Priceline Hotel: 4* San Diego (Downtown-Harbor Island) Hilton Gaslamp

[travelAlot]

Not wild about this success as I had the Holiday Inn on the Harbor (with balconies and across from harbor, cruise ships) a couple blocks below downtown locked in at $70/night and it's a bit more accessible from airport and to other direct transportation. But I had $5night (up to 5 nights) bonus hotel $$$ that had to be used by 4/30 and was intrigued by staying in Gaslamp (more on that in a sec).

Bid began low at $55 (+$5), then $58, then in $2 increments $60 $62 etc, then $1 increments until accepted with all the free rebidding zones/hybrids available. Hotel current website rate is $159, so $75 is decent (I do question whether my $5 "bonus" was really applied). PL retail hotel rate for property is $199 and cheapest for dt 4-star is in $159-169 range. Have seen this property come up at $75 and OMNI/others closer to $70 (especially with padres out of town for weekend).

As I believe it might be helpful to future bids, I did want to share strategy I used to virtually ensure Gaslamp area -- especially as Priceline has wrongly upgraded the Sheraton Marina Hotel to 4-star (Harbor Island is in same zone as downtown/Gaslamp). I wanted to avoid this hotel because of its quality (2 towers, big disparity in quality and 300 feet apart -- I'm not renting a car and if I did it's $28/day parking) and limited mobility options (public bus streetside but a hike and limited hours or otherwise a cab ride to downtown each time). I monitored Sheraton rates (Sheraton website, Kayak, PRICELINE retail and VP, HOTWIRE opaque VP) and availability/price (a $99/night rate was being offered on/off). On Friday, Sat 5/9 became unavailable/sold out on all websites but Hotels.com/Booking.com (latter is affiliated with PL). But no VP availability and even HOTWIRE (affiliated with Hotels.com) did not show a downtown/Harbor Island 4-star in the $90s like before.

Therefore I proceeded with a lot of caution. Normally with a good 2 weeks to play around and also a cancelable Holiday Inn res (if I don't succeed), I wouldn't be so anxious to bid -- knowing that often (in this economy especially) hotel inventory can increase as it gets closer to check-in date. But the Sheraton (1000-room hotel) showing no availability for Sat 5/9 I believe would be just temporary, meaning a short window of opportunity to be assured 95% of not getting it. Big disparity between Hotwire and PL VP -- Hotwire had Hotel Solamar as its significantly cheaper VP but PL did not so that eliminated this property most likely. PL VP then showed the Hilton Gaslamp (very desirable) and Hilton Bayfront (undesirable as isolated access) on its low 4-star end with one other property; OMNI was one of cheapest on VP as of Friday but not yesterday (even though retail rate was in ballpark with Hilton). As such, when I received a counter-offer around $72 total ($67 + $5), I absolutely did $1 increments in rebidding to increase my chances for the Hilton Gaslamp (it was only about $15 cheaper on VP and $3 increment could trigger the Bayfront possibly). Accepted at $80 ($75 + $5 bonus).

Even though I utilized the bonus link (you have to log into your account and go to "rewards"), I first began my internet travels through Better Bidding before linking to PRICELINE. Hope this info helps other bidders and have a great day.

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear you're not "thrilled" with this win! (even though it appears you received the hotel you were hoping for?? :) ) It is higher rated and cheaper than the Holiday Inn you booked as a back-up, so hopefully you can make this work for your needs.

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

Enjoy your stay.