Priceline Hotel: 4* London (Kensington - Earls Court - Knightsbridge) Millennium And Copthorne Hotels At Chelsea Football Club

[grayh]

do you have any tips on how to manage to get the Hilton Canary Wharf? I really love this hotel and as far as I know, it was rather easy to get this hotel in the last years (since there aren't many 4**** hotels in the region) but I've seen in the Priceline Hotel list that there is another Hilton 4**** now (Hilton Docklands). Does anyone know how likely it is to get the Hilton Canary Wharf for 15-17 May? Should I start with 90+ Dollar since the last successful Hilton Docklands bids were about 80-85 Dollar?

[thereuare]

You can't bid on or target a specific hotel when using PRICELINE, you have to be able to accept any hotel in the zone at the star level (or higher) that you choose. With HOTWIRE you can often take an educated guess as to what is being offered based upon the amenities associated with the property, but it's still a 'best guess' and no guarantees you will receive the hotel you're hoping for. As well, HOTWIRE only shows one hotel at each star level per zone, so there is a chance the hotel you're hoping for isn't the one which is offered for your particular dates.

Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

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

[grayh]

I know that ;). I'm just trying to increase the probability. However, I'm already up to 110 Dollar and in fact I've added almost every region (except Kensington Earl's Court and Twickenham) for a 4**** star hotel and still no result. Does this already have something to do with the olympics? Seems to weird to me especially since I've never had lots of problems to get a decent 4 star property in areas such as Notting Hill (Hilton Kensington) or Regents Park for 90-110 Dollar.

I guess I wait until Wednesday's PRICELINE 5 Dollar Bonus cash email.

[thereuare]

HOTWIRE has a 4* hotel in the Docklands zone for $100 with:

Restaurant, Fitness, Smoke Free, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Laundry

It might be a new amenity set for the Novotel Excel, but i'm not certain. Do note that this property (whichever it may be) does get good reviews from previous guests for by all measures except for location, where it only receives a 3.5/5.0 rating... not sure if this aspect is important to you or not OR if for the price, given your previous PRICELINE rejections, it would be a worthwhile option.

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

Keep us updated on your progress and let us know if we can be of further help along the way.

[grayh]

The HOTWIRE hotel is the Novotel, pretty sure about that. The Hilton Canary Wharf has a higher Tripadvisor rating. But I've given up on the Hilton.

I've bid $130 now and included all regions except Earl's Court, Twickenham and Chelsea. Still no result. Wow. I could really need some bonus cash now.

[thereuare]

Is there no interest in the HOTWIRE property? How high are you willing to bid (or how close to your arrival date are you willing to wait) before you consider other zones and/or lower your star rating?

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

[grayh]

Basically no interest in HOTWIRE. The thing is, I've included Chelsea and Earl's Court too by now and increased my bid to 135 Dollar. The only region I've excluded is Twickenham since it is too far away. And still no result. It's becoming ridiculous, I always got 4 star hotels on priceline for 90 - 120 Dollar.

Unfortunately, PRICELINE didn't send their weekly 5 Dollar Bonus cash emails. Instead, I received a bonus on rental cars *sigh*.

[thereuare]

It's becoming ridiculous, I always got 4 star hotels on priceline for 90 - 120 Dollar.

What is the best rate you're able to find for these dates thru conventional booking channels?

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

[grayh]

I've just bid up to 150 Dollar on all zones except Twickenham and still no result.

And theeeeen at 155 Dollar, I was finally successful. Can't say I'm very pleased about the result, at least I saved about 100 Dollar compared to the Expedia rate but I'm still a bit disappointed, I usually got better results via PRICELINE.

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels At Chelsea Football Club - Zone: Chelsea Knightsbride

Room per night: US$155.00

Room Subtotal: US$310.00

Taxes & Fees: US$72.34

Total Charged to Card: US$382.34

[vanpoodle]

I've stayed at the Chelsea Football Club. It wasn't bad, it was sort of a consolation prize when I couldn't land anything better for a decent price -- but if you bid Chelsea that's the hotel you're 99.9999999% likely to get and you'll be in Fulham rather than Chelsea, they do something funny with the zone boundaries. Never bid there and think you'll be near Harrod's or Sloane Square!

As soon as you get to your room, check the bed to make sure it's up to standard and is reasonably flat. I had a sleepless night because the bed in the first room they gave us was very worn out and lumpy, you could see the shape of people who'd slept there, it had really cratered. After heading to the front desk in a bleary-eyed state at 6am, they agreed to move us for the next night. The new room was better but still not a very good mattress, still a bit of a crater in the middle.

Otherwise, location is not bad, walkable to the tube (zone 2 mind you) and a bus stop right out front, some decent restaurants close by. I think I'm only happy staying there when I know it was a really good deal!

[grayh]

To be honest, I'm sort of happy I did get a hotel at all :D. I was already worrying, since I've booked the flights and paid for Musical and Theatre. Zone 2 isn't a problem, as you can see in my original request, I would have preferred the Docklands and they aren't exactly in the centre too. London has an excellent tube system, so that isn't a problem in my opinion.

Thanks for your advice, I will definitely keep that in mind! You think I should give the hotel a call and ask for a bouquet or something, since the person that travels with me celebrates her birthday on the 15th and this trip a birthday present? Never did something like that, don't know if the hotels do something like that.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you got this stay settled and that your satisfied with the results. You can certainly call the hotel and let them know that it's somebody's birthday and ask what they suggest and if they can do anything to make this trip 'special' (hotels are used to this type of request and often have something 'extra' they may do)

Thank you for sharing your win with the board.

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

Enjoy your stay.