Priceline Hotel: Help with bidding strategy

[sherbstreit]

I am looking at the Gurnee, IL area for one night Nov. 5/6 and will need 2 rooms. Any particular advice or bidding strategy is appreciated. Any idea of what hotels might come up?

Thanks

[thereuare]

The highest rated hotel in this zone is 2*, is that acceptable to you?

Your probably looking at brand names of Extended Stay, Baymon Inn, Holiday Inn, Hampton, Comfort Inn, or Fairfield Inn... all of which seem to be in this area.

If you're ok with a 2* hotel we'll suggest some bidding amounts.

[sherbstreit]

Yes, the 2* is ok for this trip. It's the only type hotel close to the shopping and we won't be there much at all. We'll be busy shopping til we drop. :) So any advice you can provide is appreciated.

[thereuare]

Not much bidding history in this area and no re-bids available, so one try at a time.

Since you have some time, i would first bid $26, then raise your bid by $3 every 72 hours until you reach $38. I think you'll have success before then, but if not, Hotwire has a 2.5* (probably a Priceline 2*) at $41. The $26 is probably too low, but worth a shot to systematically start there, and if you bid every 72 hours you'll work your way up to $38 in under 2 weeks. Appears that there are lots of hotels in the 2* range that are conventionally available for $60-$80, so i'm not too concerned about you getting 'locked-out' as the above strategy takes you to the end of the month.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.