Priceline Hotel: 4* Los Angeles (Beverly Hills-W Hollywood) Westin

[norwegianwife]

Hello Everyone and Happy 4th of July!

I need a bidding strategy for Los Angeles JUly 29 thru the 31 (2 nights).

Looked on Priceline to see what their star ratings were for the city areas and there are only 3 with 4 star hotels. We are leaning towards Beverly Hills just because it seems fairly central (or not to far) to what we want for a couple of days (shopping for the girls and Universal Studios for the boys). Would go for Hollywood, but all the reviews for those hotels have not been very good.

Checked rates on hotel websites and for our dates these are the rates (In Beverly HIlls)-

Avalon- 219

Hilton- 375

Park Hyatt- 261

Wyndham BelAge- 170

We would like to keep it under 80 before taxes. Is this realistic given these going rates?

We are not familiar with Los Angeles, so if anyone has any sugesstions for zones to bid in that offer nice hotels at cheaper rates, we are open to hearing them. (For example, not sure what 3 star UPSCALE means, but those are the options for Bel Air, Redondo and Manhatten Beach and Santa Monica Zones)

As always, we appreciate any advice you with knowledge can give! Thanks so much!

[holtju2]

I believe that if your budget is $80/night you would have better luck with the 3 star properties or 4 star in OC.

Also Priceline have merged West LA/WeHo/BH in to the same zone. If you bid 3 star you might end up Hyatt in West Hollywood, Crowne Plaza in Beverly Hills (or actually one block from Beverly Hills), or Doubletree in Westwood.

[norwegianwife]

I think you are right. I just can't get excited about spending big bucks on a hotel in LA!!! But have every expectation of spending 80 PLUS for San Fran...hmmmm......

SOOOOO, If I bid for a 3 star upscale in the Los Angeles area I have no 'free' rebids (as I look at the Priceline star ratings for each zone) Is that right (or I can add zones with similar ratings one by one right?) So should I just start bidding at 45 and wait 3 days and try again? wouldn't mind a 3 star in BelAir, Redondo-Manhatten Beach or Santa Monica. HOw is this strategy:

Bid 45 in Redondo if rejected

Bid 48 and add Santa Monica...if rejected

Bid 51 and add Bel Air...if rejected

Bid 55 and Add Beverly Hills?????

Am I starting to understand or are you guys cringing at my "strategy"???

[norwegianwife]

Hi Decided to go for the 4 star in Beverly Hills...

Started out at 65 dollars

added free rebid zones up to 95

NO SALE!!!!!!!

Will keep trying!

[norwegianwife]

Hmmmmm....LA is turning out to be a tough cookie!

Just finished my 72 hour wait and rebid for Beverly Hills 4 star---Started at 80 and added rebid zones up to 110 and rejected....

Is there a KEY as to the ORDER you add rebid zones??

Also, will we have better luck in LA the closer we get to the dates?

AND, are rates higher on weekends? I thought they were usually a little lower....

Thanks for any thoughts on this!

[norwegianwife]

Finally!

The Century Plaza Hotel And Spa

Your Offer Price: $115.00

Number of Rooms: 2

Number of Nights: 1

Subtotal: $230.00

Taxes & Service Fees: $42.44

Total Charges: $272.44

Started at 80 and added free rebids to 115...last rebid was accepted! thrilled with the location and Trip Advisor reviews seem to pretty good.

AS always, bid through the barn!

Thanks for everyone's help!

[thereuare]

Nice to see another successful bid.

Sometimes it goes like... struggle on a few of your stays and then everything starts to open up and you see one success after another.

Do you recall the amount of your bid immediately prior to this acceptance?

Enjoy your stay and thank you for using the links at SavingsBarn.com :)

[norwegianwife]

my bid before the last one was 110 with a free rebid of Santa Monica...rejected and added Culver City and upped my bid to 115! Accepted.

is that what you meant?

[thereuare]

Yup! (was looking for the $110 number)