Hotwire Hotel: 3* Minneapolis (Bloomington East-MofA-Airport MSP) Country Inn

[dragonman64]

Since Priceline (US) doesn't allow bids (and credit cards) from the Philippines, I thought that the next best thing to check out is Priceline Hong Kong which can accomodate my bid. Or is there any other way of doing it? I want to try if we can get a downtown Minneapolis hotel for the dates 10/17-10/20. Hotwire's offerings for this period are not too enticing.

[thereuare]

Or is there any other way of doing it?

You can follow what others have done in the Priceline Canada thread.

What star rating are you looking for? What is your maximum bid?

[dragonman64]

I'm actually considering 2.5* or better with a maximum bid of USD60.

[thereuare]

Rates are a bit higher than usual.

When bidding 2.5* you have two re-bid zones. 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.

Select 2.5* Downtown...

Bid $35, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $40, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $45.

If the above is rejected wait 24 hours and re-try as follows:

Select 2.5* Downtown...

Bid $50, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $55, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $60.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[dragonman64]

thanks for the suggestions!

btw, what are the chances of landing a hotel that is not in your original preferred area (i.e., if i add a 2nd zone just to do the re-bidding)? my companions wouldn't be happy if we end up in this part.

[thereuare]

If you do the re-bidding correctly and check before each bid there should be 'no chance' of landing in those zones... but realize that re-bidding is not simply adding just any other zone.

Have you read the Priceline Re-Bidding Explained link? Perhaps you want to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board?

[dragonman64]

ok, thanks again. i already read the re-bidding thread and it has answered my concerns. i will post here any progress i make the bid.

[dragonman64]

I've been checking Hotwire' Minneapolis hotel offerings regularly and this one came up:

3* Hotel - Bloomington East- MOA-MSP Airport

10/17-10/20

Amenities:

Airport Shuttle

Complimentary Breakfast

Fitness

Pool

Business Center

Laundry

Would appreciate help in identifying the same. I initially thought it could be Amerisuites, but there is no indication of a suite under amenities. HI Express came in next, but it has a 2.5* rating. Could this be a Courtyard or Residence Inn?

[dragonman64]

Connected to my inquiry above, I was also guessing that this could be a Country Inn or Homewood Suites by Hilton which are just across MOA.

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

Did you try bidding the previously suggested strategy above and fail or have you not done anything with that?

[dragonman64]

Yeah, I tried making Priceline bids but to no avail. It keeps on rejecting my bids for a downtown Mpls. hotel. I checked on the rates of Orbitz for the same period and at least 3 of the usual downtown hotels being offered have no availability so I presumed that Priceline wanted me to give a high bid. This is the reason why I re-checked the Hotwire options once more and this 3* Bloomington East came up (it wasn't on the list of offers before.)

[thereuare]

Are you searching for more than one room and/or for more than the default "2 adults"?

If not, can you do another HOTWIRE search and let us know if you still see the above property... i'm showing a 3* in ths zone with: restaurant, pool, fitness, laundry... not what you show above.

[dragonman64]

I was searching for 2 rooms over at Priceline but still, my bids (and re-bids + adding of zones) got rejected. We're not comfortable bidding for just one room intended for 2 adults max when we are actually 3 adults travelling together.

I returned my search to Hotwire (for just one room) which has proven better. It's just that I don't have a clear clue as to what the 3* hotel in Bloomington East is, as specified with amenities in the post above. Gut-feel tells me that it could be the Country Inn & Suites right beside MOA, although the offered price (Hotwire claims it to be 'Best Value' at USD116) should qualify it for Homewood Suites or Residence Inn or Courtyard. Any ideas?

[thereuare]

I see it now when searching for 3 adults/1 room.

This hotel has not been identified, but there a LOT of hotels in the area this could be: Homewood Suites, Country Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, and to a lesser extent, the Embassy Suites or Amerisuites.

If you decide to take this please be sure to let us know what it turns out to be, and use this HOTWIRE link to begin your purchase.

Could you stay in the MSP West-MofA zone? There is a 3* on HOTWIRE in this zone for $39 where you could get two rooms cheaper than the one above (in the East zone)

[dragonman64]

We've really been mulling about that USD39 3* hotel in Bloomington West which will most likely be the Holiday Inn Bloomington Airport, but given that we won't have a car and will be public-transport-dependent (on top of having my 62 year old mom in the group), a hotel much nearer to the MOA area is preferable.

Among the properties you mentioned, only Country Inn and Homewood Suites are rated 3*, while the rest are 2.5* - reason why I believe it's one of the former. Thanks for the inputs!

[dragonman64]

I finally made the purchase (made thru the HOTWIRE link here).

3* Bloomington East-MOA-MSP Airport

Country Inn & Suites by Carlson Bloomington at Mall of America

2221 Killebrew Drive

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55425

10/17-10/20

USD115.00

Amenities:

Airport Shuttle

Complimentary Breakfast

Fitness

Pool

Business Center

Laundry

Although the savings are not big, we're happy that the hotel is just a stone's throw away from MOA where there is a Light Rail station going to Downtown MPLS. Best rate of the place in its official website is USD131 so the USD115 is already an acceptable amount for our triple-sharing accomodations.

Thanks for the assistance! Now off to my next Hotwire hunt in Seattle (10/20-10/23)...if only I can get a really good deal in that city, then our trip details will be complete. :)

[thereuare]

Glad you got it settled and are happy with the results.

Thank you for helping us add this property to our Hotwire Hotel List and for using our HOTWIRE link to begin your purchase.

Enjoy your stay.