Priceline Hotel: 4* White House/Downtown Capital Hilton

[tbrko]

Started at $70 with 5 free rebids (chose White House location only). Was rejected all the way up to and including $90. Last bid of $100 was accepted.

I am only assuming that the room price was on the high side because it is Columbus Day weekend and it is for 5 nights.

Any thoughts?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding and thank you for sharing your results.

The higher rate appears to actually have to do with the weekdays following the weekend rather than the weekend itself. Checking rates at the hotel's website shows rates ~$150/nite for 10/11-10/13, but a rate ~$250/nite for 10/13-10/16. :)

The way priceline works your bid must be high enough for each individual nite (ie- they don't look at the total for the stay, the bid must be high enough to be accepted for each individual nite). This is discussed further here: Should I Split My (longer stay) Bid?

Enjoy your stay and thanks for posting.

[Welldone Rumproast]

There are two medium size conventions (Vending machine marketers and a medical group) during your dates. Neither is headquarterted at your hotel, but 10,000 delegates in town has probably tightened up room inventory.

A tip (apologies if you already have this info): If you intend to take governmental tours especially the White House tours, contact your Member of Congress **TODAY** and make your request for tickets for the Congressional Tours. The White House is the best deal because you get to bypass the regular line and you see one or two extra rooms that are not included in the general tours. Congressional ofices can also get you Capitol gallery passes and other goodies. All of these are no charge but strictly first come first served. And remember - your taxes already paid for them :)

Enjoy your time in DC!

[tbrko]

Thanks for the tip concerning passes. I had already contacted my representative's office, and they said that they would be more than happy to provide me with a tour and passes of the Capitol. They said that since 9/11, however, they do not have as much access to passes for other building, including the White House, which they told me is only available for school and/or educational groups.

Do you know of any alternative contacts that I could use to maybe secure some additional tours while in DC?

Any comments would be appreciated.

[Welldone Rumproast]

Hi tbrko - I checked my M.C.'s office (Peter Deutsch) and they verified that the White House has suspended the individual tours indefinitely. The other tour that is good is the FBI Lab, but those are also suspended until further notice - the stated reason is because of extensive renovations, not necessarily 9/11 (I sure hope the FBI can secure its own HQ building) :)

The good news is that the Rotunda of the National Archives, which has been closed for the last 2 years for reconstruction, is scheduled to reopen on 9/18/2003. The Charters of Freedom (D of I, Constitution and B of R) are supposed to be able to be seen a lot better in their new high-tech display cases

http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_...ce/rotunda.html