Priceline Hotel: Priceline Splits Downtown Seattle!

[Colfax]

I don't know when this happened, but Priceline has divided the Downtown Seattle zone into two zones: Downtown Seattle-Pike Place and Seattle Center-Space Needle. Pike Place goes to 4* and Space Needle to 3*. Hotwire has had two downtown Seattle zones for years.

Now you can bid for 3* or 2.5* in Pike Place zone without fear of winning the Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express near Space Needle. Big improvement!

And if you're attending an event in Seattle Center you can bid that zone now and be assured you'll get a hotel within walking distance.

[WillTravel]

Springhill Suites is in the Space Needle zone. I could tell by the map, but I also checked an old acceptance. That's sort of walking distance to Seattle Center, but over a mile over steep hills.

[tilepusher]

I believe these are all the hotels from the hotel list that are in the new Seattle Center - Space Needle zone.

Seattle Center - Space Needle

3* Holiday Inn

3* Homewood Suites Seattle Downtown

2.5* Best Western Executive Inn

2.5* Holiday Inn Express

2.5* Springhill Suites

2* Best Western Loyal Inn

2* Inn at Queen Anne

2* Sixth Avenue Inn

1* Days Inn Seattle Downtown

1* Travelodge by the Space Needle

Every hotel in the old Downtown Seattle zone above 3* is in the Seattle Downtown - Pike Place zone, and every reported hotel below 3* is in the Seattle Center zone (the only hotel I have found in the Seattle Downtown zone that is rated below 3* by Priceline is the 2* Best Western Pioneer Square Hotel). So, except for bids at the 3* level, the ability to bid for only one of these areas seems to be more of an advantage in theory than in practice. But development in the Seattle Center zone could eventually change that.

The split does have the practical advantage of allowing more downtown bids for those who are willing to stay in either zone, an advantage that many will want to use now that the recent major change in the rating system has eliminated three rebid zones for 3* bids.

(thereuare: a couple of other updates for the Seattle hotel list. The Marriott Seattle Waterfront is now rated 3.5*, and the Vance Hotel is now the 3* Hotel Max)

[Colfax]

WillTravel,

You're right, the Springhill Suites are in Priceline's Space Needle zone and most people would find that a long walk to Seattle Center. On Hotwire the Springhill Suites are in the Pike Place zone.

Although Priceline and Hotwire both use "Pike Place" and "Space Needle" in their Downtown zone titles now they draw their zone boundaries a little differently. The Sixth Avenue Inn, like the Springhill, is in Pike Place on Hotwire, but in Space Needle on Priceline.

tilepusher,

Thanks for sorting what goes where.

So, except for bids at the 3* level, the ability to bid for only one of these areas seems to be more of an advantage in theory than in practice. But development in the Seattle Center zone could eventually change that.

Yes, the primary beneficiary of this zone split will be bidders who want a 3* hotel in Pike Place area. They don't have to worry about winning the Holiday Inn.

I notice Priceline has extended the Downtown-Pike Place zone east so that it takes in the Silver Cloud Inn on Broadway. That hotel didn't used to be in any Priceline zone.

Also Priceline still offers 2.5* bidding in the DT-Pike Place, even though all the known 2.5* hotels are now in Seattle Center-Space Needle. Priceline doesn't offer 2.5* bidding where they don't have a 2.5* hotel, so there's still an unidentified 2.5* hotel Downtown.

[tilepusher]

I notice Priceline has extended the Downtown-Pike Place zone east so that it takes in the Silver Cloud Inn on Broadway. That hotel didn't used to be in any Priceline zone.

Priceline probably did extend the boundary to allow for the possibility of selling the Silver Cloud Inn on Broadway through NYOP. But that doesn't mean that anything is currently available in that new area. I can't find a listing on Priceline for the Silver Cloud, and hence I have no evidence that the hotel is rated by Priceline (a prerequisite for selling it through NYOP). And if it does have a rating, I'm not all that sure it would be 2.5*. Two other Silver Cloud hotels that appear to have been recently given a rating by Priceline, the Silver Cloud Inn Mukilteo and the Silver Cloud Inn Eastgate, are both rated 3*.

The closest hotel to the Silver Cloud for which I can find a rating is the 4* Sorrento Hotel; I don't know if this was within the boundaries of the old Downtown Seattle zone.

Also Priceline still offers 2.5* bidding in the DT-Pike Place, even though all the known 2.5* hotels are now in Seattle Center-Space Needle. Priceline doesn't offer 2.5* bidding where they don't have a 2.5* hotel, so there's still an unidentified 2.5* hotel Downtown.

I don't think that's true. For example, you can select the 3.5*, 3*, and 2.5* levels in Portland's South Waterfront District. But, as far as I can determine, there's only one hotel in the entire zone!

[Colfax]

Priceline probably did extend the boundary to allow for the possibility of selling the Silver Cloud Inn on Broadway through NYOP. But that doesn't mean that anything is currently available in that new area.

Anything is possible but it doesn't seem likely to me that Priceline would redraw a zone boundary for the sake of a non-participating hotel, just to be ready in case that hotel decides to participate one day. And we know that the Silver Cloud Broadway participates in Hotwire, so it seems likely they'd participate in Priceline as well. (Granted, some hotels participate in one service but not the other.)

It's also possible the Silver Cloud Broadway has been participating in Priceline for some time now but that the zone was drawn wrong. And Priceline only figured that out now when they went to redraw the zones for the new split. Similar to the situation in Sacramento where the Sheraton Four Points was participating and being reported won on Priceline for months before Priceline figured out the hotel was a mile outside the boundaries of its alleged zone.

I can't find a listing on Priceline for the Silver Cloud, and hence I have no evidence that the hotel is rated by Priceline (a prerequisite for selling it through NYOP). And if it does have a rating, I'm not all that sure it would be 2.5*. Two other Silver Cloud hotels that appear to have been recently given a rating by Priceline, the Silver Cloud Inn Mukilteo and the Silver Cloud Inn Eastgate, are both rated 3*.

Checking Priceline's Seattle retail listings for 10/3 I find:

Silver Cloud Mukilteo and Eastgate rated 3*

Silver Cloud Lake Union rated 2.5*

Silver Cloud University listed with the ratings field left blank.

Silver Cloud Broadway isn't listed at all, which could mean they're sold out. (I didn't check.)

Anyhow Priceline rates at least one Silver Cloud 2.5*, so Broadway could be 2.5* too. My main point was to alert the OP that winning the Silver Cloud Broadway was a possibility, and that's true whether Priceline rates it 2.5* or 3*.

[thereuare]

Thanks for the help everyone... i've edited the Priceline Hotel List, please let me know if anyone notices anything that doesn't look right.

[Colfax]

by Colfax

Priceline doesn't offer 2.5* bidding where they don't have a 2.5* hotel, so there's still an unidentified 2.5* hotel Downtown.

by tilepusher

I don't think that's true. For example, you can select the 3.5*, 3*, and 2.5* levels in Portland's South Waterfront District. But, as far as I can determine, there's only one hotel in the entire zone!

You've given the first example I've seen of Priceline offering 2.5* bidding where there are no 2.5* hotels. And what you've described is a very recent change. Until last week, when Priceline introduced 3.5* bidding, the South Waterfront zone only offered 3* and 2* bidding.

I agree with you that there's only one hotel in South Waterfront, the Avalon. It was 3* before and now it's 3.5*. When Priceline only has one hotel in a zone they still offer bidding at two quality levels. If they only have a 4* they'll offer 4* and 3*. If they only have a 3* they'll offer 3* and 2* (not 3* and 2.5*). If they only have a 2* they'll offer 2* and 1*. If they only have a 1* they WILL offer 1* bidding by itself though.

At least that's how it's been for years.

I don't know if Priceline has changed their rules so that now they offer 2.5* bidding where there are no 2.5* hotels. It would take more than one example to convince me that's the case. For now, until I see more evidence to the contrary, my opinion is that the South Waterfront example is a mistake/glitch that happened during all the ratings changes that Priceline has been doing. Unfortunately Priceline doesn't publish their "rules" and they don't alert the public to changes. We just have to figure things out based on what we see. What you've reporting in South Waterfront is something new to me and I'm glad you brought it up. I'll be looking for other examples where Priceline offers 2.5* when there physically aren't any 2.5* hotels in the zone.

I've already figured out that Priceline sometimes offers 3.5* bidding in zones where there physically aren't any 3.5* hotels. Sacramento's Rancho Cordova zone is one example.

[Colfax]

Thanks for the help everyone... i've edited the Priceline Hotel List, please let me know if anyone notices anything that doesn't look right.

Scroll up to post #3 in this thread where tilepusher notes that the Marriott in Pike Place zone has been upgraded to 3.5*, and that the Vance is now Hotel Max.

Those are the only "booboos" I see.

Thanks as always for keeping the lists updated, thereuare.

[thereuare]

Got 'em... thanks!

[tilepusher]

I don't know if Priceline has changed their rules so that now they offer 2.5* bidding where there are no 2.5* hotels. It would take more than one example to convince me that's the case. For now, until I see more evidence to the contrary, my opinion is that the South Waterfront example is a mistake/glitch that happened during all the ratings changes that Priceline has been doing.

Here's another example I've found. The Surrey - Pitt Meadows zone in the Vancouver, BC area previously offered 3*, 2*, and 1* bidding, and the only 3* hotel in the area was the Sheraton Guildford. After the introduction of the 3.5* rating, the Sheraton was upgraded to 3.5*, but not only did the 3* option remain, but Priceline added the 2.5* level as well! I'm fairly sure that there are no 3* or 2.5* hotels in this zone.

I think these cases are not an aberration, but the beginning of a trend. I think we'll see more cases where Priceline will allow you to select star levels in a given zone for which there are no hotels at that level. Just looking at the Seattle area, this appears to have occurred in the University of Washington - Northgate zone; now that the Hotel Deca has a 3.5* rating, I believe there are no longer any 3* hotels in this zone. Of course, the casual bidder is not going to know this, and I think that's the purpose of including these extra star levels: to make it more difficult to ascertain what is available, and thus increase the opacity of the service.

Anything is possible but it doesn't seem likely to me that Priceline would redraw a zone boundary for the sake of a non-participating hotel, just to be ready in case that hotel decides to participate one day.

I think they might. After all, we've seen cases where entire zones were created in anticipation of hotels in the area eventually participating. These new zones often had nothing available for weeks, or even months, after their creation. In this case, Priceline had to redraw the zone boundary anyway because of the split, so perhaps they decided to make sure that the new boundary included all the hotels in the Capitol Hill area, just in case any of them decide to participate later (I don't know if they had to redraw the boundary to include the Sorrento or the Inn at Virginia Mason, which have listings on Priceline).

As for the Silver Cloud Broadway, I've never found it on any search of the retail service (and I've tried many dates), nor have I been able to find it through the site map. For example, it's not on this listing of hotels near Seattle University. Anyone bidding for a hotel in the Seattle Downtown zone should be aware of the possibility of getting a hotel in Capitol Hill, but I would be very surprised if the Silver Cloud came up on NYOP. I don't remember anyone reporting a hotel that I could not find through a search of Priceline.

[Colfax]

Here's another example I've found. The Surrey - Pitt Meadows zone in the Vancouver, BC area previously offered 3*, 2*, and 1* bidding, and the only 3* hotel in the area was the Sheraton Guildford. After the introduction of the 3.5* rating, the Sheraton was upgraded to 3.5*, but not only did the 3* option remain, but Priceline added the 2.5* level as well! I'm fairly sure that there are no 3* or 2.5* hotels in this zone.

I don't know Vancouver but if there are no 2.5* in Surrey-Pitt Meadows that makes two firm examples of Priceline offering 2.5* bidding where there are no 2.5* hotels. If Priceline is doing that now it's a change of policy.

I think these cases are not an aberration, but the beginning of a trend.

Sounds like.

I think we'll see more cases where Priceline will allow you to select star levels in a given zone for which there are no hotels at that level. Just looking at the Seattle area, this appears to have occurred in the University of Washington - Northgate zone; now that the Hotel Deca has a 3.5* rating, I believe there are no longer any 3* hotels in this zone.

I agree. No known 3* in UW-Northgate.

Of course, the casual bidder is not going to know this, and I think that's the purpose of including these extra star levels: to make it more difficult to ascertain what is available, and thus increase the opacity of the service.

I agree again. It's good for Priceline and and makes identifying hotels a little more difficult for us.

[Colfax]

As for the Silver Cloud Broadway, I've never found it on any search of the retail service (and I've tried many dates), nor have I been able to find it through the site map. For example, it's not on this listing of hotels near Seattle University. Anyone bidding for a hotel in the Seattle Downtown zone should be aware of the possibility of getting a hotel in Capitol Hill, but I would be very surprised if the Silver Cloud came up on NYOP. I don't remember anyone reporting a hotel that I could not find through a search of Priceline.

Silver Cloud is a small chain with ten hotels. It seems odd to me that Silver Cloud would give 7 or 8 hotels to Priceline's retail channel, but not all. (I can't find the Portland Silver Cloud in Priceline's retail listings either, for any random dates.) All 10 Silver Clouds show up on Expedia. Mysteries of the universe.

[WillTravel]

I don't know Vancouver but if there are no 2.5* in Surrey-Pitt Meadows that makes two firm examples of Priceline offering 2.5* bidding where there are no 2.5* hotels. If Priceline is doing that now it's a change of policy.

There is a Holiday Inn Express in Surrey. Isn't that typically a 2.5* hotel?

[tilepusher]

Most Holiday Inn Express hotels that I've come across are rated 2*. That includes the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Surrey, as you can see from its Priceline listing. The HI Surrey was rated before the introduction of the 3.5* level, and as I mentioned, I cannot find evidence that any of the hotels in the Surrey - Pitt Meadows zone besides the Sheraton were re-rated.

[WillTravel]

I should have known you would have thought of that :).

I think the evidence is clear, then, that Priceline is using phantom zone quality selections.