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Priceline Hotel: 4* St. Louis (Downtown) The Westin Saint Louis


the_chad
By the_chad,
in

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Started bidding at $70 in $5 increments to $90. No luck. Median price listed at $181. Current PRICELINE EXPRESS deal shows $107. I'm not concerned (this time) on which hotel I get, PL or HW, just the area and 3.5*+

 

A few days ago, a 4.5* Hot.wire hotel was showing ~$69, which I returned to accept, but it was gone. It now shows $106. Not sure why all the sudden jump, esp considering my beloved Cardinals are out of the playoffs :'(

 

It's 2 weeks away, no other areas work, date is fixed. Aside from the notion, "anything can happen," what are the chances that waiting another couple of days will yield the return of a lower priced PRICELINE EXPRESS deal (or Hot.wire)? What would you all do?

 

As usual, I used the Bidding.Helper.

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While nobody can say if rates will come down, or move even higher, I would likely take the 4* Downtown hotel (confirm your dates on the landing page)

The reason(s) being:

1) if this disappears the next best option is a 3.5* at $150/nite

2) this property has a 9+ user review rating by previous PRICELINE guests, so i know i'm getting a quality hotel

My guess for this PRICELINE EXPRESS offer (only showing Business and Restaurant amenities) would be The Westin Saint Louis... so naturally how well this property does/doesn't work for your needs would come into play as well.

Alternately, i would try bidding on PRICELINE with a $100 maximum bid (if saving $7 is worth it to you... after that i'd prefer the surety of knowing the hotel has an excellent 9+ user review rating)

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

Keep us updated on your progress and let us know what you ultimately decide for this stay or how we can be of further help.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Thanks for the advice. I went ahead and pulled the trigger. Westin, sure enough.

$132 all in.

 

 

This may be better for another post, but after having played the PL/HW game for years, almost solely with the help of you, aaronjb, and betterbidding (THANK YOU again), I haven't watched/experienced much in terms of price and availability fluctuations. Usually, I get the lay of the land, then decide if I'll use PL or HW/PLEx, and make it happen. This was the first time i really thought, "will the price come back down, even briefly??"

 

So in your experience thereuare, how often does a price come back down? Or similarly, how often does waiting to the very last minute, pay off? I'm usually too risk averse to wait until the day before, but do wonder if it's possible. Sometimes I'm far less concerned about what hotel I'm getting and more concerned on getting a 4*+ for a great deal. Maybe I'll start looking the day before/of via the biddinghelper just to see what results are returned for comparisons.

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Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you're pleased with the results and thank you for sharing your win with the board.

There really is no way to know if rates will drop, or move higher, between now and any given stay. It all depends upon supply/demand and how actual new reservations/cancellations come in relative to expected new cancellations/reservations. However, it's a misconception to think that rates will necessarily come down as you get closer to the trip, as:

1) the hotel could get busier as check-in date draws near

2) a neighboring hotel could sell-out (which means fewer rooms in the area, and often causes all hotels nearby to raise prices)

3) there is a cost to having a room occupied and sometimes it may mean it's better to have the room sit empty (from the hotel's own metrics maybe if they fill one more room they have to schedule an extra bellman, front desk clerk, valet, and/or restaurant staff so they need to get full price for that room (ie- no deep discounts for PRICELINE / HOTWIRE discount) to make it worthwhile to pay the extra support staff... not to mention the low morale of not scheduling them and then calling them 48 hours beforehand informing them that they have to come in).

There are plenty of other scenarios, but the above are the ones that most quickly came to my mind and are easy to understand/explain.

As i eluded in my original reply with my thoughts as why i would take this one now, a lot depends on:

1) how good of a deal it is (based upon the hotel guessed)

2) how well does the hotel guessed work for my plans

3) what other options are available should this offer disappear (both in terms of price and convenience for my plans)

4) how quickly do i want to 'get this done' (sometimes there is peace of mind in having my plans confirmed and focus on other aspects of my trip (or focus on things outside of travel))

Finally, you can use our RateDrop service to help track rates for a particular trip... you choose the star rating, zone, dates, and what price you want to pay... should a hotel in the zone with that star rating reach your price point, we'll send you an email alerting you that the rate has dropped. ;)

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

Enjoy your stay.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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