Priceline Hotel: 4* San Francisco (USW-Nob Hill) Parc 55

[jdljr]

I have been trying for weeks to secure a room on Priceline for a 4* property in San Francisco for 4 nights, checking in March 7th. My desired zone is the Embarcadero Area, but I'd also accept USE and USW. I've seen people post winning bids of $75 to $82 in the last few weeks, but I can't get my price accepted. Today I tried again for a 4*, and my sequence went like this:

Embarcadero/$75

Add Fisherman's Wharf/$79 (free re-bid)

Add USE/$79

Add USW/$79

Add Civic Center/$82 (free re-bid)

Add Marina/$85 (free re-bid)

Add South San Francisco/$89 (free re-bid)

All rejected.

I do think there is some sort of convention going on the first 2 or 3 days of my stay, so perhaps Priceline has no availability. Also, I don't really think I'm willing to bid the days separately, as I don't really want to have to change hotels during my stay should I be awarded different properties. But I'm wondering if the closer it gets to March 7th, maybe Priceline inventory might be freed up?

Rates are kind of high at most of the more desirable hotels during the first couple days of my stay. I do have a cancellable back-up at the Hotel Rex for $118 per night - I'm glad I have that at this point!

What might be your suggestion - keep trying and maybe the closer it gets, the better the chance?

Thanks much!

[Colfax]

Welcome to BetterBidding, jdljr.

Nobody can say whether rates will go up or down between now and March but if your dates are firm and you can find a good deal now I would go for it, because five night stays are more difficult and sometimes more expensive than shorter stays, which are most of the $75-82 you see. That's not to discourage you from trying.

HOTWIRE has a 4* in USW for $109, so you're probably within a couple dollars of a win at $89. Maybe just one dollar. Priceline usually beats Hotwire on price.

The Rex Hotel you've got booked as a backup is a Priceline 3*. Are you interested in trying for a Priceline 3.5* or 3* for a lower rate than a 4*?

Also are you excluding the SOMA/Moscone zone for a reason? There are several 4* hotels there.

Please start your bids with this PRICELINE link.

[jdljr]

Thank you!

I will definitely try to remember to post my bids through the PRICELINE link.

I made a mistake in my title and couldn't fix it - we're really checking out on the 11th, so it's 4 nights. But just the same, it's a longer stay than just a night or two, so your assessment that longer stays are sometimes more costly probably still applies.

I do check Hotwire, but rarely use them because, as you said, it has also been my experience that PRICELINE beats HOTWIRE. But it's good to know that my $89 bid was probably not far from a win.

Yea, I knew the Rex was a 3*, but I'm not sure that I want to bid on anything less than 4* because in looking at the reviews on Tripadvisor for the 3* properties, some are listed way down on the popularity list - I don't want to risk getting one of those properties and being stuck with it. I was happy to find the Rex for the price I got, seeing the reviews on Tripadvisor. If I could bid and get the Rex, I'd be happy, but I know nothing is guaranteed.

Although there are 4* in the SOMA zone, I have heard that the SOMA is a more questionable area as far as quality, safety, people on the street, etc. This may or may not be true, as I suppose any area in the city could be questionable.

Thank you for your information, I'll continue to look around and try my PRICELINE bids - through the link on this site, of course!

[thereuare]

I do check Hotwire, but rarely use them because, as you said, it has also been my experience that PRICELINE beats HOTWIRE.

I'm not sure that I want to bid on anything less than 4* because in looking at the reviews on Tripadvisor for the 3* properties, some are listed way down on the popularity list - I don't want to risk getting one of those properties and being stuck with it. I was happy to find the Rex for the price I got, seeing the reviews on Tripadvisor. If I could bid and get the Rex, I'd be happy, but I know nothing is guaranteed.

This is another example of when HOTWIRE can offer a better opportunity than PRICELINE...

If you really don't want many of the 3* properties in a given zone, but you can reasonably identify one which is acceptable on HOTWIRE (or at least identify it's not one you're trying to avoid, say if the hotel you don't want doesn't have a pool and the HOTWIRE offering is showing a pool icon), you can purchase the HOTWIRE property 'knowing' you're avoiding the property you're trying to avoid (or in the best case scenario having an educated guess as to the property you will likely receive)

Thanks for using our PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links for your purchase.

Keep us updated and let us know if we can be of any additional help along the way.

[mucsea2003]

I have recently been to SFO and I don't think the 4* hotels in the SOMA zone that have been reported are in any way in a questionable area. Most of them are around the Moscone center. I found that all of San Francisco's downtown area had much improved since I was there last time (which admittedly was 15 years ago). If I were you I would include that zone. And again HOTWIRE might give you a pretty good idea what you might expect to win via PRICELINE.

[Colfax]

Although there are 4* in the SOMA zone, I have heard that the SOMA is a more questionable area as far as quality, safety, people on the street, etc. This may or may not be true, as I suppose any area in the city could be questionable.

Others have commented about avoiding the SOMA/Moscone zone for safety reasons and like mucsea2003 I think the zone's bad rep is undeserved. There are some shady stretches along Market Street and South of Market, which are within the boundaries of Priceline's SOMA/Moscone zone. But those bad blocks are NOT where SOMA/Moscone's 4* hotels are located. The rough areas might only a few blocks away from the hotels, but in SF a few blocks can make a world a difference. Personally I think you'll encounter more homelessness and panhandling near the hotels at the southern end of the USW zone (Hilton, Serrano, Parc55) than near any 4* hotel in SOMA/Moscone.

I'm not trying to convince you to stay where you don't want. I just wanted to add my perspective on SOMA/Moscone.

[Colfax]

I made a mistake in my title and couldn't fix it - we're really checking out on the 11th, so it's 4 nights.

For five nights, 3/7-3/12, Hotwire has a 4* in USW for $105.

Eliminate the last night, 3/12, and that same hotel's rate jumps to $142.

A jump like that is a signal that one or two days within your stay are much more expensive than the rest, as the Hotwire quote is an average of four separate daily rates.

Checking Hotwire rates one day at a time, I find this, all for the same 4* USW hotel:

Sat 3/7 $262

Sun 3/8 $99

Mon 3/9 $89

Tuse 3/10 $89

Hotwire's $142 quote for four nights is an approximate average of three cheap nights and one expensive night then.

You've said you don't want to split your bid, which I can understand. If you were willing to split you'd probably be able to win a Priceline 4* for your last three nights for less than the $89 you've already bid.

Maybe Saturday night prices will come down between now and March. You've got a good backup with the Rex at $118. Myself I'd probably prefer the Rex over some of the very large 4* hotels in SF, which can feel a little impersonal because of their size.

Good luck and please let us know where you ultimately end up.

[jdljr]

Colfax, thanks so much for your breakdown of this, I really appreciate the time you spent to research and lay this all out for me. That's kind of what I suspected also, and am actually seeing when I do a conventional rate check on other websites for those nights. The first and/or second night I'm seeking is much higher than the remaining - like I said, I think there's a convention or something. At any rate, I'm going to keep trying for the 4* but will be very happy with what I've got reserved if it doesn't work out. As you implied and I've seen, there are MANY 4* properties that have less favorable reviews than the 3* Rex.

I will let you know how it works out in the next month.

Thanks again!

[jdljr]

Been bidding the last few days to no avail. Finally decided to take the 7th off my request and bid with a check-in date of the 8th for 3 nights (thought I'd do the 7th separately, even if it means moving hotels, which we're fine with since I couldn't get my bids accepted for check-in beginning the 7th).

Bid $75 for the Embarcadero zone - rejected

added USE and $79 - rejected

added USW and $82 - ACCEPTED

Hotel is Parc55.

Will book the 7th separately somewhere else since the rate at the Parc55 on the 7th is $329 (and that is a 40% discounted rate for that night!).

Thanks for all your help, everyone!

Oh...and I used the PRICELINE link!

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your succeess!

Glad to see that you were flexible in your plans and willing to change hotels for the first nite as obviously that was the difference between success and failure.

Hope you're happy with the results and this property works well for your needs.

If you need help with the first nite of your trip feel free to start a NEW TOPIC.

Thank you for sharing your results with the board and using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.

[Colfax]

Three down; one to go.

If you'd like you can try Add a Night for the 7th. Either you'll get a counteroffer to purchase the Parc55 at a higher rate than $82, or a message that Parc55 has no Priceline rooms that night. It would be interesting to know if Parc55 has Priceline availability on a night when their rate is $329. You're not obliged to accept Priceline's counteroffer.

[jdljr]

Yes, I saw their offer to extend the stay by a day for the same price. I did click the button to do so, and indicated a one day earlier check-in date, but it came back and said they didn't have a room for that night...which I kind of figured they wouldn't since I was having such a hard time with my original bids with the check-in date of the 7th.

Thanks for all the help guys. I'm a pretty well-versed Priceline user thanks to sites like this. I never used BB until I was banned from TOBB. I didn't know about it really. So glad there's an alternative for me to consult and post my bids to.

[Colfax]

To complete the tale here's the nice deal jdljr found for 3/7:

Hotel Rex for $95

[jdljr]

Yea, I couldn't believe I found that rate for the Rex. I even emailed Hotelres.com to make sure it was legit since all other websites had the Rex for $199 that night. The woman said it was an exclusive rate they had with the Rex (I guess since Hotelres is a local Bay Area company). I called the Rex and confirmed they had my reservation, and asked her to confirm the rate. "$95", the reservationist said. I don't even think Hotwire can beat that rate that night, if the hotel I think I'm seeing on Hotwire is the Rex. And I thought the original $119 rate I had a few weeks ago, which was a 40% off rate, was good!

I did check further dates and they have the same rate all days in March and all days in April. Not sure beyond that.

I hadn't posted this information on this link for the 7th because it wasn't a Hotwire or Priceline win, so wasn't sure it would be appropriate. You must have found this info out from my other posting "More San Francisco Deals" on the Hotels link further down the homepage!

Thanks for completing this thread!