Priceline Hotel: 4* San Jose (Sunnyvale-Santa Clara) Hyatt Santa Clara

[westie]

Will have a car. Cheap, clean and safe, with free net.

Is $50 to $60 out of the question ?

Thank you for any suggestions.

[thereuare]

Cheap, clean and safe, with free net

You can't guarantee free internet with any opaque purchase.

As well, "cheap, clean and safe" means different things to different people. For you, what star quality does this equate to?

[westie]

You are right. I am in Good Nite Inn in Calabasas now, it is clean, safe area, but $70, it is more like a $50 type.

Looking for a 2 star, but since I have to stay so long, I don?t want a dirty place, or scary neighborhood, since I am female, on my own.

Net is free, to while away time, waiting for my son to come back from Stanford camp.

[Colfax]

Hi, westie!

Are you willing to split your bid to improve your chances of acceptance?

Do you want to bid to your $60 limit for a 2.5* first? Or do you prefer trying for a 2* in the $40's? (A 3* in PA/MV for $60 looks impossible since the 3* Crowne Plaza is sold out and the 3* Sheraton is $299.)

The Homestead Suites in Mountain View are the most likely 2* to come up. But there are other possibilities. The Homestead charges $4.99 per stay (not per day) for highspeed inernet.

As a hedging strategy I suggest not bidding for more than your first six days at the 2* level. There are some "not so great" hotels in the area that haven't been reported here but that could potentially come up as a 2*. Bidding 6 days/5 days insures that you won't be stuck in a lemon for eleven nights. Bidding just your first 3 or 4 nights seems reasonable too. If you like what you win you can attempt Add a Night to add another 3 or 4 at the same hotel. (Although no guarantee the hotel will be available for the extra nights.)

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Also, people have been reporting the 4* Hilton and Hyatt in Santa Clara in the high $40's/low $50s. Santa Clara is about 15 miles from Palo Alto, if you're willing to drive for a good deal on a 4*. I don't know if those 4* in Santa Clara charge for Internet or not. I doubt you could win all 11 nights at $50, but it might be possible for certain days.

[westie]

Thanks so much. I am going to try for the Hilton and Hyatt in Santa Clara first. Then I will try for Homestead Suites, for 3 nights only. Have been away from home since July 4th, getting tired of hauling luggage, hopefully can get into Hilton/Hyatt, and be done. Thank you for the help, it is so kind of you to do all this, really appreciate it.

[westie]

Just tried Santa Clara, using Savingsbarn, bid $50 for 4 star, July 30 to August 10, rejected.

Using my son?s MAC, can?t see which areas have which stars, so can?t rebid

[Colfax]

When bidding for a 4* in the San Jose cluster you have three free rebid zones---Milpitas, Redwood City, and San Jose South. Those zones don't have 4* hotels.

I just checked and the Hyatt DOES charge for Internet--$9.95/day. Parking is free though, which many 4* hotels charge for. If you can win any Hyatt nights at $50 or less you'll still be under your $60 limit, even after Internet charges.

Over your 11 day stay the Hyatt rate varies widely from $109 to $289 a night, as follows:

Mon 30: $269

Tue 31: $289

Wed 1: $269

Thur 2: $179

Fri 3: $109

Sat 4: $109

Sun 5: $179

Mon 6: $199

Tue 7: $219

Wed 8: $219

Thu 9: $179

I think you can win some of those nights for $50 or less but not all. If you're willing to split your bid (which ultimately I think you'll need to do whichever quality level and zones you bid for), I suggest trying for the eight day span 8/2-8/10 first, starting at $45, then adding your three free rebids at $46, $48, and $50.

If that fails repeat the same for five nights, 8/2-8/7.

If you don't want to split your bid you can use your three free rebids to try higher than $50 for all eleven nights. I expect those first three nights will be $80 or more though, if they're available on Priceline at all.

Good luck!

[westie]

Partial success.

Using Savingsbarn.

Following your expert advice, bid $45, $46, $48, all rejected.

August 2 to August 7

$50 accepted.

Hyatt in Santa Clara.

Do I post this as a new topic for the win ?

Anyways, priceline offered me extension, I put in to August 10, rejected. Asked me for $139, so I am going to go back for those nights, and try up till $60.

You are so good, right on the money.

Any other strategies?

Thanks.

[westie]

Using savingsbarn,

following Colfax?s exact method,

first bid $45, then rebid $46, then $48, all rejected.

Won at $50.

[Colfax]

Great deal! I'm glad that worked for you, westie, and thanks for the kind words.

When thereuare sees this he'll update the subject line with the trip details.

Five nights down and six to go.

You can only attempt Add a Night one time per accepted bid and you've used your one chance now.

Please start a new thread for 7/30-8/2 first. We can work on the other three nights after that.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win!

A very nice deal for these dates.

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

Enjoy this leg of your stay.