Priceline Hotel: 3* Munich (City Center South) Courtyard

[WillTravel]

4* Munich

Fitness, Restaurant, Laundry, HSIA

I don't imagine there's any magic way to tell what this hotel is, but I'd be curious if anyone has any ideas. I looked through Hotwire's Vacation Packages a bit, and didn't come up with a single 4* (4.5*, 5*, 3*, 3.5* though).

I think it's very interesting that the Tax + Recovery Rate is only $7.15, for a 3-night stay. Other hotels have a significantly higher rate for the same stay, like $30+. But it's worth noting that this could easily make it a better deal than a Priceline bid.

The Munich area on Hotwire is quite large, so if I can't make a reasonable guess, I probably wouldn't want this hotel. I notice the Hotwire list for Munich says Munich (City Center), but there doesn't seem to be any such zone anymore.

I wonder if Hilton Munich Park is likely, as I notice on that hotel's web page that the pool is currently closed (although it's to open in October), and the current listing on this site has a pool amenity.

[thereuare]

It's difficult to even view HOTWIRE's map for this area so can't determine which zones are in the shaded boundaries of the zone. Given that very few hotels in Europe have a Laundry on-site, i'm going to guess that this may be an ICHotels branded... Crowne Plaza or Holdiay Inn, but don't have anything substantial to give me a high degree of confidence in this guess.

[WillTravel]

Thanks, thereuare. I agree that Holiday Inn seems like a possibility. There are at least 3 HIs in the Hotwire zone, but I suppose the most likely candidate is the one that has the cheapest website rates for those nights, which is Holiday Inn MUNICH-SCHWABING, at an average of 84 Euros per night (prepaid) for those nights.

[Rhine-and-Roses]

I stayed at the Renaissance Munich (city center, about 2 miles from the pedestrian zone- easy subway ride) and it had a laundry.

[WillTravel]

Rhine-and-Roses, did you get the Renaissance on Hotwire or Priceline? When you say laundry, was it a coin-operated guest laundry?

[WillTravel]

I decided against Hotwire.

I had a $5/night Priceline bonus (for up to 5 nights). I hope I did this right in terms of allowing BB to get credit by opening Priceline with the box above while also using the link in my email.

Tonight I just put in a $55 bid (which is equivalent to $60 with the bonus cash) for 3* and won right away. I had previously bid at this price for these dates, and had not succeeded, and did not get a counteroffer.

Nov. 15-18

Courtyard By Marriott Munich City Center

Taxes and Service fees work out to US$38.85. So my total is just under $204 USD for the 3 nights, which works out to less than 50 Euros per night including taxes and fees.

The rate on the Marriott website is 109 Euros for Nov. 15-17, and 159 Euros for Nov. 17-18.

Since I won on the first try, I probably overbid. My only tiny regret is that I don't think I get free wireless. But otherwise, this is the hotel I wanted, for various reasons.

I have to admit I took a gamble here, because the City Center South zone is fairly large, and I was not guaranteed a hotel by the train station, even those hotels are by far the most common to win in this zone. But I knew the transport system in Munich was good enough to compensate for this slight risk.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win!

Glad to see your calculated risk worked out well... a great rate and convenient for your needs.

For the board to get credit please don't use the links from any emails... the correct way is to click our PRICELINE link (or use the search box above) and then access your bonus money thru the MY PROFILE/MY REWARDS link at the top of the screen at priceline.

Thanks for sharing your bidding with the board and have a great trip.

[WillTravel]

Sorry about that, thereuare - I will definitely remember for next time.

[WillTravel]

The Marriott Courtyard did a temporary authorization to my credit card that appeared to be for the full amount of the stay.

Considering the exchange rates on the day I checked in, and my credit card conversion rate, it looks like the Priceline rate for this stay is about 49 Euros per night (which I think includes tax). So I likely overbid slightly.