Hotwire Hotel: Where to stay in DFW? Oct 20-25th

[Twirlie]

It's embarassing to have to ask this as I lived in DFW for nearly 3 years, but I never really strayed too far out of Arlington other than to go to Grapevine Mills or the British food shop so alas I am clueless! :)

I am in Texas for 5 days in October dropping my son at his Dad's in deepest darkest I don't even know where. I'm a single mum here in the UK so don't get out much, which makes a hotel with a bar / near nice evening entertainment quite an appealing option. However it is not essential as I will also be in NYC for part of my trip. As it was, I was planning on staying near Grapevine as I am also a self confessed shopaholic (Hello, Grapevine Mills!) and I'm flying out of TX for part of my trip so it made sense to spend the entire 5 days shopping. However looking at prices on Hotwire it seems like I can get a 3-4* hotel in Galleria - Park Central area for half the price of anywhere else...

So my questions are:

1) Where would you stay if you were me?

2) Am I crazy planning on staying in Grapevine?

3) I'm going to be renting a car, so if I go with Galleria Park Central area would it be a pain to drive around / park / would there be valet fees etc?

4) Are there fun things to do near the Galleria (other than the uber expensive Mall, obviously)

5) Are there fun things to do near Grapevine or is it really just the uber cheap outlet mall?!

6) Why is Hotwire.com trying to tell me that the last person who booked that option got the Doubletree Hotels Dallas - Campbell Centre? What is this new feature and are they trying to trick me?!

Any help very appreciated - as you can see I am hopeless at this! :P

[thereuare]

HOTWIRE is constantly trying out new interface(s) and i have not yet seen the 'last user received...' format so i can't really say what can be learned from this, but i'm guessing not very much since that win is not necessarily for the same dates as your own.

I'm not familiar with this area so i can't say which would be better for your plans, but will you be renting a car? If so, how far is it to drive from the Galleria to Grapevine... Google maps puts it at about 25 minutes so would that be worth the $30-$40/nite savings? If not renting a car, does one area have better access to mass transit to get you to the mall and/or other locations you may want to visit while in the area?

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

[Romelle]

I strongly suggest you pick up a travel guide or two. While somebody here might answer your questions, it is the ones you don't know to ask I'm worrying about. I like the Lonely Planet series, and they have one just for TX. They have particularly good maps and directions. But there are lots of other good ones.

I lived in that general area of TX for 9 years. If you get around much, you will find it very spread out, with cows grazing in pastures between cities.

Since we drive "on the wrong side of the road", driving will be a challenge. However, I found TX driving to be more of a challenge than most other areas of the US. Think REALLY FAST and AGGRESSIVE. You may remember it from when you lived in the area, but your memories may have faded a bit?

On the other hand, the whole US doesn't do as well as you do for public transportation, so if you do want to get around quite a bit you probably will have to rent a car. Do get a reasonably large (safe) one, and make sure you have good insurance coverage.

Think hot - for October, the average low is 16 and the average high is 27 C. For London, from the same site, the average low is 10 and the average high is 16. Again, you may remember it, but ... just in case you've forgotten a bit.

CLICK HERE for more info on the Galleria. To answer your specific question, parking is free. Lots of other useful info there. It mentions being able to use the DART public transport to get there, but you'll have to do some more research to see just where one can start from. CLICK HERE for info on Dart.

Regarding the $30-40 savings, don't forget to count the trauma of the drive.

I think I'd figure out just what I want to do, map everything, and pick a hotel area that minimizes the driving. As central to your chosen activities as possible. Or maybe you can figure out how to make things work with Dart and an occasional cab ride.

Do enjoy the great TX foods - barbecue and TexMex. Blue Bell ice cream.

Romelle

[Twirlie]

Hi Romelle and Thereuare,

Thanks for your advice!

RE: Hotwire's 'helpful' suggestions, having looked at the hotel lists here, I've managed to discover that both the 3.5 and 4 star hotels THEY were saying were the Doubletree Hotels Dallas - Campbell Centre and Le Meridien Dallas North respectively are more likely to be and Wyndham Dallas Suites Park Central and Westin Park Central (the clue seemed to be in the fact that both were pet friendly which neither of their suggestions were). Which is TERRIBLE as their suggestions imply you'll be right by the Galleria when actually - you won't. And the hotels are far less nice. :(

Romelle I read your post with interest, I've actually been contemplating only getting a car for a few days as I'm sure if I'm in a 4* hotel I will want to enjoy it, so thank you for your thoughts. I'm pretty confident in driving, I drove all round Arlington, Mansfield and Fort Worth in 2010 so it wasn't THAT long ago that I was on the wrong side of the road! (I do remember driving like I was in a bubble though and leaving twice the stopping distances everyone else did!) Having mapped it out the Galleria IS pretty central (less than 30 minutes everywhere I want to go) so I appear to be on the right track.

As far as bids - As I'm pretty set on getting one of the 4 Priceline 4*'s (instead of the hotwire ones that include Park Central) I've gone from $47-$69 for a 4* with no success. Will update if / when I win.

Thanks for all the help! x

[Romelle]

There is a general tendency for HOTWIRE to be a little more generous with stars than PRICELINE. Overall maybe a 1/2 star, although there are examples of no difference, and of a full star difference.

And I'll stop worrying about you driving there.

The Galleria is positively elegant. I'm sure you will enjoy it. You might also consider the Fort Worth Kimble Art Museum and the Botanic Gardens.

Romelle

[Twirlie]

Ooh they sound good, thank you, I'll add them to my list of places to look up and visit! RE: Weather and food, I can't wait for both! Haha! I have 2 autoimmune disorders and both pretty much disappeared when I was living in Texas. The heat in general really seemed to agree with me, so I'm relishing the thought of recharging my batteries in the sun before I come back to face the brutal winters we appear to be getting every year! :) The thought of us authentic tex mex and a cherry limeade from Sonic is pretty good too! :P

[Twirlie]

I am trying again with Priceline now, since I prefer their zoning.

What I want is a hotel in the 4* Galleria area for Oct20-Oct25.

Galleria - $50 - Rejected

Added South West Dallas - $52 - Rejected

Added Plano East - $54 - Rejected

Added Plano West - $56 - Rejected

Added Lewisville - $58 - Rejected

Added Hurst - $60 - Rejected

Added Grand Prairie South - $62 - Rejected

Added Garland North - $64 - Rejected

:(

[thereuare]

Is $64 your maximum bid for a 4* hotel in this zone as you do have many more re-bid zones available if you're willing to bid higher.

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

[Twirlie]

I have mapped it out in 2$ increments all the way to $82 - just got tired last night of rebidding!

The majority of the wins here have been around $55 but I will go up to $82 (I think I see 1 of the 4 hotels I want on PRICELINE EXPRESS fo $98). Just want to see if I can win it for lower first. You know me and my bargains! ;)

[Romelle]

You might want to use sort of a "sweep" technique where you bid from low to reasonably high every few days. Rather than your next series starting where you left off ($64) and going on to your max ($82). That way, if some hotel has just given rooms to PL at something below $64, you will catch it.

In "sale-terminology", maybe your room isn't on sale yet? You've got a quite a bit of time yet.

Romelle

[Twirlie]

Sounds like a plan!

Can anyone ID this hotel for me?

Galleria - Park Central area

Hotwire, 20-25th October 3* $270 total stay

Free Parking

Free Breakfast

Free Internet

Fitness Center

Pool(s)

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

High-Speed Internet

Accessible for the deaf

I'm clueless! :P

[thereuare]

Please change the drop down menu on the top right of HOTWIRE's page to United States and the currency dropdown to US Dollars. Then continue to search HOTWIRE and post to the board in US Dollars so that rates are consistent and not subject to interpretation due to future currency fluctuation. Once you're ready to purchase stay on the US version of their site and simply change the drop down menu to whatever currency you'd like to use and complete your purchase.

Using the method above, what is the room rate per nite before taxes and fees.

Also, after using the method above, if you click this offer from the search results page, then on the ensuing page click the 'See all amenities' link (on the top left of the page) do you see more than what you've included above?

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

[Twirlie]

I did NOT know you could do that! :P

Okay - 2nd try, $111 standard rate reduced to $46 / night

Same amenities. Galleria - Park Central area

1 person, HOTWIRE, 20-25th October 3*

Says it has a 70% guest rating.

[yellowdog]

Twirlie

I believe there may have been more amenities than you listed in your post. HOTWIRE has a new interface which is not currently showing the complete set of amenities at the usual point of the search process. Can you please run a new search through bord's BiddingHelper.com on top of the page. Please copy and paste the amenities and price you'll see in the Easy View tab and we'll have a look at this.

Yellowdog.

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

[Romelle]

In the Hotel Lists above, there are only three 3* hotels thus far reported for Hotwire - Galleria. A Best Western and a Holiday Inn which have a rough match to your list of amenities. The third one has a kitchenette and is called a suite, so most likely is not a match.

The pros here have access to some further identifying information and a ton of experience, so I'm only posting this to give you a general idea of what you might expect. Both chains are reputable, although of course much more basic than the higher starred ones.

Romelle

[Twirlie]

In the Hotel Lists above, there are only three 3* hotels thus far reported for Hotwire - Galleria. A Best Western and a Holiday Inn which have a rough match to your list of amenities. The third one has a kitchenette and is called a suite, so most likely is not a match.

The pros here have access to some further identifying information and a ton of experience, so I'm only posting this to give you a general idea of what you might expect. Both chains are reputable, although of course much more basic than the higher starred ones.

Romelle

Thanks Romelle!

Ahh Yellowdog - more things I didn't know! 3rd try?

Is down to $43 now, 3*

Free Parking

Free Breakfast

Free Internet

Fitness Center

Pool(s)

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

High-Speed Internet Access

Accessible for the deaf

Accessible path of travel

In-room accessibility

Accessible bathroom

Handicapped parking