Hotwire Hotel: Help Identifying 2.5* Arlington Falls Church Hotel $64 5/1/15-5/4/15

[paulmtnman]

The description that appears on “Hotwire Easy View” (using the bidding helper) says: FULL AMENITIES: Free Parking, Free Internet, Indoor pool(s), Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business Center, Self service laundry, Internet access, Accessible for the deaf, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Accessible bathroom, Handicapped parking

 

But the closest description I can find for this hotel in the DC Hotel list is the 3* Holiday Inn Rosslyn at Key Bridge.

 

Is it possible “Easy View” is showing the wrong rating? Would you agree that the hotel is actually the Holiday Inn Rosslyn at Key Bridge? If so, is it possible the hotel has been downgraded?

 

I look forward to receiving your response as soon as you get a chance. This deal wasn’t here last night and I don’t know how long it will last today.

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

This listing has not yet been ID'd/reported to the board. Unfortunately, I don't think it's the Holiday Inn, given the slightly different amenity set and different tripadvisor rating. When searching for 2a/2c, I'm seeing what appears to be the Governor House Inn, but unfortunately it's $20 more.

 

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

[paulmtnman]

Thanks for the info Aaron. I thought it would be too good to be true. If it was the Holiday Inn, it would have been perfect for us. We are going to be using Metrorail the whole time we are there.

 

As I am new to the boards, what does "When searching for 2a/2c" mean?

 

TIA

[thereuare]

2a/2c = 2adults/children

Best guess for the property above would be the Best Western - Rosslyn/Iwo Jima Area.

Does this one work for your needs? If not, what is it that you're looking for from this stay and what is your maximum budget per nite? Are your plans firm and you're ready/willing to commit to this stay at this point in time?

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

[paulmtnman]

Thanks for decoding. I am actually searching for 2a/0c

Yes our dates are firm. We arrive at DCA Friday afternoon May 1st and depart Sunday afternoon May 10th. I don’t think I would get the best deal booking for 9 nights straight. So I figured that I would book 3 stays to take advantage of lower weekend pricing. Stay 1 = Fri, Sat, Sun … Stay 2 = Mo, Tu, We, Th … Stay 3 = Fri, Sat. In the past, when I bid on Priceline, this seemed to work the best for me. From some experimental price searches on Hotwire, this seems to also hold true. Would you agree?

Ideally I would like to stay in 3* or higher but I don't need the luxury of a 4*-5* as we will be out in the city all day and just using the hotel to sleep and rest. I don't have a particular budget $ in mind per se. Just to get the most bang for my $'s. That being said, I am not willing to stay at a place like Days Inn or Motel 6 when I can get a nicer hotel for the same price. As we will be using Metro Rail for our whole stay, what is important to us is to find hotel that is in easy walking distance to a station.

A question about supporting the board … If I search and book through the Bidding.Helper site (Hotwire Easy View Tab), will you still get your support or do I need to come back to the boards and book using the HOTWIRE link you show in your posts?

[thereuare]

Yes our dates are firm. We arrive at DCA Friday afternoon May 1st and depart Sunday afternoon May 10th. I don’t think I would get the best deal booking for 9 nights straight. So I figured that I would book 3 stays to take advantage of lower weekend pricing. Stay 1 = Fri, Sat, Sun … Stay 2 = Mo, Tu, We, Th … Stay 3 = Fri, Sat. In the past, when I bid on Priceline, this seemed to work the best for me. From some experimental price searches on Hotwire, this seems to also hold true. Would you agree?

What are the actual dates of your stay... as your topic title shows May 5-May 4.

I don't have a particular budget $ in mind per se.

I'm assuming you have some sort of budget in mind... as staying in 'DC proper' would obviously be more convenient if that is where most of your tourist activities will be taking place, but i assume you're venturing into the outlying areas in order to save money?

Using the links on the board, or the BiddingHelper.com, are both fine... thanks for asking. :)

[paulmtnman]

The total stay is arriving Fr 05/01/15 departing Su May 05/10/15. The initial search I performed that prompted the question on the boards was for 05/01-05/04. A Friday check in and Monday check out. I noticed the typo in the Topic after I posted the question and went back to try to fix the date in the Topic but I wasn't able to edit the typo. If you can fix the Topic date I would appreciate it and I think it would make more sense to the readers.

 

I am looking in the Arlington-Falls Church (preferably Rosslyn area), Crystal City, White House-Downtown and Dupont Circle areas. You are correct that I am looking at the outlying areas for cost reasons; but I am certainly open to the downtown areas if I run across a nice hotel for a "good" price. Yes, I realize "good" is  a relative term  :P  :D . For the 2 weekend stays I am targeting $70-$100 for a 3* to 4* hoping to save some money for the midweek portion of our stay (Monday-Thursday nights) which I am sure will be considerably more. I haven't started researching the mid-week stays yet, but I am sure the rooms will be at least $150-$200. And if the rooms are $250, that's okay too because the prices are what they are. But I am sure that getting a room through Hotwire is still going to be cheaper than paying rack rate.

[thereuare]

I just did a preliminary search to open the discussion, using a 4* Crystal City HOTWIRE hotel as an example:

5/1-5/4 $79/nite

5/4-5/8 $148/nite

5/8-5/10 $79/nite

==> average of $109/nite

5/1-5/10 $109/nite

So using the above as an example there is no savings by SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID and it may actually cost you a little more in fees and you have the possible inconvenience of having to change hotels mid-trip.

I would first start by finding your best deal for your complete (that you would actually take action on... so for example, you mention your goal is 3*-4* hotels, so the 2.5* hotel in your first post is not likely something you would take action on 9+ months ahead of your trip (especially when there are 4* hotels, such as the Crystal City one above, available for these dates for not much more))... then when you have your best deal look at breaking up the trip to see if you can do better, and if so, by how much and determine if it is worth the inconvenience of changing hotels twice mid-trip.

Let us know what questions you have regarding the above and/or what you find for your complete stay and we'll take it from there.

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

[paulmtnman]

Thanks for all of the advice and I will definitely follow the strategy that you suggested. I couldn't agree with you more about the inconvenience of having to change hotels.

[thereuare]

I'm not necessarily opposed to changing hotels, but it needs to be worthwhile... either with a lower price, higher rated hotel, and/or better location, for part of the stay.

Let us know what you find as your most actionable deal for the complete stay, then we'll have a look to see if there are any scenarios where splitting the stay makes sense.

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

[paulmtnman]

I am interested in Bidding on a room in Washington DC - Crystal City. Priceline is showing a 4* in Crystal City, but I don’t see a 4* hotel in the hotel list. Does anyone have an idea of which hotel this is?

 

TIA, Paul

[Romelle]

For starters, it could be one of the previous 3.5* hotels that got upgraded recently.

 

What are the amenities you are seeing (using the Bidding Helper), and what are your dates?

 

Romelle

[thereuare]

... and what are your dates?

Is this for 5/1-5/4, the same dates as your previous Hotwire Arlington hotel thread?

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

[Romelle]

I checked the retail area on Priceline, and the Westin Crystal City is a 4* now.  It was reported as a 3.5* by another member, and is on the Hotel Lists that way.  So that is one possibility for the 4* you are seeing.  Of course, there may well be others.

 

Romelle

[paulmtnman]

Is this for 5/1-5/4, the same dates as your previous Hotwire Arlington hotel thread?

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

Yes it is, but it is for the whole trip. I will be there from 5/01 arrive - 5/10 depart

[paulmtnman]

Thanks Romelle. I followed your idea and looked at Priceline retail and see the Westin listed. If I can get a successful bid for my trip in May, it will be a nice alternative to the Hyatt in Crystal City (using Hot.wire) ... plus it looks to be a lot closer to the Metro Station (which is what we will be using for our transportation  needs).

 

Paul

[thereuare]

I have merged your two threads, please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread. Once you win a hotel use the 'ADD REPLY and REPORT WIN' button on the lower right corner of this page to provide the details of your purchase and the entire thread will automatically be moved (if necessary) to the correct section of the board.

Are you ready to move forward and bid on PRICELINE at this point in time?

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

[paulmtnman]

I did 2 different threads because my initial inquiry related to purchasing the hotel rooms through Hot.wire and my second question about a 4* hotel in Crystal City related directly to Price.line only. I thought it was most appropriate to separate them becuase no one would be looking for a 4* Priceline room in Hotwire section ... and I thought this board was set up to keep the 2 systems separate. Sorry, I am still very new to your boards.

 

No, I am not ready to bid on a May stay through Priceline or Hotwire right now. I will wait for the prices to come down and them I will bid via Price.line or purchase through Hot.wire.

[Romelle]

On 11/19/2014 at 1:37 PM, paulmtnman said:

... I will wait for the prices to come down and them I will bid via Priceline or purchase through Hotwire.

You might like the "RateDrop" feature to catch any decrease in prices.  You can see more about it up in the header. 

 

Regarding merged threads - many people hop back and forth between PRICELINE and HOTWIRE.  When a booking is finally made, the thread is moved to the appropriate area.  But meanwhile, the whole story is kept together.  

 

Romelle

[thereuare]

Let us know once you're ready to move forward as hotels offered and/or rates may be substantially different once you're ready to commit to this trip.

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

Thanks.

[paulmtnman]

Thanks for your help. The trip ended up being cancelled.

[thereuare]

Thank you for closing this thread with your decision.

 

Please remember to follow-up your threads with your wins/decisions as you make them (even if you don't ultimately use PRICELINE / HOTWIRE, cancel the trip, book direct, etc) as this help keep the board better organized and more useful for everyone... as well as being a courtesy to anyone who took the time to help with your travel plans.

 

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.