Priceline Hotel: 4* Los Angeles (Airport LAX) Westin Airport

[lisa in edmonton]

Hi there,

I have been reading the forum and trying to learn the ropes. You are all so helpful and thanks to the mods! Not only am I new to this forum and bidding, I am making my first trip to California! We plan to stay in the Universal City area, so I have looked up the list of hotels for that area for both Priceline and Hotwire. We are travelling from December 23/07 - December 30/07. There will be 2 or 3 of us, depending on if my sister comes. We would love to win a bid for either Holiday Inn Universal Studios or to the Sheraton. Could someone help me bid to try and get those? What should my bidding start at? I have read that you cannot specificy the double occupancy for Priceline, but we may take the risk. Any advice would be most appreciated!

[Colfax]

Welcome to BetterBidding, lisa in edmonton.

We would love to win a bid for either Holiday Inn Universal Studios or to the Sheraton. Could someone help me bid to try and get those?

You can't bid for particular hotels on Priceline. Four different 3* hotels have been reported won in the Burbank/Universal/Glendale zone. You could win any of them, or some new hotel that hasn't been reported before.

Keep in mind that B/U/G zone is more than just Universal City. You could also win a 3* hotel in Burbank or Glendale.

Can you accept those conditions? If not Priceline might not be the best route for this.

Have you checked HOTWIRE for your dates? If you post the amenity icons you see someone can try and identify the hotel. Check Hotwire for both 2 adults and 3 adults. Sometimes the price doesn't change and reserving for 3 adults will guarantee you two beds.

[lisa in edmonton]

Thanks, Colfax! I understand I can't bid for particular hotels, but I was hoping there was a way that I could ask for specifics that would narrow down the hotel I would get out of the 4 options in the Glendale/Universal/Burbank area?? Is that area quite spread out? We were hoping to stay as close to Universal as possible...

Thanks for your tip about trying for 2 adults and 3 adults. I tried it, and the price didn't change! :) A 3* hotel came up on Hotwire for $82, but there is no 3* mentioned in the recent hotel list. Anyone know what this might be, in the Universal-Glendale-Burbank area?

I don't know a lot about the areas we are bidding on. We were debating between the Anaheim area and Universal...any food for thought? Thanks in advance!

[Colfax]

If you bid the B/U/G zone on Priceline the furthest you could land from Universal is in Glendale...about 8 miles away. (Thanks, Mapquest.)

I don't know a lot about the areas we are bidding on. We were debating between the Anaheim area and Universal...any food for thought? Thanks in advance!

Before anyone spends time trying to identify hotels on HOTWIRE you need to decide where you're staying and when. The hotel options on Hotwire often change along with your dates.

Since you'll be in the area a week my personal opinion is stay at two hotels in two different areas. Get some variety. Another reason to split: it's often easier to get Priceline bids accepted for 3 or 4 days than for 7 days, and prices can be lower for shorter stays.

Did you mention Anaheim because you're going to Disneyland? If so you'll really appreciate the convenience of staying near the park a night or two. The commute back to Universal City isn't a fun way to end a day at Disney.

But if you prefer one hotel for the whole week we can work with that too.

[lisa in edmonton]

Colfax, you make a very good point about splitting up our stay at a couple different hotels for variety. We know for sure that we will want to stay near Universal for part of the stay. We don't think we want to go to Disneyland. We have been to Disneyworld before, and the Magic Kingdom park was our least favorite... we are still debating between Anaheim and maybe Santa Monica? Any areas you would recommend? Sorry to bombard you with questions...I am in the early stages of research.

Since I know that there will be 3 of us going, and we will need a room with 2 beds, will it be better for me to use Hotwire instead of priceline, as that allows me to specify the number of people?...

And thank you for the distance information within the Burbank/Glendale/Universal City zone...

many thanks again..

Lisa

[lisa in edmonton]

Hi there,

There is a 3* property coming up on Hotwire for the dates Dec. 23-Dec 30, and I don't see a 3* listed in the hotel list. It has a fitness centre, restaurant, high speed internet, pool, and business centre. Can anyone identify this? Thanks in advance!

[Colfax]

If you're not planning to do anything in Anaheim I don't know why you'd want to stay there.

I think splitting between Santa Monica and B/U/G would work. Or Hollywood/WeHo/Bev Hills and B/U/G.

B/U/G hotels are usually less expensive than Santa Monica or H/WH/BH. Saving money would be a reason to stay in B/U/G all seven nights.

With HOTWIRE you can guarantee two beds. With Priceline you can't.

If you want to see what HOTWIRE has in Santa Monica you need to enter "Santa Monica" as your destination. For some reason entering "Los Angeles" doesn't always bring up Santa Monica hotels.

[Colfax]

I see a hotel with six icons, not five like you posted. I see "golf" too.

And the hotel looks like a match for the Glendale Hilton. (Identity believed accurate but not guaranteed.)

The price stays $79 for 2 people or 3.

If you decide to purchase it please use this HOTWIRE link, which helps the board.

[lisa in edmonton]

Thanks for identifying the hotel for me, Colfax!

We have decided to stay in Santa Monica for our first night there (Dec 23/07) and we are trying to get a successful bid there for a 3*. We will then stay in either (BH/WH/H) or (Glen/Univ) area. We are having a hard time deciding between the areas. We know that we want to spend 2 days at Universal so it makes sense to stay closer to there, but we have also decided to rent a car. Hmm... Have not had any luck with bids for there, but will keep trying.

We have also decided to stay near LAX for our last night (Dec 29-30), as we head out early the next day. I got a successful bid for this night: Westin at $77 - not bad for a 4*! I will post that in a seperate link...

Thanks again for your help, and since I am decisionally impaired, if you have any insight into which area we shoudl stay in (as listed above) for the bulk of our stay, feel free :)

I see a hotel with six icons, not five like you posted. I see "golf" too.

And the hotel looks like a match for the Glendale Hilton. (Identity believed accurate but not guaranteed.)

The price stays $79 for 2 people or 3.

If you decide to purchase it please use this HOTWIRE link, which helps the board.

[lisa in edmonton]

Here is the info:

The Westin Los Angeles Airport

5400 West Century Blvd

Los Angeles, California 90045

United States

310-216-5858

Check-In Date: Saturday, December 29, 2007

Check-Out Date: Sunday, December 30, 2007

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $77.00

Subtotal: $77.00

Taxes & Service Fees: $18.56

Total Charges*: $95.56

I think this is okay.. the $17 parking fee is steep...kinda thinking we should have bid for a 3*, but we will likely never stay in a 4* for this price again.. With the good Cdn dollar, it's not so bad!

Started off at $60, but got a message back saying that if we added $17, we would be successful.

[Colfax]

Congratulations on your first ever Priceline win, lisa in edmonton. A couple more wins and you might become a bidding addict like the rest of us! :)

Started off at $60, but got a message back saying that if we added $17, we would be successful.

That was a counteroffer and Priceline will almost always accept something less than their counteroffer. The true strike price might have been $65 or $70, or any other number between $60 and $77.

You can almost always undercut Priceline's counteroffer by adding free rebid zones (zones that don't have 4* hotels in this case) one at a time and raising your offer in smaller increments. In LA you have five free rebid zones at the 4* level. You could have added those zones one at a time, at $65, $70, $72, $75, and $76, for example.

You've still got six nights left to book in LA and I wouldn't be surprised if you get another chance to try undercutting a counteroffer before you're done.

[Colfax]

We will then stay in either (BH/WH/H) or (Glen/Univ) area. We are having a hard time deciding between the areas. We know that we want to spend 2 days at Universal so it makes sense to stay closer to there, but we have also decided to rent a car. Hmm... Have not had any luck with bids for there, but will keep trying.

You're going to be in LA Christmas Eve and Day. Unless Universal has special events those days (I haven't checked) offhand I think it would be more lively on the Weds, Thurs, Fri after Christmas.

What about Bev Hills/WeHo on Christmas Eve and Christmas; then somewhere near Universal for the next three days?

Once you decide which days you want in which zones please start new threads for each.

[lisa in edmonton]

Thanks, Colfax! I gotta say, it is exciting for those few seconds when the computer is thinking, before it gives you the response of whether your bid has been accepted.

I did try to counteroffer $65, but then it reminded me that it needed a bid of $77, so I went with it. In hindsight, I should have crept up slowly. Afterwards, I read about a previous user getting it for $60 by adding in Culver City, and I wish now that I had been as prepared. Oh well, I'll be better prepared next time, I hope!

[lisa in edmonton]

Hi Colfax,

My hubby is adamant that we spend the bulk of our time in just one hotel...he seems to think that I will have acquired a lot of shopping bags by then, and does not want to move again.. :) So, we will likely be in the Universal area from Dec. 24-29. We will be in Santa Monica for Dec 23 night, then likely to Universal area, and then to LAX area for our last night. The dilemma is choosing between Bev Hill/WeHo or Univers/Burbank for that time. I will start a new thread with any more successful bids for those dates..