Priceline Hotel: 3* San Francisco (USW-Nob Hill) Warwick

[Protege]

2 adults and 2 kids. Wanted SF South 3*. Started at $50 and kept adding areas that either didn't have a 3* or are supposedly more expensive. Surprisingly it gave me Warwick in USW at $60. I don't think this is a kid-friendly hotel. What did I do wrong?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Few mistakes:

1) not asking for help before your bid

2) not reading your messages

3) assuming that the USW zone would be more expensive than the SF South zone

4) using PRICELINE for quad occupancy (may potentially be a problem... assuming you only booked one room)

Feel free to ask for help before your next opaque purchase.

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

Hope you can make this work for your needs... enjoy your stay.

[Protege]

Is assuming one zone to be more expensive than another a no-no in general?

How do I do a "quad occupancy" bid with Priceline?

What would've been a good strategy to land a 3* in South SF? Since I have plenty of time before the actual stay, I guess I could've been more patient and just up my bid every 24 hours?

Thanks!

[Gallus50]

There's no such thing as quad occupancy in PL. That's why you probably should have booked this through Hotwire.

You could have bid every day a bit higher, or used a free rebid with the Marina/Cow Hollow area. Read the FAQs here or ask - everyone's very helpful. (Especially Colfax in SF. He knows it all!)

You can call the Warwick and request a room with 2 beds, but they will probably make you wait 'til checkout. They may liet you upgrade in advance for a fee, though.

[Colfax]

Gallus50,

Thanks. I don't know it all, far from it. I just act like I do.

:)

Protege,

Sorry this happened to you. If you wanted a 3* in South San Francisco I think you were looking for large rooms, free parking, possibly free breakfast. The Warwick is nice but sooo not that. I see several potential issues:

1) Parking at the Warwick is $35/night and $50/night for oversized vehicles. PLUS 14% parking tax.

2) The Warwick is a Boutique-style hotel and Boutiques are known for having some small rooms with one bed, which Priceline guests tend to get. For your dates Warwick is $114 for 1 Queen or 2 Twins, or $144 for a Petite Suite with 1 bed (size unspecified) plus a sofa sleeper. You might anticipate the Warwick asking $30/night for an upgrade to a larger-than-standard room, which still might not be very spacious for a family of four.

3) The Warwick is a nice, even elegant, hotel but it's very close to the Tenderloin; not the most kid-friendly location, even among Union Square hotels. And no free breakfast.

Priceline reservations are nonchangeable and nonrefundable. Still if this happened to me I'd give Priceline a call and ask for the opportunity to cancel this reservation and bid again in South San Francisco. Maybe they'll be merciful. Explain you were a newbie, you made a terrible mistake, you won a hotel can't accomodate your family of four. If Priceline lets you try again they'll probably charge a fee, and it would probably be worth paying. The cancellation fee will be less than the Warwick's daily parking charge.

If you try this please let us know how it goes.

[thereuare]

Few mistakes:

1)

2) not reading your messages

3)

4)

[Gallus50]

Priceline was ready to be merciful for me when I made a mistake. At that point, I decided to save their kindness for a worse mistake, which hopefully I won't ever make.

As to my last post on this, I meant to say check-in, not check out. Also noticed a typo. I'm a writer for a living - you'd think I would proofread!

[Colfax]

I'm rereading this thread ten days later and my reaction to the situation is a little different now than it was when I first read it.

Rather than outright rejecting the Warwick as impossible, as I did, I probably would have suggested at least calling the Warwick and seeing if they could accomodate your family of four, and at what extra cost. Hotels have their rules, but they also bend their rules at times, especially during periods of low occupancy.

Also it might sound like I was singling out the Warwick as being an especially kid-unfriendly location. The Warwick is at the same corner as the Clift and Monaco, and the Warwick's location is no better or worse than Clift's or Monaco's. And families stay at all these hotels.

I hope you were able to work something out with Priceline and Warwick, Protege.