Priceline Hotel: 4* Paris (St Germain-Latin Quarter-Montparnasse) Marriott Rive Gauche

[jhw01]

Hi everyone, I am new to this board. Thanks for sharing the bidding information on Priceline.

I have used PL before. I am trying to bid for a 4* hotel in the Latin Quarter for 8 nights (10/1 - 10/9). However, on the priceline grid where it shows the hotel prices by hotel classes, nothing showed up under 4* once I put in the dates. I tried everyday and found out it was 10/3 that is not available. However, on certain dates, even though a price is listed under the 4* category, when I click on that price, it tells me no hotel is available.

I went ahead and bid anyway with $95, was rejected with no counter offer. What should I do? Should I break up my bids into 2 parts (10/1-10/3 and 10/4-10/9) and then hoping to get a room from the hotel on 10/3? Or should I opt for a lower * hotel within the same area? Help please. Thanks a lot in advance.

[jhw01]

To clarify, I would like to know how I can find out if PL has inventory for the dates/hotel class/zone? And also, how should I split up my 8-night stay to re-bid? Thanks again!

I will be using using the links at SavingsBarn.com for my priceline purchases . Thanks.

[thereuare]

What is your maxmum bid?

Are you willing to stay at two separate hotels during the above stay? (even if you win a hotel for the latter part of your stay, the hotel may be too expensive, or sold-out, for the first two nites of your stay)

You do have one re-bid zone avaialble, is there a reason you didn't use it above? If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained.

[jhw01]

Dear thereuare, thank you for the response. My maximum bid is US$150, $95 is just to test the water. I was hoping to get a counteroffer so that I know how to bid next. I am concerned that I am not getting any counteroffer at all.

I am willing to break up my stay for 2 different hotels. I checked Le Meridien's website, 10/7 is sold out on their website. But my question is how can I determine which dates are not available so that I can determine how to break up my bids? BTW, I thought I have two free re-bid zone: Monmartre - Republique and Orly Airport.

Thank you so much for your help!

[thereuare]

When I input paris as a city i am not given the option to select the Orly Airport.

Are you able to select (St. Germain - Latin Quarter - Montparnasse) and Orly Airport from the same screen?

[jhw01]

Hi thereuare,

I have not tried. I assumed that since Orly Airport is listed as one of the available zones in Paris, I can use it for my free rebid. I will try out and let you know.

My burning question is how to break my stay into 2 parts, the key is to figure out which days the PL has the 4* hotel in the Latin Quarter.

What I have done:

By changing check-in/check-out dates, I can see the available of 4* hotel in the St. Germain - Latin Quarter - Montparnasse. For instance, when I put in check-in 10/1 and check-out 10/3, under the 4* column for St. Germain - Latin Quarter - Montparnasse, the price is $454, does that mean a 4* hotel is available for those two nights?

However, when I click on $454, the hotel listed is not the 4* hotel we normally see for that region through PL (only Le Meridien and Rive Gauche appeared in the past). What does that mean?

Another strategy I can use is to start with a bid for 10/1-10/9, then shorten the dates to figure out which dates are not available. But I will be in trouble if the dates not available are say 10/3 and 10/7.

I also read through the "splitting bid" thread, I also checked the Le Meridien's website, the rates are different everyday, they are EUR 181(10/1), 194, 270, 281, 239, 181 and 171(10/8) respectively. would I be better off bidding for 10/1-10/2 and 10/3-10/5, but I am afraid to get the Rive Gauche (I checked Marriott's website, they have room for 10/1-10/2).

Decisions decisions decisions...

Thanks again for your help. Truly appreciate it!

[jhw01]

OK, this is what I tried on PL:

I bidded on a day-by-day basis by offering a low-ball offer of $80. The responses from PL is as follows:

10/1: counteroffer $125, Hotel rate EUR $181

10/2: counteroffer $125 Hotel rate EUR $194

10/3: no counter offer, Hotel rate EUR $270

10/4: no counter offer, Hotel rate EUR $281

10/5: no counter offer, Hotel rate EUR $239

10/6: counteroffer $107, Hotel rate EUR $181

10/7: no counter offer, Hotel sold out as well

10/8: counteroffer $107, Hotel rate EUR $170

I noticed that the ones coming back with counteroffers are the ones with relatively lower rates per Hotel's own website. So if I am not getting a counteroffer for those higher rate dates, is it because my offer is too low or is it because PL simply does not have any rooms available.

What should I do? Please please help me. Thanks a million!

[thereuare]

Another strategy I can use is to start with a bid for 10/1-10/9, then shorten the dates to figure out which dates are not available. But I will be in trouble if the dates not available are say 10/3 and 10/7.

This is the strategy you want to use, for example looping thru the following dates:

10/1-10/9

10/2-10/9

10/1-10/8

10/3-10/9

10/1-10/7

10/4-10/9

10/1-10/6

10/5-10/9

10/1-10/5

If the trouble dates are 10/3 or 10/7 then you have a chance of a partial win and can then deal with the balance of the stay another way (at a different hotel and/or zone).

Using the 'retail' version of priceline to determine availablity is not a recommended approach, as per the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ.

[jhw01]

OK, I used your link to place 3 more bids as follows:

10/1 check-in, 10/3 checkout, bid $95 Latin Quarter-St. Germain, counter offer $125 (I accidentally placed the same bid within 24 hours, was surprised to see my bid went through)

10/1 check-in, 10/3 checkout, bid $95 Latin Quarter-St. Germain, rejected, no counter offer

10/6 check-in, 10/9 checkout, bid $95 Latin Quarter-St. Germain, rejected, no counter offer.

Based on the above, I am pretty sure there is nothing available on 10/3-10/5, 10/7. My only choices are:

(1) bid for 2 days (10/1 & 10/2) and book another hotel for the remainder of the stay

(2) bid for another zone, possibly Les Halles - Le Marais

I am running out of time... Thanks for your help!

[thereuare]

You may be right that there is no availability (or only high priced availability) on certain dates of your stay, but you'll never know for certain until you try bidding (for real). Hotels can have minimum nite requirements on their accepted bids, so while you may see no availability for a given nite of your stay when checking one nite at a time, what if their is a minimum star requirement attached to that nite. It's more the exception than the rule, but what if stays for 10/7 (for example) require a two nite stay... you're searches for 10/7 will show no availbility while you would have a chance for a bid for 10/6-10/8 or 10/7-10/9.

I also don't necessarily agree with your research premise (or conclustions) of basing your bidding dates and amounts on whether or not a counter-offer is received or not.

You mention that you're "running out of time"... but you haven't even made any bonafide bids yet. If you feel you're getting pressed for time, it's time to stop the theory and get serious with some legitimate bids.

[jhw01]

Got Rive Gauche Saint Jacques Hotel for $115/night for 10/1 & 10/2. Yesterday bid $85 and was counter offered $125. Today first bid $105, was counter offered to add $22, did not go for that, re-bid $115 and got accepted. Submitted request to extend my stay for two more nights, no luck. Guess that area is very full during that week. Thanks for all the help and I used the savingsbarn.com link.

[thereuare]

Glad you got part of it settled and thank you for using the priceline hotel link at SavingsBarn.com

Is the Marriott branded property at: 17 , Boulevard Saint Jacques? Is it 4* rated?

I still would have bid looping thru the dates i mentioned above, trying first to get the greatest number of dates as possible, and then dealing with the balance:

10/1-10/9

10/2-10/9

10/1-10/8

10/3-10/9

10/1-10/7

10/4-10/9

10/1-10/6

10/5-10/9

10/1-10/5

... which you could have continued if you were content with a 2 nite stay:

10/6-10/9

10/1-10/4

10/7-10/9

10/1-10/3

If you need help with the remainder of your stay please start a NEW TOPIC so that we will be able to reflect any subsequent wins in the topic title of the thread.

Enjoy your stay and thanks for sharing.

[WillTravel]

In case it isn't clear, the former Sofitel Rive Gauche is now the Marriott Rive Gauche.

[thereuare]

It's clear now, THANKS!!

[jhw01]

Dear thereuare,

I know you have a different opinion, but I still think the fact that I did not get a counter offer is because of the lack of availability. It's normally not because my offer is too low. I have seen someone bidding $90 and was counter-offered $190. I also checked the Marriott's website, they had nothing available after October 2. Also, my stay there is during the Paris Auto Show (1.4 million visitors during the 2-week period in 2004) and Paris Fashion Week (Oct. 1-Oct.8).

Also, in case anyone wants to know, Rive Gauche is undergoing renovation which will last til early part of next year. I called Marriott to confirm that. Hopefully I can get a newly renovated room.

[toade]

JHW,

I was wondering if you were able to find a place to stay on the other nights. We too are going going to Paris 10/2-10/5, and have yet to book a hotel. Now that it is last minute we are really scrambling to find a good deal. Were you able to find anything decent?

[jhw01]

You'd better act on it right now. It just seems the entire city is booked up. Here is the thread I posted on fodors.com. My preference is to stay at St. Germain/Latin Quarter area. http://fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?...w0101&fid=2

10/2-10/5 will be the hardest dates to book. That's where I got stuck. At the end, I booked with Hotel College du France. I believe there are still vacacies at Hotel Edouard Vl and Observatoire Luxumbourg at my price range. I chose Hotel College du France due to the location even though it's a two star hotel. But reviews are good on this hotel. Good luck.