Priceline Hotel: 4* DC (Georgetown-Foggy Bottom) Westin Grand

[pterrell]

My wife and I have some airline credit that needs to be used before April and we were thinking of using it on a trip to DC. (We want to see the Stephen Colbert portrait at the National Portrait Gallery...what a great excuse to fly across the country and spend several days as tourists.)

Being unemployed, our time is mostly flexible, but we want to keep costs down.

A good time between other commitments is 2/13 - 2/19. As thereuare mentioned in this Priceline Washington DC thread this may be a bad time or a good time, as it brackets Valentine's Day and President Day Weekend.

When I first checked a week ago, the 3* Sheraton Crystal City was on HOTWIRE for $66/night. This looked like a good combination of price, convenience, and "luxury". But haven't seen it since... But this sets my goals on Priceline.

We want to be close to the Metro and other public transportation that will quickly get us to the sights inside and outside DC.

Does anyone want to chime in with advice?

[pterrell]

Just playing with HOTWIRE and found that the Sheraton Crystal City shows up for 02/14 - 02/19. So I might need to shift the dates to score a better rate/location.

[thereuare]

Let us know once you firm up the dates.

However, i'll add that with Priceline you could end up anywhere within the zone, which may or may not get you as close to a Metro stop as you would... if the difference is only a few dollars you may be safer to go with HOTWIRE if you have a reasonable guess as to the hotel you'll be receiving, given your desire to be close to a metro stop.

[pterrell]

As to firm dates, I'm pretty flexible at this point, being able to shift forward or back a couple of weeks in either direction. (Again, the "benefit" of us both being unemployed.)

It would be great if an area expert had some info that would help me decide if I'm selecting a bad time for "good deals", much as AaronJB's excellent advice made my Chicago trip this fall much better.

Good point about the zones as some of them are rather big. But as long as the buses are good, then its not a big deal. In our Chicago trip, the Wyndham was not convienient to the "L", so we ended up catching buses. But those buses often ended up dropping off us right at our destination.

[thereuare]

Why not find an 'acceptable' HOTWIRE deal... then try to beat it on Priceline; if not successful go with the HOTWIRE offer?

[pterrell]

Okay, I've got travel dates of 2/14 to 2/19. A thread on TripAdvisor basically said that President's Day brings folks into DC, but it's not enough to make "crowds". (I love going places famous for being overcrowded and being "the only one there".)

The HOTWIRE deal to beat is $69 for 3* Sheraton Crystal City. The prices for 3* in DC proper start from $79.

I'm seeing Four Points downtown and the Churchill in Dupont Circle showing up the most in 3* wins, with a low of $50. Since I've got several weeks, I started bidding at $50 and got up to $55 with a zone rebid and a few split dates. I'll keep trying until I hit $69 or so...

[thereuare]

I would approach your bidding limit sooner rather than later (don't let this turn into a week long bidding session, imo) as you could see your 'back-up' HOTWIRE hotel disappear while you try to save a few extra dollars by bidding low on priceline.

[pterrell]

Good advice thereyouare, but it goes against my nature. :) I tend to be the one bidding at the last minute, sometimes sitting in the McD's wi-fi down the street from the hotel I hope to score. (My wife suggested I just go into the hotel lobby and use their wifi, but I think that's a little to "crass".)

And if I do loose out on a deal, I just pat myself on the back for the ones I've scored.

Up to $65 on today's effort.

[pterrell]

I've got 4* reservations in Georgetown - Foggy Bottom for the same price as the Crystal City 3* on Hotwire. And I learned another Priceline fine point in the process. Here's the split:

Westin Grand Hotel Washington Dc

02/14/2007-02/17/2007

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $69.00

Subtotal: $207.00

Taxes & Service Fees: $39.41

Total Charges*: $246.41

Renaissance M Street Hotel

02/18/2007-02/19/2007

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $69.00

Subtotal: $138.00

Taxes & Service Fees: $28.51

Total Charges*: $166.51

I was bidding 3* hoping to get the Churchill in Dupont Circle. I had noticed that the Churchill had lower pricing for Sunday and Monday on the regular Priceline. So I bid for just Sunday-Tuesday with the gamble that I'd be offered an extension. And I'd added Georgetown to the mix, as only once had someone gotten a hotel there for under $75. Well, I was surprised with the upgrade to the Renaissance M. But it has gotten mostly good reviews and is about a 10 minute walk to the Metro, so this is good.

Then I tried an extension and read the fine print that it must be for the same length or shorter. Oh no. So I started a new bid just Georgetown 4* at $69 for Thursday-Sunday and got the Westin on first bid. Surprise!!

So, the wife will be a bit grumpy that we have to pack up and move Sunday morning, but will be very happy with the savings as we walk the couple blocks to the new hotel. :) Thanks again for the great info on Betterbidding.com.

PS: Used SavingsBarn.com link for the bidding. (Or at least I hope so--I was jumping around between browsers during my bidding...)

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success.

Glad to hear at least your plans are now set and that you're happy with the deals you received.

We'll edit this topic title to reflect your win for the 3 nite stay... can you please start a NEW TOPIC for the one nite stay at the Renaissance. This will allow others to see each win when scanning the topic title and will also enable each to be seen correctly in the Calendar of Wins.

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

Enjoy your stay(s).

[pterrell]

Second hotel posted. Please edit the title on this post as the stay 02/14/2007-02/17/2007 is at the Westin Grand Hotel Washington Dc.

The stay at the Renaissance M Street is 02/17/2007-02/19/2007. Sorry about the typo!!

[thereuare]

Fixed... thanks! :)

[pterrell]

Just back from the trip and everything went great.

The split hotels worked out fine as they were a five minute walk and the Renaissance M allowed us to check in at 10:00am. And it was interesting to get the contrasts between the hotels, as the Westin had a larger room and bathroom, free Internet, and better in-room coffee. And the Renissance M had new furniture in a cramped room.

And the weather was mostly good (a unusually sunny warm morning turned to a cool rain shower) and the crowds mostly minimal (went to Air and Space Musueum on Sunday). So my traveling luck and planning came through again!