Priceline Hotel: 4* Los Angeles (Hollywood) Loews Hollywood Hotel

[dpryan]

4* Downtown Los Angeles Area $112 ("$210 other sites")

8/23 - 8/26/2012

Amenities:

Indoor pool(s)

Fitness Center

Pool(s)

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

High-Speed Internet Access

Spa Services

Accessible path of travel

In-room accessibility

Wheelchair accessible

Accessible bathroom

Recommended: In 65% of Hotwire customer reviews.

I used the HOTWIRE/PRICELINE links.

Thanks!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

The Millennium Biltmore would be my best guess for this one.

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

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[dpryan]

I agree that it's probably the Millennium Biltmore.

But it's only a 3.5* on Priceline and an older hotel. But cheaper parking across the street($15) was an advantage. I saw that GenAznX got the same hotel (Millennium Biltmore) the following weekend for $100 on the first try, so I thought I'd try that and save a few bucks ($100 vs $112).

I bid on 3.5 star hotels: $90 (downtown), $95 (+ west hollywood), $100 (+ hollywood).

And tada! I win for $100/night for the 4* Loews Hollywood Hotel.

Funny thing is... yesterday I bid up to $130 on 4* Hollywood hotels, with no luck. (Starting at $100 and going $110, $115, $120, $125, $130). At the time, I used Beverly Hills and Santa Monica as free rebids, since I was pretty sure I wouldn't get a 4* in those areas at this low of a price (...else I would happily take a hotel in those areas if the bid was successful).

Since I didn't really want to pay that much, I though I'd lower my price/stars and win something downtown.

So today I bid $100 on 3.5* expecting that I'd get something downtown, and tada - I get what I wanted in the first place.

Needless to say, I'm very happy.

Edit: I'm duplicating this info in the PRICELINE forum.

[dpryan]

So, here's the story.

I planned on winning the 3.5* Millennium Biltmore like GenAznX did the following weekend for under $100.

I bid on 3.5 star hotels: $90 (downtown), $95 (+ west hollywood), $100 (+ hollywood).

And tada! I win for $100/night for the 4* Loews Hollywood Hotel.

Funny thing is... yesterday I bid up to $130 on 4* Hollywood hotels, with no luck. (Starting at $100 and going $110, $115, $120, $125, $130). At the time, I used Beverly Hills and Santa Monica as free rebids, since I was pretty sure I wouldn't get a 4* in those areas at this low of a price (...else I would happily take a hotel in those areas if the bid was successful).

Since I didn't really want to pay that much, I though I'd lower my price/stars and win something downtown.

So today I bid $100 on 3.5* expecting that I'd get something downtown, and tada - I get what I wanted in the first place.

Needless to say, I'm very happy.

[GETMEOUTOFHERE]

Congrats on your win! I have been bidding in the Santa Monica/Marina Del Ray, adding Westwood, West Hollywood & LAX for seven days now, going all the way up to $105 and down to 3* with no luck. This gives me hope!

[dpryan]

I guess I don't understand your strategy or goal.

Santa Monica/Marina Del Ray is typically going to be expensive - just look at other people's wins on this forum.

If you don't care about being beachside, then the other areas that you mention will be cheaper. LAX (airport) seems to be especially cheap on the weekends (~$100 for 4* on hotwire).

I'm not sure when or how long your travel is.

My main thought is that you may not be using all of your rebidding zones.

You have 4 "free" rebidding zones if you're looking at 3.5* and above (USC, Lawndale, Inglewood, Culver City). Since those areas don't have hotels in that rating (>=3.5*), you are safe to add them one at a time without any chance of being selected for a hotel there, giving you the ability to try 4 additional prices. If you're bidding 3* and above, then Culver City doesn't work (since it has 3* hotels), but the other 3 zones do.

Note: Before I start bidding, I always verify which zones have which star ratings. In the "name your own price mode," select the checkbox for each zone one at a time and see which star levels are available.

Then I make a list of the zones which can be used for free rebids.

My bidding strategy was a little different for this trip, since I was interested in hotels in several different areas. Looking back, I probably should have selected all of the zones I was interested in at the beginning (downtown, hollywood, beverly hills, westwood, etc.) and then used my free rebidding zones to slowly increase the bid. However, at the time, I thought there was no chance of getting a hotel at my bidding price anywhere but downtown based on my bidding results from the night before.

[thereuare]

dpryan,

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you were ultimately successful with the star rating and zone you originally wanted.

Note in the future you can simply post your win using the EDIT TO REPORT WIN button (it's gone now since the thread has already been edited) and the thread will automatically be moved to the correct section of the board. ;)

Thank you for sharing your win and using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.

GETMEOUTOFHERE,

If you'd like help with your own stay please start a NEW TOPIC.

Thanks.