Priceline Hotel: 3* Lynchburg Kirkley

[kdb51]

Bid $55 through the BetterBidding site and got the Kirkley Hotel for 06/25/2009. I waited until my daughter completed the stay so to report re the hotel. She and her husband arrived late so they did not have an opportuntity to check out all of the hotel. They described what they saw as nice, a good room and a comfortable bed. The bed linens and towels were new.

This was my 1st booking with Priceline and probably my last. From comparison of the available hotels, I identified the offered 3 star as the Kirkley and the 2 1/2 stars as likely the Holiday Inn Express, Wingate , and Courtyard. I was shooting for the Courtyard even though I knew that it would be more expensive than the Kirkley. My strategy was to bid low at $55 for the 2 1/2 star as I thought that I could get the Kirkley for less. If $55 did not go, I would then bid $45 for the 3 star as there was some history of $45 having been accepted previously. If neither worked, I would then increase the bids by $5 the next time through the cycle. However, Priceline "upgraded" me and gave me the Kirkley for $55, a price which may have been more expensive than it if I had started with the 3 star.

Maybe, this is standard policy but as it was my 1st shot with Priceline, it was not expected.

[AaronJB]

Thank you for sharing your win with the board. Sorry to hear that you were less than pleased with the results of the win, but fortunately (in some occasions) and unfortunately (in others), PRICELINE can bump you up ("upgrade") to a hotel at the next highest star rating if one will accept your bid. If you do reconsider with PRICELINE, we would be very happy to help with bidding for future trips.

Thank you for using the site's PRICELINE link to start your purchase.

Enjoy your stay.

[thereuare]

Note that the star rating you select is the minimum that you're willing to accept, so your strategy was not sound from the onset. If you feel you received a good deal on the property received, vs. a conventional booking, i wouldn't necessarily write off PRICELINE, but instead try to educate yourself a little more in how it works so you can continue to receive such deals on your future travel bookings.

Browse around here during your spare time and ask for help before your next booking and we'll try to help.

[rtwo]

The Kirkely for $50 or $45 is a steal, the Courtyard is slightly newer and therefore more "polished" (I've won it once and stayed there direct other times) but it isn't worth more than say $10/night than the Kirkley. The Kirkley has recently upgraded all the linens (in the past year or so) and has also added flat screen LCD TVs (at least in the rooms I have been in). For $50 it is a great value.