Priceline Hotel: 3* Seattle (Lake Union) Residence Inn

[cookofthehouse]

I've been bidding 3* hotels using Space Needle, Everett & N. Everett as my rebid zones. (Space Needle is okay for location for us as well.) I've been bidding up to $70/night with no luck. But with plenty of time, I wasn't feeling rushed.

Then I saw Sun Devils' recent win of $75 for a Friday night the following weekend in Pike Place. Well, I can spend an extra $5 to move up a category. So I tried that today. I bid up to $80 with no luck.

Does anyone know if there's something happening that weekend, or are the stars just not aligned? No change in dates is possible, I'm driving over to pick up a friend who's flying in. I know there can be a lot of fluctuation in weeks or even days. I just thought someone might know.

No worries, I'll get one eventually, and I'll update this accordingly. And as always, using the PRICELINE link on this site. :)

[Romelle]

I don't know if this would work for you, but usually hotels at the airport are somewhat less expensive than those in downtown Seattle, and there is pretty decent public transportation from the airport. Also, parking is free at a lot of the airport hotels.

Since your friend is flying in anyway, maybe the airport could serve as a base for you during the visit, rather than a downtown hotel?

You can look at various postings here, and on Hotwire, to get an idea of possible rates. Also, you can look at the reviews to see if it seems a possibility.

Romelle

You can see a list of possible airport hotels at www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showtopic=114&

[tilepusher]

Most of the hotels in downtown Seattle are fully booked, or close to it, on the weekend you're bidding for. I'm not sure why; a quick Google search didn't turn up anything particularly relevant.

Many of the airport hotels have free parking, but the two that come up most often (the Doubletree and the Hilton) don't. Although staying near the airport is doable, I think there are better options. What are you planning to do while you're in Seattle?

[cookofthehouse]

Thank you for the replies and ideas. Since posting I've gone to Hotwire to see what was out there, and I too was astonished to find almost all the hotels booked. I searched a Seattle calendar of events and couldn't find an obvious cause either. It's the weekend after Mother's Day and the weekend before Memorial Day. So strange.

My friend is flying in to stay with me in Spokane. But he's never been to Seattle so we wanted to spend the weekend before driving back. Mariners on Saturday, Pike Place on Sunday, etc. So a stay somewhere near downtown would be ideal for walking about and sight-seeing. But we're young and mobile, so I suppose a stay out of the immediate vicinity needs to be considered.

But I also see Expedia is giving $50 off two-night stays, so if nothing else I'll get a discount, no matter how small. :)

[Colfax]

How about trying to $80 for a 3* in Lake Union zone? The Lake Union Residence Inn is $179 for your dates. Lake Union zone is adjacent to Downtown and connected to Downtown via trolley. The Residence Inn is overall a better liked hotel with more amenities, including free breakfast, than some of the 3* that might come up in the Space Needle zone.

[cookofthehouse]

GMTA! :)

I reviewed all the available hotels on Hotwire, and checked places like TripAdvisor and Expedia for some feedback. Lake Union seemed a viable option, and I seem to remember eating at a restaurant in that area on a previous stay.

So, winning bid information, for admin to change my thread title:

3* Seattle (Lake Union) Residence Inn

$60 ... 05/16-05/18

Unfortunately $60 was my first bid, which kind of irks me. Never like to see that. But the last bid posted here for Lake Union was $67 in January, so I figured with downtown filled up it wasn't a bad start. Still, a significant savings, so I'll pull in my bottom lip. :)

Thanks everyone!

[AaronJB]

Congratulations on your success! :)

Looks like a terrific deal - plus, free breakfast. Thank you for providing the format for the edited thread title - it's definitely helpful and appreciated.

Also, thank you for sharing your win with the board and for using the site's PRICELINE link.

Enjoy your stay.