Priceline Hotel: Nervous Newbie booking in Toronto

[TrudyNH]

Hi! I just spent the last hour reading through this site and find it very informative. I am travelling to Toronto for 9 days for a highland dance competition from June 27 to July 5 and have thought about using Priceline as I can choose an area to stay in. We need to be near Front Street where we compete. I've read that most people were upgraded or moved to a better room than what they expected. What if I am booked into a smoking room? Are hotels good about moving a guest to a non smoking?

I plan to start my bid at $40. Is this reasonable? I currently have a very large room booked at a hotel and it's about $140 per night (2 queens and a sofa bed as we have 3 adults and 3 kids).

Will the room have more than 1 bed? I plan to reserve 2 of them and it would be nice to have at least 1 bed and 1 sofa in each room!

Thanks for any advice you can give as I am new at this and nervous to make a reservation!!

[tilepusher]

Welcome to BetterBidding, Trudy.

The first thing you'll need to decide is whether you are willing to be placed in any hotel with Priceline's Downtown Toronto zone. The Priceline Hotel List - Canada gives a summary of all the hotels that have been reported by other members. The BackupBooking tool can help you locate the various hotels in the area.

As for receiving a non-smoking room with two beds, that is up to the hotel. Many of the 4* hotels that are frequently reported here are completely non-smoking (Sheraton, Westin Harbour Castle, Renaissance, Marriott Bloor Yorkville), but you must be prepared for the possibility of winding up in a smoking room for at least part of your stay (I've only had to spend the night in a smoking room once; I was able to switch rooms the following day). Priceline only guarantees a room suitable for double occupancy. In this particular case, getting either two beds or one bed plus a sofa bed shouldn't be a problem, but I can't say with certainty that the rooms you get will be suitable for three people.

In your case, HOTWIRE may be a better option because you can sometimes identify the hotel before you book it, so you'll know if the location is suitable. Also, Hotwire allows you search for rooms suitable for 2 adults/1 child.

Let us know if PRICELINE is a viable option for you. If it is, we can suggest a bidding strategy. If not, we can look at your options on HOTWIRE.