Priceline Hotel: Beat $206 for Dupont/Foggy 4* 11/17-21?

[CrazyOne]

So I'm trying for this impossible 11/17-11/21 week. This is for work. Stupid people make plans for a guy from out of town to go down to DC that week before thinking about what hotels might cost. Heh. We are a small company, have to shave a buck everywhere. The goal is to have this guy walking distance (or short Metro, like the Shoreham) to roughly Connecticut and L street. What I've got so far is One Washington Circle from Quikbook, not bad at a $206/night average.

If Quikbook's rate for this place is indicative of the situation, it's the Monday and Tuesday that are the problem. For those nights the Circle is $289. Then falls to $149 on Wed and just $99 on Thurs night. But. I'm only going to inconvenience the guy so much to save a buck, so no splitting the bid.

Last night I bid with just Dupont and rebids up to $167. Today I added Foggy and bid up to $185. Nada. All for 4* that is.

If it were me going, I might be a little more flexible in my areas. I think Foggy and Dupont are about it. I'd love to bid 3.5* but in Dupont (thank you whoever found this info) the dreaded Hilton Washington falls there. I dread it only for the location, which is too far from the Dupont Metro (and up quite a hill, ugh!) So that's why I kept it to 4*. The 2-stop ride to the Shoreham is acceptable. 3.5* on Foggy has its own problems. I'm worried that one or more of the far 3* places (Latham, etc.) might have been bumped to 3.5. Soooo....

Once again I find myself wishing I could bid 2.5* without upgrading (doesn't everyone?) I mean, even if it cost the same money as some others I'd do it. But it's just too much risk as it stands. Too many nasty 3* out there. Some of the WH zone stuff is okay, most of the 4* are good but I'd hate to get the JW or the Willard (heh, for once) because they'd be rather inconvenient. Convention is too far. Other MD and VA areas are not really desirable.

Found nothing good on HOTWIRE so far, though I keep checking. Nothing else good has turned up. I can only gather Quikbook bought up the inventory because on the One Washington Circle site they show sold out for Mon and Tues. But I booked a res (cancel until 24 hours before). So at least we'll have that.

Any further thoughts on this most welcomed. Will update if I get a bid (or more rejections), am using the PRICELINE, HOTWIRE, and Quickbook links.

[AaronJB]

Let me see what I can find. Be back shortly.

[AaronJB]

11/17-19 are REALLY bad, and I tend to wonder how much luck there will be with Priceline bidding for all 4 days, given how bad the first two are.

I can find a hotel for $89 for 11/19-21 (the Melrose, via the hotel website and promo code ZOO), but the best I can find is One Washington Circle for $289 for the first two. That averages out to $189 per night, which is not too much difference from your $206, although spread over 4 days, it is a savings of a little over $60.

However, while I know you did mention not splitting the stay, the Melrose Hotel is 2 blocks from One Washington Circle.

[thereuare]

Would the Hilton (or another nearby hotel) be ok at the right price? Any savings could be used to 'allow' cab fare instead of taking the metro (assuming this still works out to a savings)

I know this isn't ideal, but just trying to think out loud given the difficulty of the first two nites.

Another idea (and you know the employee best if s/he would be receptive)... if you limit reimbursable expenses (meals) would they be willing to change hotels during the stay if you increased that limit? (say an extra $25 per day if they split the bid... assuming you could save $100+ by doing so) Again, not ideal, but just thinkinng out loud, and some eployees might enjoy the extra expense account to enjoy themselves a little more while away from home (while others would never entertain the idea of changing hotels while away on business)

[CrazyOne]

Eh, it's a thought, the cabbing vs Metro. We were hoping for walking really, not for cost so much as for convenience. Much less hassle. And yes, thanks Aaron for that thought on the Melrose, I know it's pretty much just across the circle there. Been a while, but I used to stay down at 2500 Pennsylvania a fair bit (when it was DoubleTree Guest Suites). The extra 60 bucks from the Wednesday night is something I suppose. It's interesting to know that the $289 on Mon and Tues is about it. Everything else I looked at was also higher. But in the end we'd probably pay the $60 more not to have to switch.

I don't really want to make it too hard on the guy. They're kind of pushing him into this trip that I sense he doesn't want to take. But that's almost the point, needs to be pushed a bit or maybe other stuff will need to happen instead....

I do wonder if it's even feasible that I'll get a Priceline hit at all, as you mentioned. It's pretty darn full (of neuroscientists?? Society for Neuroscience says 23,000 attendance on the convention web site) that Mon and Tues.

I just get cynical about the decisions others make sometimes without thinking about costs. Bothers me that they don't care more. Not that I would inconvenience anyone too much over a few bucks, but when you know you're bringing someone into DC for a week you do it with longer notice and pay attention to things like conventions in town/what the hotel might cost. Ah, well. Could be a lot worse than the $200/night I suppose, given that it's $200/night in a good spot just 6 blocks away or thereabouts. And at some point I am wasting more money than I would save, probably, by spending too much time on it. ;-)

I'll look at it again later (about to head out of office) and see if I want to try for 3 or 3.5*. Hey, do the star ratings on the "normal booking" Priceline site equal the opaque star ratings? Because that could help decipher a few things. I went digging for a thread on this but had to let it go in favor of other work before I found one, if there is one. Also, is there any indication that hotels with "Priceline Special Rates" on that part of the site are more likely to hit for bids? I'm guessing someone might have looked at that before, but maybe not....

[thereuare]

The star ratings should be the same, but there have been a handful of times i've seen them different, and it was a 'delay' on PRICELINE's part (the 'retail' had been updated but the 'opaque' had not (or vice-versa)... a few days later the hotel was rated the same thru each leg of their service)

[CrazyOne]

Gave up on this. I bid up to $210 for 4* with Foggy and Dupont and rebids, and up to $195 for 3.5* with Downtown after doing a bit of research on the retail site. Nothing. In fact, it gave me, on the 3.5* and 4* bids today, what I would call "retail counter offers". It says "Sorry we can't accept your bid, but take a look at these hotels with Priceline special rates." Something like that. I suppose there's always one more last minute try tomorrow, but I've spent enough time on it. Given the parameters, the Quikbook res is good. Good thing I put that in, too, because now it's gone, or at least it was gone this morning.

I do much appreciate your help though.

[thereuare]

Thanks for 'closing' this thread. :)