Priceline Hotel: 4* London (Westminster) Riverbank Park Plaza

[fishee]

Hi there -- London 4* $120 rejected for 6 zones 12/8-12/10, started at $80 in Bloomsbury and added one zone at a time -- as you can see I'm not having much luck. I don't care too much about what area of London I stay in as long as its relatively safe (I'm a young woman travlling alone) and has easy access to public transportation. I just wanted to get to the national archives, Clerkenwell Green, Highgate Cemetary. This is a last minute booking because my BF's business trip was cancelled last minute but I've decided to go anyway on an awards ticket.

I've never gone this high on a priceline bid before -- any suggestions? Appears this is so last minute that many hotels might be all booked up. I'm going to try 3 * hotels now, one zone at a time and I'm going to drop my price back down to $80 . Does this sounds reasonable? The most I've ever paid on a priceline 4 * was $75 for a W hotel in New Orleans although I suppose London is incredibly expensive. Any sugegstions would be welcome -- should I start re-bidding for a 3 * as soon as possible? I'd appreciate your seasoned advice, thanks!

[WillTravel]

I would guess there is something going on in London if $120 didn't do the trick. And when I did a quick search on the Accor site, I found that a couple hotels I looked at said they had no rooms available.

I would think $80 should be more than enough for a 3*. However, I've noticed a trend that possibly relatively late bids for London are not as successful as further out bids.

Hotwire has a 3.5* in the Kensington zone for 1 person for $106 for your dates. I don't know which hotel it is, but it's probably also a Priceline hotel rated 3* or 4*, so don't despair at getting a reasonably priced room if for some reason Priceline continues to fail.

I would bid again as soon as possible, given how little time you have.

[Blueskies]

Where are you flying in and out of? or are you UK based? You may want to consider staying at the airport if you are travelling by plane.

[fishee]

Thanks for the replies -- yes, many of the hotels look pretty full. I'm taking the eurostar to paris on the 10th so I need to stay in Central London to get to Waterloo station. My last bid of $120 was actually accepted (they gave me one of those, "we'll contact you about your bid messages') and 10 minutes later they e-mailed me that Riverbank Plaza had accepted. I think Kensington might have been the last zone I added so I probably should have gone back down to a $100 bid (since the hotels look cheaper and the are less desirable) but I thought there was a chance that I could get a room in one of the other areas if I edged up to $120. I went for the usual central zones -- mayfair, soho, bloomsbury(?) London Bridge, notting hill, etc.

The hotel looks fine but the area seems out of the way (on the River Thames across the bridge) and there doesn't seem to be much around in way of conveniences. I was hoping to be able to walk out of the hotel and walk a block or two to Indian food but it looks like I have to hop on a bus to get anywhere. The tube also looks a little far, some posts on tripadvisor mentioned really liking the hotel but that they took the bus (not the tube) to a more central area. I suppose there's some kind of bus pass I could buy for Thursday and Friday?

In retrospect, I should have given up the 4 star and gone back to bidding in more central areas with a 3 * for $75 although I do like the way this hotel looks (I'm just over-budget by around $50 now.) If anyone has suggestions about a strategy to get around this area, I'd really appreciate it. Is it safe for me to walk around at night -- I'm young, female and weigh around 100 lbs? The last thing I need to do at this point is have to pay for cabs. On a good note, the hotel looks close to the Waterloo station. I'll post my bid as requested and I'll also always try to make a bid as early as possible for now on!

[WillTravel]

I think this is a pretty good hotel, and although you probably won't have time to explore these options too much, given your other requirements, there are many interesting attractions south of the river. Have you used the Journey Planner at http://www.thetube.com ? This includes both bus and tube options and combinations. Note that you might get better results if you enter the tube stop rather than the address, or if you use post codes.

I wouldn't take cabs everywhere. I think you'll be fine being out and about. I've always felt safe in London, and I see many petite women going about also. My teenage daughter went around by herself.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win and thank you for sharing it with the rest of us.

This property looks to be in the Westminster zone, which is also where it was previously reported.

Enjoy your stay.