Hotwire Hotel: 3.5* DC (Alexandria-Old Town) Sheraton Suites

[jrd]

Are long term stay hotels listed on Hotwire? How are they distinguised from regular hotels? I saw that there were 2* hotels that fell in the Amerisuites type of category. But I want the Residence Inn by Marriott - do you know if they appear on Hotwire?

Thanks

[mrxow]

The hotwire hotel list on this site for that zone is showing Hawthorne Suites and Extended Stay with kitchens, but no Residence in has been reported yet. That doesn't mean it't not offered, just that it hasn't been reported.

If you pick a hotel with a kitchen, it will be somewhat what you want, though likely not the exact hotel you are looking for. Maybe somebody on here can say what star level Residence Inns are normally registered at on HOTWIRE. 2.5? Probably if it is 2 star with kitchen it is ESA or something else.

Actually just did a search and saw some Residence Inns reported at 3 star. Here is info from one of those:

Residence Inn Milwaukee Downtown

648 North Plankinton Avenue

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203

Suite

Smoke Free Rooms

Complimentary Breakfast

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

Laundry Facilities

Kitchenette

Amenities wouldn't necessarily be exactly the same, but that might point you in the right direction.

How long will your stay be? You could try some short reservations at the beginning or end of your trip to try to see if you are hitting a hotel you want.

Remember to use the site links if you decide to try for a HOTWIRE win.

I did some random HOTWIRE searches for your zone and didn't see any suites or kitchenettes. It is going to be date specific, of course, but I would say that does not bode well...

[jrd]

Thanks so much for the info mrxow. We are staying 22 nights - checking in July 18 and checking out Aug 9th. The Residence Inn is $179/night plus taxes and whatnot on their site - gets pricey. But it sounds great and is a great location for what we need.

[mrxow]

What is the reason you want an extended stay kind of place? More room? Or kitchen facilities? It seems people get nice places on Priceline in that area for over a hundred dollars less than that per night. That would pay for a lot of parking and eating out every day. And there are several suites hotels in the 2.5 star and 3 star range that you could end up with. Or other nice places like the Courtyard which appears to be not too far from the Old Town area. The Residence is even a possible win at 2.5 star, though you are talking about a very busy time, so I don't know where you might end up.

If it was me, I'd break the trip up into three or more segments and try some priceline bids, stay in some different parts of town, save a lot of money on my hotel and spend it on other things.

Do you need to be right there in Old Town the entire 3 weeks? Maybe determine the time it is really important you be at that location, bid the other parts of your trip on Priceline, see if you end up somewhere you like or if you have enough time in old town. If your other bids aren't quite what you were hoping for, pay direct at the Residence in for a week or so.

Or make cancellable reservations at Residence if possible, but don't make it one long reservation. Go there for the first week and then decide if it is absolutely necessary to stay the entire time. If you think another location for a lot less might work, try a priceline bid at that time and cancel one or more of your remaining Residence reservations.

[jrd]

The reason for the extended stay is that my daughter is attending a summer program at a school a couple of miles west of the Alexandria Old Town area. I don't know the area at all and I am totally intimidated by what I've heard about DC area traffic. So I want to be fairly close to school. Yes - I wanted the kitchen facilities so we wouldn't have to eat all our meals out for 3 weeks. Also was hoping for a pool for fun after school.

I have used HOTWIRE several times with success, but haven't used PRICELINE. You seem to only mention Priceline in your comments - do you think you get better deals there?

Thanks, so much, mrxow, for your time and information....

[mrxow]

People definitely get better price on PL, but the trade off is that you have less control. Sites like these help to bring a little more control into the process. I will look into the possible likely distances PL hotels might put you from where you want to be tonight when I get home.

I would say certainly that you should not just book one long stay at an expensive place simply because you are unsure about what to expect when you get there. Maybe, like I said, break up the reservations, have a list of possible priceline participating hotels with you, check out their locations when you arrive and see if you think it is worth 100+ a night to go ahead and take a chance on PL. That extra money would make up for not having a kitchen in my book. And you could possibly end up with a kitchen anyways.

I am one to not worry about exactly where my hotel is. So I get much better prices using priceline, probably, usually, and that is why my posts lean that direction. Other people who are more risk adverse might be better off on Hotwire if hotwire hotels matching a property you want have been identified and are showing up on Hotwire. One such hotel is the Sheraton Suites. It seems to be near where you want and people have won it recently. It supposedly has 9 icons and is listed as a 3.5 star. There is a 3.5 with 8 icons that I saw for your entire stay, but it didn't have the tennis icon, so it may be a different property. If we see the 3.5 with 9 icons, though, that might be something for you to consider grabbing.

Whetever you end up doing, please remember to start your bookings from the site links to support the site.

[thereuare]

I only looked for your complete stay so far since you didnt' state if changing hotels during your stay would be an option.

What appears to be the Sheraton Suites (<-- their website) is available on HOTWIRE for $69 for the entire length of your stay. While the suites do not have kitchenettes (although the website indicates that do have microwave ovens and refrigerators available or in the room), they do have a pool, and the extra room of the suite may be welcomed for such an extended stay. To calculate total costs, note that this property charges $18/nite for parking, so you'll need to factor that in as well (not sure if there is parking in the street in the area or if you could work something out with the hotel for an extended stay). However, when adding the $18 parking and the $69 room rate, it's only $87/nite vs. the $179 at the Residence Inn... you could afford $90 in food/eating out and still be ahead of the game (not including the expense of the groceries you would otherwise buy to eat/cook in your room).

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know your thoughts on the above, and/or if you would prefer to split the stay into segments.

EDIT to Add: parking at the Residence Inn is $15/nite, so only a $3 difference between the two (instead of the $18 i implied above)

[mrxow]

What I am seeing on Hotwire is 72 and missing an icon, but maybe I am doing something wrong. I don't use hotwire all that much.

How many people are staying in your room? Is your daughter staying with you so that you have to take her every day? Or does she have a place to stay there and you are just going for fun? Is there going to be more than the two?

If her thing is a couple miles west of old town and the Residence is ok for you, then any 2.5 or above on PL in that zone should be ok with you as far as distance. Many or most of the other hotels appear to be closer to where you need to be than the Residence.

I also noticed on the Courtyard site that they have some kind of 25% weekend special during your time period for Marriott Rewards members. Maybe you would have to join something to get that. The weekend rate I saw was $99, so you would be at $74 or $75 at the Courtyard Alexandria and it appeared there was no parking fee. That property is 1 mile due west of the Residence, so you would be a mile closer to where you need to go. You could at least book 2 nights on your arrival weekend at that rate with free parking if you were going to wait to bid the rest of your stay.

[jrd]

Help - trying to get to Priceline through your link but could not - what am I doing wrong? Please let me know so that if I decide to go that route I can use your link. Went to Priceline the old fashioned way and have a quick question - does a 3.5 star hotel fall into the category of a "3 star" or a "4 star" according to Priceline?

To answer your questions - there will be two adults and one child (my daughter). And, yes, daughter will need to be dropped off and picked up every day - that's why traffic is a big consideration. Thanks!

[jrd]

Just experimenting with Hotwire and found that if I broke it up into 3 separate stays I got the same 3.5* for $69/nt. But if I did the whole 3 weeks at once I got the same 3.5* hotel for $145 a night - and it has a "customer favorite" thumbs up sign. What a bargain!!! It's the 8 icon hotel - but when you click on that hotel it actually has 9 icons. It says it's a 4 circle TripAdvisor hotel - which when I went to TripAdvisor all of their 4 circle hotels looked pretty nice. Debating whether I should just go for it on Hotwire with the 3 separate bids...

[mrxow]

Priceline does not have a 3.5 star rating. That is only on Hotwire. I imagine some 3.5 Hotwire hotels are rated 3 on Priceline and some are rated 4. The Sheraton Suites is 4 star on priceline.

You should be able to click on the underlined word "PRICELINE" in the above posts and have a new window open to a Priceline page. I don't know if pop up blockers interfere with this sometimes, but maybe somebody else can give you some advice. I am sure the moderator will when he gets to it.

Wait one sec before grabbing that Hotwire room. Are you entering for 3 people? I wasn't doing that before. We need to make sure you will have enough beds. Priceline only guarantees double occupancy, so since you need to fit three, that really might not be an option.

I am going to look at the Sheraton Suites site now.

[thereuare]

Sending you a PM regarding the PRICELINE link issue. (HOTWIRE works ok?)

Note that if you choose to break up the stay into three seprate purchases, please use our link for each purchase... we'll only get credit for the first purchase after clicking our link, so please click our HOTWIRE link before each purchase (ie- click our HOTWIRE link to make the first purchase, then return here and click our links again to begin the second purchase, etc, etc)

I am still seeing the $69 rate for your complete stay (7/18-8/9)

[mrxow]

When I put 2 adults and a child in, it tells me it is 76 dollars. I don't know why you are getting the lower price, but more power to you. I also didn't know that different icons can come up when you click to select the hotel. Like I said, I don't use Hotwire much. Now I know something new.

It seems to me for your needs you aren't going to beat the hotwire offer. Priceline doesn't guarantee a suite or accomodations for more than two. It seems that all the Sheraton suites have a sofa bed, so maybe you could get by with the price offered for 2 adults only if it is less. It may not be much more to go ahead and put 2 adults and a child or 3 adults, depending on your daughters age and it wouldn't cost much more and you don't have to worry about there being a bed issue.

I would just take the Hotwire deal.

[mrxow]

You don't really need to break up your stay if you think this hotel will work for you. I think it will. They might charge you extra fees for multiple bookings anyhow. But if the price comes up cheaper for a week at a time, obviously go with that. The moderator says he sees the whole stay for the same price, though.

They do have rooms with two double and rooms with one king. They all have sleep sofas. I am not sure which you would prefer or which they will offer you. Maybe think about it, then decide, then call the hotel after you make your booking.

If you think a king and sofa bed is better than two doubles and a sofa bed, you could probably just book the room for 2 adults if it is less on Hotwire.

Looks like this should work out well for you! :) It's a 4 star hotel. It will definitely be very nice.

[jrd]

Got the PM - thanks - but didn't know how to reply. Yes the HOTWIRE link works but not the Priceline. Go figure. Will try again tomorrow. Thanks guys and or gals!

[mrxow]

With all the info in this thread, I just wanted to make sure you understood that PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy. You can't be sure you will have room for 3 people. I think you should just take the Hotwire option.

[thereuare]

Got the PM - thanks - but didn't know how to reply. Yes the HOTWIRE link works but not the Priceline. Go figure. Will try again tomorrow. Thanks guys and or gals!

There is a REPLY button on the lower right corner of the PM message.

If you don't see that, you can CLICK HERE to send me a message.

[jrd]

Finally pulled the trigger and bought the 3.5* for $69/nt in Alexandria-Old Town - it was the Sheraton Suites. Tonight I was able to do the whole 22 nights in one transaction. Thanks!!! I went through your HOTWIRE link.

[thereuare]

That's GREAT news!! Congratulations on your success!

Glad to hear you received the hotel you were expecting and that this should work well for your needs... we're happy to have helped.

Thank you for sharing your results with the board and for using our HOTWIRE link to begin your purchase.

Have a great stay and hope your daugther enjoys the camp.

[mrxow]

Very cool. I tried to see if there were some alternative parking options for you, but the parking lots and structures I saw were all a ways south of the hotel. The hotel seems very nice, but it is a little north of the main Old Town area apparently. Still a lot of people report finding street parking and it may be free to park on the weekends at least on the street. Maybe you can find some other parking options with weekly or monthly rates nearby that aren't showing up on the computer, too. Even if you don't want to leave your car on the street or walk a block to a lot or structure, once you know what other options you have, don't be afraid to try to negotiate down the parking fee since you will be staying so long. Tell them if they don't give you a better deal you will figure out another way to park your car (even if you don't really mean it) They do offer a free shuttle south to the heart of Old Town. Maybe some of the lots down there have weekly or monthly rates. You can tell them you are going to park there and take the shuttle if they don't drop the parking rate for your long stay... :)