Priceline Hotel: 4* DC (Dupont - Woodley Park) OMNI Shoreham

[BMain]

Total Failure with 1st bid $70 4* Capitol Hill

for 8/29 - 9/2 (4 nights)

then I added White House

Should I have increased the bid too? Is it a length of stay problem, or an unreasonably low bid? Suggestions?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

I don't think length of stay is an issue for this one, i just think that your bid is a little too low at this stage of the game. But inventory changes all the time (as well as the prices at which bids will be accepted) so i would book a cancellable back-up in the meantime while you continue to try Priceline.

I don't think i would bid too much higher at this point in time because the Henley Park (a 4* hotel in the Capitol Hill zone) is available on Expedia for $119/nite.

Even though you've rejected at $70, if that is you maximum bid i would start a little lower since you have 5 RE-BIDS available at the 4* level. Utilizing them will ensure that you don't over-bid and get a price as close to cost as possible. If you're confused about re-bid zones, or just want to confirm which ones qualify for your bid, feel free to ask.

Board member gleff knows this area well so maybe he, or another user, will be able to advise further.

One thing i found interesting when looking at this is on Hyatt's website there is a webrate of $370... if you scroll down there is a prevailing rate of $249 :)

[gleff]

You may well have a length of stay problem only in so far as Priceline rates under $70 for 4* Capitol Hill and Downtown may be available for one or two nights of your stay, but they'd need to be available for all 4. But that doesn't mean you won't succeed using Priceline for your stay!

What we need to know is where you'd like to be in town? Where you NEED to be? How discretionary is your trip or what is your fallback hotel, in order to determine how high you should be bidding.

As far as backup hotels (contingent on where you need/want to be in the city), let me suggest that for your dates Orbitz has the Hilton Washington And Towers for $119 and the Radisson Barcelo for $119. (Both are available cheaper elsewhere as prepaid options, but I'm suggesting 'backups' here so you want them to be cancellable. Also, Orbitz will first try to give you "OrbitzSaver" rates that are $119... and prepaid... so you have to click a couple times on the link for more rates before you see the same, cancellable rate.)

Hilton Washington and Towers is a 3* in DuPont, on the corner of Connecticut & Florida. It's a HUGE property, has one of the biggest ballrooms in DC, I've actually been to a seated dinner there for 2500...! Radisson Barcelo is also a 3* in DuPont. But I can say that both are perfectly decent properties in my experience. Radisson is probably more walkable to downtown if that's what you're looking for, though both are walkable to the metro.

Capitol Hilton (Downtown, 4*.. and right downtown at 16th & K) is available on Orbitz for $139 fully cancellable.

Surprisingly for a weekend right at the end of summer, DC room rates and availability doesn't look bad at all. So I imagine you'll ultimately do pretty well on Priceline. Just share a bit more about where you want to be in town, what qualities you want in a property, and I'm happy to suggest a strategy.

[BMain]

We are tourists and don't know Washington at all! We won't have a car, so being close to the Metro is essential! I ruled out the Omni-Shoreham because it's a mile from the Metro stop...We have a 14 year old, so a pool would be nice. Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

[TravelGuy]

I ruled out the Omni-Shoreham because it's a mile from the Metro stop...

You may want to reconsider, because the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro Station is actually only a half block from the Omni. (Maybe you were thinking of the Dupont station, which would be about a mile away.)

Bidding conditions look very good for 4* Dupont/Woodley Park for your dates, with omnihotels.com showing unusually low rates ($134 AAA). The Omni is the only 4* that I've seen come up in that zone in over two years, and it has a large, very nice pool. I think a bid of $80 max would do it - you may even want to start lower, say $70, or even $65.

[BMain]

4* OMNI- Shoreham $85 8/29-9/2 accepted

first bid was Woodley -Dupont area $75

priceline replied that they would accept that area if I raised price $22

I added Capitol Hill and bid $ 85 and they accepted that.

Thank you to everyone for the great advice!! :)

[thereuare]

Glad to see you were successful.

TravelyGuy, thanks again for your expertise in this area. You are an example of what makes this board so great... users who are 'experts' in their area giving advice to others, helping to make their trips the best they can be!

[TravelGuy]

My pleasure.