Priceline Hotel: 2* Williamsburg (Center-Outlets) Springhill Suites

[GaryGnu]

I need to put a bid in for the Busch Gardens area of Williamsburg. I don't see any recent posts and I'm wondering if $50 will get me a 2.5*. Any help would be appreciated. Also, I'm likely going to be getting 3 or 4 rooms. Does that help or hurt my chances with getting a low rate?

Thanks.

Gary

[headtrip]

Gary, in my experience, requesting multiple rooms only hurts you slightly in the sense that if the number of available priceline rooms at that price is less than your request, then you will not win your bid.

Since I see other recent wins at $45 for 2.5 and $50 for 3.0 (in May), I'd say you have a good chance of winning your bid. You didn't say which dates you needed, so I don't know how many times you will be able to rebid before your stay. If you want to be sure to get the hotel on the first bid, I might consider bidding a few dollars higher "just in case" unless you are willing to rebid the other Williamsburg zone and rebid again. You can technically bid 4 times before you are out of bids by using both zones (if you're willing to stay in either zone).

Bid 2.5 Busch gardens

Bid 2.5 Busch gardens + add Outlets

if you still didn't win, close your browser and open a new session with priceline

Bid 2.5 Outlets

Bid 2.5 Outlets + Busch gardens

After that, you will have to wait 24 hours before you can bid again unless you are willing to lower your star level as well.

Good Luck

[GaryGnu]

I will be staying the first weekend of August. The 3rd to the 5th.

Thanks.

[thereuare]

Rates are high for these dates (summer seasonality factor?) that i'm doubtful $50 will be enough.

Since you have time, assuming you are only willing to accept the (Historic-Busch Gardens) zone, i would try:

Select 2.5*...

Bid $45, if rejected wait 24 hours and try again at $50.

If you're willing to accept either zone let us know and we'll have a look at the other zone and suggest a different strategy.

[GaryGnu]

I'm going to be booking 4 rooms with Priceline. I will be the last one arriving at the hotel, in fact, I'll be several hours later than everyone else. Will this present any problems at check-in? Do I (the booking person) need to be at the hotel to check-in the other 3 rooms I am booking?

Thanks for any help.

Gary

[mrxow]

I have never booked multiple rooms, so I don't know the answer to that, but you might consider figuring out who will be there first and book in their name. I think I saw posts from people who said the credit card used to pay for the room did not need to be in the same name as the person checking in, so it seems you could do the bidding and payment and still have another party check in.

[thereuare]

Priceline allows you to enter a different name for each room you're reserving... so just put each room in the name of the person that will be using it.

[GaryGnu]

I've searched some articles here and could not find a recent answer. I placed a failed bid at 1:00 yesterday, and later made a follow-up bid for a lower star rating at 4:00. The original bid was at 1:00. Can I make another bid today at 1:00, or do I have to wait until 4:00?

And has anyone gotten locked out for an additional 24 hours for making a bid too early recently?

[thereuare]

Probably 4:00pm... but if you let us know your failed bids (which you should be following up this thread anyhow :) ) we'll be able to tell you for certain.

[GaryGnu]

Probably 4:00pm... but if you let us know your failed bids (which you should be following up this thread anyhow :) ) we'll be able to tell you for certain.

Here are my failed bids so far from yesterday. I am not switching zones. I am sticking with Busch Gardens.

wife $55 2.5 failed 1:00

me $60 2.5 failed 3:00

me $50 2 failed 3:45

wife $56 2 failed but for being duplicate - didn't understand that. 4:00

I realize this was not the best way to do it, but I only bid on 2 when I found out what the the 2 hotels were later in the day.

[thereuare]

You will need to wait until after 4pm (what whatever the time was when you received a response of your last rejected bid)

[GaryGnu]

You will need to wait until after 4pm (what whatever the time was when you received a response of your last rejected bid)

Actually, I was able to make bids after 1:00, 3 more failed ones :-( but bids nonetheless.

[GaryGnu]

Getting a bit frustrated now. I've failed 3 more times, $78 for 3, $74 for 2.5, and $63 for 2. Hotwire has a 2 for $79. I may consider switching to the other zone (Williamsburg outlets) and need pointers on how to handle that. I figure those may be lower than the other Williamsburg zone, since they are a bit further out.

[thereuare]

Once you decide if you're willing to accept the other zone let us know and we'll research rates for that area as well.

[GaryGnu]

I'm going to give it a try. Any info would be appreciated.

[thereuare]

I'd begin with a small step backwards in order to test the waters...

Select 2.5* Busch Gardens...

Bid $40, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 2.5* Outlets...

Bid $40, if rejected add Busch Gardens...

Bid $45.

If the above is rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 2* Busch Gardens...

Bid $40, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 2* Outlets...

Bid $40, if rejected add Busch Gardens...

Bid $45.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[GaryGnu]

OK, now I really don't understand. Why would I try going all the way back to $40? My first bids were in the 50's and I've failed in the 60's and 70's. Do you think there is that much difference between the zones?

[thereuare]

Do you think there is that much difference between the zones?

There easily could be... and given you have a little time before your stay, i'd rather backtrack for 2-3 days than risk an overbid. All you're looking for is one hotel willing to accept your bid :) That was my thinking.

If you're getting tired of bidding you can go up by $10 per bid instread of $5, but if i were bidding i'd incrase slowly (as long as i wasn't taking the rejections personally and not getting frustrated) as u still have time to bid significantly higher if you continue to bid every 24 hours.

[GaryGnu]

OK, I got a 2* Williamsburg Outlets hotel for $50/night. Checking the website, this hotel is listed as $189 or $199 a night. How can this be only a 2 * hotel? Anyway, I am very happy with the results.

Williamsburg Center - Outlets

1644 Richmond Road

Williamsburg, Virginia 23185

757-941-3000

Check-In Date:

Fri, Aug 3, 2007 / After 03:00 PM

Check-Out Date:

Sun, Aug 5, 2007 / 12:00 PM

4 Rooms

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $50.00

Subtotal: $400.00

Taxes & Service Fees: $67.44

Total Charges*: $467.44

Many thanks to all. I think I finally got the hang of this. I will be back here the next time I need a hotel.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win!

Glad it worked out well for you and i think you got a great deal... hopefully you're friends are just as happy with the results! (maybe some will spend some of the savings at the outlets since you now won't be too far from them! :) )

As you can see, every zone is different, so it can pay to backtrack a little even if higher bids have been rejected in adjacent zones.

Have a great stay and fun at the parks! (and thanks for your dontation to the board :) )

[GaryGnu]

Rooms were fantastic. The Springhill Suites is a non-smoking hotel too. :)

They had the best free breakfast I've ever seen at a hotel. Lots of stuff, not just stale bagels and nasty donuts like some places. And the rooms were big compared to what I am used to.

This place looked PACKED judging by all the cars on the lot (full one night, I had to park at a neighboring hotel), so I'm wondering why they had to settle for my low bid, if they could sell out the place.

[headtrip]

Judging by my wins on my August trip, Marriott Corp. has been aggressively marketing their hotels on Priceline with me winning a stay at the same Springhill Suites as you in addition to wins at Courtyard, and Renaissance. For any hotel to participate in Priceline (or Hotwire), they have to provide a certain level of inventory and apparently they kept their rates the same even through summer is the peak season. I never complain about a good bargain.

However, I do slightly disagree about the complementary breakfast. My kids and I both thought the taste of the breakfast items was bland or greasy, and the selection of items was limited. A Residence inn we stayed at a few weeks ago had a better selection by far.

[GaryGnu]

I was commenting more on the variety. I'm used to complimentary breakfast being a few stale bagels, nasty jelly donuts and juice. Spring hill had a variety of hot food for free. That was impressive to me.