Priceline Hotel: 3* Philadelphia (Convention Center - Mid Center City) Hilton Garden Inn Philadelphia Center City

[songdoc]

Hi --

I'm trying to ID the following Philadelphia hotels.

In Convention Center/Mid Center City your hotel list doesn't show anything below 3 stars. Priceline offers hotels at 1, 2, and 2-1/2 stars.

In Rittenhouse Square your hotel list doesn't show anything below 3-1/2 stars. Priceline offers hotels at 2, 2-1/2, and 3 stars.

In Penn's Landing your list doesn't show anything below 3 stars -- Priceline offers hotels at 1, 2, and 2-1/2 stars.

Any idea what these hotels might be? That would help me decide whether I should try and get them -- if the price is right--or if I should stick to 3 stars and above.

Thanks!

[AaronJB]

The lists only show the hotels that have been reported to the board, and the lists are updated as new information comes in. Not all hotels on the retail side of the service participate on the bidding side, so unfortunately, there's no way to know for sure the entire list of possibilities at these star ratings (and at star ratings where there have been hotels reported, there could be new hotels or changes in star ratings at any time.)

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[songdoc]

Help Requested for Philadelphia Convention Center 3/31 - 4/3

I’m having a frustrating time getting a hotel in the Philadelphia Convention Center zone. I noticed that someone else (a few posts below this) got a 3-1/2 star hotel in that zone a couple of days after my desired dates for $67.

I started at $67 for 3-1/2 star. Added re-bid zones (Cherry Hill, City Line, Gloucester, Museum, Trevose) incrementally going up to $89—but was still rejected.

I did the same with 3 star. No luck.

Tried again the following day with the same results.

Noticed a 2-star hotel for $88 at Hotwire. I’m guessing that’s the Travelodge. The zone and low price are more important to me than a fancy hotel. So … I tried 2-star on Priceline for $75. Rejected. Added the free re-bid Museum zone for $82. No luck.

I’m getting close to giving up and booking the 2-star on Hotwire.

Any suggestions?

[thereuare]

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

I think the Saturday nite is likely the issue of why your bids are not being accepted... is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID an option?

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

[songdoc]

Sorry ... I thought this was a different topic from ID'ing hotels ...

I want to be sure I understand the concept of splitting the bid. Do you mean I'd bid (for example) $100 for Saturday night -- and bid $67 separately for Sun. & Monday nights? With multiple hotels in the zone, I'd be running the risk of having to move to a different hotel, but ... there's only one 3-1/2 star listed.

I'm thinking the problem is that you can't know what bid you'll have to make on the second bid. For instance, if I lock in Saturday at $100/night -- I'd have to keep bidding until they accepted my bid for Sun. & Mon. -- even if it was $100/night -- which is higher than I'd like to spend.

Thoughts? Thanks!

[thereuare]

If you SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID you should expect to change hotels during the stay.

The gameplan i would have would be to purchase the last two nites first.. then 'fill-in' with an additional purchase for Saturday nite. I gave a quick look earlier and chances are that for Saturday nite you'll likely need to drop your star rating and/or stay outside of 'downtown'.

For example, looking at HOTWIRE, for 4/1-4/3 they have a few 3*/3.5* hotels for $75-$85/nite.

For 3/31-4/1 anything 'downtown' starts at $150+... so you would either need to take some of the saving fro the first purchase and apply it to increase the budget for this last nite at a different hotel... or stay outside of downtown for the first nite (near the airport or something similar)

It comes down to having to change hotels in order to upgrade your accommodations vs. staying at a lower rated hotel for your complete stay.

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

Let us know your thoughts and we'll take it from there.

[songdoc]

Splitting the stay was the ticket. It actually worked out fine because we're going to be at the airport the first evening anyway (to pick up a rental car). So, we'll stay at the airport that first night.

I started by bidding for a 4 star hotel at the airport. Bids were rejected (using free rebid zones) at $62, $68, and $72.

Went down to 3-1/2 star and was rejected at $60. I did not go higher by adding zones because Hotwire showed a 3-star at the airport for $60--and that would have been fine.

My first bid for a 3-star at the airport was accepted: $54 -- for the Wyndham Garden. With free Internet and free parking -- it's a good price for a place to just sleep.

The following day we'll check into the other hotel.

As per the previous entries, I was having a hard time snagging a good deal for the Convention Center zone.

Bidding ONLY for Sunday & Monday nights, I tried again for a 3-1/2 star in the Convention Center zone. Using free re-bid zones, I was rejected at $67, $72, $77, and $82.

Tried a 3-star in the same zone and got it on my first bid of $77. It's the Hilton Garden Inn at 11th & Arch. With free Internet--I'm very happy about this.

I've finally got everything booked! Thanks for your help!

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you were able to come up with a plan to make SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID work for your needs and that you were able to get a few great deals as a result (and significantly cheaper than if you needed to stay at the same property for the duration of your trip).

Thank you for sharing your win with the board. To stick with the board format of only one win per thread (so each can have a link in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins) we'll use this thread for your 'downtown' win of April 1-3, please start a NEW TOPIC for your Airport purchase for 3/30 so that others will be aware of the win for that nite as well.

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

Enjoy your stay(s).