Priceline Hotel: Houston(Galleria) - Help with upcoming trip

[CountBlah]

I used to use priceline all the time to book hotels for my trips down to my home office in the Galleria area. I usually book Monday - Friday and have always started a week out by trying 5, 4, 3.5 stars. I used to start at $79 then increase the dollar amount per day by $5 or $10 if my bid is not accepted. I usually got the Hotel Derek at $79 or $89, occasionally I'd get the Intercontinental. But it seems that the last 6 months or so, I can not book a room at all!!! I've even gone as high as $109 and still get rejected every time.

Because of no accepted bids, I've been staying at Extended Stay America for like $85-$89 a night.

So, in my experience, it seems like the galleria hotels have drastically changed their prices or agreements with priceline. This used to be easy, now I'm finding priceline simply does not work for me anymore.

Any advice would be appreciated, or else I will be forced to abandon priceline because it has effectively stopped working for me.

Thanks!!!

[thereuare]

Using your dates above as an example, the Hotel Derek is $250+ and the InterContinental is sold-out, so it shouldn't be surprising that bids ~$100 aren't be accepted. Perhaps business has picked-up in this area since you had bid in years past and hotels aren't as vacant as there were, and therefore don't need to discount as deeply, but HOTWIRE does have a 3.5* in the Galleria zone with Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Smoke Free, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Laundry for $102/nite (less than the $109 you say you bid above) which i'm guessing is the Crowne Plaza River Oaks, would this work for your needs?

Also, checking to see if the week above is an anomaly i looked to see rates for the following week, 1/30-2/3 and HOTWIRE has a 4* hotel in the zone for $74/nite (i'm guessing the Westin Oaks). It may be possible that these dates are simply cheaper than the previous week, but it's also possible that the hotel is only willing to discount for advance purchases... are you always waiting to bid until just days before your stay?

Going back to the original dates, the day-by-day rates are somewhat high, but drop for the last nite of your stay, is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID an option? Even just one higher than usual nite in the week can effect your ability to win a bid for the entire week, did you ever try splitting your bid?

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

[CountBlah]

I ended up taking a $92 a night blind rate from HOTWIRE. I ended up at the Crown Plaza river Oaks. It was a drive to and from the office. I did start my bidding process two weeks out. Not sure if that is "Advanced" enough or not. Looks like I'll try even earlier, and if push comes to shove, I'll just do extended stay america, so I can walk to the office.

Thanks for your help. One final question. Where are you going to check dates against prices and vacancy for individual hotels?

Thanks again.

[thereuare]

I ended up taking a $92 a night blind rate from HOTWIRE. I ended up at the Crown Plaza river Oaks.

Can you please share the details of this purchase so that others can benefit from the information.

In your post please include the star rating, city, zone, hotel name, room rate per nite, dates and amenities shown before your purchase... you can still view all of this information by clicking the MY ACCOUNT link on the top right of their home page. Also, if you use the "EDIT TO REPORT WIN" button on the bottom right of the board to fill out the form, if you change Service Used to 'Hotwire' this thread will automatically be moved to the HOTWIRE section of the board ;)

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

Thanks in advance.