Priceline Hotel: 4* Philadelphia (Center City East) Loews

[calipete]

With regard to this hotel, I'm looking at the dates of April 25-28 and getting a rate of $141/night from HOTWIRE; meanwhile, I can't get anything 4* from PRICELINE up to $122. Should I bite the bullet at $141, or will PRICELINE eventually come down before my dates? Thanks!

[dahammer]

please follow up your Hotwire Reno topic and bring a conclusion to that thread. Then, we'll take a look at your Philly stay.

[calipete]

Did that, let me know if you need to know more...

-Thanks, Pete

[thereuare]

Should I bite the bullet at $141, or will PRICELINE eventually come down before my dates?

Nobody can accurately answer this question, but for a discussion on the subject, see the "bid early or close to check-in" link in our PRICELINE FAQ.

Price on the Westin website average $272/nite for these dates, but there is a fairly significant rate change during your stay which may explain your PRICELINE rejections... is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID an option?

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

Let us know if splitting is an option and we'll advise accordingly.

[calipete]

Yes, I would be amenable to split bids...what would you suggest??

Okay, looking at Expedia, I'm guess that you're thinking I should

start with Friday and Saturday, because there's a bump up on Sunday??

Thanks, Pete

[thereuare]

Which zone(s) are you bidding on PRICELINE... just the Downtown zone?

What is your maximum bid?

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

[calipete]

Looking for 4* in Downtown only, although now that I think of it, Sunday night

in the airport zone would be acceptable. Thanks.

As I can apparently get the Westin for $141 for all 3 nights, I guess my max

Priceline bid would be $110.

Thanks!

[calipete]

Well, now the Westin is no longer available on HOTWIRE, at least

not for the entire 3 nights. FYI. My safety is the Club Quarters

at around $100/night.

[thereuare]

My safety is the Club Quarters

at around $100/night.

Is this on HOTWIRE too? If so, you shouldn't use HOTWIRE hotels has your back-up as they can, just like the Westin, disappear at any time.

I'm not sure what it is you want to bid at this point... are you looking for the Downtown zone for all three nites or just for the first two nites? (and looking at the Airport for the last nite)

Is $110 still your maximum bid?

[calipete]

No, my back-up is on Hotels.com and can be canceled.

At this point, I'm looking for either all three nights downtown OR

Friday and Saturday in downtown and Sunday at the Airport as you guessed.

I would go up to $130/night at this point for 4* hotels. Thanks very much.

By the way, I have tried splitting the Priceline bid various

ways and have not been able to win anything going up to

around $110.

[thereuare]

At the 4* level you have 5 re-bid zones. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

Select 4* Downtown...

Bid $70, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone3...

Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone4...

Bid $105.

Select 4* Downtown and re-bid zone5...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone3...

Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone4...

Bid $130.

I would try the above, going thru the compete strategy, for each of the following dates:

4/25-4/28

4/25-4/27

4/26-4/28 (this one only if you're willing to stay downtown for the complete stay but a different hotel the first nite vs. the last two nites)

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[calipete]

Had no luck doing all 3 nights, but got Loew's for $110 for Sat/Sun.

(Hadn't heard of it, but it's ranked #7 on Tripadvisor, so it can't be TOO bad.)

Had no luck up to $130 for Friday only, but I'm not worried as I'm getting in late that night

anyway so I'll be okay with just about anything. Will try again as well and haven't

even looked at HOTWIRE.

I used the link PRICELINE provided...thanks for everything!

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win!

Loews has a handful of higher-end hotels which border on the 'boutique-y' side... their high rating on TA is not a surprise as they do a good job at running their properties (imo). I suspect you'll be quite happy with your stay.

Thank you for sharing your results with the board and for uisng our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.

If you need help with the remaining nite of your stay feel free to start a NEW TOPIC.

Enjoy this leg of your stay.

[calipete]

With respect to Friday night (4/25), I tried using the same bidding

strategy up to around $130, but failed to be accepted. Is there

a different option to try in this scenario? I'm also thinking of going

to a 3* (also downtown); again I'd like to keep the price down to

$130/night and preferably significantly less if a 3*. Thanks again!

[thereuare]

If you need help with the remaining nite of your stay feel free to start a NEW TOPIC.

This will help keep the board better organized and also enable us to reflect the hotel you ultimately receive in the topic title of the new thread... as well as have your eventual win appear in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins.

Thanks.

[calipete]

Just a quick follow-up on my stay: Lowe's Philadelphia is a very nice hotel, definitely merits four stars. It's as good as better than the average Westin IMO. I enjoyed my stay there immensely.