Priceline Hotel: Help needed; wanting to stay in Downtown Milwaukee for 10 days

[Tidus]

Hello everyone, and thanks to the mods for this great forum.

I'm a priceline newbie, and I have an upcoming trip to Milwaukee. It'll run from the 10th-20th of January. My intention was originally staying at a 4 star hotel, but i'm thinking about going 3.5 because I would like having a shot at the Hilton, even though i fully understand that chances are slim to get lucky with a hotel i'd want, at best.

Since I'm going to be there for 10 nights, I'm not really sure what I should do, whether to split my bids, or how low I should go. I've spent quite a few hours reading the forums but I'm still a little bit lost. Any suggestions and/or advice, are greatly appreciated. As far as budget goes, I'd like to try and get away with as a low daily fare as possible, but I don't want to be unrealistic about it.

If anybody needs any extra information regarding my stay to provide better advice, I'll gladly post it. Thanks in advance!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding.

What would be about the most you would want to bid per night for this stay? (although Milwaukee in January is not going to be a particularly popular/busy/expensive time.) Unless there happens to be a convention or something unexpected going on for part of this stay, I don't think there's going to be any real advantage to splitting your stay, unless you'd like to just potentially try a different hotel for part of the stay. Did you have plans in Milwaukee? Madison is another great city in Wisconsin and is worth consideration if you don't have definite plans.

Additionally, if you don't want to stay right downtown, Brookfield is an option right outside of Milwaukee. I see what appears to be the Sheraton in Brookfield for $47 on HOTWIRE (the price you see may vary slightly) for these dates, for example.

If you bid for a 3.5*, there is a chance the service may upgrade you to a 4*.

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

[Tidus]

Thanks for the advice so far. Plans are pretty fixed, and downtown would really be the best place to stay for me. As far as how high I'd be willing to bid, I'm a bit at a loss here. Of course, I wouldn't want to overbid. I've read some crazy stuff about people getting rooms for 60 dollars or less, and seeing as I have quite a bit of time before the trip, I wouldn't mind starting low and having to up it periodically. I wouldn't want to go higher than 75 dollars per room, but I want to keep my expectations real. Am I being unrealistic here or is it indeed possible?

[thereuare]

My guess is that a 4* will likely run you closer to $90-$110 than it will $75, but also note that the Hilton City Center is available for just $95/nite, so it's up to you if you want to try bidding for this stay OR if getting the hotel you want is worth an extra $20/nite.

When bidding 4* in Milwaukee you have EIGHT re-bid zones and when bidding 3.5* you have FOUR re-bid zones, so there is plenty to work with, and we can suggest a strategy for however you'd like to proceed if you want to go the PRICELINE route. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

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

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

[Tidus]

Thanks for the reply. Yesterday I tried bidding my way up to 75 dollars using my free rebidding options, but didn't land a deal. I'm wondering if splitting my stay would yield better results with a 4 star. Otherwise, I'd probably have to go down to 3 or 3.5 stars. I wouldn't mind switching hotels midstay. I've been reading about these lucky people landing 4 stars for around 55-70 dollars ... perhaps my long stay works against me. I welcome and appreciate your comments.

[thereuare]

Your longer stay is working against you since for you to be successful a hotel must offer the deeply discounted rated for each nite of your stay. With a longer stay, there is a greater chance that at least one nite has somewhat higher occupancy then the rest and therefore requires a higher bid (or if the hotel is very busy for that nite and offers no availability then it's impossible to win that given hotel for the entire length of your stay). Your weekend rates are somewhat less expensive then your midweek dates, that would be the ideal split (but would require more than one hotel change... and no assurance that will even work).

Are you willing to change hotels more than once this trip? Given the rate at the Hilton City Center i don't think it will likely be necessary to go as low as 3 stars for this trip if you decide not to SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID.

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

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