Priceline Hotel: need bidding advice Louisville (downtown)

[Jenga]

Here's an odd one. I'm scheduled to be in Louisville 6/4-6/11 for a national professional event at the Kentucky Int'l Ctr. Our rooms are paid for, but they're double occupancy with someone we've never met. So, three options: room with a stranger for a week (ugh); pay $50-$60/night (depending on hotel) supplement for a single room; or book on my own for which they will reimburse up to $50/night.

I'm inclined to try on my own based on PRICELINE wins here. But current rack rates look high -- my group may be using up a lot of the hotel rooms -- and even HOTWIRE only lists one downtown property at the moment ($169, may be the Hyatt). I don't mind adding up to $25/night out of pocket but this event becomes much less desirable if instead of being all-paid it drains my limited grad school funds.

I have to be downtown to walk to the venue and/or catch a pre-arranged shuttle, so only one acceptable bidding zone (Downtown). I'll also need to stick to 3* or 4* to ensure proximity.

Upside: The event is several months away and I'm happy to camp out on PRICELINE.

Downside: Worst case is I spend more than $50/night out-of-pocket, which would defeat the purpose of turning down the $50-$60/night single. And I don't see any affordable back-up hotels in the area.

I realize this is asking for help predicting the future, but any suggestions or advice? I have to let the organizers know my decision by mid-week.

[Jenga]

Sorry, if the above was too long:

6/4-6/11 Louisville

Max budget: $75/night. Preferred: $50/night (I'm reimbursed up to $50/night)

Must be downtown

3* or 4* only (some 2*s are too far away from the event)

I don't see an affordable back-up hotel.

Sound do-able for these dates?

[thereuare]

Sound do-able for these dates?

With HOTWIRE nearly $100 away from your maximum bid this doesn't seem like a very high probability bet.

Nobody can say if rates will go up or down between now and your stay, but if you know that your group/conference will be using a large number of hotel rooms, not sure what would make rates come down.

Is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID an option? (can you only accept their room for part of your stay)

[Jenga]

Thanks, thereuare. Sometimes I need more than one brain to figure out all of this stuff. I'll also find out if I can still opt for Dreaded Roommate back-up at the last minute -- this may be my "back up" room if it flies.

And, yes, splitting the bid is definitely an option; it's fine if I wind up switching hotels.

[thereuare]

splitting the bid is definitely an option

Can you stay with a roommate part of the time, or opt for the single supplement for part of the time, and make your own plans for the balance?

I have to let the organizers know my decision by mid-week.

But it sounds as if this isn't binding and you can change your mind?

[Jenga]

Just to close this out, I went with my group's directly negotiated discounted price, which gave me the Hyatt Regency downtown for $45/night for the week. Thanks!