Priceline Hotel: Bidding Assistance 4* London- The City & London Bridge

[azisme]

I need some assistance on bidding for a four star in Londons "The City" zone. Any winning posts I was able to find are pretty old, they were all around $130. I have found the following prices:

FROM HOTEL'S WEBSITES:

Guoman Hotels, The Tower: 92.00 GBP, $131.53

Hilton London Tower Bridge: 149.00 GBP, $213.03

Crown Plaza: 94 GBP, $134.39

PRICELINES NON-BIDDING AREA:

Crown Plaze St. James: $136

HOTWIRE:

4* Southbank: $102

I can't figure out any free bidding oportunities. No 5 star hotels in the area; I do not want a 3 star. There are no other zones with a 3 star max rating. My date is firm.

I am pretty much set on this zone as we will have only one day to explore and this location is close to everything we want to see. It is also very convenient to the Waterloo train station which we will need to take a train to Southampton from the next morning.

Am I missing any rebidding options? How much should I start out at?

[azisme]

I have to leave for the rest of the day so I went ahead with a bid of $85 so I didn't waste a 1/2 day waiting for a rebid opportunity. It was declined with no counter offer.

[WillTravel]

Note that Hotwire has a 4* City hotel for $94. I didn't try to figure which one it is, but particularly given that Hotwire fees are often lower, it might be worth considering.

[Romelle]

You aren't missing anything as to free rebid opportunities for the London 4* level.

Looks like you've got quite a bit of time though, so you can work on up reasonably gradually.

The 4* Hotwire City hotel at $94 could serve as your max, but you need to be aware that sometimes Hotwire is a little more generous with it's ratings than Priceline.

Do add in the fees from PL and Hotwire to get an "apples to apples" comparison for your max bid. They can be quite different.

Romelle

[azisme]

I figured out that the Soho district would work ok for me so I got back onto PRICELINE to add the new area for a free rebid. Priceline did not remember my last logon so I ended up with a free rebid for "The City & London Bridge". I bid $95 and was declined. I then added Mayfair Soho and bid $105, again declined. No counter offers.

I then went to HOTWIRE to recheck the 4 star in Southbank. The only Southbank hotel now is a 3 star for $123. The 4 star in the Finacial District is only $89 dollars now. How do I not which hotel(s) this could be? My biggest fear is getting a queen rather than a King or multiple beds. I don't real require the amenities although room size is also a plus.

[Romelle]

If you post in the HOTWIRE area here, and list all the amenities of that $89 hotel, thereuare may be able to ID it for you. I think the London areas are more iffy because there are lots of similar hotels in each zone.

The prices can shift as the relationship between the dollar and the euro changes. And I'm sure the general economy is causing some of the lower wins being seen now.

Romelle

[azisme]

Found a 4 star in South Bank London for $99 per night, 5/30/09-5/31/09 with the following amenities:

Fitness Center

Restaurant

Business Center

High Speed Internet

Any help identifying would be greatly appreciated.

There is also a 3 star in South Bank for $123. At first I wasn't interested, but taking a second look, it includes a Complimentary Breakfast which is a plus and it may also make identification easier. The only other amenity listed is High Speed Internet.

Thanks

[azisme]

Never mind on the ID request. I think I found both of them. I didn't notice the tripadvisor information before. I looked that info up and found:

The 4* for $99 is the Park Plaza Riverbank, Available for $128 on several websites including the hotel website.

The 3* for $123 I think is the Mad Hatter Hotel. It is available for only $1 more elsewhere. The number of reviews posted is a little off, but it is the only one I found that included breakfast.

So back to the drawing board.

[WillTravel]

Could the 3* be one of the South Bank Express by Holiday Inn hotels?

[thereuare]

If you post in the HOTWIRE area here, and list all the amenities of that $89 hotel, thereuare may be able to ID it for you.

Actually, just continue this thread with the details of the HOTWIRE property and we'll try to have a look to see if we can make an educated guess.

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

[thereuare]

I've merged all your threads for this same date...

The Tripadvisor information supplied by HOTWIRE for the 3* hotel is not consistent with the Mad Hatter so i don't think that's the property you're being offered... i believe a better guess is the Express By Holiday Inn London Southwark which is consisent with this TA info as well as having previously been reported to the board with these two amenities.

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

Let us know what you decide and how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[WillTravel]

I noticed your earlier comment about requiring a king bed or multiple beds. In my experience, it's always been possible to get two twin beds if I needed them in London (although there could be an exception, so you have to consider the worst case scenario). However, a king bed is not necessarily likely in London, in my opinion. If you don't get two twins, I'd expect a queen and be pleasantly surprised with a king. (In theory, it would also be possible to just get a double.)