Priceline Hotel: 4* San Diego (Downtown-Harbor Island) Sheraton Hotel and Marina

[moonunit]

Used your PRICELINE link to bid on a hotel for this coming weekend... you get what you get and you don't get upset, but I'm super-bummed.

There are 14 hotels in the star range and zone, and 13 of them are walking distance from where I'll be Friday night. I figured it was worthwhile to try to bid and any of the 13 would be fine, all had decent reviews, all were a reasonable walk...

After rebidding and adding zones about 6 times, I finally hit a number Priceline liked.

It was for the 14th hotel, literally the only one that is driving distance away.

So if I want to park at the hotel and not drive (there will be wine involved, I'm trying to be responsible!) :) my transportation to and from the event will have to be by cab. This deal is only about $20 less than the advertised rates at the hotels right where I want to be, and the extra transportation will eat that benefit right up. I could have stayed exactly where I wanted and come out even. I just figured a 13-out-of-14 chance was worth the gamble.

Although I'm always happy with BetterBidding and the fantastic services you provide, I just want to remind everybody that you roll the dice when you go Priceline, and sometimes it comes up snake eyes. :) It IS possible that Priceline isn't the best overall value for your dollar, rare but it happens.

Oh well! I'll still have a great weekend nonetheless, and I'm about 13 good bargains to one not-good, so I'm still WAY ahead using this site to find my bargains. :o

[thereuare]

Thank you for sharing your results with the board... sorry to hear you received the hotel you were hoping for avoid.

In similar future situations, don't forget to also check HOTWIRE... while they're typicallly a little more expensive than PRICELINE, they often have different zone boundaries as well as being able to take an educated guess as to the hotel you may received (based upon the amenities shown before your purchase).

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.

Hope you can still make this work well for your needs and you enjoy your stay (and wine).

[moonunit]

After much thought, we decided to eat the cost and go through your HOTWIRE link to book a second room. The value it will add to our experience was just worth the extra cost! We are now booked into the Hotel Indigo and are very happy with the decision. I will make a post on the Hotwire forum with the details of our booking. Thanks for the advice -- it's going to be an expensive night, but totally worth it. :)

[thereuare]

Sorry to see you'll be forgoing this stay, but glad to see you're now much happier with the results and looking forward to a great trip.

Thank you for sharing your results with the board and using our HOTWIRE link to begin your purchase.

Enjoy your stay.

[RumRunner]

I hear ya moonunit! Same exact thing just happened to me. Now I'm wishing I would have paid $20 more per night with HOTWIRE to get something actually in Gaslamp or closer to downtown. This is the ONE hotel that is not in a decent zone for when you don't want to have to drive. This hotel really should not be in the downtown zone, I realize they lump Harbor Island in there but they shouldn't, it should have it's own zone. I was really looking forward to this trip (need it badly after putting out dog to sleep Monday) but this is now causing me more stress that I don't need. I guess I have learned my lesson after my one and only Priceline use. I did use the PRICELINE link on this site to book.