Priceline Hotel: 5* Bangkok (Siam Square) Amari Watergate

[kalo93406]

Bid $76 April 16th and $86 April 18 (just now).. Got a $22 rebid offer. Not sure if I will rebid or use Hotels.com for a hotel. Seem to be some decent prices there. Also maybe not a good idea to have a non-refundable reservation given the situation there and flying in on Airasia from hongkong... Might not get there!! haha :) Roger

(if I rebid will try to use a link from this website)

Sure would be nice if you had some countries or major cities segmented out... :)

[thereuare]

Thanks for using our PRICELINE link for your next round of bidding... please note that we also have a link to Hotels.com (as well as most other major hotel chains and online agencies) in our support page.

Please also follow-up your previous Priceline Michigan thread with whatever you ended up doing for that stay.

We have a few things in the works which will help divide some of the larger categories, but in the meantime, you can create your own 'virtual forum' of just the areas you want by entering the city in the QUICK SEARCH box at the top of the board in the blue banner. For example, enter "Bangkok" (without the quotes) and you'll have created your own forum with just the wins/threads that pertain to Bangkok. :)

[hajar]

Hey guys,

How come everyone bids for 5 and 4 star hotels in Bangkok and in Asia as a whole? Are 3 star hotels not nice there? I usually prefer 3 star hotels in Canada because they're nice and they don't charge you for every little thing like internet or toothbrush/razor if you forgot yours.

Just wondering...

Hajar

[Romelle]

Hajar - I can't speak for Asia hotels vs Canada hotels, but I know European 4*s are sort of like US 3*s so people from the US tend to bid more on the 4*s in Europe. 3* European hotels may well be very nice, but when visiting elsewhere, people want to be a little surer.

For Asian hotels, the 5* ones are very luxurious, but are often much less expensive than similar properties in the US so people take them just to get a chance to enjoy such poshness and luxury.

And kalo93406 - that $22 rebid offer is a very common number. Unless you are flat out of bids and time, ignore it and keep inching upward $1 or so at a time. You might even see PL keep giving you the $22 rebid offer on your higher bid. But you most likely will get a hit by the time you are 1/2 way up (not a sure thing, but usually).

Romelle

[kalo93406]

I just kind blew it on PRICELINE..

I decided I would try for the 4* Holiday Inn as all the info I've read says it is good. Well I guess I bid to high to stay and didn't know about the "upgrade" potential. Got stuck with the Amari Watergate at $61 first bid. Doesn't really matter as I just needed a room for a couple nights and it will work out fine, taxis are cheap, but definitely something I wasn't expecting.

This is one to watch out for..

Hotels.com has this at $70 for the same nights. Totals out to $12 higher than the priceline total.

I did use your PRICELINE link though.. finally.. :)

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$61.00

Subtotal: US$122.00

Taxes & Service Fees: US$29.64

Total Charges: US$151.64

[kalo93406]

Update....

This is too funny!!

This hotel can be had directly on the Amari Watergate website for $151.34 total inclusive of taxes..

I overpaid by $.34!!!!!!

What a fool I feel like.. haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Don't really care though.. come to think of it I want to spend some time at pantip plaza which is right across the street.. looking at the positive side of thinks.. hehe R:)

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear about your unexpected upgrade. As i'm sure you're now aware, the star rating you select is the minimum you're willing to accept (which is why when using re-bid zones, you have to make sure that the zone you're adding not only doesn't have the star rating your bidding, but also doesn't have anything higher as well)

Glad to hear you can make this work for your needs and the location is good for you.

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

Enjoy your stay.

[kalo93406]

Just a note about this thread.. the original bid was for 5* Sukhumvit. Then I changed to 4* Siam square.. ended up with the 5* Amari - Siam Square (not so much a good thing, but works ok for me...) The change in title is confusing to someone reading the 1st part.. R:)

[PLAF2]

You can probably do a lot better in Bangkok using one of the Asian Online Hotel Reservation sites such as Asiarooms.com or Agoda.com. I have gotten very good deals from these places. A bonus is you know the hotel and if you cancel, you only forfeit a small amount. The Amari in May can be had on Agoda for only $68, about the same as PRICELINE, they charge less "taxes and fees". Plus you can cancel and not be charged the whole amount.

[TF720]

My experience in Asia is the hotels are consistently 1-2 star levels lower than the US.

In fact, I also hit the Amari Watergate back in January 2009 for $61 but I was bidding for a 4-Star. Like the person below I wasn't expecting this hotel.

It was acceptable though, but maybe a 3.5 or 4-Star.

Stay away from the breakfast buffet - it turned out to be about $50 for two! Holy crap!

Overall, Priceline just doesn't work in the places I've visited in Asia: Bangkok, Phuket and Shanghai - the prices were not much less than what you can get on-line, as others have mentioned here.