Hotwire Hotel: 2.5* Baltimore (Downtown and Inner Harbor) Best Western Plus Envy Hotel

[ktis]

Any clues as to: 

 

Downtown-Inner Harbor Baltimore and --

 

4* @ 140/night and bed choice available + 8/10 rating and Indoor or Outdoor Pool, Pets Allowed, Fitness Center, Business Center

 

3.5* @ 171/night and bed choice + 7/10 rating and Fitness Center, Free Internet, Business Center

 

3* @ 208/night 7/10 rating and Indoor or Outdoor Pool, Pets Allowed, Restaurant, Free Internet, Free Breakfast, Business Center

I wonder if the latter is the same on Hotwire Hot Rates, rather for 162/night... I will post an inquiry under the Hotwire thread for streamlining. 

 

Thanks always! 

[ktis]

Any ideas on:

 

4* @ 146/night and Pet friendly, Indoor pool(s), Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, Accessible for visually impaired, Accessible path of travel, Accessible bathroom, Roll-in shower

 

3.5* @ 173/night and Free Internet, Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Restaurant(s), Internet access, Accessible for visually impaired, Accessible for hearing impaired, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Wheelchair accessible, Accessible bathroom, Accessible parking, Roll-in shower

 

3* @ 162/night (compared to 208 at PRICELINE EXPRESS with comparable amenities?) and Free breakfast, Pet friendly, Business center, Internet access, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Wheelchair accessible, Accessible bathroom, Roll-in shower

Hot.wire

Thanks for any and all help always!

[thereuare]

What is your desired star rating and budget for this stay and what is it that you're looking for in a property from this stay?

For instance why the interest in a 3* hotel at $200+ when there are 4* properties offered for substantially less?

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

[ktis]

Star rating from 3-4* and range b't 75-150, however key is location by Inner Harbor/Little Italy. Needs to be walking distance to Marriott Waterfront. 

 

Free breakfast would be nice but certainly not at $200/night for 3*. That was just odd it appeared as an option, whereas HW actually offered same amenities for $40 less. 

 

Any leads/thoughts? 

[thereuare]

Star rating from 3-4* and range b't 75-150...

It appears that only 2 out of the 6 hotels above are actually within your budget... please only ask about hotels that are within your budget and that you're willing to purchase at the current price, as the current offers may never drop in price (at which point there was no point in taking the time to research them) OR if you're not ready to purchase the current hotels may not be the ones that offered once you're ready to commit.

The two hotels that meet your budget parameters:

4* PRICELINE EXPRESS 140/night (although i'm currently seeing at $134/nite) and bed choice available + 8/10 rating and Indoor or Outdoor Pool, Pets Allowed, Fitness Center, Business Center

==> Hilton Baltimore would be my best guess for this one (although the hotel itself is showing sold-out for this nite so i'm not certain)

4* HOTWIRE 146/night and Pet friendly, Indoor pool(s), Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, Accessible for visually impaired, Accessible path of travel, Accessible bathroom, Roll-in shower

--> guess on this one is also the Hilton Baltimore (same caveat as above)

If location is your primary factor i would suggest getting the address of the Marriott that you want to be near and search '1 mile of {Marriott Address}' at MAPS and HOTELS.com. It will show you your options in the area and enable you to easily see how much more/less it would cost to go up/down in star rating OR to stay closer/further from your ideal location.

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

Let us know whatever you decide to do for this stay or how we can be of further help.

[ktis]

This was somewhat unconventional... 

Given we needed three separate beds (two + rollaway) we searched for bed availability and we called prior to booking several places. 

We also utilized the usual Rate.Drop tools for PL and HW. In the past I was able to get some great deals via Betterbidding exchanges and discussions and the strategies offered here for PL and HW. I also had the good fortune to request separate beds when necessary after booking, although as folks know they are by no means guaranteed. Putting a request upon confirmation and following up frequently up to the date of arrival helped nonetheless. 

Ultimately, we proceeded along the input provided by thereuare recommending MAPS and HOTELS.com but here's the interesting twist with this:

 

- Initially we found nothing that would accommodate bed requests online so we went old school and...

- ... called the # provided on the hotels.com website and the kind lady in an overseas call center assisted in locating the only hotel that would accommodate the beds+rollaway need ("only" allegedly, but we trust it was, as we also called and presumably due to a few events and a big conference with overflow hotels we tend to believe that was the case). It turned out to be the Envy, however there was one more final twist to this; 

- the initial rate was higher than I would have liked for a 2.5* (Thursday night was quoted at $109 and Fri night at $169!) so I followed betterbidding precedent and advice, pursuant to securing a fully refundable rate (this via Hotels..com may be canceled w/o penalty up to a day prior to arrival!) I continued looking for better rates for pertinent hotel options, and saw the Envy on PRICELINE EXPRESS WITH the option of two beds (rollaway there always an option for +15/night) for a much lower rate, thus...

- ...I utilized the Hotels..com best price guarantee, completed the very simple form, attached a screen shot, and in less than 24 hours we were extended a credit of over $70, which brought the total overnight avg (before fees/taxes) to 103.38. 

 

For a hotel costing about a third of the conference hotel per night, w/i walking distance, plus free WiFi, free breakfast, etc, and importantly ensuring the beds configuration we needed, we are content!

 

Thanks again for all you do for cost-saving travelers.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you found something that works well for your plans and at a rate that you're comfortable with.

I assume the better rate you found was on the 'retail' side of PRICELINE, and not on PRICELINE EXPRESS, since the express side would have been 'opaque' and the actual hotel offered not known until after the purchase? (and best rate guarantee programs almost always exclude opaque offers)

Also, if not mentioned above, we have also recently launched RefundableRates.com to help in finding a back-up hotel while you continue to search/research. :)

Thank you for closing this thread with your decision and deal.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases. (or thru our Hotels.com)

Have a great trip!