Priceline vacation package clue to likely hotel?

[WillTravel]

I seem to remember this subject has been discussed.

Anyway, in my case I'm considering a bid for a 1-week stay in Paris.

To get some clues, I did a search on Priceline's vacation packages for a dummy air+hotel package to Paris for my same dates (my hotel stay would be July 11-18, but in order to get the same 7-day stay, I set up a search for a dummy package with SEA-CDG July 10-18). Priceline then shows the list of hotels you can select with that package.

I know no one knows for sure, but I can't help but wonder if a hotel that shows up in that list would also be a fair to likely possibility if you were to bid for the hotel by itself. Similarly, if it doesn't show up in that list, maybe it's less likely to be awarded?

Has anyone tried second-guessing this with other destinations using this method? Any success or lack thereof?

[WillTravel]

This method did not work for my successful 4* Paris bid, and I am glad! I am happier with the hotel I did get, Le Meridien Montparnasse, instead of the Sofitel displayed in the vacation package.

It still might be worth checking if you don't have any idea at all about hotels in the zone you want to bid.

[WillTravel]

That was last year.

I know that a lot of people have used the packages feature lately particularly for London, and the success rate seems pretty good.

But I have to say it looks like it's rather hit and miss for Amsterdam.

I set up four separate packages, one for JFK-AMS and SEA-AMS and ORD-AMS and BLI-AMS, within minutes of each other (and then repeated the process). I then sorted by price. The prices didn't change, but the order of the hotels by price was different for each city.

For City Center/Museum Quarter hotels for the package leaving from JFK:

$1,058 Tulip Inn Amsterdam Centre 3*

$1,089 Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel 4*

$1,110 Le Meridien Apollo 4*

For City Center/Museum Quarter hotels for the package leaving from SEA:

$1,414 Tulip Inn Amsterdam Centre 3*

$1,466 Le Meridien Apollo 4*

$1,526 Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel 4*

For City Center/Museum Quarter hotels for the package leaving from ORD (same order as JFK, slightly different price spreads):

$1,263 Tulip Inn Amsterdam Centre 3*

$1,303 Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel 4*

$1,315 Le Meridien Apollo 4*

For City Center/Museum Quarter hotels for the package leaving from BLI (same order as SEA, slightly different price spread)

$1,855 Tulip Inn Amsterdam Centre 3*

$1,908 Le Meridien Apollo 4*

$1,968 Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel 4*

There's no reason the price order of the hotels shouldn't be the same for each city. The hotel price is separate from the airfare price, one would think. I still think it's useful to look at vacation packages for hints, but don't expect any sort of finality.