Priceline Hotel: 4* London (Mayfair-SoHo) Thistle Charing Cross

[inpd]

Hi,

I need a bit of help.

I read through the threads and bid:

$70 for Soho-Mayfair, Kensington and Bloomberry for 05/23/06 to 05/28/06

but no takers. Particularly surprised for the Kensington part as others have got

this for <$70 before many times and quite a few hotels in the area use priceline.

Is my lack of sucess because 1): Bidding too late (only 6 weeks out)

or 2): some other event makes these dates bad (i.e. Chelsea flower show)

[inpd]

I should mention, I'm looking for a four star hotel

[Blueskies]

What is your back up plan?

What is your maximum bid?

[WillTravel]

If you look at Hotwire for your dates, the prices for 3.5* hotels and up are pretty expensive. That suggests there may be availability issues for whatever reason, but I don't know the London schedule well enough to say. I suspect if you looked at the "usual suspect" list of likely hotels, you'll find their rates are pretty high for your dates. I know it's hard to take when so many people seem to get cheap prices on other dates, but remember most people don't post their failed attempts.

I would suggest raising your limit, considering other zones, considering 3* hotels, and/or splitting your bid. You could wait longer, but given that so many people have booked deals of around $55/night up to 11 months in advance, I suspect you just won't get that price for your dates.

[inpd]

Hi,

I saw everyone bidding $65 and getting 4* hotels in london but this

did not work for me.

Maybe its due to the Chelsea garden show or just because I left it

too late (two months before I leave).

Anyway, I upped my bid to $80 and still no success so I moved

dates to before the graden show and

bid $85 and got this hotel.

It's a little high, but still a win given the prepurchase

no cancellation rate of this hotel is 95 !!!pounds!!! per night not

dollars.

I forgot to go to priceline via the saving barn but will do so

next time. :)

[lwitchel]

inpd -

It's not high at all for that zone - Mayfair is more convenient for tourists than Kensington, and hotels in Mayfair usually go for more - you got a great deal.