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Priceline Hotel: 2* London Comfort Inn Westminster


WillTravel
By WillTravel,
in

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(Apologies for the length. Hope all the detail is useful to someone. When I bid on Priceline.com.hk, the HKD are converted to Canadian dollars on my credit card. I only consider the US dollar rate for reference purposes, and so the post will make sense to most readers here.)

Dates: July 12-14, 2003 (2 nights)

Thanks to Zbenye's suggestion, I had my eye on the Vauxhall district and this hotel (no guarantee, of course, but no other 2* in Vauxhall have come up). (Some parts of Westminster would have been slightly preferable, perhaps, but I don't think it is as cheap. Besides, Priceline's Westminster extends beyond the area I really wanted, and this hotel is within the area I wanted.)

I got 100 HKD Lucky Money = (approx. $12.82 US) using the Coin Scratch game Priceline.com.hk is offering (I got an email from them.)

Keep in mind that the processing fee on Priceline HK is 65 HKD when making bids. Also, be sure to consider the exchange rate. You can get this at any time from http://finance.yahoo.com/m3?u. I imagine credit card rates aren't quite as good as the rate posted. (Actually, you can get approximate credit card exchange rates as well as other exchange rates from http://www.oanda.com. Oanda.com says that the typical credit card rate is +2% the interbank rate.)

The results without the Lucky Money:

Your Offer Price: HK$425

Number of Rooms: 1

Number of Nights: 2

Comfort Inn Vauxhall

87 S Lambeth Road

London, SW8 1RE

United Kingdom

44 207 735 94 94

Subtotal: HK$850

Taxes: HK$146.80

Processing Fee: HK$65 (per offer)

Total Lodging Charges: HK$1,061.80

So with the Lucky Money, the final result is 961.80 HKD.

I won this on the first bid. I had first thought of starting out with 400 HKD, but I got a prompt that I had only a small chance. Even though I know better than to listen to that, I decided to make the bid 425 HKD (which is equal to $54.50 USD). About an hour before, I had done a series of rebids on Priceline.com going up to $52 USD per night in a bunch of districts.

Maybe someone can help me figure out if I could have gotten this cheaper. The UK taxes and what Priceline HK charges are a mystery to me.

961.80 HKD is equivalent to $123.31 USD for two nights, with all taxes and charges. If my failed $52 Priceline.com bid had worked, the final results would have been in the range of $126 USD for the two nights.

There's the possibility the exchange might not be quite as good as Yahoo's rate, but even if I am a few dollars off I am quite pleased with this. It beats the rockbottom B&B prices I had found (no private bath) and it even beats some hostel prices I had (2 dorm beds). I wanted some place relatively close to Victoria Station, and Mapquest tells me this is about 1.85 miles, which is walkable to me. In fact, I did walk a longer distance on approximately the same route last year wheeling/hauling my luggage when public transit was mostly down due to a civic protest (I was switching hostels).

Maybe prices would drop in a few months, but maybe not. The cheapest price I saw for this on the other board was $49 USD for a March 2002 bid. Obviously I am bidding for high season.

The best rate I can get directly from the web site at http://www.comfortinnvx.co.uk/ for the two nights in question is 129 pounds total (1 adult and 1 16-year-old child), which is at least $202 USD.

I'd be interested to know what overlap there is between Priceline.com inventory and Priceline.com.hk inventory. I've now had two successful bids with Priceline.com.hk (and Lucky Money) that appear to have been better than what I could get with Priceline.com.

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My research indicates the hotel tax in Britain (actually the VAT) is 17.5% (see, e.g. http://www.frommers.com/destinations/great...498020157.html). That rate appears to correspond to what I see with London bids on the other board as well. Thus, if that is correct, I might have been able to get away with a bid of 420 HKD per night. If so, I will happily accept the loss of 64 cents USD per night!

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I had won a $50 bid at this hotel for a December (low season) stay. So your win at $54.50 is excellent for high-season, and if you're pleased with the location, which is a bit out of the way, then this is a terrific deal. Remember free breakfast (confirm with desk).

If you take the tube to Vauxhall station, you'll have a 5 to 7-minute walk to the hotel. There was some road work going on, which you may need to go around. There's a bus stop near the hotel that you can use to get to Victoria, West End, etc.

Two blocks east of the hotel is a small deli/bakery that sells the best jelly donuts. European donuts - no hole and raised with yeast. Yummy.

Are you sure about the lucky money? I thought that promotion ended on April 15th..?

About the credit card, when I use visa or mc, the charge is within pennies of the result I get from the currency convertor I use (www.xe.com). However when I used my amex the charge was about $2 over. Obviously I don't use amex for purchases in foreign currency anymore.

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I have already emailed the hotel and asked for a room with two twin beds, and they agreed to that without a problem.

The Lucky Money is still going on. In fact, I just checked the www.priceline.com.hk web site a few minutes ago, and the Lucky Money prompt came up again. You click a button and go through the process, and you'll get something. I know they previously said that it would end April 15, but it's there now. This LM is supposed to be used for a booking by April 30 that must be for airfare or hotel which will be used by July 31. I had my husband get some LM at his own email address and he got HK$200 this morning - I'm trying to find out if I am safe to use it for a booking done on his credit card if I'm the one who checks into the room. Does Priceline HK care?

Excellent tip about VISA/AMEX. Fortunately, I used my VISA on this one, although that is only because it was handy and my AMEX wasn't. I'm curious and looking forward to seeing my statement now (well, not really).

I'm familiar with the general area, and it's good for me. As soon as I find out whether it's safe to use the HK$200 LM, I will probably bid for June 28 with similar parameters. If I get this hotel for June 28, we will start off our time in London by getting off the Gatwick Express in Victoria Station, switching to the tube down below, riding for a few minutes to Vauxhall and then walking the rest of the way. Or else we'll just walk from Victoria Station.

We'll then proceed to Denmark via RyanAir the following evening, proceed eventually to other parts of Scandinavia, and then return back to London for this hotel stay and flight out.

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If you haven't flown Ryanair before, read up on their very low baggage allowance, which is strictly enforced.

Thanks for the tip on the LM still being accepted. I still haven't gotten the HK$200 credit I'm expecting. The website says to expect the refund within 30 days after the ending of the promotion, which I presumed to be 4/15.

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Priceline HK Customer Service told me by email that I would be credited within 30 days of April 15 for the LM for my Victoria bid (posted elsewhere on this board). I admit the concept makes me a bit leery. I like the bonus money idea better.

Thanks for the reminder about Ryanair. I think we will fall within the 15 kg (33-pound) limit without difficulty, given we pack light, but I'll make sure to weigh our stuff before heading out and to avoid loading up on bottled water and food (which I sometimes do to save money while travelling).

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