Priceline Hotel: 3* San Francisco (Fishermans Wharf) Marriott Fishermans Wharf

[Steve-o]

I have been bidding on this one for a couple of months now--finally had success (patience pays off!) after first bidding $110 and then $120 using the Civic Center zone as a free rebid. I started with only 4* bids at FW, but decided to bid on 3* as well after prices for hotels at Fisherman's Wharf didn't seem to be falling and my departure date was fast approaching. I did notice one curious fact: while Priceline's "retail" product seems to have no relationship with "bid" product's prices, in this situation the retail product did seem to be some kind of an indicator of availability on the bid product. I say this because the Mariott FW never "popped up" as an available 3* hotel on the retail product until the same day/time I won it on the bid product. Curiously, the Mariott showed up as $349/night on the retail product for the same nights I bid on, when the Mariott website's lowest rate is $209/night for the same period of time. Not surpisingly, all of the other 3* hotels at FW had much lower "retail" rates than $349 as well. It is curious because I can't imagine anyone booking a room at $349 on the retail product when there were other hotels available in the low 200s/high 100s. I have no clue what all of that means, but I thought I would pass the information along.

[thereuare]

Thank you for sharing your win with the board.

Was $120 your first bid at the 3* level?

Enjoy your stay.

[Steve-o]

No, I bid $110 first, which was rejected. The day before, I bid $90 and $100 on a 3* at FW without success.

[thereuare]

Thanks for the follow-up. :)