Priceline Hotel: 4* Montreal Sofitel

[controlyar]

I see that the Intercontinental was won for $85 around the same dates and recently as well. I bid Montreal DT starting at $75 and after 10 bids (adding zones - none of rest contain 4*) was up to $110 and still getting rejected.

I was bidding early in the morning 5AM EST - I figured maybe there was no operator on the other end to make any sort of counter-offer. Can that happen (or is it all computer based) or is the demand actually very high ( I know this is a long weekend and all) ?

Hotwire has a 4* on now (likely Le Centre Sheraton) for $120 so I might just go for that since its a really nice hotel.

Any bidding help is appreciated. Should I wait another day or two ?

Thanks in advance.

[yellowdog]

controlyar,

best rate for the Intercontinental is $242 for your dates. The OP best rate was $205. So I would try again. But there could be several things that got an impact of your stay. One of them might be the holiday.

About HOTWIRE

The only 4* I see for your dates is $169. And that is match for Sofitel so that would be a good guess.

But please post the amenities for the 4* at $120 (or so) so we're talking about the same hotel.

And please start a new topic for the HOTWIRE 3* since it's diffrent dates .also please post the amenities for that hotel.

PS. Everything is computer based

Henrik.

[thereuare]

The process is fully automated so your bid not being accepted is not based upon the time of day.

There are two likely guesses as to why your bids may be getting rejected:

1) some hotels don't allow Saturday check-in, which your stay, and the other wins you're refering to have a check-in day prior to Saturday

2) the ohter stays are longer than yours, and the other nites of the stay are less expensive, bringing down the average nitely cost, as well as the the minimum bid required to be accepted

If $120 on HOTWIRE is your best deal at the moment, i would continue to increase your bids up to that amount. You do have four re-bid zones (Priceline Re-Bidding Explained) at the 4* level so you should be able to do this the next time you're able to bid again (or even today if you didn't use all of your re-bid zones previously)

If you need further help, a more detailed explaination of re-bidding, or a specific strategy suggested, just let us know.

If you do end up going with hotwire please use this HOTWIRE link to begin any purchases you make.

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[controlyar]

The stay is just one night - 06/30/07 - 07/01/07.

The HW rate is 4* for $119. HW shows Fitness, Restaurant, High-Speed Internet, Pool, Business, Spa which should be a match for La Centre Sheraton. Can you please confirm ?

Thanks to your strategy I was able to get 10 bids in and I have a few more left too :). The difference is only $9 now and I would probably just rather go with HW since the hotel is very nice.

Yellowdog, , where are you getting the $242 or $205 dollar amounts from ? Not sure where those numbers are coming from.

thereuare, thanks for the explanation. I figured it is also averaging the cost over the days where demand is lower as well like you said. Well its $85 vs. $110+ (probably peaking at $120 since thats the HW price).

[thereuare]

The above amenitieas are a match for the Sheraton so that would be our best guess.

Please use this HOTWIRE link to begin any purchases you make.

Good Luck and keep us updated as to what you decide to do.

[controlyar]

The HW rate for 4* is now $169!! I should have booked before I went to work. HW shows Fitness, Restaurant, High-Speed Internet, Business, Spa.

I guess I will have to jump when I see a decent price.

[controlyar]

Well my Montreal hotel is now covered although I am second guessing things.

My 24-hour lockout was reset and I decided to have another go at it.

I started at $120 (where I left off yesterday) and kept bidding on a 4* - I had the opportunity of 16 possible bids by using the rebid strategy so I had plenty of bids to try. Once I got up to $145, I got the message that if I added $22 more dollars I could bid again. I tried rebidding at $150 and was rejected and I decided that I would not go any higher - some 'sanity' prevailed that I couldn't keep going higher. I still had a few more bids left so I bid $150 a few times and sometimes got a message that if I added $25 more dollars I could rebid. I just rebid $150 and then magically it was accepted. If my finals bids were not accepted, I was going to start over and select 3* and keep going.

The price is steep but I ended up getting the Sofitel. And yes I always used the Savingsbarn link :). This hotel is going for $169 on Hotwire so I guess I saved some money. I am wondering if I should have waited a few more days though.

Priceline - $150 USD ~ 197CDN final price

Hotwire - $169 USD ~ 219CDN final price

Sofitel Website ~ 307CDN final price

[WillTravel]

So are you saying you bid $150 with one rebid zone and that was rejected, but then shortly thereafter you bid $150 with another rebid zone and that was accepted?

If this is a correct interpretation, it's odd behavior on the part of Priceline, but I guess we have seen similar things before.

[controlyar]

That is correct.

The behaviour was not consistent, which is why I always questioned if the priceline system is 100% computer based with a fixed set of rules. I guess it is possible the hotel happened to release some more rooms during the time which I was bidding, dropping the rate slightly.

At $145 I was told to add $22 more dollars.

At $150 , the bid was simply rejected.

Bidding again at $150, I was told to add $25 more dollars.

Bidding again at $150, I believe I was rejected.

Bidding again at $150, and it was accepted.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win and thank you for sharing it with the board.

I assume your three $150 bids were made back-to-back within a few minutes of each other?

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

Enjoy your stay.

[controlyar]

Yes, once my lockout period was reset I made multiple successive bids.

I think I used around 12 of 16 possible bids.

Thanks.

[Llevar]

The reason for such high prices is that the Montreal Jazz Festival is on at that time.