Priceline Hotel: Best Strategy for 4* in Boston 9/15 and 9/16

[bsmboston]

We want to make sure we use the best strategy to bid for a 4 * hotel in downtown Boston (9/15 and 9/16). We would be happy with Copley, Downtown or World Trade Center zones and even Cambridge as a last choice. We have only bid once so far starting with 85 with the highest bid of 125 which was rejected. I have since read more on strategies recommended to others but am confused on when to use certain types of strategies such as zone 1 with free rebids then zone 1 + rebid 1, etc

We are hoping to find something for under 125 (since we have to add on parking which is around 25 per day)

I did see a 4* in downtown/financial district on hotwire for 136

[bsmboston]

4-star hotel in Quincy Market - Financial District $136 for 9/15 and 9/16

This upscale establishment offers thoughtful features, quality rooms and a high level of service.

Hotel Amenities:Fitness Center, Pool, Restaurant, Business Center

The only hotels in this area with a pool would be The Langham, Boston

I saw two hotels listed in the packages in this area

Hilton Boston Financial District and The Langham, Boston but only the Langham has a pool

[thereuare]

No need to double post, please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread... if the service ultimately used is not where the thread is located we'll then move the entire thread to that section of the board.

Since the Langham is a match for the above that would be our best guess for the HOTWIRE hotel you're seeing. Although the Le Meridien had these amenities (at the 4.5* rating), it appears that this hotel is no longer operating under the Le Meridien ownership. I'm not sure who took over the hotel (perhaps a local or somebody who knows could comment?) but it's possible that whoever took over this hotel may be participating with Hotwire and the hotel now rated 4* (but the Langham would be my best bet until this 'speculation' is proven with mor evidence).

So you have already bid up to your maximum on Priceline? Which zones did you include on the $125 bid? When did you last make that bid?

[bsmboston]

Sorry about the double post, I thought I needed to post separatley for Hotwire.

We made the bids yesterday on Priceline, up to $125. We started with Copley, and added downtown boston, and then added world trade center and finally cambridge using rebid zones in between

[bsmboston]

Le Meridien is now the Langham Boston owned by Langham Hotels International.

Are you aware of any other hotel in that area which is 4*s and has a pool??

[thereuare]

So you have already bid your maximum bid. You can choose to wait it out and continue to try to beat your next best alternative via Priceline (or bid up to the hotwire rate), but i DON'T recommend using the Hotwire hotel as your back-up... you may continue to fail with priceline and then once you're ready to take the HOTWIRE offer it may no longer show up for your dates. Happened very recently to a friend of mine (in Boston no less) :) I'm not 'pusshing' oen direction or the other, as that's a choice only you can make for you and the people you're traveling with, but if i would figure out your "next best alternative" and determine if holding out to save an extra $10 is worth the risk.

The Langham is the only known hotel with this amenity combination which is why that would be our best guess, but i'm not local to Boston so i can't comment on which other hotels in this zone have pools.

Please use this HOTWIRE link if you do book the above.

Let us know what you decide or if we can be of further help.

[bsmboston]

We really would like to try to bid on Priceline to see if we can get a 4* for a better rate than $136 anywhere in Boston. I was hoping to get some advice on a strategy to bid. There seem to be a few different strategies which can be used for bidding. Can you recommend a strategy?? Should you always bid with one zone at a time? When is it best to combine zones? We bid by starting with our first choice zone, then adding second choice zone, then third choice zone, still no luck we then added rebid zone raising prices. We then realized we could close screen and start with two zones, so we did not get very many opportunities to bid

Example

Select 4* Downtown...

Bid x, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid x+5, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid x+10 if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* Copley...

Bid x, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid x+5, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid x+10, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* Downtown and Copley...

Bid x+10, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid x+15, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid x +20, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

[bsmboston]

If we are unsuccessful today on Priceline, we will probably book on hotwire. I just found the following on hotwire:

3-star hotel in Boston Common - Theatre District

Customer Favorite, Fitness Center, Restaurant, Business Center, High-speed Internet Access

Does this sound like it is the Park Plaze??

[thereuare]

The 3* HOTWIRE hotel could be the Park Plaza or the Holiday Inn as the amenities match both of them (or some other not yet reported hotel... the amenities are quite common).

I was hoping to get some advice on a strategy to bid.

We can suggest a priceline strategy for you to follow, but it's difficult when you're all over the map (no pun intended) with different zones and star ratings.

We haven't posted a strategy yet because until your last post you wanted a strategy with a $125 maximum but you have already bid that much and were rejected... so we attempted to clarify to make sure we understood correctly since the chances of success when bidding again with a $125 maximum would be low.

If you want to try to beat the hotwire offer you can try as follows:

Select 4* Downtown...

Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $125 if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* Copley...

Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $125 if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* Downtown and Copley...

Bid $128, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $131, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $134.

If the above fails i woudl take the 4* HOTWIRE offer (i'd sooner go $10 over my budget for a 4* than settle for a 3* for only $10 under my budget... but it's up to you how much the $20 difference is worth).

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[belgo]

Having just come back from Boston myself, may I highly recommend expanding your bidding area to the Logan Airport region. I got the Hilton, a true 4*, for $65 a night. There are almost continuous shuttles taking you to the subway stop, which is 3 subway stops from downtown. No airplane noise whatsoever. It was a very convenient and comfortable hotel.