Priceline Hotel: Thinking about Portland on Labor Day weekend

[WillTravel]

I'm thinking of attending an event that is held at the Portland Doubletree hotel at 310 SW Lincoln St. over Labor Day weekend. It's going to be eons before I actually want to bid on this, so don't expect updates soon :). I have to determine if I can even go, but it doesn't hurt to start planning in advance.

If you're familiar with the area, please look at the map of Priceline's downtown zone for Portland and give me an idea of the farthest possible distance I could end up being from the Doubletree.

Any ideas what figures might be needed, given the holiday? Would a 1-star in this area be unbearable or unsafe? Maybe I should leave 1-stars to areas I am comfortable with already.

It looks like last year in August, poster Wcj1 got the exact Doubletree hotel where I want to be for $34 --the tax paid indicates a Priceline price of $31, which is a price I could live with. I note it's rated as a 3*. I've stayed at that exact Doubletree before (non-Priceline) and it was nice enough, but one problem I have with the rating system is that I don't see much reason to distinguish it in quality from some 2* I have stayed at. I guess the restaurant it has is reason enough.

[thesqueegeekid]

3* Doubletree Jantzen Beach <<SP?

$33 a friend went there recently. He booked a whole week so I am guessing they accept always. It is also fairly close to Portland. His sister also stops there often on her way to Cali and either gets it or the downtown doubletree .... she bids $33 and takes whichever comes up.

[WillTravel]

Thanks for the input, squeegee. I think I want to stay downtown only, so although Jantzen Beach looks very nice, I probably wouldn't bid in that area. If I decide to go through with it, a 3* bid looks like a pretty straightforward situation with several free rebids and an end price ranging from $28-35 (probably towards the high end given the weekend). There's not much point in going to a 1* at that level.

[wcj1]

Well, unlike you, I really did not want to be that far south. It turned out ok, but I decided next time I will only bid 4* as I want to stay closer to the center of downtown.

The one problem with 3* bidding in Portland with Priceline is the fact that the downtown zone includes the Lloyd Center area and the Doubletree out there. That would be a bit of a hike. I don't think Hotwire has this same problem.

I would not necessarily bid higher start higher even though it is a holiday weekend. It seems that there are always hotels that load their 'normal' priceline rates without looking at holidays, especially when many months out.

BillJ