Priceline Hotel: Amsterdam - cheap, safe hotel

[gbs]

My college-aged daughter and a friend are going to London and Amsterdam for 10 days at Spring Break. What do you suggest for an inexpensive, safe hotel in Amsterdam. They were hoping to spend only about 50-60 a night total for lodging, but it seems like an expensive city. Any advice would be appreciated.

[thereuare]

How about follow-ups to your PRICELINE SYDNEY and PRICELINE ATHENS threads?

[gbs]

Done. Sorry. I thought I had done this before we left on the trip!

[pirate]

Hi GBS,

My daughter stayed in Amsterdam in November at the Bulldog Hostel and Hotel. She was very pleased with it. She went with her boyfriend and they had a double room with en suite for a very reasonable price.

(no use giving a figure, she paid in

[WillTravel]

Here are three places I considered:

http://www.hotelprinsenhof.com/

http://www.channels.nl/10640b.html

These are both very central.

http://www.sanluchesio.nl/ (This is a monastic hotel, quite possibly not the environment two girls on spring break are seeking. A bit further from the center than the others, but very doable with trams.)

Still, you won't get away with less than 65 Euros per night, so far as I can tell. If they do find a cheaper place, I'd be very concerned about its quality. But check out http://www.bookings.org frequently as well. I got a good deal on a Best Western through there.

[gbs]

Thanks for your info, Pirate and WillTravel. We will do some checking up on the places you suggested and I'll let you know what happens. Moderator, what about Priceline options?

[thereuare]

Find your best deal elsewhere and then let us know your maximum bid and which zone(s) you are willing to accept, we will then be in a position to suggest a strategy for you to follow.

[gbs]

Hi, I would like some guidance on bidding for rooms for this week. My daughter will be in Amsterdam on the 8th of March and again on the 11th; in Brussels for the 9th and 10th. In Amsterdam I'd like a 3 or 4* room in city Center or Museum Quarter for up to $100, but hopefully I don't have to spend that much; in Brussels I'd like Brussesl, not the airport. It looks like the 4* rooms are much cheaper so a 4* would probably be a good bargain, hopefully I can spend $60 or under. I'd appreciate you help. Thanks so much.

[gbs]

Hello again, I think I really need to bid on this today. Is there anyone out there who can give me some bidding assistance and strategies? I would really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

[thereuare]

At the 4* level you have one re-bid zone available. 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 before proceeding.

For the nite of the 8th i would bid as follows:

Select 4* City Center-Museum Quarter...

Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $85.

Please start separate threads for your other nite in Amsterdam and another thread for your Brussels stay... we'll advise accordingly in those threads.

[gbs]

Thanks for the advice. If I were to start the bid for a 3*, what do you think my strategy should be? Should I start with a 3* and go to 4*, or vice-versa?

[GM Mike]

Note that when you place a priceline bid it's for a MINIMUM star rating. So if you bid 3* first, you're actually bidding 3* AND 4* (and anything higher, such as Resort). In general, if you want either 4 or 3 star, you'd make your 4* bids first so that, if you are denied, you can start a new set of 3* bids at a lower dollar amount.

Make sure you understand priceline rebidding. thereuare gave you a link to a description of the technique in an earlier post.

Good luck!

[rapazfreiburg]

Since you don't have much time left, I would start bidding a bit higher. Also, I have never seen bids accepted between Monday and Thursday for amounts lower than $88 or $89, depending on the conversion rate.

I would rather start at $85, if not accepted, add your free rebid zone and bid $90.

For a 3star, I wouldn't start much lower. I haven't seen many accepted bids at 3stars in Amsterdam anyway, and when bids were accepted, these bid amounts usually were only up to a few dollars lower than those for 4stars.