Priceline Hotel: 3.5* vs 4* French Quarter

[Red04]

I was looking at the hotel lists for the French Quarter and cross referencing the ranking on tripadvisor. The 3.5* hotels are rated a lot higher (#9 and #36) on trip advisor than the 4* hotels which are down in the 60's and 80's. This would seem like a sweet spot to place your bids if you were looking for a good deal. However, it seems everyone always posts 4* wins and very few 3.5*.

Am I missing something? or does no one post wins because the 3.5* hotels are never available?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please click each of these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links, then reply to this thread and we'll have a look at and comment on your post above.

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[Red04]

I clicked on the links

[AaronJB]

Fewer 3.5*'s, maybe less familiar names. Keep in mind that if you bid 3.5*, you could possibly be upgraded to 4* automatically by the service.

There may be hotels at both the 3.5* and 4* levels that are not yet reported to the board.

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

[thereuare]

I think it has to do with fewer 3.5* hotels in the zone... there are only two reported to the board, and neither is a nationwide chain (unlike most of the 4 stars). These two hotels are not seen very often so they may choose to only participate when their occupancy is extremely low, may not discount as deep as the 4* hotels (so eventually anyone bidding 3.5* gets upgraded to one of the 4* properties), or may not have systems in place to constantly adjust inventory/prices as new reservations and cancellations come in.

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