Priceline Hotel: 3 or 4 * Downtown Atlanta

[jmsnyc]

I've been unsuccessfully trying to get a hotel downtown. I bid many times between $45 and $80 for 3*. I even tried bidding separately on the weekdays assuming they may be cheaper but maybe since Atlanta is a business city I should be doing it the other way around....

Is it true that I only have to wait 24 hours now to rebid?

[jmsnyc]

I ended up booking through EasyClickTravel Travel I am attending a NCTM (Math Teachers) conference and it seemed like the hotels were all sold out or abnormally expensive in downtown Atlanta area. So I got the Holiday Inn Downtown for $106 per night including fees. Holiday's Inn site shows no availability except for Saturday night which shows $116 plus taxes.

Only negative is the steep cancellation fee - 1 day ($100). I wonder if they have rooms blocked off cause it seems strange they had availability when Holiday Inn didnt.

[thereuare]

At many hotels, EasyClickTravel actually contracts for "x rooms per nite for the next month/quarter/etc" so they can often have availability when the hotel website does not. They also don't typically adjust their rates on a nite-by-nite basis, which is why they're often a great place to look when rates are others inflated for a specific event or conference.

I didn't look at the Holiday Inn specifically, but typically their cancellation fee only applies if you cancel wtihin 2-3 days of your check-in date... otherwise there is no penalty outside of that timeframe (although their website is, admittedly, poorly worded).