Priceline Hotel: 5* London (Mayfair - Soho) Le Meridien Piccadilly

[kristinemsu]

First time posting, so hopefully this includes all the relevant info:

I'm looking for a bid strategy for London for November 2-5 one room, 2 adults. I'd prefer 5* hotel (from reviewing the boards typical hotels in the Mayfair - Soho area are: Hilton Trafalgar, Le Meridien Piccadilly, Sofitel St. James and St. Martin's Lane). From researching hotels on-line in this catagory generally, the prices are around $350 USD. I'd like to pay around $150 - $200 USD per night.

So far I've tried $120 5* London Mayfair-Soho and rejected

added Notting Hill-Bayswater at $130 and received counter offer of $190.

I'm a little nervous about adding different locations (the free rebid) because I really want to stay in the Mayfair-Soho area.

Any bid strategies would be welcome. Also, a dumb question, but the priceline amounts shown are all USD and not pounds right? All the hotel sites I used started out displaying rates in GSB so I just want to make sure that I'm dealing with the correct "bid" price. The $190 counteroffer was actually a good deal, but I just wanted to post here and see if anyone had advice.

Thanks in advance, Kristine

ps. I'm a Gold Hilton Honors member, does anyone know if I land the Hilton Trafalgar whether the Gold perks will apply? I know I will not be likely to earn HH points, but the free breakfast and better room location are always nice....

[kristinemsu]

Oops - dates are November 2-5th (3 nights total) not 2-7th so I'm not intending to breakup my stay for the different weekend rates. Kristine

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

So far I've tried $120 5* London Mayfair-Soho and rejected

added Notting Hill-Bayswater at $130 and received counter offer of $190.

I'm a little nervous about adding different locations (the free rebid) because I really want to stay in the Mayfair-Soho area.

If you're not comfortable with re-bidding what made you feel comfortable adding the Notting Hill-Bayswater area?

Do you understand the concept behind re-bidding and the proper way to check re-bid zones? (it's not just adding any zone)

[kristinemsu]

I've read the instructions on rebidding, I just wasn't sure how up to date my information is for each of the zones - there are not many other zones with *5 (and a few don't even have *4), but since I haven't done this before I figured I'd ask the board before making an obvious mistake.

[thereuare]

It sounds as if you're looking at our hotel lists to determine which zones have 5* properties, this is not what you want to do (and it even states this at the top of the hotel lists).

Start by listing each London zone and the highest star rating available in each zone, using the following process. From PRICELINE RE-BIDDING:

The way to check what star levels are available in each zone is to open a Priceline page, check ONLY the zone you are inquiring about, and then proceed to the next page (as if you were going to select a zone)... this will give you the available star ratings in that area. You can then hit BACK on your browser, uncheck the current box, check the next box, and repeat the process. It is important to do this before EACH attempt at adding a zone that you really don't want, as new hotels can be added and the star ratings can change at any time.

Post the above and then we'll take the next step.

[curiousx]

For what it's worth, in July, I got Le Meridien Piccadilly in Mayfair/Soho on Hotwire for a 5 night stay in September for $181, per night, including taxes (the offer said that it also included tips but Hotwire is reneging on this...we are thrashing it out).

Le Meridien is, I believe, ranked as a 5 star hotel by Priceline (lathough it is only 4.5 stars on Hotwire). I posted the details of the win on this board and will post a review of the hotel on my return. At the time, Hotwire was not offering any 5 star hotels in the zone.

Using the identifying hotel icons, I have been dropping in on Hotwire occasionally, just to see if the hotel has come down in price but this doesn't seem to have happened. The lowest winning bid for the hotel I have ever seen on Priceline was $145 a night (plus taxes and Priceline fees) and that was a good few months ago. $175-$185 appears to be in the right range.

[kristinemsu]

Update:

I followed the "better bidding" rules this time - today the only areas with 5* availability were: Bloomsberg, Kensington and of course Mayfair. So I started as follows:

Mayfair and Notting (from my prior try) and added Regents at $140 - denied

added City at $150 - denied

added Westminister at $160 - denied

added Hammersmith at $170 - denied

added London at $180 - ACCEPTED!

I got the Le Meridien Piccadilly. Thanks for all your help!! Kristine

[thereuare]

Glad you found success and we were able to help.

Enjoy your stay.