Priceline Hotel: San Francisco - Fishermans Wharf

[GrumpySmurf]

As 1st time tourist (young family) to USA, I thought staying at Fishermans Wharf for our 3 nights in San Francisco would be the right place. Unfortunately we will have a rental car (as part of a much bigger road trip), so I am expecting a very hefty $45+ parking fee per night.

Due to this, the hotel budget gets cut.

If someone has a better idea, I would love to know it!

Anyway, my bidding so far...

Day1

$65 3.5* FW - Rejected

Day2

$68 3.5* FW - Rejected

Day3

$69 3.5* FW - Rejected

Day4

$70 3.5* FW - Rejected.

$71 Added Marina for free rebid - Rejected

$72 Added Civic Center for free rebid - Rejected

$75 Added South San Francisco - Still rejected!

As we still have a long time before going, I will sit out for a bit and retry later. UNLESS someone has a better idea of a different place to stay, without going too much over $100 per night including parking.

[Colfax]

Your bidding levels seem reasonable. You're probably just bidding a little early for late October.

I suggest trying up to $75 for a 3.5* once a week or so now. 3* in Fisherman's Wharf is another good option.

How many in your family? PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy which could be a room with one bed. Fisherman's Wharf hotels tend to have a lot of two-bed rooms because it's a popular area with families. Still, two beds aren't guaranteed.

If you're concerned about number of beds you can check HOTWIRE, where you can enter the number of people in your party and be guaranteed enough bedding for that number.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links.

Good luck!

[GrumpySmurf]

Thanks Colfax, our family consists of 2 adults and 2 young ones(9yo girl and 6yo boy). We are a pretty flexible family (easily sleep on the couch) as long as the room is very clean and decent. As I am very new to this bidding for room thing (I am much more experienced in Wotif/HotelClub etc), I don't think I want to go through the learnning curve of HOTWIRE.

In another post, I saw someone getting $69 for FW on the date that we would be leaving, so I will persevere.

[Colfax]

Although your dates are near dates that tilepusher won for $69 your dates are different than his and more expensive. At the extreme the Holiday Inn is $119 for his dates but $237 for yours. Almost double!

For your dates:

Sheraton $230

Holiday Inn $237

Hyatt $249

Holiday Inn Express $256

Marriott $259

Those are higher than average rates for Fisherman's Wharf. Still I'm optimistic that you can win something for less than $100 if you're patient.

HOTWIRE has four hotels in Fisherman's Wharf for your dates, but all are more than your $100 limit. That makes me think you might get something on PRICELINE now if you're willing to go higher than $75...maybe even $80 or $85. But holding at $75 for a few more weeks is reasonable too, then bidding higher as your dates approach.

HOTWIRE has what looks like Holiday Inn Express for $122, with two beds guaranteed. I know that's more than you wanted to pay but I mention it since it's a well liked hotel and includes free breakfast, which none of the 3.5* hotels do.

[GrumpySmurf]

A couple days ago, tried in the low $70's with above strategy - still all rejected.

Today,

$72 FW - Rejected

$76 added Marina - Rejected

$80 added Civic Centre - still rejected - dammit!

$86 added South San Francisco - still rejected - dammit! This is getting hard.

[thereuare]

Have you considered adding any of the Downtown zones?

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

[Colfax]

It's very early to give up on your preferred zone for a trip almost two months away. I still think you're likely to win a 3.5* in Fisherman's Wharf for $100 or less on Priceline if you're patient. (No promises.) You should book a cancellable backup if you decide to wait it out.

If you don't want to wait what about bidding for a 3* in FW? It's Holiday Inn or Best Western Tuscan, and they both get decent reviews.

[GrumpySmurf]

Same strategy - up to $92 - still rejected.

I still have plenty of time to keep trying, but as we are going for a month long trip, there are still many other things to book for.

[Colfax]

Thanks for the update, Grumpy Smurf.

Availability is much better for your last two nights than your first night, 10/26.

On Expedia, for example:

Sheraton FW: $251 on 10/26; $161 on 10/27, 10/28

Hyatt FW: $279 on 10/26; $204 on 10/27, 10/28

If you're willing to split your bid it's possible you can win your last two nights for the $92 you've already bid, or less, but not the first night. If you win the last two nights then you could use Priceline's Add a Night feature to try and get 10/26 at a higher rate. There's no guarantee that Add a Night would work though.

Also, the Holiday Inn Express FW, which gets very good reviews, includes free breakfast, and has a reputation for being a "kid friendly" hotel is offering a prepaid rate of $99 for 10/27 and 10/28---excellent for this hotel on these dates. But the Holiday Inn Express is $256 on 10/26!

[GrumpySmurf]

Thanks Colfax! Now my hope is really high! As this would work fine for us - we could spend an extra night somewhere between LA and SF.

So here we go (for Oct 27 - Oct 29)...

$68 for FW - Rejected

$75 - Added Marina - Rejected

$80 - Added Civic - Still rejected :)

$85 - Added South SF - Rejected.

Argh!

Might look at other traditional method of booking now.

[thereuare]

After including PRICELINE's booking fee, a hotel direct purchase of the Holiday Inn Express direct would only amount to an extra $7 or so over your $85 PRICELINE bid... not sure how quickly you're looking to get this taken care of and/or ensure this particular property, but thought i'd mention it given the minimal price difference.

Thanks for using our PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links (or our link to the Holiday Inn Express Fisherman Wharf if you go that route)

Keep us udpated and/or let us know if we can be of further help along the way.

[Colfax]

If you want to secure something now I'd go for the $99 prepaid rate at Holiday Inn Express. Free breakfast and you can reserve two beds for $99, which you can't do on a PRICELINE reservation.

The $99 prepaid rate is available at the Holiday Inn FW too, which is a different hotel than the Holiday Inn Express. The Holiday Inn doesn't give free breakfast though.