Priceline Hotel: Boston Help Please

[Ben Z]

Hi All.

Not overly familiar with Boston but I am a little baffled as I see a couple of recent bids getting 3.5 or 4 stars in downtown area for <$160 / night but I cannot come close.

I hope to get three nights mid next week (10 days not 3). I am not overly picky about location as we will just be touring around for a few days.

I have tried four areas (Waterfront- Aquarium, Waterfront- Convention, Quincy Market / Financial and Copley / Back Bay) for 4, then 3.5, then 3 stars with a bid of up to $180 per night with no takers.

I wonder if it may be due to weekday vs. weekend. Not sure. We plan on driving to Boston and realistically just parking the car and I realize that parking downtown will probably be quite expensive. We would consider staying somewhere slightly outside the city where rates would be better and parking cheaper (or free) and just taking subway into the downtown core area to visit and tour around during the day.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

Please provide the exact date/s of travel and desired star rating/max bid per night.

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

[Ben Z]

Sorry that I didn't include all details. Travel is from 17/7/2012 - 20/7/2012. I would like 3 stars or better in any of the areas I listed (Waterfront- Aquarium, Waterfront- Convention, Quincy Market / Financial and Copley / Back Bay) in Boston. I have placed bids up to $180 per night and have not been successful. Thanks!

[namssa]

I have had the exact same problem. I have bid Harbor Front, Quincy Market, Theatre District and Beacon Hill all up to $180 for 4 and 3 1/2 stars with no luck. I'm traveling 7/21 - 7/23.

[thereuare]

Ben Z,

As you're finding these are very expensive dates in Boston. The 'problem' with staying outside of the 'downtown proper' is that the zones get geographically larger and it becomes more difficult to ensure that you're new a train station to get into the city (although since you have a car, would driving to a train station and parking there (possibly paid parking) be an option??) Is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID an option? Any back-up plan as of yet?

namssa,

If you would like help with your own stay feel free to start a NEW TOPIC.

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

Thanks.

[Ben Z]

Driving to train station or even taking the car into the city center would be an option for us. Saving some $$ on hotel would make high parking costs a little easier to swallow. :)

I would really rather not split the trip into two hotels. No backup plan as of yet. Not sure if closer to travel date is more likely to increase or decrease the chances of getting something through Priceline?

Any suggestions on somewhere in "the burbs" that would be a more reasonable choice if we were able to train or city center?

Really appreciate the help.

[crito]

The best region that you haven't tried would be Cambridge, which (i) is a very close and cheap taxi ride, (ii) has mostly hotels that are close enough to T stops to make it a very easy trip (often about 6 minutes on the Red Line to Park St.), and (iii) has mostly hotels that are in fairly interesting areas of their own.

Second best, in my opinion, would be Brookline/Newton. Newton is boring but you can take the T downtown, easy and cheap; Brookline has some interesting areas of its own and you could actually walk from some parts to some tourist sights (Fenway Park, even the Museum of Fine Art or Back Bay).

Medford/Somerville Hotwire has what appears to be the Hyatt Place; that hotel is not close to the T, unfortunately, so public transportation would be possible (bus) but not very convenient; still, it has free parking.

You can go further out, and some of the outer suburbs have okay light rail connections -- look for what the MBTA calls the Purple Line, but this is a quite different system from the rest of the T. (A bit like Metra in Chicago.) Quincy has Red Line access, it's just a longish ride (30 minutes or so).

I have to say that I do *not* recommend driving into Boston in the summer. Besides the cost of parking downtown, it's a drag, the traffic is bad, and driving downtown is very confusing, much more so than New York or Chicago. If you stay south or west, you can drive to a park-and-ride station and take the T in, and I would really recommend doing that instead.

[thereuare]

Not sure if closer to travel date is more likely to increase or decrease the chances of getting something through Priceline?

Nobody can say, but with the 10K person conference i wouldn't exactly count on rates dropping... but there could always be one hotel that didn't get as many reservations, or got more cancellations, then expected and offers a deal sometime before your stay. However, with a week to go hotels have a pretty good idea of their occupancy levels and have priced rooms for these dates accordingly.

Based upon the replied above let us know when/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.