Priceline Hotel: London 5* bidding help

[misstina]

:)

HI - new at this but I have read lots of forum q's and a's!

I am looking to book central london hotel - preferably 5* for 4 nights 26 october - 30 october. Am happy to stay in any zone provided there is tube somewhere nearby although obviously the closer to centre of london the better for toursit stuff (never been to london before). Happy to pay up to $220 US per night before taxes...could you please suggest a bidding strategy? Would be happt to have a go at 5* and drop back to 4 * if necessary... Thanks!

[tenngirl]

London can be tricky for PRICELINE, but at 5* you have 6 free re-bids, so hopefully you will get lucky!

I would suggest trying to stay in Westminster, which is centrally located (walking distance) for all of the main tourist attractions (Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Downing St, Trafalgar Sq, theatres in the West End, the National Gallery, Tate Modern, London Eye, etc).

From the posts on this board, it looks like only bids above $210 have won 5* hotels in London. I would suggest starting at $190 (since you have so many free re-bids) and increase by $5 each time. BEFORE YOU BID, double check that the zones listed below are still free rebid zones for 5* hotels (meaning they don't offer 5* hotels in that zone).

5* Westminster $190

if rejected, add Bloomsbury - Marble Arch $195

if rejected, add Finsbury and Islington $200

if rejected, add Hammersmith $205

if rejected, add Notting Hill

[misstina]

Dear tenngirl - thank you so much - will try it today and get back to you! :)

[Relee54]

I followed a strategy pretty similar to this on Sunday. I started my bidding a bit lower and got 8 nites in late September at the 5 star Hotel Intercontinental for $206 a nite. It was about half the price I would have paid at the same hotel on some other web sites!

[thereuare]

Relee54,

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Can you please add your win to the board as a NEW TOPIC so that others will be aware of it when scanning the topic titles of this forum and when doing research in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins.

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

Thank you.

[misstina]

so far have tried this strategy once with no success (yet) - i then had a look at the likely winning hotels (marriot county hall (225)seems most likely followed by grosvenor house (215)) - the rooms do not look very flash and the reviews on trip advisor are not flash either...am considering going for a (much) cheaper 4 star optiion...liley to get copthorne tara (80-150?) i suspect - also not flash but at less than half the price might be more worthwhile (??) opinions greatfully received...

[thereuare]

It's really personal preference... for me i prefer to stick with higher rated hotels (4* and above usually... or 'better' 3 star properties); but i'm also all about value, and i would sooner take a 4* over a 5* if it was half the price. I have a hard time spending $200+ for a hotel room. (although sometimes it is necessary)

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

[misstina]

so theruare, care to share the perfect london bidding strategy?!

[WillTravel]

If you look at the reviews for the 4* hotels in Kensington, there are many that aren't that good. I think it will be fine if you keep in mind that you are getting a great bargain, but if you are looking for something that is really nice and upscale, you might want to look elsewhere. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum, and this would seem to be one of the better reviewed ones, compared to Copthorne Tara and Hilton Olympia, and it was fine, but I would consider it more of a 3* experience even with its 4* rating.

I do think the 4* hotels in Mayfair-Soho tend to have better reviews, and the location is more convenient, but of course it's also a more expensive zone.

In my opinion, the reviews of the 5* London hotels for the Mayfair zone are not sufficiently better (and in many cases are worse) than the 4* hotels for Mayfair, so if sticking to the Mayfair zone, I'd probably not bid 5* even if I were inclined to splurge. Instead, I'd use Hotwire to focus in on the nicest 4* or 4.5*.

[Golf]

I once got the Riverside Park Plaza (4*) through PRICELINE. Excellent value for money and very modern feel&look in the hotel. Only backdraw is that it's on the south side of the Thames, close to the Millenium Eye.

Hope this helps your search and have a nice stay!

[thereuare]

so theruare, care to share the perfect london bidding strategy?!

Which zones are you willing to bid at the 4* level? Are you still willing to go as high as $220 for a 4* hotel?

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

[misstina]

thanks everyone esp willtravel...had a long go yesterday at bidding through PRICELINE link - stuck to 4 zones 4 star up to $116. Those were bloom/m arch, mayfair/soho, westminster, city/londonbridge - or zones 1,6,9 and 10. no luck. No - would not be happy to pay 200+ for 4 star..want to stick to hopefully 116 or less??? if i try hotwire - what price would be good for holiday inn kensington forum?? how will i know i have found it?? Also - the hotel list on this site for london for priceline is no good - it has zones that no longer exist in priceline...could someone fix it please?

[thereuare]

Besides (The City - London Bridge) now being named (The City - Financial) what other differences do you see between our Priceline Hotel List and the current PRICELINE zones?

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

[misstina]

hi - your list has 3 "city" groupings

1. the city-financial - with 2 hotels - this zone does not exist

2.the city-financial-islington - with one hotel - this zone does not exist

3. the city-london bridge - does exist - 4 hotels listed.

Could the hotels in 1 and 2 above be moved and then those zones removed please!

thanks

ps -GOLF - riverside park plaza does not appear in hotel lists at all - which zone?

also - willtravel - tips on finding H Inn Kensington forum in hotwire???

[Golf]

ps -GOLF - riverside park plaza does not appear in hotel lists at all - which zone?

also - willtravel - tips on finding H Inn Kensington forum in hotwire???

Sorry, it should be Riverbank Park Plaza and this hotel is 4* in the Westminster zone.

http://www.parkplaza.com/hotels/gbriver