Priceline Hotel: 4* London (Kensington-Earls Court-Knightsbridge) Copthorne Tara Knsgtn

[hubie]

I'm going to london and would love to stay in the Mayfair - Soho area 10-21 to 10-26. 3* is fine and anything better is great. What's the lowest you think I can get a room for? Best strategy? Ya think I can get something for $100 a night or less?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

I'm doubtful you'll be successful for a 3* or better hotel in this zone for $100 or under, but we can suggest a strategy for you to try if you'd like... is $100 your maximum bid? Is this is the only zone you're willing to accept?

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

[hubie]

Thereuare, I can go above $100 a little bit if i need to. Of course I will use your PRICELINE link to make the purchase. I just need a sound strategy. As you can see, I have some time to get it done, i dont have to win the bid today...

Thanks for your help

[thereuare]

Given the length of time before your stay, and with no re-bid zones, i would start with $80 and go up by $10 every 24 hours until you reach $100... then go up in $5 increments until your maximum bid is reached.

We don't see many 3* accepted bids in this zone. Due to the star quality rating many stick with 4* and higher in Europe, in addition to this zone usually being usually very expensive, users eventually opt for a higher rated hotel in one of the other zones.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks for using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.

Good luck and let us know how it goes... keep us upddated.

[Woofer]

Unless there is a really good reason as to why you need to be in that zone (I am sure there are lots of good reasons, but sometimes people assume that they have to be in that zone because it is central when a few others will do fine for the average tourist), I suggest that you consider the Bloomsbury-Marble Arch zone, which is as close as you can get to the Mayfair-Soho zone without actually being in it. Plenty central and some good 3* come up there. As theruare notes, however, 4* seems to be a better bet for London in general. I tend to bid Kensington myself, which is about a 15 minute tube ride from Trafalgar Square, and I find myself quite happy to be there. Great area. The Islington zone is equally easy for access to most tourist things, and the Hilton there seems to be the one hotel that comes up all the time on bids.

Good luck!

[Rhine-and-Roses]

I agree with the others. Three stars in London in particular are very iffy. I know that from experience - our first trip to London was a three star- never again. Of course not all three stars are like that, but everyone I know who travels to London has a horror story about some hotel they stayed at in London... Even 4 stars in London can be disappointing...

[hubie]

Here's the deal: I need a hotel in London 10-21 to 10-26.

I am WILLING to stay in Mayfair/Soho or Bloomsbury

I PREFER Mayfair/Soho, and am willing to pay a little more

Ideally, I dont want to pay over $100 (in bloomsbury). I would pay up to $125 for Mayfair/Soho.

Any strategies? Do I even have a shot at this? Does the fact I need the room for SIX nights help me at all? (It's just me, I can take the smallest room possible.)

Much thanks if you can help me, I will use the PRICELINE link from this site

Hubie

ps - go blue!

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

Have you done any bidding yet for this stay, in particular any of the approach from POST #4 above?

[hubie]

Sorry for the double post - i'm new here and forgot where i had originally posted.

I was planning on using that strategy above in POST 4 but was actually wondering....should I just start by choosing BOTH neighborhoods and bidding every 24 hours? I feel like doing this will almost guarantee I'm going to end up in Bloomsbury, right? Mayfair is more expensive for all stars...so if I'm simply bidding with both checked, i'll almost always end up in bloomsbury, right?

[thereuare]

I assume your check-in/check-out dates are 10/21-10/27 (6 nites)?

...should I just start by choosing BOTH neighborhoods and bidding every 24 hours? I feel like doing this will almost guarantee I'm going to end up in Bloomsbury, right? Mayfair is more expensive for all stars...so if I'm simply bidding with both checked, i'll almost always end up in bloomsbury, right?

Since you prefer the Mayfair zone, why not bid the Mayfair zone first, then if rejected add the Bloomsbury zone by itself at whatever amount less than your previous bid would make the Bloomsbury zone worthwhile? This would give you a chance to win the Mayfair zone at a higher bid (which you say you're willing to pay more for) before trying a lower bid for the Bloomsbury zone.

Does that make sense?

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

[hubie]

I'm not having much success. Am I at a disadvantage b/c I need 6 nites, where most of the people posting on this board only need 1 or 2? Am I better off bidding for 3 nights and another 3 nights?

Here's where i've left off:

Mayfair-Soho and Bloomsbury - 3* - $120 - REJECTED

How much higher do I need to bid? Obviously no one really knows, but i thought i'd be able to at least get a 3* in bloomsbury for $100 or less (according to the PL maps).

Am I better off with hotwire? I've never used hotwire, so i'm unfamilliar...

Thanks folks (and thereuare) :)

[thereuare]

If you want to try SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID i would go thru each bidding cycle using the following date combinations:

10/21-10/27

10/21-10/26

10/22-10/27

10/21-10/25

10/23-10/27

10/21-10/24

10/24-10/27

Would the Kensington zone work for your plans at all?

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

[hubie]

If you want to try SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID i would go thru each bidding cycle using the following date combinations:

10/21-10/27

10/21-10/26

10/22-10/27

10/21-10/25

10/23-10/27

10/21-10/24

10/24-10/27

Would the Kensington zone work for your plans at all?

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

Thereuare, sorry, my email subscription to this thread went into my yahoo spam mail.

Do you think splitting up my stay will get me better rates? I am young and able and certainly willing to move to a different hotel once during my stay. Especially if it can save me a bundle of cash. Please let me know any strategies, as this vacation is coming up fast!

Kensington might work for me...i just need to be by a tube stop somewhere near the middle of the city.

You think splitting up those dates

[thereuare]

Sorry, i don't recall prices when i last researched and as i'm currently on a slow connection (Airplane Internet Access i'm not able to look at all the various date combinations.

If you haven't bid since the last post i would try again for the complete stay and then if you're still willing to SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID then try the date combations posted above... if you have other zones you're considering bidding you can do so OR bump this thread still seeking help, somebody else may chime in or i'll try to get to it by the weekend or early next week (or if time permits i'll check out the date combos once i'm on a landline connection).

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

[hubie]

If you dont mind, i'll BUMP this post. As you can tell by the thread started date, i've been needing this for awhile. If you dont mind researching those dates for me, i'd be glad to use your PRICELINE link to buy this hotel

[WillTravel]

So just to clarify, are you arriving in London on October 21, and leaving on October 27?

If so, it might be helpful to break up your bid into October 21-24, and October 24-27. The reason is that Oct. 24-27 is a weekend bid, and the Oct. 21-24 bid might be more expensive.

In particular, the City zone might be cheaper for Oct. 24-27. This is speculative, but probably worth a try. It might also be worth trying Oct. 23-27 first.

But keep in mind that if you win the cheaper days first, you'll still need a plan for the first days, and these may be quite expensive.

On the plus side for you, the dollar has risen against the pound.

Also try looking at your stay, broken up on Hotwire. Keep in mind that Hotwire's fees are lower than Priceline's, so you want to consider the total cost, rather than just the face price.

Actually, backing up a bit, have you tried the City zone at all yet? That would be worth trying, as well as Kensington.

I would actually try any of the zones, except London Docklands, and even that one I would consider if I were getting down to the wire. Certainly I would prefer Bloomsbury or Mayfair, but all of them are workable.

[hubie]

I ended up deciding on Kensington zone and got it for $84 (started at $70 w/ $2 increments)

10-21-08 to 10-27-08

Got the copthorne tara. They gave me a room with 2 beds, i asked if I could get one queen, after 2 nights a room with a queen opened up and I enjoyed that the last 4 nights. Overall very happy with the hotel, priceline, and of course BETTERBIDDING

Thanks Thereuare!

[thereuare]

Thanks for the follow-up!

Please remember to 'conclude' your threads with your purchase as you receive them so that the information can best help other users.

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

hope you enjoyed your stay.