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Priceline Hotel: bidding strategy?


fitzhokies
By fitzhokies,
in

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Hello-

I have tried bidding once on Priceline for a room in London from 11/27-11/30. I first tried

Mayfair-Soho 5* at 65

added Bloomsbury-Marble at 70

added Westminister at 75

added 4* at 60

added Kensington at 65

All rejected.

I am looking for a room for no more than $75 a night. We will be tourists and would like a centrally located hotel, hopefully 4*.

I saw several successful bids for the Copthorne Tara but it wasn't offered to me.

I can bid again tomorrow- any advice would be appreciated.

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The Tara Copthorne Kensington is said by some to have some problems.

See here:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews...on_England.html

Not everyone has a problem, though, and it doesn't sound like the rooms are really that atypical for London. Just be prepared that you probably won't get as nice or large a 4* room in London as you would in a typical US city, but that would hold whether it was Priceline or not.

It's hard to say if any particular area is "nicer" or more convenient when it comes to London. All of the ones you tried are good choices for a tourist.

The price is not necessarily a reflection of how nice the hotel is - just some zones tend to be more expensive. But for whatever reason, Kensington tends to be the cheapest zone, Bloomsbury the next cheapest, and Mayfair and Westminster tend to be more. For me personally, Kensington is the least interesting, but that might just be because I don't know it well enough.

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I've only been to London once so i can't help too much with which zones are more ideal than others. Once you get that sorted out (from the help of WT and others on the board) list your acceptable zones and i'll present a bidding strategy.

My only comment from what i remember about London was that almost any area within or near 'the loop'(??) would be considered a good location.

Oh yeah, the other thing i remember... the hotel rooms were small.

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

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Personally my order of zones for London would be Mayfair/Soho, Westminster, Bloomsbury/Marble Arch and then Kensington.

Re prices, I think your chances of getting a 5* at $85 are extremely slim. Cheapest I've seen them go for was $95 as that was before the recent strengthening of sterling.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy your visit :)

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I think you know how to raise you bid to $85 for the 5* so i won't outline a strategy for that, but try for the 5* first and if that fails here is what i would do for the 4*...

4* Mayfair-Soho bid $67, if rejected add

Bloomsbury-Marble and bid $70, if rejected add

Westminster and bid $76 (i went over your budget by $1 because we have seen an acceptance in the Mayfair-Soho zone at $76 but none at $75)

If the above is rejected, start over at a brand new screen and...

4* Kensington bid $55, if rejected add

Mayfair-Soho and bid $65, if rejected add

Bloomsbury and bid $70, if rejected add

Westminster and bid $75

Good Luck and feel free to ask any questions you may have. Let us know how it goes.

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

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Don't forget, there is the free rebid with South Bank-Vauxhall.

Overall though, $75 is possible conservative for 4*. You might want to consider adding $5 more before dropping down to 3*. That $5/night might make the difference.

I will also point out that Mayfair-SoHo tends, but not always, to go for more than Bloomsbury-Marble Arch. While means that you may pay more for hotel in Bloomsbury than necessary because you start with Mayfair.

BillJ

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Good Morning

Well, I tried...to no avail. Got on Savings Barn and tried as outlined for me above (thanks thereuare!).

Since we are awfully close to our travel dates I think it has more to do with low bids than rooms being released. Will wait the mandatory 72 hours and try again I guess, maybe increasing bids by $10 or 15.

Any further thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

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I saw several successful bids for the Copthorne Tara but it wasn't offered to me.

In checking individual nites at the Copthorne Tara it appears to be sold out for your last nite, the 29th, which would account for it not being offered to you (although a search for all 3 nites offers you a rate of 105 euros). The rates for the first 2 nites is only 76 euros ($120? US... i'm not really sure) and if you're willing to change hotels during your stay i'd consider splitting the bid as you may be successful with a $55 bid for the first 2 nites of your stay. Given that you're now likely looking at spending $80+/nite, saving $50 ($25/nite x 2) may make this a viable option for you... BUT i highly recommend talking this over with anyone else your traveling with. While i would have no problem changing hotels to save $50, others might consider it a hassle not worth the savings. If you decide to try this route you can bid again immediately since you'd be bidding for different dates than you bid for previously.

You can read more about this approach here: Should I Split My Bid?

Let me know if you want to split your bid, and if so i'll provide a strategy for that; if not, say so and i'll post a new strategy for when you're able to bid again.

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

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It depends how much luggage you have and how comfortable you are taking it up and down all those stairs in the tube. Alternatively, you can take the luggage on the bus, but that can be tough if the bus is crowded. I've done both of those and lived to tell about it, but it was a bit of a squeeze. However, I've never taken a cab in London - the prices terrify me too much :).

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Have you bid using the South Bank Vauxhall zone? If not, you could start again with that and run through it again.

Personally, I'd suggest doing 4* Mayfair Soho + South Bank Vauxhall for $90 and you would hopefully get the Millenium Mayfair and be done. Slightly more money than you originally wanted to spend, but I have yet to hear anything bad about it and it is coming up a lot lately.

BillJ

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Ok - uncle already!

I've tried bidding twice more since last I posted - up to 105 for 5* and 95 for 4* and have been rejected. Looking on Expedia, etc. it definitely looks like Saturday night is the problem. Before I bite the bullet and book at a higher price I'd like to give it one last shot.

We don't particularly want to change hotels - too much time lost and, obviously, inconvenient.

What do you think f just bidding on the 27th and 28th then calling whatever hotel I get and booking the 29th. I guess there is a small chance of them being completely booked that night but it seems like a better shot than a separate priceline bid for the 29th.

Any thoughts?

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What are some typical Saturday night rates for the possible hotels you might get? Say you won a $90 bid for the first two nights, and then the hotel will give you the third night for $250, would you be happy with that? It might be cheaper to pick the hotel with another service, but hard to tell in advance. I assume you don't want a 3* because of the risk when it's an unknown hotel, but if you get to pick the hotel, that might be a better option in this case. If I think of anything else, I will post it.

Edit: I'm not sure I'm being clear. What I'm saying is that if you can see which 3* hotel you are getting, you might be able to get one that you are happy with using Orbitz or Expedia or the hotel web site or some other service, even if you don't want to take the risk with Priceline.

Edit: I'd also suggest looking at the Dolphin Square Hotel web site at http://www.dolphinsquarehotel.co.uk particularly the Special Offers. You could get a special rate of 89 pounds total including tax and breakfast for each of Friday and Saturday night, and some other rate for the Thursday night. Not exactly cheap, but I'm not sure what your backup is.

Edit: Another possibility is the Hilton London Kensington. It has a rate of 87.90 pounds per night through Orbitz, including tax and breakfast. This is also available through the Hilton web site.

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The Copthorne Tara is available at Londontown.com for 105 pounds.

If I could get the first 2 nights for 50lbs each then my average price per night would be 70ish pounds a night.

The Dolphin Square Hotel is booked for the 28th and 29th (nice website though!)

The Hilton is available, I am going to get on Trip Advisor now and check it out, thanks for the suggestion.

Edit- Well I just did, not good reviews and a ways out of city center...

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I'd book the first two nites as best you can thru Priceline and then:

1) Try Priceline's "Add a Nite Feature". They may charge you more than your other two nites, but may be cheaper than Orbitz/Expedia.

2) If the "Add a Nite" doesn't work, book the last nite conventionally. I think the last nite of your stay will be available, it's just a little more crowded that nite and therefore requires a higher bid (and therefore requires a higher bid for all the nites you're bidding for.... thus the reason for your rejections). If for some reason the hotel is sold-out, at least you now know the location and hopefully can book a hotel that is just down the block (ie-walkable) from the hotel you win to save on time/inconvenience.

If you'd like an updated bidding strategy, feel free to ask and i'll post one.

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

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Assuming you're not trying to avoid the Copthorne Tara (which i don't think you are) and are looking to keep your bid at $75 maximum, i'd try this:

4* Kensington bid $55, if rejected add

Mayfair-Soho and bid $67, if rejected add

Bloomsbury and bid $70, if rejected add

Westminster and bid $72, if rejected add

re-bid zond and bid $75.

If you're not sure of your re-bid zone feel free to ask or confirm.

Remember, you can bid this (11/27-11/29) immediately even if you were just rejected for your full stay (11/27-11/30) since the different check-out date is treated an entirely new bid.

Let us know how it goes, and thanks for your support.

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

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