cruwudu Posted November 12, 2009 Report Posted November 12, 2009 I started bidding tonight but didn't win anything yet and thought I'd share with the board.Bid 1 - $42 French Quarter 3.5* - FailedBid 2 - $44 French Quarter + Garden District (rebid zone 1) - FailedBid 3 - $46 French Quarter + Garden District + New Orleans East - FailedI was trying to snag the Bourbon Orleans Hotel for $46 like someone else here did but no dice yet. Anyone know if it's worth adding the Convention Center zone? Are those hotels still within walking distance?
cruwudu Posted November 12, 2009 Author Report Posted November 12, 2009 Added another bid tonight.$48 - 3.5* French Quarter (with several rebid zones) - no luckIt looks like people get the Chateau Bourbon mainly when bidding on 3* in the French Quarter. I guess I need to weigh the merit of staying in FQ in a 3* or possibly grabbing the Hilton Riverside or another 4* in Downtown-CC. On Trip Advisor the 3* hotels in the FQ get good reviews (especially Hotel St Marie and Prince Conti Hotel but those haven't been booked in a while). Any thoughts? Recommendations on re-bids?
yellowdog Posted November 12, 2009 Report Posted November 12, 2009 Please post your dates for the stay.Any thoughts? Recommendations on re-bids?Are you talking area wise?Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.Yellowdog.
cruwudu Posted November 12, 2009 Author Report Posted November 12, 2009 12/4-12/6Recommendations on bidding strategies and adding Downtown-Convention Center zone, as well as any other advice, would be appreciated.
yellowdog Posted November 12, 2009 Report Posted November 12, 2009 Something is happening in town that weekend. There's no inventory on PRICELINE or HOTWIREWhat is this weekends event?Yellowdog.
cruwudu Posted November 12, 2009 Author Report Posted November 12, 2009 I'm not going for a big, scheduled event. It's a friend's wedding.How do you check Priceline inventory?
AaronJB Posted November 13, 2009 Report Posted November 13, 2009 He means the retail (regular/non-bidding) side of the service. I'm also seeing nearly nothing available in NOL on Orbitz for these dates, and HOTWIRE has no availability in Downtown or French Quarter. Given the lack of inventory in general in town on these dates (and given how HOTWIRE has nothing), I question whether bidding on PRICELINE will be successful.
cruwudu Posted November 13, 2009 Author Report Posted November 13, 2009 Yeah, it's not looking good. I went up to $65 on a 3* in the French Quarter with several rebid zones. No bites.Any recommendations? I am going for the wedding plus just having fun in New Orleans. What is my next best option? I don't want to stay at the airport and have to take cabs back and forth.
cruwudu Posted November 13, 2009 Author Report Posted November 13, 2009 Did a lot more bidding tonight. Went up to $80 in French Quarter, Downtown, Convention Center, and Metairie (!) with no luck. Will probably have to retreat to the airport and cab it to the French Quarter.
yellowdog Posted November 13, 2009 Report Posted November 13, 2009 Will probably have to retreat to the airport and cab it to the French Quarter.Sad but true. Please post your outcome for this stay when you're done.Yellowdog.
cruwudu Posted November 15, 2009 Author Report Posted November 15, 2009 No more luck anywhere else, so I booked at the airport using the links here. Anyone know what's going on this weekend? Must be something big. There were no hotels available anywhere near the FQ even going through the hotels' websites. Started at $37 for a 3* in the airport. I used all of the FQ, Downtown, Convention Center zones as rebid zones since there was no chance at getting a hotel there anyway (not that I would have minded if I did get lucky and get one!). Final bid: $46 at the Crowne Plaza. Reviews look good on Trip Advisor. Cabs fares will be steep but it looks like it's the only option at this point.
AaronJB Posted November 15, 2009 Report Posted November 15, 2009 Sorry to hear that you had to go out to the airport, but this does look like a very good deal for the airport MSY area. Not sure what's going on, but it must be something serious for so many hotels to be sold out.Thank you for sharing your win and using the site's PRICELINE link.Enjoy your stay.
jbean603 Posted November 17, 2009 Report Posted November 17, 2009 Just FYI, I know there's a huge Hematology conference at the Convention Center...docs and drug reps probably have booked most of the downtown hotels...
AaronJB Posted November 17, 2009 Report Posted November 17, 2009 Thanks for the clarification; must be a huge convention.
cruwudu Posted November 19, 2009 Author Report Posted November 19, 2009 There must be something else going on. I went to a research conference in Ft. Lauderdale last year that had 30,000 attendees and I was still able to book a nice hotel a few miles away only 3 weeks out. I'm really curious to see what's going on.
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