Priceline Hotel: 4* Toronto (Downtown) The Westin Harbour Castle

[iginlafire]

Still not sure if this is an amazing deal or not. I've used Priceline many times to stay in downtown Toronto before, and have always ended up with the Sheraton, as cheap as $65 and no more expensive than $80. This is my third straight night bidding for a hotel in that zone for that particular weekend, and I finally got something accepted tonight. It's the weekend of the Virgin Music Festival (Oasis, Foo Fighters) at Toronto Island Park, so we absolutely had to get something downtown. Anyways, here's how my bidding went:

Night #1 - Started at $55 and went up in $2 increments, each time adding a re-bid zone with no *4 hotels. FYI, that is every zone except for Vaughan/North York & Airport/YYZ. I think it ended up being 9 total bids. Nothing.

Night #2 - Started at $70 and went up in $3 increments, to a final maximum bid of $95 (the final bid I upped an extra $1 to take it to the nice round number of $95. Woo-hoo, big spender!). Nothing again.

Night #3 - This time I started at $80, and went up using the same $3 increments like I did the night before. Finally accepted at $104 per night, after the last possible bid using my strategy.

Someone tell me I got a good deal! I am not used to paying this much for a hotel in this zone, but it's gotta be because that weekend is going to be crazy downtown. Also, the cheapest rate on their website is $249 per night, so I still saved over 58%. Pretty happy with the hotel selection also.

So yeah, that's my story. Thanks to all who have posted previously and helped me figure out the best strategy for getting a good deal on hotels. Cheers.

[Will]

I've stayed at the Westin, it's a nice hotel and I can recommend it. All the rooms are renovated, and it's very close to the Toronto Island fairy (its almost right at the hotel). So yes I would say you got a good deal still, even if it is a bit pricey by your standards :)

[thereuare]

Welcome (officially) to BetterBidding!

Thank you for sharing your winning bid with the board.

Also, the cheapest rate on their website is $249 per night, so I still saved over 58%. Pretty happy with the hotel selection also.

Rates are date specific, so if rates are higher than usual for your particular dates... then the amount needed to win a bid will likely be higher as well. The real focus, imo, should be your winning bid amount of $104 vs. the hotel direct rate of $249, in which case it's easy to determine you got a great deal.

I am not used to paying this much for a hotel in this zone...

You've been registered here for almost a year and it appears this isn't your first PRICELINE win... it would be appreciated if you shared your winning bids with the board.

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