Priceline Hotel: Help! Amsetdam

[WayneG]

Hello

I am going to Amsetdam, check in on June 20, 2007 for 2 nights. Looking for a 3 star in city centre, as close to central station as possible.

Thanks,

Wayne

[WillTravel]

With Priceline, it's quite possible you won't be particularly close to Central Station - you might be several kilometers away. Do you still want to use Priceline for this?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

If you are willing to accept a hotel anywhere within priceline's boundary of the City Center zone, what is your maximum bid? (we wouldn't want to suggest a strategy that went higher than you were willing to pay)

Let us know, we'll then be in a better position to advise further.

[WayneG]

I wanted to spend max $120CDN/night. Would HOTWIRE be better for me do you think? Thanks for your help!

[thereuare]

To save me another trip to XE, and since your purchase for either priceline or HOTWIRE will be in US dollars, please convert your currency to US dollars.

HOTWIRE enables you to take an educated guess as to what property you'll receive, but usually costs a little more than priceline (where you can't target a specific property)... so essentially you need to decide what is most important to you.

Does anything show up within your price range on a current HOTWIRE search?

[WayneG]

Thanks for your reply,

We'll say maximum $120 USD/night for the cost.

I did complete a hotwire search and it gave me a 3 star hotel in the city centre that was in my price range ($112/night)

It has a traveller rating of 4/5

The only thing is, im not sure where exactly this property is located.

Thanks again for your assistance

[WillTravel]

Do you mean $120 USD including taxes and fees, or $120 USD before taxes and fees?

What were the amenities of the 3* HOTWIRE hotel that you saw?

[WayneG]

I would like to spend $120 including taxes and fees. Hotwire does not list the amenities for the 3 star hotel unfortunately.

[WillTravel]

You can see how big the zone is on HOTWIRE - again you could be several km from Centraal Station.

If you do a vacation package search for your dates, the Mercure Arthur Frommer also shows up as a 3* with no amenities. The thing I'm not sure about is which zone the Mercure Arthur Frommer is in.

Basically you just have to assume that this 3* hotel on HOTWIRE has a good chance of being far away from Centraal Station, and decide if you want to proceed from there.

[zurich88]

Amsterdam (and the Netherlands in general) has a fantastically efficient public transportation system that keeps you very connected. Any "City Center or Museum Quarter" hotel would be suitable if you use this system - we have bid on many hotels in this area and have not had any problems - in fact most of the hotels are within a few blocks of a light rail line. For example for Euro 6.50 you get at 24 hour tram pass - you can travel without it but risk getting a hefty fine of Euro 35 to Euro 50.

Bidding on other areas like airport can put you quite a bit further away. The north section is a bit closer and suitable for walking if you are prepared.

Go to www.gvb.nl and select english to see the rail tickets and prices