Hotwire Hotel: 4* Toronto (Downtown) Marriott Bloor Yorkville

[Tyler Soze]

Hi. I am looking to stay in Toronto from 10/02/08 to 10/05/08. I would like to stay in a 4* hotel in Downtown Toronto (East or West) and am hoping to get a price in the range of $60-70 a night.

Before my plans were certain, a few weeks back, I saw a hotel in this area fitting the description at $64 a night. What appears to be the same hotel (based on amenities and review number) is now available on the same dates at $82 a night:

4* (Downtown East)

Hotel Amenities: Smoke Free Rooms, Fitness Center, Restaurant(s), Business Center, Laundry Facilities, High-speed Internet Access and there are currently 60+ reviews on Trip Advisor

1) From my research this is almost certainly the Marriott Bloor Yorkville. I was wondering if anyone else agrees.

2) How frequently do prices change on Hotwire? Daily? Hourly? At any time? This might help my search.

3) I know Priceline is usually cheaper, but it is also less certain as to what you will get I have been told. But setting that aside, do people think my best shot of getting a hotel at this price range is on Priceline instead of Hotwire?

Thanks for any help you might be able to provide.

[Tyler Soze]

Hi. I am looking to stay in Toronto from 10/02/08 to 10/05/08. I would like to stay in a 4* hotel in Downtown Toronto and am hoping to get a price in the range of $60-70 a night.

I know Priceline is usually cheaper, but it is also less certain as to what you will get I have been told. But setting that aside, do people think my best shot of getting a hotel at this price range is on Priceline instead of Hotwire? I was hoping to get the Marriott Bloor Yorkville due to location being ideal for my trip but realize that this is only a hope and I could get anything.

With that said, I was wondering what bidding strategy may be suggested for this attempt. Should I start at $50, or perhaps higher? Given the current hotel I am seeking appears to be available on Hotwire for $82 a night, how high do people think I should go before giving up?

I am really new to all of this, so thanks for any help you might be able to provide.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread. This thread is currently in the HOTWIRE section of the board, if you ultimately use PRICELINE, we'll move the entire thread to that section of the board at that time.

The property you're seeing above is a match for the Marriott Bloor Yorkville and that would be our best guess too.

Hotel suppliers can change pricing at any time, but for a stay 6+ months away i wouldn't expect too much change from the supplier level. However, HOTWIRE uses a variable mark-up so during this time you will likely see minor changes in price from search to search ($5-$15). Please use our HOTWIRE link to begin all of your searches so that if this hotel appears at the right price you can go ahead and purchase it, without backing out to use our link (and risk a different price).

If you're trying to target this specific property than HOTWIRE is likely your best bet. If targeting a specific property is less important, and budget is the most important factor, then PRICELINE will likely be a little cheaper. Keep in mind that priceline's zone is twice as large (since it includes East and West), as well, that if you're trying for this particular hotel, while you're waiting for the price to come down a little it could disappear entirely and be replaced by a different 4* offering (HOTWIRE will only show one hotel in each zone at each star level)

If you decide you'd like to use PRICELINE, and are ready to bid now, let us know and we'll suggest a strategy to follow.

Any questions on the above feel free to ask.

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

[Tyler Soze]

Hi all. I was feeling terrible today so skipped work and decided to focus on a priority of mine: Finding a hotel from 10/2/08 to 10/5/08 in Downtown Toronto.

A few weeks back I found a price of 64 on HOTWIRE but did not snap it up and as of this morning the price for the same property appears to have shot up to 83 a night. I really wanted the property, which appeared to be the Marriott Bloor Yorkville, but not at that price because I saw it for much less.

So I decided to try PRICELINE. I first added a day to my search, 10/1-10/5, and I bid $55, then 60 (adding Toronto East) then 62 (adding Toronto Pickering) then 64 (changing date range back to my originally desired 10/2-10/5) and I was accepted. And amazingly enough, I got the property I wanted!!!

Details are below (and yes, I did use the PRICELINE link for this purchase). Thanks for the information!

Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville

10/2/08 to 10/5/08

$64.00 per night

$227.22 total with tax

$762.05 would be the regular price from Marriott.com (70 percent savings!)

Thanks again!

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win!

Glad to hear you received the property you were hoping for and at a BIG discount! :)

Thanks for sharing your good fortune with the rest of the board and for using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.

Have a great stay.