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Eastern Europe


jackmac112
By jackmac112,
in

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We are planning a trip this coming July (2014) to Eastern Europe. I'd like to use priceline for hotels but don't know which countries it covers and what site to access for the bidding process. Could I get some assistance please?

The cities/countries to be visited are as ff:

Vienna (Austria)

Wroclaw (Poland)

Warsaw (Poland)

Krakow (Poland)

Budapest (Hungary)

Bratislava (Slovakia)

Llubijana (Slovenia)

Croatia

Is this the site to go for bidding? PRICELINE

Thanks for any help.

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You can also see the list of cities in which Priceline operates by clicking HERE.

There won't necessarily be bidding available, especially in the smaller cities, but Priceline will at least have hotels in their retail side.

I've successfully bid several times for rooms in Budapest, and once in Warsaw. I've been very happy with the results.

You can also see what Hotwire might have to offer by entering the city and dates in the Hotwire box (upper left on this screen).

Romelle

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I missed them because I don't know how to set up an alert to my email that I have been sent a message. Is that possible and if so a layman's explanation would be welcome.

Up in the blue banner, to the right of your user name is usually a small white "0". When you have some messages, it turns to a red "1" or "2" or however number of messages you have.

Also, if you click on your user name and pull down, there will be a menu of all sorts of options. One of them is "Settings". Within that is a place where you can choose to have email notification of when you get new messages.

Romelle

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Thanks for your post. If you'd care to share the names of those hotels In Budapest and Warsaw I'd appreciate it.

All the hotels reported by members are listed in the link AaronJB sent you in Message #2.

The particular one I most recently got was Artotel Budapest by Park Plaza. I booked two rooms, one for my son and one for me. For some unknown reason I got an upgrade and had a beautiful river view room. I put a longer review in the Hotel Reviews area - the very last section on this site. To find it, scroll clear to the end, then click the very first thread (Hotel Reviews by Letter). The reviews for Budapest Hotels are filed under the "H" for Hungary.

The other Budapest hotel was the Ramada Budapest, and it was many years ago. It isn't listed in the Hotel Lists, but is in the Hotel Reviews since when I actually bid and got it I wasn't an active member of this forum, but I when I became an active member I posted the review.

The Warsaw Hotel was the Aleja Jana Pawla II - possibly the finest breakfast buffet I've ever had. The neighborhood was a bit scruffy, but the hotel people were wonderfully helpful and the room lovely. I couldn't find any detail as to exactly how I got it, so it might not be from Priceline bidding.

Usually what I do is research the best direct purchase option I can find, and then bid up toward that level. If I get too close before a successful bid, I go with a direct purchase. The Warsaw hotel must have been one of those.

You can get some idea of the possible Priceline and Hotwire hotels by looking on their retail sides. It is possible to get a hotel from bidding not offered retail, and all retail hotels are not necessarily available via bidding. Still, you can see the general types of hotels.

Romelle

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One problem that I have with PRICELINE in Europe in many cities is that the zones are constructed in such a way as to make a mediocre hotel location fairly likely. Also, many chain hotels, which are the most likely to be on PRICELINE, are located at the edges of cities, rather than right in the center. There are lots of exceptions, but make sure to do a thorough investigation of the zones first. Also, I find that by researching across a wide spectrum of sites for Europe, I often find deals for well-located hotels (often including breakfast) that would be difficult or impossible to match on Priceline.

You are going in summer, so you'll probably want to ensure you have air-conditioning in all your hotels, and that might be the most important consideration overall. In that case, a Priceline 4* hotel can often be a good deal, even if it is on the periphery. Just consider all the factors.

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Is this the site to go for bidding? PRICELINE

Yes, you can link from there. You can also use the little blue Priceline box in the header (top right). Or for that matter, any place on this site that says " PRICELINE " and works like a link.

WillTravel made some good observations for you. In Europe, for many cities there is only one zone and it is a large one. Public transportation can usually work, but you have to be willing to do some study and be a bit more adventurous.

I've had some luck with looking at the hotels major tour companies offer. For the more inexpensive tours they can be fairly basic, but one also has assurance they have been vetted a bit.

There are links to many hotels and agencies on the Support Page (again in the banner straight up from here). You can use them for your research, as well as actual purchase if you find something you like.

Romelle

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