Priceline Hotel: 3.5* Los Angeles (Downtown) Marriott

[jerry2004]

Hi I'm looking at HOTWIRE hotel for September 10-20th. They have a 4* up at $86 a night

IT has Gym, Restaurant, Pool, High Speed internet and business centre.

Can anyone shed some light as to which hotel this is. And does anyone think that this is a great price and I should go with it or see if I can bid for cheaper through PRICELINE?

Thanks for your help.

[jerry2004]

Actually I think this might be Westin Bonaventure ?

[AaronJB]

This would be a match for the Westin.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE link to start your purchase.

[Colfax]

And does anyone think that this is a great price and I should go with it or see if I can bid for cheaper through PRICELINE?

PRICELINE usually beats HOTWIRE on price. Unless availability has changed you can probably win a 4* on Priceline for less than $86 then. But the Priceline 4* might or might not be the Westin.

[jerry2004]

3 star hotel Downtown.

10th Sep -20th Sep

Gym, Swimming Pool, Restaurant, business centre, internet.

trip advisor 3/5

over 160 reviews. (last reviewed june)

The closest I can find is the standard downtown???

Anyone help?

oh and it's $69 a night.

[thereuare]

This property has not yet been identified, and with a TA rating of 3.0/5.0 i would be a bit cautious on this one.

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

Let us know hwatever you end up doing for this stay or if we can be of further help.

[jerry2004]

Hi I'm aiming to get the marriott hotel in Downtown Los Angeles for around $55 as posted as wins on the forum.

However I'm going for 10days. I've noticed on the marriott hotel website for 10-20Sep that the price changes from the 13th onwards. Would this mean that my bid for a room for the whole period wouldn't be accepted at around $55 for the whole 10days? Should I be bidding for the first 3 days at around $55 and then up it for the rest of the seven? OR does priceline just accept a flat fee for the whole time I wish to book?

Thanks for any help. (PS I've already tried at $55 and not accepted)

[AaronJB]

There is no guarantee that you will get a particular hotel. Would you be okay if you won another hotel besides the Marriott?

While differing rates may be an issue over a longer stay such as this one, this is only taking the Marriott into account.

Can you confirm your dates are 9/10-20? Thanks.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links.

[jerry2004]

hi my dates are the 10th September - 20th September.

By saying I'm aiming for the Marriott I mean I have seen that go for $55 before so I am thinking that if I stick around this price then I should get it. Anything abover $60 then i'm happy to start looking at the Westin Downtown (as previously stated as won at $61 on forum). But it seemed the Marriot had gone for $55 a couple of times judging by winning post on here.

So am I stopping myself getting a bid accepted at around $55 because of the length of the stay or should I perhaps bid on 10th sep - 15th sep and see if I get anything for that price then bid again for the rest of the time and see if another comes up for close to that price?

Thanks.

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

We're glad the board has been helpful in answering your questions and in reasearching this stay, it would be appreciated if you used the requested PRICELINE links and HOTWIRE to begin your bidding and travel purchases.

[jerry2004]

Hi does anyone think it would be helpful for me getting a hotel deal by bidding on 10th Sep -15th and then bidding again for 16th Sep - 20th Sep? I don't mind changing hotels halfway through as long as I stay in Downtown. Would this give me a better chance of winning a hotel at a good price. Is the fact that I am bidding for 10days stopping me winning any bids?

Thanks for your help.

PRICELINE links and HOTWIRE

[yellowdog]

jerry2004

Is the fact that I am bidding for 10days stopping me winning any bids?

The first thing you should do is to research if there's any bigger variations in rates. You allaways have to hit the peak rate to get the remaining dates. And also check if all reported hotels in your zone got available rooms for your dates. The Marriott might have sold out 2 nights during the window of your stay.

Sure, this is lot's of work. But this might narrow down your options and coming closer to a target. Rates etc shoud be checked at hotels sites, not Expedia, Orbitz etc. This is no guarntee since you can get a hotel that's not reported to the board. But doing this can be very helpful when using PRICELINE for longer stays.

Good luck!

Yellowdog.

[jerry2004]

Thanks yellow dog i'll do this in the next couple of hours and report back.

[jerry2004]

Ok done a quick bit of research.

The Marriot has rooms available for the whole period (10-20 Sept) However from teh 10-13th it is $109 a night then on the 13th onwards it is $169 a night so would it be best to try and get the cheaper room on priceline by putting in just from the 10-13th and then just bid on the rest of the dates and see whatever comes up in that area for the next lot of cheap prices?

All hotels seem to have rooms available for the whole 10 days (westin, Millenium, sheraton, marriot) so I could bid on the Marriot for the 10-13 hoping I get a very cheap deal and then see whatever comes up first for the rest of the week (14th - 20th) at the next cheapest price.?

Is this the best method forward ?

Thanks for you help.

[jerry2004]

Well just tried this method of bidding for 10-13th at a lower price using

PRICELINE links

links bid up to $55 for 3.5* then added zone bid $57 added another zone $59 all rejected so I don't think that this method of bidding for before the dates change is making any difference to trying to get a winning bid around $55 for the Marriott that others have posted.

Will try again tomorrow.

[yellowdog]

Rates are dates specific so you can't really compare rates this way.

It looks like you really want the Marriott :)

Are you going to try your max for the Marriott 10-13?

Have you looked after any peak rates at (westin, Millenium, sheraton) the remaining portion of your stay so you don't need to go high for any certain date that crash your complete stay.

Is there anything on HOTWIRE for the rest of your stay if you get the Marriott?

Yellowdog.

[jerry2004]

Hi yes i've looked at the 4* hotels peak rates for this time and will start to bid for my full dates (10-20th Sep) for just these 4* once I go over $60 as I don't really want to get a 3.5* if I could have got a 4* for the same price once I reach a peak though I may have to factor bck in the 3.5* option. Just wanting a hotel with a pool so want to avoid getting the Sheraton (even though I've stayed there before and it was nice) So was thinking of just splitting my 10days in two parts incase i did get a hotel I wasn't keen on then bidding a little more for a better hotel for the other half?

I have seen the Standard at $116 though on a deal for that week though :/

[thereuare]

The Marriott is only $109/nite for the first 3 nites of your stay, there have been some $60-$65 wins at this property too, but not sure if you're willing to go that high at this point in time.

If you do try up to $65 and are turned down (i would probably at least try $60 at this given that you were 'ok' at $59 adn there was a reported win at $60) i would think it's just a little too early, given that rates are not really that high.

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

Keep us updated.

[jerry2004]

Hi - I will do this on my next bid - Would you adive just bidding $60 on the 10-13th? rather than waste a day of bidding on the whole 10days at this price if on their website the $109 room goes up after the 13th? And did you mean it's a bit early to start bidding for these dates anyway?

Thanks for you help.

[AaronJB]

I definitely do not think it is too early to start bidding for September.

[thereuare]

Hi - I will do this on my next bid - Would you adive just bidding $60 on the 10-13th? rather than waste a day of bidding on the whole 10days at this price if on their website the $109 room goes up after the 13th?

I was refering to bidding for just the 3 days, but if you have the time, can try bidding for all 10 days, then if rejected try for the 3 days (or if you have time we can suggest a stratgy to try for the maximum number of days possible on this first round of bidding). However, not sure if you're aware, but if you bid for all 10 days and are rejected, you need not wait 24 hours before trying for fewer days... changing your check-in and/or check-out date is one of the ways to bypass the 24 hour lock-out rule; once you change your date(s) it's treated as a completely new bid.

And did you mean it's a bit early to start bidding for these dates anyway?

Thanks for you help.

I don't think it's too early to bid, but given the low rates at the Marriott (for the 3 nite stay), i think it's too early to 'chase' this too much higher if your bids up to $65 are rejected for those 3 nites.

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

[jerry2004]

Hi again. Yes I'm aware that I can bid again by changing the dates. I'd be interested to hear the strategy you have in mind.

OK weill I could put in a bid of $60 for the whole week and then just reduce the end date by one day until I get down to the 13th (as then this would be the cut off point for when the prices go up according to their website) and then perhaps do this every day until I reach $65 and still get nothing for either the whole 10days or the 10-13th again. Then I will only put in 4* hotel for my bids over $65 as I'd rather have a 4* than a 3.5* at that price.

Does this sound like a good method?

Thanks for your help.

[thereuare]

Not 100% i understand your preferences for this stay, but i'll post what i has in mind (again, this is 'obsessive' but would be the most complete strategy and it's time consuming) and you can follow it or ask questions if you don't think this is inline with your preferences:

At the 4* level you have THREE re-bid zones. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

Select 4* Downtown...

Bid $55, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $60, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $63, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $65

Go thru the strategy above for the following date combinations:

9/10-9/20

9/10-9/19

9/11-9/20

9/10-9/18

9/12-9/20

9/10-9/17

9/13-9/20

9/10-9/16

9/14-9/20

9/10-9/15

9/15-9/20

9/10-9/14

9/16-9/20

9/10-9/13

9/17-9/20

While odds favor you not winning nites which include the backend of your stay, but you just never know, so bidding the above would give you the chance of winning the greatest number of days at a price of $65 or under (ie- if you only bid 9/10-9/13 what if a hotel would have said 'ok' if you had bid the 9/10-9/14 dates... but you never tried)

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

Any quesitons feel free to ask.

[jerry2004]

That's great thanks. I think I understand this method. Just to check before I go and try this tomorrow...

So I would put in a bid of $55 and then go through all the dates if it is rejected. THen when i'm done going through the dates at $55 put in another zone and $60 and go through all the dates again. If this is all rejected put in another zone and make it $63 and go through all the dates again etc?

[thereuare]

Your approach is one way, and perfectly acceptable, but most usually go thru the bidding cycle from $55 to $65 for the first set of dates, if rejected at $65, start over at $55 for the second set of dates and proceed up to $65, if that is rejected start over back at $55 for the third set of dates, etc. etc.

The approach above favors a higher price in exchange for trying to get more dates in the first purchase... your approach would favor receiving fewer nites but possibly at a lower price.

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