Priceline Hotel: VA beach - downtown area

[achaholic]

I'm thinking of using either priceline or hotwire to book a hotel for Easter weekend. The dates I'm looking for are 3/24 - 27. I need to stay in the VA Beach downtown area. It doesn't need to be oceanfront but I would like to be within the 10st - 30st range. I checked the hotel list on the board but it only listed the Doubletree. Does anybody know if there are more options on either site?

[thereuare]

Yes, there are other properties in the area.

First step is to go to both Priceline's and Hotwire's websites, input the city in each of them and then look at how they label the zones. You can get a close up of each by clicking on the link next to each zone's name.

You have to be able to accept a hotel anywhere in the shaded region (i don't know the area so i can't say where 10th St. - 30th St. lies within the shaded regions). If the zone is too big, you may still be able to go with Hotwire where you can often identify the hotel beforehand by using the star rating and amenities shown (still a risk as you won't know the hotel until you agree to purchase it, but you can often make a well-educated guess... we'll help you with that).

Priceline and Hotwire often use different zone names and boundaries, so be sure to look at both and let us know how they relate to where you need/want to be and we'll take it from there.

[achaholic]

I checked Hotwire. They label the area as VA Beach - Seaside Area. The area they highlight for this area is a bit larger than the area I am looking for. The majority of the area is within a few blocks of the ocean but also extends into the interstate. How far back it goes onto the highway is the question. They only mark off major roads and it makes it difficult to tell. The zone also extends further north and south than I like but the majority of hotels in the town are within the 10st - 30st range. I do not want to be back toward the interstate part of town, but anything with 3-5 blocks of the beach would be fine.

I checked availability and its not much help. There were 2 hotel listed. Both had a restaurant and pool (big shocker in a resort town!) and one had a fitness center as well. The one with the fitness center is listed a 3* for $59/night. The other is a 2* for $75/night. Is it probably safe to assume that the $75 is closer to the beachfront area? Any ideas?

[TravelGuy]

Virginia Beach isn't a Priceline friendly area unfortunately. The Doubletree, which is not close enough to the beach and of dubious quality, is the only 3*. And if you bid 2*, you might get upgraded to the Doubletree, which also has low Priceline rates. As far as Hotwire, I don't believe there's a whole lot of data to go on to help ID a particular hotel.

I think your best bet may be to book direct. It looks like Days Inn has some good rates for your dates if that chain would meet your requirements. Days Inn Oceanfront, which has all oceanfront rooms with balconies, looks pretty good to me and is 53/80/80 ($71 average). Or, if you wanted to economize further, the Days Inn at the Beach, directly across from the beach on Atlantic Ave. is 36/54/54 ($48). (Those hotels would also make an good cancelable backup, as those rates appear to be fully refundable with 72 hours notice.)

There are also a lot of small, independently owned hotels and motels in that area that probably have good rates. The Virginia Beach Hotel-Motel Association directory lists most of them. I can recommend Sea Side as a good, if basic place to stay - my brother has stayed there and said it was just fine, although nothing fancy.

[achaholic]

Yeah I was thinking that booking direct would probably work better but I was hoping I could find something even better through Priceline and/or Hotwire. I've stayed down there several times and there are quite a few decent places. I'll probably book the Holiday Inn Surfside on 26th again. I've had a good experience with them in the past. Thanks for the help guys!

[thereuare]

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