Priceline Hotel: 4* Singapore (Riverside) Holiday Inn Atrium

[KL803]

I was rather early to start bidding for 5* and 4* in Singapore, that's why the deal didn't turn out as a great one.

First bid was $ 60 for 4* Orchard Road, added re-bid zones and increased until $ 85 .

Accepted at the Holiday Inn Atrium which gets good reviews. Total price for 5 nights is $ 512.87, a mere $ 30 savings vs Orbitz where there are usually some coupons available. Lesson learned, next time I start bidding a bit later

[pilotsnoopy]

not too bad a location, you are walking distance 5mins to Great World City...a shopping mall/office block with food courts/supermarket.

there are coffeeshops and a hawker centre/stalls near as well offering cheap local food and bottles of beer(tiger, heineken, carlsberg, guiness stout)...

5mins to a popular club called Zouk which plays retro music from 80s-90s on Wedesday nights...Tiesto and other famous DJs been known to come from time to time...

also there are numerous 'nightclubs' in the area...there is one in the hotel itself...very posh club...with mostly hostesses from China(used to be Taiwanese/Malaysians in the past)...these nightclubs are costly...normally entertainment places for businessmen..employees on company expenses...a night for a few people be at least 3000-5000 singapore dollars...

there is a 'Health Club' located at the basement of the hotel which provides massage for about S$45, once the massage is done...the massuer will usually try to entice you to other forms of 'special' service (this place has much more 'mature' ladies compared to other 'Health Clubs')

walking to the start of Chinatown can be done, though a taxi ride to the heart of Chinatown should not be expensive with a S$1-2 surcharge on top of the metered fare at peak hours...

also walking distance to nice al fresco dining places in Robertson Quay...and a short taxi ride to Clarke Quay...S$4-5 max?

do not ever give in to taxi touts whom wants to charge $30-50 for a 1 way ride to anywhere even for a premium cab like a Mercedes or Chrysler 300(+$5-7 perhaps,most taxis now are Hyundai Sonatas...Toyota Crowns)...these are rare cases and when a written complain is done will most likely lose their licenses...metered fares are the way to go, they usually are done by the taxi drivers themselves without prompting.

saw some reviews on tripadvisor, please do not go to Tiong Bahru MRT a 20min walk away but to Outram MRT a 8-10min walk away.

also Vivocity and Sentosa island might be good to visit, a short cab ride away.

electronics...point and shoot cameras...dslrs...portable dvd players are cheap and the latest models around in Singapore..head to Sim Lim Shopping Centre(beware of Song Brothers and perhaps some games shop there). a safer bet for visitors will be Audiohouse in Liang Court near Clarke Quay...it is a big box concept store but prices are negotiable as well. you can claim the 7% GST from the airport with receipts...no need to show the items.

[thereuare]

Thank you for sharing your results with the board.

I was rather early to start bidding...that's why the deal didn't turn out as a great one.

First bid was $ 60 for 4* Orchard Road, added re-bid zones and increased until $ 85 .

Not sure the order in which you added zones, but if you started with the Orchard Rd zone at some point you added "Riverside" which is not a re-bid zone. If Riverside was the last zone you adeed then this may have been an overbid, and that could account for the small amount of savings, not necessarily that you bid too early before your stay.

Also, it's not always advantageous to bid closer to your stay, but you should always do a little research before bidding to know what your best deal is outside of the opaque providers, as this will enable you to stop at some point and make sure you don't overbid. Feel free to ask for help or confirm your proposted bidding strategy with the board before bidding for your next hotel stay.

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

Enjoy your trip.