Priceline Hotel: 3* Portland (Downtown) Holiday Inn

[Colfax]

Saturday night I stayed at the 2* Inn at the Convention Center for $38. It worked out well enough that I wanted to stay Sunday night too. I could have tried Add a Night for Sunday but cheapie that I am I wanted to try and win it for less than $38, which had been my first 2* bid on Saturday.

Through the PRICELINE link at SavingsBarn.com I bid $35 for a 2* Downtown and, to my surprise, got upgraded to the 3* Holiday Inn. I dislike paying to park and was very lucky to win two different Downtown hotels with free parking. As far as I know the Holiday Inn is the ONLY 3* Downtown with free parking.

I used Add a Night on my Sunday reservation and got the Holiday Inn for Monday too.

Holiday Inn's best rate for both nights was $139, so $35 is a real deal---75% off!

At first I was given a Priceline room (small room, low floor, HVAC view). I couldn't pick up any wireless signal in that room. To get a better signal the hotel moved me to a room twice as large with a better view. It all worked out then, except the weather has been more like December than late May. :)

[thereuare]

Thanks for the post and for using the SavingsBarn.com links to begin your bidding... looks like a great deal.

I hadn't thought about it, but "i can't get a wireless signal" seems like a pretty good excuse to use if you don't like the room you're given (of course it helps if you travel with a laptop :) )... you can always ask for something a 'little nicer' too wen they're looking for a new room to move you to.

Enjoy the rest of your stay.

[Colfax]

This was my third Portland hotel in three days where the advertised "free highspeed" didn't work in my room and the front desk offered to move me to a different room that they knew had a better signal. :)

Twice I stayed put and made do with dialup. Yesterday I moved. At least none of them tried to charge me $9.95/day. Maybe it has something to do with all the hills in Portland?

[ahallbetterb]

Have you managed to pick up MetroFi's free WiFi yet in Portland? After months of trying I finally got it downtown on Sunday. In many places in NE Portland I've picked up the network but been unable to log in...

I imagine many people don't use wireless at hotels so it's probably not the front desk's first consideration in assigning you a room. But hey, it's a great excuse to ask to be moved anyway, in case you get a crappy room!

[Colfax]

I haven't used my laptop outside my hotel room so I haven't tried MetroFi yet. (For others who aren't familiar, MetroFi is a free wireless service that covers parts of Downtown/Central Portland.)

When I click "View Available Wireless Networks" at the Holiday Inn all that comes up is the Holiday Inn's provider. In the first room they gave me it said "No wireless networks within range".

When I'm in a MetroFi coverage area can I just connect and surf? Or do I have to sign up and register first? Your comment "after months of trying..." makes me think the service isn't reliable?

[ahallbetterb]

MetroFi is a company that has setup wireless networks citywide in several US cities. They have a "free" network and "premium" network. The free one is ad-supported; it plops a banner ad at the top of your browser window. You do need to register for it - once - but after that, I think it's easy to sign on/off. I've used it only once.

MetroFi was much-touted in Portland about a year ago when they first were contracted by the city to build it. It was supposed to provide free WiFi to residents all over the city who couldn't afford internet service. Unfortunately, I've had trouble finding a strong signal for MetroFi that I can reliably pull in. I've SEEN the network SSID numerous times, all over Portland, but usually I can't connect to it. Speaking with friends, I find I'm not the only one with issues - it's commonly known to be a flop in Portland.

The other day I was at a Starbucks near the Hilton downtown and I picked it up (I already subscribe to T-Mobile hot Spot so I didn't need MetroFi anyway). I tried it out. I had a strong enough signal I guess because I finally was able to sign in and use it. As a last resort I guess it would have been fine. Banner ad taking some of the screen space away was annoying, though. Portland has enough free WiFi hot Spots without MetroFi that there's really no need to put up with it if you can move somewhere else. (FYI, if you got the Hilton via Priceline, if you get on a LOW floor, I'm guessing MetroFi might come in for you.)

Personaltelco.net for example provides free coverage in several parts of Portland, often at coffee shops that they've worked with. There's PersonalTelco WiFi in Pioneer Courthouse Square (Starbucks there too).

P.S. Nice to see you on the dark side, Colfax! :-)

[Colfax]

I'm leaving Portland today after I ride the new tram. I'll have to save MetroFi for my next visit. From the way you describe things MetroFi might not be around Portland much longer though.

The dark side, eh? :)