Priceline Hotel: 2.5* Chester Courtyard Richmond Chester

[MissChele]

Need a room in the Chesterfield area Aug 25-28. We will be visiting friends on Cogbill Rd. Where do I start? Chester is about 5 or so miles, but not much of a selection. Some of the Richmond hotels (Midlothian or Richmond South, I think) would be OK too. Would like the highest rating we can get in the 45-55 range. Recently found this board. Me likey!!

MissChele/KY

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Start by going to Priceline and let us know which zones, as defined by the shaded boundaries on the map, you are willing to bid.

Let us know and then we'll suggest how to proceed.

[MissChele]

Thanks for the quick reply! OK here goes...

If I put "Chesterfield" in, I get Chester, Petersburg, and something else. I think we will go with Chester on that one.

If I put "Richmond" in, Richmond South and Midlothian would be my choices. Downtown will be too busy in the AM, I'm afraid.

Many Thanks!!

MissChele/KY

[thereuare]

Do you have a preference of the above two choices?

I'm assuming "Chesterfield" would be your first choice since that was your original inquiry.

Now this is where it gets interesting....

If you click Chesterfield you'll see that the highest star rating offered in this area is 2.5*. Now UNcheck that zone and click the next zone (Petersburg... i know that's not where you want to be), but the highest star rating in Petersburg is 1*. You can use this to your advantage as you can first bid for a 2.5* hotel in the Chesterfield area and if rejected try again by adding the Petersburg zone to your 2.5* bid... since there are no 2.5* or higher rated hotels in the Petersburg zone, if you are successful, your win would have to be in the Chesterfield zone.

Does the above make sense? If so, can you figure out what the highest rated hotel in the 3rd zone is? Please also read PRICELINE RE-BIDDING EXPLAINED... if it doesn't make sense at first don't be alarmed as we'll explain any difficult areas to you step-by-step.

Let us know if the Chesterfield area is indeed your first choice and if the re-bidding concept makes sense or you'd like us to explain it further. We'll then take the next step and advise of a bidding strategy.

[MissChele]

Chester would be my first choice - just 5 miles or so, but I can hold for the Richmond S or Midlothian if I don't get anywhere...

MissChele/KY

[thereuare]

More importantly did you understand the part about re-bidding?

When bidding 2.5* for Chesterfield you have two re-bid zones available, when bidding 2* you only have one re-bid zone available?

If you fail at the 2.5* zone for Chesterfield would you then want to try for a 2* in Chesterfield or would you prefer a higher rated hotel in the South or Midlothian zones?

Either way we'll be using re-bidding techniques so please let us know if you understand the concept and know how to figure out your re-bid zones.

[MissChele]

Got it!! Thanks for the simple explanation of free re-bidding. I knew there was a way to do that, but found other's info a bit confusing.

I got the Courtyard by Mariott on West Hundred in Chester (2 1/2) for $45 on the first try. Probably could have gone a little lower at first, but am very satisfied. Went through savingsbarn.com. Thanks for your help!!!

MissChele/KY

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win... glad it worked out well for you and your are pleased with the results.

This is about half off the hotel direct rate so i think you did well.

Thank you for using the PRICELINE links at SavingsBarn.com to begin your bids.

Enjoy your stay.