Priceline Hotel: Need bidding help for San Pedro

[GoodAsGold]

A couple years ago I was able to win two different bids on the Marina Hotel in San Pedro (was Hilton) for $45. At the time it was the only 3* in that area of San Pedro so I was just about guaranteed that's what the hotel would be. It was! :) Now I want to try to bid for it again. I'm wondering if it's still the only 3* that people have been winning in San Pedro lately. I know it will be more money now, but I can handle that as long as it's not too much.

Does anyone have a strategy for bidding on a 3* in San Pedro? The last time I never had to add any other zones. But do you have any suggestions in case my first bid isn't accepted? I'm kind of rusty at this!

Thanks!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

You can see the "known" hotels for any zone in our PRICELINE HOTEL LIST for this area.

If you let us know the date(s) of your stay we will suggest a bidding strategy to follow.

[GoodAsGold]

Hi!

We plan to stay one night April 9 (Sunday) before our cruise the next day. I am bidding on 2 rooms.

[thereuare]

When bidding 3* in Long Beach you have one re-bid zone. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board.

Given the time before your stay, i would proceed as follows:

Select 3* San Pedro...

Bid $50, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $55.

If rejected (likely) wait 72 hours and:

Select 3* San Pedro...

Bid $60, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $65.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[GoodAsGold]

Thank you, but I noticed you said Long Beach first. Wouldn't that be a different area than San Pedro?

[thereuare]

The Long Beach region has four zones:

Long Beach

Long Beach Airport Area

San Pedro

Torrance - Carson

If you put any of the above zones into the priceline text box, you will be presented with all of the above (for you to select), as Priceline puts them all in the same region (if you put "San Pedro" in the text box and then read the text on the top of the bidding page, it'll say:

San Pedro, California is located within the Long Beach, CA area. Select the areas in Long Beach, CA where you want to stay

So when i referred to "Long Beach" above, i was refering to the region of Long Beach, and not the zone of Long Beach.

Hopefully the above clarifies it a bit, but if not feel free to ask for more of an explanation.

[GoodAsGold]

So would this be the same as the way Seattle is broken down into zones, ie; Downtown, etc.?

So, in other words, if I bid on Long Beach (zone) I will NOT get a hotel in Long Beach Airport Area or Torrance, etc. Is that right? And I can re-bid using these areas if they have a lower rating for hotels to better my chances of getting one in the area I REALLY want? Thanks!

[thereuare]

If you bid on the Long Beach zone you can end up anywhere in the shaded area that defines that zone (as per Priceline's map of the area)... you won't end up anywhere within the Long Beach Airport Area, San Pedro, or Torrance - Carson.

Since you want to stay in San Pedro (unless your plans have changed since your original post) i think we should use that zone, and not Long Beach, as an example. To make sure we're on the same page, why don't you add a reply with the highest rated star rating in each of these zones:

Long Beach

Long Beach Airport Area

San Pedro

Torrance - Carson

You can tell the highest rated hotel in each zone from the Priceline Re-Bidding Explained thread:

The way to check what star levels are available in each zone is to open a Priceline page, check ONLY the zone you are inquiring about, and then proceed to the next page (as if you were going to select a zone)... this will give you the available star ratings in that area. You can then hit BACK on your browser, uncheck the current box, check the next box, and repeat the process. It is important to do this before EACH attempt at adding a zone that you really don't want, as new hotels can be added and the star ratings can change at any time.