Priceline Hotel: 4* Zurich Sept. 12 one night

[belgo]

$82 didn't cut it for my overnight stay. Just a quick overnight in Zuerich before going to Bern. I have a feeling $85 might work :) . I used the savingsbarn link, of course.

[thereuare]

Thanks for using the SavingsBarn.com PRICELINE links for your bids.

Keep us updated as to your success.

[belgo]

$85 didn't work either, but at least I didn't get one of the messages that my offer had little chance of being accepted. Maybe I'm too early? I don't see a lot of Swiss hits on this board...

[thereuare]

I think you may be looking closer to $100-$130.

[belgo]

Well, a little bird :) has told me that some people have gotten the Marriott at $80, although not necessarily in the summer (as late as Memorial Day week-end). At higher bids (i.e. $110), the Crowne Plaza has been hit. The former seems to be selling its rooms at 400 SF and up, the latter around 310 SF and up. The latter requires a tram trip from the rail station, which I'd rather not do with a big suitcase (but I would if I had to--to pay 20 SF for a cab each way defeats the purpose of saving money). There are some Best Westerns within easy walking distance of the HBF (main train station) for around $130, which I'm tempted by. Unfortunately, the one I'm most interested in, the Hotel Montana (BW) is not offered on the Best Western website which is linked on your "Support BetterBidding" page. If I can't get something on Priceline, I'd at least like to support this site through a link, but the hotel only seems to be available on www.otel.com. I don't suppose you could get them to link through your support page? The Montana seems to be well-reviewed and quiet, and within easy walking distance to the HBF. I'll try $90 tomorrow, but it seems the Marriott may not have Priceline availability. I will also probably get my Bern hotel through Otel.com, since they have the best deals there (no Priceline in Bern). If you can put a link there through your support page, I'll be happy to use it. :)

[belgo]

Another nice link would be hotelclub.net which offers both regular and superior rooms. I'm not sure how the superior rooms differ from the regular...

[thereuare]

It appears that Best Western is sold-out for their dates... otel.com may have a committment from the hotel which is why they can still show availability.

[rapazfreiburg]

For a Best Western, the Montana is indeed nice. It's in walking distance of the train station and I suppose you'll even have breakfast included when booking on otel.com oder hotelclub.net.

[belgo]

Many thanks for that last post confirming my impressions from web reviews of the Hotel Montana. Well, $90 didn't do it either. I think I'll do one last try at $95 tomorrow, then book the Hotel Montana. Since the inventory seems to be limited, I feel I should book fairly soon. I don't feel like bidding for $100 when I may get the Crowne Plaza which gets mediocre reviews.

[OSUBUCKEYES]

Hi! I have stayed at the hotel Montana and the Marriott which are both in very close proximity to the main train station. It wont take more than 5 minutes to walk to either. For the Marriott you simply have to cross a river. There is a really good Italian restaurant on the corner by the internet cafe about a block away from the hotel Montana. The Marriott was a little nicer but the hotel Montana was certainly one of the nicest Best Westerns I have stayed in, complete with glass elevators. I believe I paid about $85 for the Marriott but that was Jan of 06. I paid much less for the Montana, which had one of the best inclusive European style breakfast buffets I have had at a hotel. Good luck with either hotel. I do not know what they are going for these days. Maybe if you adjust your spelling of Zurich you may find a better bet if it is spelled correctly. Good luck and enjoy the trip and GO BUCKS!!!!

[WillTravel]

The spelling is actually correct, because the official name is Z

[OSUBUCKEYES]

It may be acceptable but its not correct. Trust me, I am smarter than you are.

[thereuare]

Remember we're all on the same team here and trying to help each other.

It's ok to disagree... but let's play nice. :)

[belgo]

I think the Buckeye was trying to be funny :) . Well, $95 didn't do it, so I just booked the Montana for 165 SF at booking.com. There was a similar price at Otel.com, but I just finished booking my Bern hotel there, and working with them was a giant pain in the donkey :) . I had to put all of my information through on the website, then print out a confirmation page from my e-mail, then fax them back!! And I still haven't received my final confirmation. However, for that particular hotel, the Bellevue Palace, the rate was so much better than at other sites that I used them that time ($170 with them as opposed to $210/night on Hotels.com, and $212 on Expedia.com--some sites were even higher). I normally don't spend $170 for a hotel, but that seemed to be a good bargain given the Bellevue Palace's reviews.

As for the umlauts, the umlaut is a shortened way of writing the vowel without the "e" after it. I'm not quite sure how to use umlauts on this site, so I add the "e." If one were to write "Zurich" without the "e" or the umlaut, it would (incorrectly) be pronounced "Zuh-rick."

[rapazfreiburg]

As for the umlauts, the umlaut is a shortened way of writing the vowel without the "e" after it. I'm not quite sure how to use umlauts on this site, so I add the "e." If one were to write "Zurich" without the "e" or the umlaut, it would (incorrectly) be pronounced "Zuh-rick."

As for German spelling rules, an umlaut is not a shortened way of writing the vowel without the "e"--in fact, it's more or less the other way around. An umlaut is an additional vowel, which, in German spelling, is replaced by the corresponding "regular" vowel + e when using a keyboard that doesn't produce vowels resp. when you don't know how to do it. Thus in German spelling Z

[belgo]

I was hitting up the city's tourism office's (English language) site, which is http://www.zuerich.com/en/welcome.cfm , so maybe the people who live there don't know how to spell the city they live in? :)

[rapazfreiburg]

I was hitting up the city's tourism office's (English language) site, which is http://www.zuerich.com/en/welcome.cfm , so maybe the people who live there don't know how to spell the city they live in? :)

Of course they know how to spell the name of the city. The website www.zuerich.com is a multilingual website, it is in English, German (http://www.zuerich.com/de/welcome.cfm), French and Italian. Obviously, they didn't want to adapt the city's name to all the languages represented (Italian: "Zurigo", French "Zurich"). Umlauts cannot be used for either internet addresses or email addresses. That is why German speaking people (I am one, by the way) use "ue" to replace the "

[belgo]

I started bidding from $80 over the last 5 days. This is as high as I'm willing to go with Priceline. I used the savingsbarn link, of course.

[thereuare]

Thanks for trying your priceline bids thru the SavingsBarn.com links

Do you have a back-up plan if you're not successful?

[belgo]

My reservation is at the Hotel Montana, which is well-rated and near the HBF. The only problem would be if there's a heat wave, since this hotel has no A/C. Historical data for those dates show an average high of 77F and low of 42F. I might panic and go higher if it looks as if temps may go higher than usual when the 10 day forcasts come up. :)