Priceline Hotel: 3* Cincinnati (Airport CVG - Florence) Doubletree Cincinnati Airport

[nsxtasy]

I'm bidding on the above dates in downtown Cincinnati, and so far the following bids have failed:

4* $63

3.5* $61

3* $55

2.5* $49

I'm a pretty experienced Priceline bidder, so I know my options (bid higher, bid for other areas, bid lower star levels, book through another website). I also see on other travel websites that almost all the nicer (3.5-4.0 star) hotels there (and all the ones in nearby Covington) are showing no availability for Thursday through Saturday nights (I'm trying for Saturday) so there may be a major convention in town, booking up all the nicer hotels. (The Bengals are on the road, so that's not it.) Hotwire is only offering 4* for around $300 and 1* for around $75, and has nothing in Covington.

Incidentally, I have come to the conclusion that Priceline does not have ANY 2.5* or 3* hotels in this area, even though you can bid at those levels. I'll explain why I say that in a moment. I can only guess that they still display the lower star levels, so that if you bid high enough for a 2.5* or 3*, they will give you a 3.5* or a 4* instead. And that's quite plausible; anyone who's familiar with Priceline knows that they pitch the website towards INexperienced users with the hope that they bid higher than they need to (such as telling them the average retail price is $200 when a winning bid might be as little as $40).

Why do I think there are no 2.5* or 3* hotels available on Priceline in this area? Here's how Priceline displays the star levels available for this area:

4-Star Deluxe

- Guest Review Score 8.0 or Higher

3½-Star Upscale-Plus - Best deal

- Guest Review Score 7.0 or Higher

3-Star Upscale

- Guest Review Score 7.0 or Higher

2½-Star Moderate-Plus

- Guest Review Score 7.0 or Higher

2-Star Moderate

1-Star Economy

I have thoroughly searched numerous travel websites that give user reviews, and I have not found a single property in this area at a 2.5-star or 3.0-star level which gets consistently high ratings from users. Not even close.

Anyway, i just wanted to pass along my experience in the hopes that it will help others. I may go a bit higher (in which case I'll mention it here), but I'll probably just book something in another part of town (in which case I won't be able to use Hotwire or Priceline, because if I'm not downtown, I'll need to book a specific property for transportation reasons).

[nsxtasy]

I tried raising my bids, but the following bids have failed:

4* $74

3.5* $72

3* $67

2.5* $64

I also tried bidding in Cincinnati - Covington/Riverfront, where the following bids have failed:

4* $58

3.5* $56

3* $51

2.5* $46

I have a reservation in an outlying neighborhood, but I sure would prefer to be right downtown.

Also, I've been really careful about avoiding some of the hotels that get 1.0-2.5 stars. Some of those hotels have really awful user reviews on sites such as Tripadvisor.

[thereuare]

Why do I think there are no 2.5* or 3* hotels available on Priceline in this area? Here's how Priceline displays the star levels available for this area:

4-Star Deluxe

- Guest Review Score 8.0 or Higher

3½-Star Upscale-Plus - Best deal

- Guest Review Score 7.0 or Higher

3-Star Upscale

- Guest Review Score 7.0 or Higher

2½-Star Moderate-Plus

- Guest Review Score 7.0 or Higher

2-Star Moderate

1-Star Economy

Assume that PRICELINE does have 2.5* and 3* hotels in these respective zones and the minimum user review in each zone is 8.0.

Using your example above, 7.0 would still be shown for the 2.5* and 3* ratings since a bid at either of these star levels could be upgraded to a 3.5* property (that is rated 7.0). The user review value shown will always be the lowest at that star level or any star level above it.

Here are some possible hotels in this zone at the 2.5* and/or 3* levels:

Holiday Inn Express

Radisson

Holiday Inn

Courtyard

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 how your next round of bidding goes.

[nsxtasy]

Keep us updated on your progress and let us know how your next round of bidding goes.

Well, I got a hotel, but it's not what I wanted. Oh well, I'll deal with it. I made a mistake in my bids, and bid on a 3* and accidentally included the airport zone, which would have been fine at 3.5*, but the airport zone has a 3* property. So I'm stuck with staying at the airport - and I probably could have gotten the same hotel for a lot less, if I had wanted to bid for a 3* in that area, which I didn't. Damn!

[nsxtasy]

This bid was a MISTAKE on my part. I did not intend to bid at this star level in this area. I did not start out bidding at a lower level, either. So for all I know, you could get the same hotel for a lot less than the price I'm paying.

[AaronJB]

Sorry to hear that the result was a mistaken win - hopefully the hotel will still work out decently for the stay. You could try calling PRICELINE and pleading your case and seeing what they say.

Thank you for sharing your win and please use the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches.

Enjoy your stay.