Doc Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 I am looking for a 4* in Dupont Circle - Woodley Parl area and noticed that the Omni seems to be a prominent result, and has been won under $100 for a mid-week stay a couple of weeks ago.I would prefer to stay in this zone, and not go down to a 3*. Does it seem likely that I can win this hotel (or one of the other two hotels in this zone) around $100-$110 (with some wiggle room)? Any help would be appreciated.-DocP.S. This is my first attempt at Priceline, although I have read all the FAQs, and am familiar with the free re-bid process (including additional permutations -- I believe there are 4 free rebid zones I can use). Link to comment
thereuare Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 The Omni and the Westin are both sold-out for one nite of your stay, so the chances of receiving either of those is slim. The other 4* reported hotel in the zone, the Hotel Palomar, has availability and rates aren't too bad... but doesn't come up too often.To give it a try, you do have four 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 4* Dupont Circle...Bid $60, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $65, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* Dupont Circle and re-bid zone2...Bid $70, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $75, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* Dupont Circle and re-bid zone3...Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $85, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* Dupont Circle and re-bid zone4...Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $95, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* Dupont Circle and re-bid zone2 and re-bid zone3...Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $105, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* Dupont Circle and re-bid zone2 and re-bid zone4...Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $115, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* Dupont Circle and re-bid zone3 and re-bid zone4...Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $125.I've obvioulsly gone a little higher than your limit to account for the "wiggle" room you mentioned. If the above fails and you want to continue you do have a couple of more bids you could try, but post back and we'll continue at that point.Any questions feel free to ask.Good Luck and let us know how it goes. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Doc Posted March 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Thereuare, thanks very much for your reply and bid suggestion. I will try it later this evening and report back. I do have a limited timeframe (my travel date is in 2 days), so I probably don't have too many other options that I might be able to try, so hopefully this will work quickly. Alternatively, I may consider changing my zone to White House-Capitol Hill -- if I do that, I assume I would not be subject to the 72 (or 24?) hour lockout, given that I would not have used that zone for the free re-bid in Dupont Circle, correct? Essentially, I should be able to do the whole rebidding sequence using the new zone as the starting point (and possibly more if I include Dupont Circle as "free" rebid zone since it would have failed previously).- Doc Link to comment
Doc Posted March 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 No success :)After seeing rates of 4* hotels for mid-week dates, I ended up going all the way to $170 with no luck.I guess I need to look into Downtown-Whitehouse (and/or Capitol Hill). Any advice would be appreciated -- getting a bit concerned now due to the imminent travel.Thanks,Doc Link to comment
Doc Posted March 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Hotwire is showing a 3.5* in Crystal City for $89.Amenities:Fitness Center, Pool, Restaurant, Business Center, High-speed Internet AccessBased on the Hotwire hotel list, this appears to be the Hyatt Regency. but I figured I would ask the experts. Also, if it is the Hyatt, any opinions on the hotel quality would also be appreciated.Thanks! Link to comment
thereuare Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread... if you ultimately use HOTWIRE we'll then move the entire thread to that section of the board.The above is a match for the Hyatt so that would be our best guess.Please use this HOTWIRE link to begin any purchases you make.Did you want to go with HOTWIRE or did you want to cntinue bidding on priceline and add the White House and/or Capitol Hill zones? Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Doc Posted March 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 (About the Hotwire forum post -- I apologize that I did not realize you would prefer to group posts by stay rather than provider.)Thanks for the match confirmation on Hyatt (although it seems that reviews on TripAdvisor aren't too great -- I was surprised to see the rate under $100). I started looking at Hotwire after the Priceline bid failed for Dupont Circle.I am going to try the same bidding strategy/sequence (as I did for Dupont Circle) for Whitehouse-Downtown area on Priceline first (trying to stay closer to central/west side of the Mall). The 4* hotels in that area have direct booking availability (at much higher rates, of course), so I am hoping I will have some success, especially if I up my range to $170-180 (I guess I am coming to terms with not getting a lower rate in a decent hotel for mid-week dates :) )Thanks for your continued help. Any additional suggestions would be appreciated.- Doc Link to comment
thereuare Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 HOTWIRE has a 3.5* in the Dupont zone for $219 (hotel helix?)... Quickbook has the Churchill for $219 (higher rated than hotel helix but reviews not as good).You can play with the numbers/bid amounts however you like, but if you're now willing to accept the Whitte House zone you can maximize your bidding as follows:Select 4* White House...Bid $60, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $65, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* White House and re-bid zone2...Bid $70, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $75, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* White House and re-bid zone3...Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $85, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* White House and re-bid zone4...Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $95, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* White House and re-bid zone2 and re-bid zone3...Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $105, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* White House and re-bid zone2 and re-bid zone4...Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $115, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* White House and re-bid zone3 and re-bid zone4...Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $125.Then if the above is rejected you can continue...Select 4* Dupont Circle and White House...Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $135, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* Dupont Circle and White House and re-bid zone2...Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $145, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* Dupont Circle and White House and re-bid zone3...Bid $150, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $155, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* Dupont Circle and White House and re-bid zone4...Bid $160, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $165, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* Dupont Circle and White House and re-bid zone2 and re-bid zone3...Bid $170, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $175, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* Dupont Circle and White House and re-bid zone2 and re-bid zone4...Bid $180, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $185, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select 4* Dupont Circle and White House and re-bid zone3 and re-bid zone4...Bid $190, if rejected add re-bid zone1...Bid $195.Hope the above makes sense, if not, feel free to ask any questions. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Doc Posted March 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Sorry for the late reply, but I did not have time/energy before the trip to provide an update.I was finally successful at $170 with the Renaissance Mayflower for 3/14-3/16 using Priceline. Started at $60 and upped by $5 each time, adding/including Dupont Circle in the bidding as suggested above.As it turns out, the Mayflower is fairly convenient to Dupont Circle (only about 2-3 blocks, easily walkable). Metro is very close (red line less than 1/2 block, essentially running under the hotel) and orange/blue lines within 3 blocks), so the stay worked out pretty well and the hotel/service were very good.The next two nights (3/16-3/18) were spent at Embassy Suites Convention Center, booked through Hotwire. While it was a little further from the Metro, it was still a convenient/good location, and the hotel/service were quite good (especially the free cooked-to-order breakfast and nightly manager's reception).Thanks to BetterBidding for providing the variety of information for Hotwire and Priceline. Link to comment
thereuare Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Glad to hear it ultimately worked out for you.Hope you enjoyed your stay. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
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