Beecatdog Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Hi, I am trying to pick a London Hotel for PRICELINE and not sure what areas to go to. Our budget would be 150-200 per night (if lower, the better). We are not really sure what a good area for a hotel is. It is our first time in London, and we will be visiting pretty much a bunch of popular tourist attraction places. If I am bidding on PRICELINE, what should my strategy be? And should i select all zones? We prefer to have wifi in room. And also prefer not to be in a bad neighborhood (if any). We will also be in London from September 19, 2014 - September 22 2014 (4 nights). Thanks! Link to comment
yellowdog Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 Please provide a follow-up for your prior NYC Priceline thread (post in that thread what you decided for that stay), then reply to this thread and we'll be happy to look into the above. Please follow-up your threads with whatever you end up doing, even if you chose to book direct, cancel your trip, etc. For your upcoming trip. Please have a look at the PRICELINE maps for London so you get a feeling for the zones. Would you prefer to stay in "city center" or are you OK with a short tube ride to save money? Please use the PRICELINE and hot.wire links on the board to begin your purchases and searches. Yellowdog. Link to comment
Beecatdog Posted July 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 Hi sorry, I just followed up. We dont mind a short tube ride to save money as well :). Thanks! Link to comment
yellowdog Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 Regents Park - North London is usually a good zone for cheaper 4* hotels amd is a short ride to city. Would you be OK with that zone? Did you see any zones at the maps that looks interesting for you to include in your bidding? Please use the PRICELINE and hot.wire links on the board to begin your purchases and searches. Yellowdog. Link to comment
Romelle Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 CLICK HERE for one list of London's top 10 tourist attractions. There are lots of these lists, and yours may well be different, but I thought I'd give you a start. If you compare this map with the Priceline zone map, maybe you can identify zones where you'd like to be. You will note that the attractions are spread out over quite a bit of central London, so even if you get a hotel right by a couple of them, you will still be riding the tube to others. I'd really suggest one of those Hop-On-Hop-Off tours to start. Read the details carefully. If the tour is good for 24 hours, sometimes you can start in the afternoon and get about 1/2 done. Then go again the next morning to finish the job. It will definitely help you find probably all the attractions you are seeking (and a few you didn't even know you were seeking). Then with your remaining time go back and do your favorites more thoroughly. If you zoom way in on the Priceline zones, you can see the symbols for tube stations. You can see Regent's Park yellowdog mentioned is nicely dotted with tube stations. In addition to the Regent's Park zone , Bloomsbury can be one of the less expensive ones. But, if you would be happy with any of the central core more-expensive zones, do include them. With bidding you really never know just what might happen. My personal list of London inner core zones is: 1 Bloomsbury - Marble Arch 2 Chelsea - Knightsbridge (although parts of this one are a little far out)6 Kensington - Earl's Court 9 Mayfair - Soho 12 The City - Tower Bridge - St. Pauls Cathedral 14 Westminster - Houses of Parliament - Victoria Romelle Link to comment
Romelle Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 You might also search for the member name "vanpoodle" on this site. Her/his? commentary on London has lots of wonderfully useful nuggets of information. Some particularly good discussions on the different zones. Romelle Link to comment
Beecatdog Posted July 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Are there any coupon codes for booking for London Hotels using bidding in Priceline? I remember you guys giving me one for NY booking last year. Thanks! Link to comment
AaronJB Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 None currently, unfortunately. You may want to try checking if you have any bonus coupons under your Price.line account. Thank you for keeping us updated with what you decide upon. Thank you for using the board's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches. Link to comment
Beecatdog Posted July 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 I have been trying to bid using Priceline today however they were all declined and did the rebid method as well but still didnt get accepted. I figure my bids are too low but not sure what my starting point should be. Basically here is the last offers I got declined so far: BloomsburyChelseaKensingtonSohoCity TowerWestminster 5* last decline at $1054* last decline at $933* last decline at $84 Going to try again tomorrow; but does anyone know any reasonable starting bids I should go with? Thanks! Link to comment
Romelle Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 You can start as low as you like. The important thing is to not bid any higher than what I refer to as "the next best alternative". And that takes some research. Since one can usually do a little better via bidding than via Priceline Express, I checked your dates for that. The best (lowest price) Priceline Express: 5* The City - Tower Bridge - St. Pauls Cathedral - $2764* Westminster-Houses of Parliament - Victoria - $1633* Bloomsbury-Marble Arch - $161 Hotwire is another alternative, so you might want to check that. You may see lower numbers with them, but one has to keep in mind that they can be a little more generous with stars. The experts here can usually give you an educated guess as to what hotel you will get for a particular Priceline Express or Hotwire offer. You get to decide at what point you'd rather just pay a little more for having good odds of getting a particular hotel vs the opaque result of bidding. $10, $20, ... $50? And there is value in knowing the amenities and the %recommended. Some people really don't like risk so are willing to pay quite a bit more for the more sure thing. Others feel differently, and will bid up to very close to the next best alternative just to save a few dollars (that would be me). The savings is generally less in high seasons since hotels just don't need to give the larger discounts to fill. One never really knows, but I'd guess you will be fortunate to save 5% to maybe 15% via bidding. Right now you've only got three free re-bid zones at the 5* level, and none at the 4* and 3* levels. 5* hotels appear to be out of the budget range you mentioned initially. 3* hotels can be a little dicey in London. So I suspect you are going to want to focus on the 4*s. I think you want to figure out just what your maximum bid will be for the 4*s in your selected zones (assuming you still want to stay with same list of zones?). Something less than the $163 Priceline Express deal or best Hotwire offer? Then post back and ask for a bidding pattern that will optimize your chances of success in your selected zones and star level. If you reach your maximum bid without success, you simply accept that next best alternative. Romelle PS - For the record, I'm a member, not a board official. PSS - I just saw the bidding pattern for another member, where you also chimed in. It is precisely what I'm talking about. Although you could adjust the numbers for your higher budget. I'm guessing the $130 in that pattern won't be quite enough. But one never knows. You could try it first, and then if it doesn't work wait the 24 hours and try it again but adjusted higher. To explore the range between $130 and $160, just add $30 to each bid number. Link to comment
thereuare Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 We will also be in London from September 19, 2014 - September 22 2014 (4 nights).The above would be 3 nites... please confirm your check-in, check-out, and/or length of your stay. Are you currently willing to pay more for a 5* vs. a 4* OR is your goal the least expensive 4* or better hotel (or 3* hotel if that is what you desire, but with 4* properties within your budget, i wouldn't try to save a few dollars by taking a 3* property since hotel quality at the lower star levels in Europe can go down quickly) If you let us know your maximum bid for a 4* hotel, and confirm that the zones you've listed above in your previous bidding are all still acceptable, we will suggest a strategy for you to follow. Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Beecatdog Posted July 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Sorry, It is September 19, 2014 - September 23 2014 (4 nights). Maximum bid for a 4* Hotel for me would be 150. The areas I am looking for is: BloomsburyKensingtonSohoCity TowerWWestminsterNotting Hill Thanks! Link to comment
thereuare Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 There are no re-bid zones at the 4* level in London, so i would bid as follows: Select 4* Bloomsbury and City Tower... Bid $110, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Soho and Notting Hill... Bid $110, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Westminster and Kensington... Bid $110, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Bloomsbury and Notting Hill... Bid $115, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Soho and Kensington... Bid $115, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Westminster and City Tower... Bid $115, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Bloomsbury, Kensington, Soho... Bid $120, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* City Tower, Westminster, Notting Hill... Bid $120, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* City Tower, Kensington, Soho... Bid $125, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Bloomsbury, Westminster, Notting Hill... Bid $125, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Bloomsbury, Kensington, Notting Hill... Bid $130, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Soho, City Tower, Westminster... Bid $130, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Bloomsbury, Kensington, Soho, City Tower... Bid $135, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Bloomsbury, Kensington, Soho, Westminster... Bid $135, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Bloomsbury, Kensington, Soho, Notting Hill... Bid $135, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* City Tower, Westminster, Notting Hill, Bloomsbury... Bid $140, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* City Tower, Westminster, Notting Hill, Kensington... Bid $140, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* City Tower, Westminster, Notting Hill, Soho... Bid $140, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Bloomsbury, Kensington, Soho, City Tower, Westminster... Bid $145, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Bloomsbury, Kensington, Soho, City Tower, Notting Hill... Bid $145, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Westminster, Notting Hill, Bloomsbury, Kensington, Soho... Bid $148, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Westminster, Notting Hill, Bloomsbury, Kensington, City Tower... Bid $148, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* Bloomsbury, Kensington, Soho, City Tower, Westminster, Notting Hill... Bid $150 Any questions feel free to ask. Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Beecatdog Posted July 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Hi!Ended up winning using PRICELINE link for $138 CAD Per night at 4 star holiday inn kensington forum.Thanks for your help everyone! Link to comment
Romelle Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 I make that $128.57 at today's exchange rate. I'm glad it worked out for you. Romelle Link to comment
thereuare Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Congratulations on your success! Glad to see you were successful finding a hotel well within your budget and hopefully you're pleased with the results. Thank you for sharing your win with the board. Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Enjoy your stay. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Beecatdog Posted July 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Thanks! Can you edit the subject to September 19-23. I made a mistake on the dates in my original post. Thanks! Link to comment
thereuare Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 FIXED the dates... thank you for letting us know. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
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