Hotwire Hotel: 4.5* Seattle (Downtown - Pike Place) Hotel Monaco

[hwfiv]

I've heard SO many great things about the Monaco. Would love to stay on there on July 24th. Any suggestions on how to get it for a good price (I see a lot of $114 ranges mentioned here) would be great. I just did a hotwire search and it only came up with one 4.5 hotel and the rate was $208. That's a little high for us - especially since we're going to arrive mid-later evening and have to catch a train out at 10 a.m. - so it'll be a quick overnight stay with them.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for something that has the great charm of the Monaco and elegance and beauty that I've seen in pictures?

We have to be at the train by like 9 a.m. - so I'm not sure which area the station is in and if the Monaco's area is the best choice anyway? But I only get one shot at staying a night in Seattle and I'd like to experience it in style if possible and affordable.

Thanks

[thereuare]

Please follow-up your HOTWIRE Las Vegas thread (second request :) ) as well as your other Priceline Las Vegas post.

Thank you.

[hwfiv]

I actually didn't follow up on my Las Vegas thread because I got scared about ending up at Circus Circus and so I chose to book directly with the Luxor, which had a good deal on their internet site. For that trip, location was key for me and I didn't want to take a risk. So sadly, I just didn't have anything to add to that post. I'd like to use Hotwire or Priceline - but the Las Vegas trip simply wasn't the right trip to take chances with. I believe the Seattle trip might be the perfect shot at using Hotwire or Priceline. But I'm trying to get some information and feedback, as my ONLY exposure to Seattle in any way shape or form was in seeing the travel channel Great Hotels show do a segment at the Monaco.

Thanks!

[thereuare]

I actually didn't follow up on my Las Vegas thread because I got scared about ending up at Circus Circus and so I chose to book directly with the Luxor...

That is the follow-up we're looking for (and should be added to your other thread). At least when reading it the user would know if you ultimately successful or not and what you ended up doing for the stay... that is certainly much better than having it being 'open' and unresolved, with a reader wondering what happened.

[hwfiv]

We did end up bidding for the 4.5 Star hotel in Seattle for Sunday July 25th. The rate was $208.

We were afraid we would lose the possibility of the Monaco if we waited for the price to go down.

We bid and we got the Monaco at $208 for a Sunday night. I've been excited about it until I saw the posts that others are getting weekend nights at the Monaco in the $120's!!

I just checked again and the rate for the 4.5 Star Boutique hotel is now up to $209 for that night.

Hotwire saved me $50 from the Monaco book rate. But I have to admit, I'm really upset that other people are getting the Monaco for like $90 LESS than I got it for!!

So if you want the Monaco - I think it's a pretty good bet that the hotwire hotel with those matching amenities will be the Monaco. And it did work for us and we got the hotel we wanted. But beware that others may get better prices than you if they pick better dates. I still can't believe that someone got the Monaco on a Saturday night for $124 and we are there on a Sunday and paying SO much more. Unless the Monaco is more of a business travelers hotel and so they keep their weekend rates lower??

The other thing I want to warn everyone about is that we had two frozen transactions because of the "Verified by Visa" thing. It took about 10 minutes of waiting for that page to come up after we input our credit card info. After 10 minutes we decided the site had frozen on us and we closed it out and started again with a different credit card. That froze for more than 10 minutes again, but this time there was a phone number on the screen that said to call it if we were having trouble getting the transaction through. While we were on the phone with the hotwire rep, he told us that the "Verified by Visa" page jams up on people FAR more than he could even tell me. He told me that would would have to use a THIRD credit card because both of those previous credit cards were not going to be approved since it froze on the "Verified by Visa" page. Just as we were trying to figure out which credit card to use, the verification arrived that we had gotten and been confirmed at the Monaco. That was about 15 minutes AFTER the screen appeared to freeze.

In the end, I'm very glad to have saved $50 over the book rate on the hotel that I wanted, but I'm stinging a little bit from paying $208 for a room that other hotwire users are getting for $121 or $124..... That's a hotwire issue, though. Betterbidding.com is incredibly valuable for helping you to know what you're doing and what you're getting. Now if I could just understand why the Sunday night that I'm staying there is $90 more a night than the Sunday night two weeks earlier than someone else is staying there....

[JamesENicholson]

Interesting tidbit. I kept watching the 4.5 star boutique listing on hotwire and when I got within 1 week of my need, the offer price on hotwire dropped from 178 to 121 per night and i purchased it. As betterbidding predicted, I ended up with the Monaco.