Priceline Hotel: 5* Sydney (City Center) Marriott Harbour

[Cruise]

I've been trying Sydney for a while now. After researching here on the boards (thanks!), I see that most people get lucky in the $120-$130 range for a 4* in Sydney and in the $150-$160 range for a 5*. I've bid up to $145 for the 4* and $170 for the 5* and I'm not having any luck at all. For the 5*, when I reached the $155 mark, I was given a counteroffer of upping the bid by $25. Chose to wait and split the difference as this has usually worked for me in the past, but again, no such luck this time.

I'm looking at the weekend of August 8, 2008. Checking out on Monday, August 11, 2008. I've searched the web and can't see anything in particular going on that weekend in Sydney. Anyone have any insight?

Thanks for any suggestions :)

[thereuare]

If the previous $160 bid(s) at the 5* level were received 6-12+ months ago, it may take more now simply due to currency fluctuation (which would seem inline with your $180 counter-offer)

What is your maximum bid for this stay? Is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID an option?

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

[Cruise]

Thanks for the reply. I've been using the above link each time I attempt a bid. :)

I'd rather not split my bid simply because it's only 3 nights and after checking out Monday, we're heading to the Blue Mountains. I'd rather not have to deal with unpacking and repacking a couple of times on the off chance that I wasn't able to keep the same room for a split bid.

I'm willing to keep trying since I do have some time and, if push comes to shove, I'll accept the counteroffer if I get close to the date without success. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't something I was missing. The currency fluctuation didn't even cross my mind and that makes a lot of sense. The dollar isn't worth what it used to be! Very good point and I'll have to adjust accordingly.

Thanks!

[thereuare]

Keep us updated as to your progress.

Keep in mind that as time moves on, the hotel currently 'avaialble' thru the counteroffer may disappear, so it becomes a question of locking in savings now and taking the risk that rates go down in the next month vs. waiting for a deeper discount and then having the current offer no longer be available.

Thank you for using our PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links :)

[Cruise]

Success at last! Kept bidding up (using the PRICELINE link from this site!) at $5 intervals, first for the 5*, then for the 4* when my bid of $170 was accepted for the 5*.

Did some investigating (cause I'm anal retentive like that) and found that the last time it was reported here was August 17,2007 when the USD was worth $1.24AUD. At todays rate of 1USD = 1.04AUD, seems like I got a good deal. :) I spend way too much time travel planning :)

Breakdown as follows:

Congratulations, your price of $170 was accepted by Marriott Sydney Harbour. (5*)

Sydney (City Centre)

Check-In Date:

Fri, Aug 8, 2008 / After 03:00 PM

Check-Out Date:

Mon, Aug 11, 2008 / 11:00 AM

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$170.00

Number of rooms: 1

Number of nights: 3

Subtotal: US$510.00

Taxes & Service Fees: US$68.92

Total Charges: US$578.92

Please let me know if you'd like for me to repost the information as a separate post so others might find it more easily.

Thanks!

[thereuare]

Congratulations on yoru win!

No need to re-post... we've edited the topic title of tis thread to reflect the details of our purchase and this thread also now appears in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins.

Glad to hear you're happy with the results.

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

Enjoy your stay.