dates include New Years Eve, but first let's clarify your re-bid zones, then we'll try some bidding and take it from there.

The zones you've indicated above are re-bid zones when bidding 3* on PRICELINE, BUT when bidding 3.5* and 4* you actually have another re-bid zone in addition to those above... are you able to identify the other re-bid zones when bidding 3.5* and 4*?

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

[Romelle]

Ahmad,

The other thing you might consider is splitting your bid. Hotwire has a 3 1/2* for Santa Monica. New Year's Eve is $254, but the rest of the dates drop back to $101 when the dates are done one at a time. When trying for all the dates at once, it is $138, since Hotwire generally will average.

Sometimes Priceline will average ... but sometimes it won't. You can try the full range up to your max, but then you might want to consider bidding just New Year's Eve separately, and then the other days.

Romelle