Priceline Hotel: 4* San Francisco (Embarcadero) Hyatt Regency

[mofus1]

Hi Everyone, great site by the way. Loads of great info and I'm hoping for a little more !!

I need 2 hotel rooms in San Fran ( 17th to 21st October ) and have tried a couple of bids for USW and USE for 4* hotels - the maximum I went to was $115 with no success.

I am considering 2 courses of action :

1) 4* Hotel and willing to spend $120 per night per room in the following areas - USE / USW / SOMA / Embarcadero

2) 3* hotel in the same areas but only willing to go as high as $100 for this.

Obviously I'd prefer the 4* option but I'll be happy with either, can someone who knows infinitely more than me help with a stategy for both options ?

Also, given that the end of my stay is less than 3 weeks away am I too early with this bidding ? Does the fact that I need 2 rooms for 4 nights mean that I have less chance of success ?

Thanks in advance and I before booking I will use the betterbidding PRICELINE links.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Quick question to best advise to move forward...

have tried a couple of bids for USW and USE for 4* hotels - the maximum I went to was $115 with no success.

I am considering 2 courses of action :

1) 4* Hotel and willing to spend $120 per night per room in the following areas - USE / USW / SOMA / Embarcadero

To confirm... when you bid up to $115/nite you did not include the SOMA or Embarcadero zones?

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

[mofus1]

Yes, that's true. I did not include the SOMA or Embarcadero zones when I bid $115.

I was going to add them in but thought I would ask some advice first. Thanks.

[thereuare]

I'm doubtful $120 will be successful for a 4* hotel on these dates, but we can certainly suggest a strategy as it doesn't hurt to try. When did you make your last bid at the 4* level (you'll be able to bid again immediately, but we'll need to know this to suggest the correct combinations in order to prevent any duplicate bid messages)

If you try for a 4* property and fail, did you want ti first try for a 3.5* property... you mention trying for a 3* hotel, but each of the four zones you've mentioned now have PRICELINE's 3.5* star rating available.

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

[mofus1]

Thanks,

The last bid was on Sunday 28th Sept at approx 4pm GMT

I would of course consider the 3.5 stars, sorry for not being clear on this one.

[thereuare]

At the 4* level you have THREE re-bid zones. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

Select 4* USE and USW...

Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $95, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $100, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 4* SOMA and Embarcadero...

Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $95, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $100, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 4* USE, USW, SOMA and Embarcadero...

Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $120

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[mofus1]

Hi Again,

Unfortunately ourstrategy did not work, obviously my upper price of 120 was not adequate to seal the deal for a room. Thanks for your help.

Would it be possible to help me with a 3.5 star or 3 star strategy ?, I have no rooms booked and need to get something sorted quickly. I would like the 3 star for $100 max, do you think this is too aggressive ?

Thanks again

[thereuare]

Is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID an option... i think you may be successful at amounts already bid for part of your stay?

If you're not willing to split your bid, what is the best rate you're able to find thru conventional methods for this complete stay? (use our BetterChecker to assist in your rate search)

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

[Colfax]

Would it be possible to help me with a 3.5 star or 3 star strategy ?, I have no rooms booked and need to get something sorted quickly. I would like the 3 star for $100 max, do you think this is too aggressive ?

If you don't want to split your bid then try for the 3.5*. $100 might be enough, but $110 would improve your chances.

Your three rebid zones for 3.5* are the same as they are for 4*.

Just repeat the strategy thereuare gave you for 4*, but do it at the 3.5* level instead.

[mofus1]

Hello Again !!

I've tried the 3.5 star all the way to $120 a night to no avail, I'm now under the impression that it's because I need 2 rooms for 4 nights as judging by the amounts some other people are getting rooms for it should be enough.

My question is :

Am I better to split it into 2 requests for 1 room/4 nights ?

OR

Am I better to split it into 2 requests for 2 rooms/2 nights ?

Thanks in advance.

[ajwo]

I just won 2 nights/2 rooms in SF (USE Westin St. Francis)...I had difficulty in the past getting multiple nights (maybe because I am requesting multiple rooms,as well). When I decided to split it up and just take one night (with 2 rooms), I was accepted @$104/room. I was then offered another night, to be added to beginning or end of trip, at the same price. So, I tacked on one more night and ended up (maybe luckily?) getting the 2 nights/2 rooms that I originally wanted.

I guess you take the risk whether or not you get the add-a-night offer...but, I figured I might be willing to change hotels in the same area and bid for another night if I wasn't offered the add-on.

Sorry, to be so confusing...only my 2nd post here.

[thereuare]

My question is :

Am I better to split it into 2 requests for 1 room/4 nights ?

OR

Am I better to split it into 2 requests for 2 rooms/2 nights ?

Two rooms is usually not the issue... the problem is usually that one nite of your stay is more expensive than the other nites and that is preventing your win. As i mentioned above i think that you would be successful for part of your stay at bid amounts that you had already made (although that was a few days ago and i'm not sure if that would still be the case).

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly.

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

[Colfax]

My question is :

Am I better to split it into 2 requests for 1 room/4 nights ?

OR

Am I better to split it into 2 requests for 2 rooms/2 nights ?

Thanks in advance.

I don't think bidding for 2 rooms together is an issue, mofus. The hotels you're targeting have hundred of rooms each. Some have over 1,000 rooms. When they give Priceline inventory they're usually giving 10, 20, 30 rooms at a time or more.

I think the issue is that these are expensive dates and you might have to bid higher than $120. HOTWIRE has these:

4* Nob Hill $224

4* USE $254

4* USW $245

4* Embarcadero $279

PRICELINE will usually beat HOTWIRE but at $120 you're about 50% off Hotwire rates, which is underbidding.

If you can raise your limit I'd suggest trying to about $150 for a 4* and then for a 3.5*.

If you want to hold at $120 I suggest trying for a 3* in your preferred zones or for a 3* in Fisherman's Wharf.

Or you can try splitting your bid, bidding to $120 for a 4*/3.5* but for just your first three nights or your last three nights....not all four. Sometimes one night is more expensive than the others and eliminating that one night helps. I don't see that's the case for your travel dates so splitting might not help. It doesn't cost anything to try though.

[mofus1]

OK, I'm half way there !!

I split my bid and won the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero for $107 for the Sunday/Monday ( Check in 19th / Out 21st ). ( I'll let people know later when I've hopefully won my other 2 nights )

I also upped my bid to $150 for all 4 of my zones USE/USW/Embarcadero/SOMA but to no avail. Do you think this is still not enough or that there's maybe no rooms available ?

Either way I still need a hotel for Friday/Saturday 17th/18th and realise that I need to go down in rating - what prices should I be looking at for 3 or 3.5 stars in the same area for those nights ?

Thanks in advance.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your (partial) success!

Glad you got half of this stay taken are of. As this thread will now reflect this win, please start a NEW TOPIC for the remaining two nites.

Thanks for sharing your win with the board.

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

Enjoy your this leg of your stay.

[Colfax]

If you want to stay three or four nights at the Hyatt Regency you can try Add a Night. The additional nights, if available, will probably cost more than $107 but you'll have the opportunity to say yes or no if the price is higher than $107.