ChampagneHo Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 I came up with a bidding plan for this, but I'm nervous that the three 4* hotels will not be what we think they are. These are the 3 that we want and are hoping for: Zone 4 - 4* hotel in Napa Downtown North - Andaz or River TerraceZone 9 - 4* hotel in Upper Napa Valley – Harvest Inn Also the retail prices, yikes! They are SO high.: PRICELINE EXPRESS shows them at $382 & $482 and $497Hotwire shows them at $382 and $616 There aren't a lot of current Napa wins on the board, so I'm not sure how else to gauge this. Should we start our bidding at $100 or is that laughable? Do you think these are the same hotels or very likely the wins, if we win? Is it a bad idea to use 3.5* zones as free bidding zones when we want 4*? (see below). I was concerned that some of the hotels we want could be shifted around and ones we weren't interested in moved up, but that's the risk, right? Is it better to have fewer free rebid zones and lower the stars? (does that even make sense? it's way past my bedtime!) Thank you for your help :) I promise to update with a win, if we get it! see below for bidding strategy I copied the ABCDEF template from the boards here. I feel confident I set it up right, but who knows? A = 4, 9 = want these two zones and only 4*B = 1 = free bid zone 3.5* and belowC = 2 = free bid zone 3.5* and belowD = 6 = free bid zone 3.5* and belowE = 7 = free bid zone 3.5* and belowF = 10 = free bid zone 3.5* and below A 4, 9AB 4, 9, 1close browserAC 4, 9, 2close browserAD 4. 9, 6close browserAE 4, 9, 7close browserAF 4,9 , 10ABF 4, 9, 1, 10close browserABC 4, 9, 1, 2close browserABD 4, 9, 1, 6close browserABE 4, 9, 1, 7close browserACD 4, 9, 2, 6close browserACE 4, 9, 2, 7close browserACF 4, 9, 2, 10close browserADE 4, 9, 6, 7close browserADF 4, 9, 6, 10close browserAEF 4, 9, 7, 10ABEF 4, 9, 1, 7, 10close browserABCD 4, 9, 1, 2, 6close browserABCE 4, 9, 1, 2, 7close browserABCF 4, 9, 1, 2, 10close browserABDE 4, 9, 1, 6, 7close browserABDF 4, 9, 1, 6, 10close browserACDE 4, 9, 2 6, 7close browserACDF 4, 9, 2, 6 10close browserACEF 4, 9, 2, 7, 10close browserADEF 4, 9, 6, 7, 10ABDEF 4, 9, 1, 6, 7, 10close browserABCDE 4, 9, 1, 2, 6, 7close browserABCDF 4, 9, 1, 2, 6, 10close browserABCEF 4, 9, 1, 2, 7, 10ABCDEF 4, 9, 1, 2, 6, 7, 10 Link to comment
yellowdog Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Welcome to BetterBidding! but I'm nervous that the three 4* hotels will not be what we think they are.You should always have in mind that you can get a different hotel since everything can change very fast. There could be hotels that got an upgrade or new hotels not reported to the board etc. Should we start our bidding at $100 or is that laughable?Feel free to try, it's fun and free :) I was concerned that some of the hotels we want could be shifted around and ones we weren't interested in moved up, but that's the risk, right?I don't follow you here. You should use the 3.5* zones as free zones if bidding 4* and above Is it better to have fewer free rebid zones and lower the stars?Not for the outcome of the hotels. Let us know if you have any additional questions before you start. 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. Yellowdog. PS. For future posts, please mention the PRICELINE zones by name and not by number, thanx! Link to comment
thereuare Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 ...but I'm nervous that the three 4* hotels will not be what we think they are.Then use PRICELINE EXPRESS or HOTWIRE where you have a little more insight as far as the hotel you will receive, and if you pick one with good user reviews, then you have a 'safety net' that it should still be a good hotel based upon the reviews. Should we start our bidding at $100 or is that laughable?You could certainly try, but i wouldn't waste my time doing so (or at the very least be incrementing in substantial bid amounts at these low/unlikely amounts). Given rates for these dates, what is your maximum bid for this stay? 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. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
ChampagneHo Posted May 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 Hi thank you for answering! I can't figure out the multi quote thing... Anyway, sorry about not writing out all the zones, I only mentioned the 2 I was interested in: Zone 4 - 4* hotel in Napa Downtown North - Andaz or River Terrace Zone 9 - 4* hotel in Upper Napa Valley – Harvest Inn The rest have only 3.5 stars or less, a lot to list.. Ok, so my question about 3.5 stars being a bad idea.... I was so tired. What I meant was are they too close to 4* that something could move around from 3.5 to 4 or vice versa? I guess it doesn't really matter. I only looked at PRICELINE EXPRESS and hotwire to check retail rates, I didn't realize they would list the same hotels. I'm having a hard time with this part - comparing what I might get with what they let you know. I 'll check them again. I brought up all the 4* hotels in napa on PL and there are a LOT more than the 3 we thought of. So are you saying I could win any of these? Other than the ones in downtown south, not interested in that area. Max bid will be about $260 ish. My friend is going with me, and she is a little more open about this, but I want a better deal. So we could go as high as $300. Link to comment
yellowdog Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 What I meant was are they too close to 4* that something could move around from 3.5 to 4 or vice versa?I don't understand what you mean with "move around". But you can get an upgrade to 4* or higher if bidding 3.5* but never a lower rating then the rating you're bidding on. I only looked at PRICELINE EXPRESS and hotwire to check retail ratesPRICELINE EXPRESS and the bidding service of PRICELINE (NYOP) use different sets of hotels so you can't compare them. I brought up all the 4* hotels in napa on PL and there are a LOT more than the 3 we thought of. So are you saying I could win any of these? Other than the ones in downtown south, not interested in that area.You need to look at the PRICELINE maps for the location of the hotels since the retail and bidding service use different zones. If you're trying to target a specific property then HOTWIRE or PRICELINE EXPRESS can often be a better option if you're successfully able to identify it based upon the star rating and amenities shown before your purchase... the trade-off is that HOTWIRE usually costs a little more than PRICELINE, so you need to decide what is most important to you for a given stay, the lowest possible price OR the ability to take an educated guess as to the property you may receive. I hope this answer your questions 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. Yellowdog. Link to comment
ChampagneHo Posted May 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2015 Ok thank you. I'm having a hard time asking the right questions I guess, or being clear. I've done this before, via your site, and it was back in 2007. So I am familiar with the basic concept again, now, I am not familiar with the possible wins in Napa. I guess I was trying to figure out how to figure it out. I will try to do some bidding tonight and see what happens. Thanks again! I will post the win if it happens. Link to comment
AaronJB Posted May 8, 2015 Report Share Posted May 8, 2015 You need to be willing to accept any of the 4*'s in the zone or zones that you choose. You can see the hotels reported to the board here: Priceline Hotel List. If you want to have a better idea of what may be offered, PRICELINE EXPRESS or Hot.wire are better choices. Would you rather bid or pay slightly-to-moderately more for a listing where you have a better idea of what it might be? 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. Link to comment
thereuare Posted May 8, 2015 Report Share Posted May 8, 2015 I'm having a hard time asking the right questions I guess, or being clear.I think the issue is that you're trying to be too precise by listing the names of the hotels that you can win, when in reality (and what we are trying to clarify and emphasize, not just for you but for the benefit of anyone (especially newbies) following along) is that there is no way to have a finite list of every possible hotel that you could win. There may be hotels that participate with the bidding side of PRICELINE but not the retail side (and therefore not listed on the retail side of their site when looking at the 'regular rate' hotels for your dates), a new hotel may have recently been added to the system and/or not yet reported to the priceline hotel list, etc. So bottomline is that you can win any hotel at the star rating (or higher) in the zone(s) that you select when bidding. The 'retail' list of hotels on PRICELINE when searching for your dates, as well as our own hotel list of hotels reported to the board, will give you a sense of some of the hotels that you could win, but neither could ever be considered a complete list of all possibilities and you could win something that is not listed on the retail side of PRICELINE OR that is not listed in our own hotel list. Hope that clarifies all of the replies above... we never know the experience level of the user seeking assistance, so we try to make it abundantly clear that you're not bidding on a specific hotel (nor for a finite number of hotels that you may have seen on this site or on the retail side of PRICELINE). Lastly, the bidding strategy above (i'm guessing) would likely take you more than an hour to bid, and you could probably reduce this to 15-20 minutes and still capture at least 90% of the potential savings... do you want to bid for over an hour to save an extra $10 total for this trip? I understand the two zones that you're willing to accept, and that you want a 4* hotel... if you're willing to accept any 4* hotel in the zone(s) that you bid let us know your maximum bid and we will suggest a strategy for you to follow. 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. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
ChampagneHo Posted June 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2015 Just an update. I couldn't get a good price for 4* or even 3* so I checked out Hotwire and won. I will post my winnings in the Hotwire section. For Priceline I bid from $100 to $230 on 4* and then $100 to $240 on 3.5* and all got rejected (I only wanted North Downtown Napa or Upper Napa Valley). Thank you again for your help :) Link to comment
ChampagneHo Posted June 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2015 Thank you for all your help and yes I did use the HOTWIRE links on this site!! :) I am thrilled with this hotel, I stayed here a while ago and loved it. Considering it's going for at least $342 a night, I feel quite lucky!! I actually thought the amenities hinted at the Andaz (using the bidding helper tool) because it mentioned the roll in shower, but I guess not, and that's ok too! I don't know what else to post here so if you have any more things you need for me to post, please let me know. PS, I kept losing all my priceline bids, and was up to $240 on a 3.5* and just gave up. I really did well with Hot.wire :) Link to comment
AaronJB Posted June 10, 2015 Report Share Posted June 10, 2015 Congrats on your success. :)Nice deal for this Napa property and hope you are looking forward to your stay. Can you confirm the amenities that were showing with this listing before your purchase? This information is available under the trip information in your HOTWIRE account (click "My Account" in the upper corner of HOTWIRE.) Thank you for sharing your win and using the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches. Enjoy your stay. Link to comment
ChampagneHo Posted June 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2015 Thanks Aaron! Here are the amenities for River Terrace Inn: Hotel Amenities Free parking Free Internet Smoke-free rooms Fitness center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business center Internet access Spa services Link to comment
yellowdog Posted June 11, 2015 Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 Thanx for the update. Can you please also include the listed accessible amenities in your account, thanx! Have a nice stay. 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. Yellowdog. Link to comment
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