Priceline Hotel: need help for Europe hotels....

[thesqueegeekid]

Some friends of mine want me to book their trip so I was hoping for any suggestions about hotels for the following areas... I have no clue about them and would appreciate any help. I have to start bidding tonight!!!

"Paris three nites July 24, 25, & 26

Nice two nites July 27,& 28

Rome three nites July 29,30,& 31

Venice three nites Aug 1,2,3

Please try to get a 4 star property as close to the rail station as possible without sacrificing on the quality I am willing to pay up to $150 per nite and if that gets me a 5 star than well and good. In Paris if you can find us something in the left bank."

[WillTravel]

If they are very quality-oriented and particularly if they want air-conditioning, I might just bid 5*. Based on the reviews on TOBB and elsewhere, 4* in those cities will not necessarily get you much.

Rack rates in Europe can be a shock - I was reading on flyertalk.com about people paying 350-450 Euros per night for a standard double hotel room at the Hyatt in Paris - and the air conditioning still did not work!

Nice doesn't have zones, so you run into the problem that the hotel could be anywhere that has an address with Nice in it.

I think the left bank for Paris would mean bidding "St. Germain - Latin Quarter - Montparnasse" - but best to get a Paris expert to answer that one. (Or have your friends view the map and be sure they'd be happy in that zone.)

[thesqueegeekid]

Thanks WillTravel.

I just went though all the zones in PL and Paris has only one with a 5* - Champs Elysees which should make bidding easier (I will double check about where left bank is). Rome as well lists 5 zones with only one having a 5*.

Nice will be a bugger ... as you said only one zone.

Venice has 3 zones with two offering 5*'s. Amazing, they have a Holiday Inn listed as a 4* there!!!

Now, I have to find out where these train stations are???

[Welldone Rumproast]

Hi tsk - I've been to all the cities on your list but have always stayed near the airport in Paris and Rome, so I'll limit my remarks to Nice.

Oh, also, for Paris, remind them that there are multiple train stations - trains from Paris bound to Nice (especially the TGV highspeed trains) *USUALLY* leave from the Gare de Lyon, which is over near the Bastille - this may not matter if they're more centrally located in the Left Bank area, still, they should be aware as they get ready to depart on the 27th

For Nice, I notice that the TOBB 4* list includes the Le Meridien Nice. I stayed at this hotel in February 1997. The location is perfect as it sits right on the Promenade de Anglais, the road that hugs the Mediterranean Sea coastline, at the city center. The Old Town area, with the major attractions, markets and restaurants, is a five-minute walk away. The hotel website says that the train station is 2 KM away and that the hotel was renovated in 1999-2001 (it was in pretty good shape in '97 when I was there). There is even a casino on the ground floor(!)

The LeMeridien website's low rate is Eur. 210 for your dates. Just as a comparison, the Four Points (which is probably a 3* in most ratings) further down the Promenade de Anglais has internet rates at Eur. 150 including late checkout. I *assume* that the rates for the LeMed and for the FourPoints are inclusive of VAT, while with PL you'd need to add taxes and fees.

In my opinion, if you could snag the LeMed or other 4* for USD 100+ taxes/fees (like the bidded on TOBB did), it would be a pretty good deal

One last thing to keep in mind: many Europeans head for the Riviera for their August vacations - so hopefully your friends' dates will just beat this mass exodus for the beach resort areas (Nice has a long coastline, although there are no sand beaches, instead it is a "rock" beach, still it is very popular.

For reference: Today's Dollar/ Euro rate from OANDA.COM:

FXConverter - 164 Currency Converter Results

Saturday, July 19, 2003

1 US Dollar = 0.88723 Euro

1 Euro (EUR) = 1.12710 US Dollar (USD)

Hope this helps......

[thesqueegeekid]

Thanks 'Rump' your info about Nice was excellent. In fact, I just copied it and emailed it to them ... of course, they will first take a second or two to wonder about the name "Welldone Rumproast"!!!

I only have Venice left. I bid up to $140 for a 5* knowing it would most likely get rejected and it did.

Also, for 4*'s I have bid up to...

$100 Venice rejected.

$90 Lido de Venice rejected

$80 Mestre rejected.

I had to stop and double check with them if they were willing to stay in those two other zones and will resume bidding tonight. I actually only have two bids/chances left.

TOBB lists the 4* Holiday Inn @ $100 in Mestre and Expedia has a decent 4* Laguna Palace for $115 in Mestre as well.

Holiday Inn website: http://www.sixcontinentshotels.com/h/d/HI/.../hd/vcerr?irs=y

Laguna Palace website: http://www.lagunapalace.com/site/LagunaPal...naPalace_en.asp

[WillTravel]

You're doing great, tsk!

If for some reason, Venice still doesn't work on Priceline, I have found that these two sites often have rates not matched elsewhere (although of course I'd recommend a thorough search of Expedia, Orbitz, Travelaxe, etc. also):

http://www.laterooms.co.uk

http://www.ryanair.com (and click on the Hotels link) - this is an interface to the OctopusTravel.com site. But oddly, if I go through the Ryanair site I often see prices that are way cheaper than if I go straight through the OctopusTravel.com site.

I would have suggested using Priceline Asia for more rebids - but it turns out they don't include Venice as an option for bidding.

[thesqueegeekid]

Well, thanks everyone for your help ... I just made the final booking for Venice through Expedia (linked from here).

I was going to book the 4* Laguna in Mestre for $131 total per night when I saw an odd :) 3-night Expedia Special Rate for the 4* Boscolo Hotel Bellini right in Venice. They had three price categories:

Standard Double sleeps 3 ... $174.31 ... special price ... $156.88

Double Superior sleeps 2 ... $192.42 ... special price ... $173.18

Double DeLuxe sleeps 2 ... $219.59 ... special price ... $219.59 (BUT last night free) avg. price $146.40

Only, the last one had the free third night and for the best of the room choices too!!!

I triple checked many other sites and the best prices were $200+++ so, I jumped on it.

I also checked the reviews and they were all outstanding on trip advisor!!!

Boscolo Hotel Bellini website: http://www.bellini.boscolohotels.com/venbe...ommodation.html

Taxes and fees were $19.03 PER NIGHT which in comparison to Priceline is pretty high but still great for this deal. Total for three nights ... $496.26

I had also tried more bids on PL ... $165 for a 5* and up to $135 for a 4*. I even got rejected at $100 for a 4* in the Mestre zone where I thought I would get the Holiday Inn. I also bid on PL/HK and PL/UK in case they had different availability but they were all rejected.

[WillTravel]

How did all the stays go? Most importantly, did your friends end up with air conditioning that worked?

It now appears from posts elsewhere on this board (see http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?act...T&f=174&t=1890& ) that Priceline does not guarantee air conditioning even at the 5* level, so this is definitely something to consider when doing a Priceline booking for a European summer trip. Still, I can't imagine that almost any 5* hotel would not have A/C, but I guess you would be out of luck in respect to getting a refund if A/C was not functioning properly when you arrived. It does appear that quite a few 4* hotels in Europe do not have A/C at all (no real idea of the percentages).