Priceline Hotel: 2.5* Los Angeles (Redondo-Manhattan Beaches) Residence Inn LAX-MB

[travelzee]

I'm trying to use PL for the first time to obtain the Residence Inn Manhattan Beach location which I've read about here. I'd really appreciate any help you can offer to lock in a price close to what I'm seeing here.

I've bid from $45 to $50 in $1 increments without success.

Check-In Date: Monday, May 7, 2007

Check-Out Date: Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Hotel Name: Residence Inn Manhattan Beach

1700 North Sepulveda Boulevard

Manhattan Beach, California 90266

Your Offer Price: $45 to $50

Number of Rooms: 1

Number of Nights: 1

I'll be traveling and staying in hotels this whole summer so if this works I intend to use PL for as many of my stays in hotels as possible. I'd also like to use it for the car rentals, but this has also failed so far, although I've always set the prices to be within the range of what I've found in this forum.

I've read all the tip sections, especially with the suggestions on modifying the star rating to bid again, but I have not found a way to do this for the Residence Inn property. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

[zbenye]

The game is not as easy or as fun as it used to be. This Residence Inn has been playing hard to get lately. For my recent stays here, I bid weeks in advance and failed, but eventually succeeded just a couple of days prior to a stay.

This weekend even that didn't work. I tried for Friday-Monday (3/30/07-4/2/07) and got nothing even on 3/30 itself. I event tried any one of those nights separately.

After spending Friday and Saturday nights elsewhere with points, I tried PL again this morning just for fun. Don'tcha know - got the Residence Inn for tonight (Sunday) for the regular price of $46. Just checked in an hour ago and the desk guy confirmed that they were full the last two nights and pretty full tonight.

So, just to let you know that you might not be able to rely on PL to consistently provide you with accommodations.

As for rental cars, I usually find deals from Fox and Thrifty that beat PL and are cancelable.

[travelzee]

As for rental cars, I usually find deals from Fox and Thrifty that beat PL and are cancelable.

Thanks for the comments. I'll keep trying. In fact, I'm trying sites all over the States, without success on one yet.

What have you found to be the best wayto get deals from Fox and Thrifty? The standard rates from their site or travel sites in general do not seem all that great.

[zbenye]

Last time I rented from Fox (last month) I paid $49 after taxes for 3 days.

On Priceline I sometimes get a car at LAX for $10, and the total with taxes/fees for 3 days is just over $40. So I consider Fox a pretty good deal for a cancelable res.

Of course they don't always have such low rates. Grab'em when they do. You always have to check all places before every bid/purchase.

[travelzee]

Last time I rented from Fox (last month) I paid $49 after taxes for 3 days.

Two questions:

1. Was this direct from their site or a travel site?

2. What car level did you obtain at this price?

I've read many examples of great prices using PL on this forum. Time will tell whether I'll actually ever experience the same myself.

Thanks again for your feedback.

[zbenye]

1. Direct from Fox's website (but first found the rate on sidestep).

2. The rate was for Economy. Of course they were out of such and I got a PT Cruiser.

[thereuare]

As far as your hotel dilema, i'll add/warn that you're not bidding on the Residence Inn, you can receive another 2.5* hotel in that zone, as well as receive an upgrade to a higher rated hotel.

For help with rental cars please post a separate topic in the Car Rental section of the board, but i'll add that we are an affiliate of both Fox Rental Car as well as Thrifty.

[travelzee]

Check-In Date: Monday, May 7, 2007

Check-Out Date: Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Hotel Name: Residence Inn Manhattan Beach

1700 North Sepulveda Boulevard

Manhattan Beach, California 90266

Your Offer Price: $46.00

Number of Rooms: 1

Number of Nights: 1

Subtotal: $46.00

Taxes and Service Fees: $13.83

Total Charges: $59.83

Rate from Marriot Site: $169.00

Rate from Hotwire: $105.00 (assuming 2.5 stars is a match)

Booked using Savingsbarn link.

I attempted to book this every single day for over six weeks and finally got it the day before. I believe the lesson I've learned so far using Priceline is that it is best to book within a few days of the stay date.

This Residence Inn is immaculate to say the least. We enjoyed a wonderful meal in the evening and a great breakfast in the morning. It also has a computer to use in the lobby which made it easy to print out our boarding passes for a Southwest flight the next day. All in all we are very pleased with our trip to California and our hotel bookings using Priceline. In each case we relied heavily on this site for the information that gave us success in making these bookings. Thanks to everyone who shares their results here!

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win!

Glad to hear you got a great deal at this property and enjoyed your stay.

I don't think that you can make a blanket statement that it's always better to bid in advance, as each zone (and hotels) have their own idiosyncrasies, and sometimes it's more advantageous to bid early. This property, however, is notorious for only releasing rooms close to check-in, as your win is evidence of, as is zebenye's post above:

This Residence Inn has been playing hard to get lately. For my recent stays here, I bid weeks in advance and failed, but eventually succeeded just a couple of days prior to a stay.

Thanks for using the SavingsBarn.com links to begin your bidding.