Priceline Hotel: Boutique San Francisco (USE) Harbour Court

[atb cruiser]

We are planning a 3 night stay late Sept - into October, 2008. I have been looking at prices on the different sites - but they seem pretty high.

Is it too early to start bidding on Priceline?

I also would like to stay as close to the Ferry building as possible - is there anyway to know the location before you accept / they accept the bid?

Thank you for your assist

ATB Cruiser

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

To begin, we'll need to know the actual dates of your stay, your maximum budget (per nite before taxes and fees), and your minimum star rating.

Let us know the above and we'll take it from there.

[atb cruiser]

The dates we are looking at: 9/30/08 - 10/03/08.

Based on what I have been looking at - I would accept a 3* or a Boutique - if I understand that terminology correctly.

I can book directly for $225 / night - without taxes - so I would be looking for something less than that. I would like to get something for about $150 / night total - is that possible?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

[thereuare]

Is it too early to start bidding on Priceline?

See the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ.

I also would like to stay as close to the Ferry building as possible - is there anyway to know the location before you accept / they accept the bid?

No, your hotel can be anywhere within the shaded region of the zone(s) you select.

If the zone is too large, you can also try HOTWIRE which has slightly different boundaries for zones, as well it enables you to often take an edcuated guess as to identifying the property beforehand.

Your thoughts?

[atb cruiser]

OK - I am looking at my options. I checked Hotwire - and they are listing a 2.5* in the USE zone for 9/30 - 10/3/08. $159 plus tax and fees. Amenities include restaurant.

What property might this be? I checked the list - and couldn't find a 2.5* in USE.

Thanks for the help

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread. If you ultimately use HOTWIRE we'll move this thread to that section of the board.

The property above has not yet been identified, but i'll comment that:

1) a 2.5* on HOTWIRE is probably a very far stretch from the 4* you originally asked for when you started

2) it's probably very early to begin to compromise to such a great degree in star rating... plenty of time left before your stay

What is the property for $225 nite that you could book directly?

[atb cruiser]

Sorry about the Hotwire question - I really thought I had added it to the Hotwire section -

The hotel I can book for $225 is the Hotel Griffon, requirement is prepayment and 21 days advance reservation.

So I guess that will be my fall back position.

I have bid 2 times at the $75, for 4* and Boutique.

Both times not accepted.

But I still have time.

[thereuare]

Given current prices, and the amount of your back-up, i think you're bidding much too low.

You also should have a back-up which you can book and is fully refundable up until a few days before your stay. As it is, you can use the hotel you mention above as your fallback, but while you continue to try to bid, that hotel can sell-out or go up in price, and therefore doesn't really qualify as a 'back-up'. (try EasyClickTravel and/or Quickbook for some bonafide back-up options)

What is your maximum bid for this stay? (at this time) Is the USE zone the only zone you're willing to consider?

[atb cruiser]

Update:

Yes, the USE is the only area I am interested in, and my max bid at this time would be $123.

I am now bidding at $109 for 4* and Boutique - I bid every other day - and have gone as high as $123. So far - the bid has failed, but I still have a good bit of time.

I am still checking on my fall back plan.

I also look at HOTWIRE, but not sure about that yet.

Thanks so far for the assistance.

[atb cruiser]

$157, boutique, USE (Harbour Court Hotel), 9/30/08 - 10/03/08

Higher than I was originally looking at, but now I can move on to other parts of this trip.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win... glad to hear you're able to cross one most thing off of your 'vacation things to do'.

Thanks for sharing your results with the rest of the board.