Priceline Hotel: 4* Boston Metro-West (Newton-Waltham) Westin Waltham

[allybunnie]

Looking for bidding/strategy advice for Friday 5/23 for Boston Metro West - Waltham/Framingham areas. We are already staying in Boston for Sat & Sun (memorial day wknd) and are researching into getting ourselves up close to Boston for Friday night so we will be near Rt 95/128 as we will be parking at one of the "t" stations for getting into Boston. Does anyone know what hotels may be possible wins for the 2 possible ideas below?

1. Right now it looks as though there is a 4* in the Newton - Waltham zone with 3 free rebid zones......

2. For 3* hotels it looks as though there are hotel(s) in the Newton - Waltham zone and also the Natick - Framingham- Sudbury zone with one free rebid zone

was hoping to stay in the $50 - 60 range - I realize that might be a far stretch to get the 4* so maybe we could go a little higher than that if it seems appropriate. 3* would be acceptable too - should I try for a 4* first & then go down to a 3* & start over after the 24 hr waiting period as this is still about 4 weeks away or is the holiday weekend putting more limitations on my hopes of getting a good win? Any advise or recommendations would be great - Thank you

[allybunnie]

not sure if anyone knows what hotel(s) are possible priceline hotel(s) in the 4* and 3* catagories in the Newton-Waltham zone and the Natick - Framingham - Sudbury zone.......

just playing around as I thought maybe the 4* Westin / Waltham is a priceline hotel - they show availability for 5/23 for $129.00.......

also the 3* Sheraton Framingham (the one that looks like a castle) shows sold out for that night....I am pretty sure that one was a priceline hotel - bummer - it looked to have good reviews....

[thereuare]

All hotels reported to the board are listed in our Priceline Hotel List.

Once you review the list let us know if you are willing to bid both zones and would like to bid up to your limit for a 4* first before trying for a 3* or if price is the most important factor and you would prefer to try for the least expensive 3* hotel in either zone.

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

Let us know the above and we'll advise accordingly.

[allybunnie]

thank for the hotel list info - learn something new here all the time...here are my thoughts/findings

1. The 4* Westin/Waltham has the best rates of all of the 4* or 3* hotels in either zone according to their hotel websites......

NEWTON/WALTHAM ZONE

4* Westin/Waltham -125.00 AAA, 129.00 prepaid internet, 139.00 best available - (9.00 to self park)

3* Crowne Plaza/Newton - 179.00 (but charges 12.00 for self park!!!!)

NATICK/FRAMINGHAM/SUDBURY ZONE

3* Crown Plaza/Natick - 153.00 (free parking)

3* Sheraton/Framingham - sold out

Are these indications of what might be better wins? if so it looks as though the 4* Westin/Waltham is the way to go & would obviosly be the first choice as I think I have 3 free rebid zones at the 4* level & who wouldnt want to stay at a 4*

so if these prices are indications & you agree then lets go for the 4* at first and would like to try & go up to 65.00 not sure if my original price range of 50.00 to 60.00 is high enough PLEASE tell me what your thoughts are on this thinking as I am a little flexible on what you think might work out the best as far as bidding stategies... (or a little more maybe 70.00 if you feel that 65.00 isnt high enough....)

I would prefer to try the 4* first as in the 3* catagory I basically only have the one zone (Natick-Framingham) as I dont want to risk getting the Sheraton/Newton in the other zone as then I pay 12.00 to park......

As always any suggestions or comments you have on these thoughts are much appreciated & thanx for your help!!!!

[thereuare]

There is no correlation between hotel with the lowest hotel-direct rate and the hotel you will receive when bidding on PRICELINE.

Regardless it sounds as if you want to try for a 4* fist in the Newton-Waltham zone. Although we have never seen the Westin appear for under $85/nite, you can try as follows:

With your three re-bid zones...

Select 4* Newton-Waltham...

Bid $55, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $60, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $70.

If the above is rejected we'll then take the next step and see how you want to proceed for a 3 star.

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.

[allybunnie]

ok here is what I tried - decided it was worth a shot at upping my maximum.....

used PRICELINE link

Selected 4* Newton-Waltham...

Bid $60, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $69, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $78, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $85.

rejected with the above....thinking maybe try again in 24 hrs??? or should I just rethink my preferences to try for a 3* at this time????....

one question for the future - if I tried the above strategy for the 4*& it failed.......if I had another strategy for trying for only a 3* for a lower price without the above zone would I have to wait the 24hrs? still learning the rules of some of this...thanx....

[thereuare]

If you chose to lower to a 3* property you could bid again immediately, but all the previously zones would be checked (and greyed-out so they couldn't be UNselected). You can overcome this by closing the browser, re-accessing PRICELINE, and then starting with a 'clean slate' for bidding at the 3* level (and only selecting the zones you want)

If you try again after 24 hours for a 4* would you use the same bidding limit or were you considering raising your maximum bid?

[allybunnie]

I think at this point I may try again at the 4* level after the 24 hrs & think about trying the 3* the way you said to do it by "starting over"......it looks as though my bidding strategy is limited for the 3*??? I dont want to risk getting the Sheraton Newton so I only want to try for the 3* in Natick-Framingham-Sudbury zone with a 65.00 limit. If I am correct, I have only one free rebid zone for a 3* so I guess there isnt much strategy you can help with on that as it will be a 2 step bid???

As for my bidding limit, I was thinking of staying the same for the 4* level, as this is a win we are hoping to get, but it is not crucial - we are only about 2hrs from Boston as it is (that is without holiday wknd traffic!!) & are looking to just get "closer" to Boston so we can avoid driving up on Sat morning....or do you think my bidding limit is unrealistic? Thanx so much for your advice....

[thereuare]

If you keep your maximum bid the same for the 4* i'd think your chances are low... but no harm in trying.

You are correct... only one re-bid zone available at the 3* leve in this region.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[allybunnie]

thought I would try again for the 4* & I agree with you that 85.00 might have been just a bit too low because of the holiday weekend......so, here is what i did this time

used PRICELINE link

Selected 4* Newton-Waltham...

Bid $60, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $74, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $87, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $95

Accepted at the 4* Westin (Newton - Waltham)

70 Third Ave

Waltham, MA 02154

$95.00 + taxes etc.... = $113.03 total

it's a little bit more than I had hoped, but hey you only live once - now to break the price to the hubby.....don't worry he will be happy (I think....)

thanx for your advice as always.......

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win!

Glad to hear you were successful and happy with the results.

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and for using our PRICELINE links to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.