Priceline Hotel: 3.5* Asheville Downtown - HELP - Crowne Plaza?

[ontheroad]

Hi, I've been lurking on your site for a while, learned a lot, and now decide it's time to be a mensch, come on board, and use your links.

And here's a question: when bidding on Priceline, can one trust the "average price" as an indicator of which hotels are available? For example: Let's say the fixed-price side of Priceline lists only three 3.5* hotels for a certain region, going for $100, $120 and $140..... In NYOP, selecting 3.5* results in a message saying that average price for this region is $130. Since this is an average of $120 and $140, can I be confident that the $100 hotel is NOT currently being offered, and I won't get stuck with it?

Thanks in advance for your insight.

[yellowdog]

No! That has noting to do with the reality. So you should not trust the rate you see and determ your bid on that.

Please post your details for your trip and we'll help you.

Yellowdog.

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

[ontheroad]

Hi, Thanks for your reply Yellowdog. Here's the details:

Asheville, North Carolina: Priceline lists just three 3.5* three hotels in the downtown region: The Crowne Plaza goes for $87 and I know I don't want it. The other two each go for $129. I figure a low bid would land me in the Crowne Plaza. Yet, in the NYOP area, it says the median price for 3.5* is $129. So this would seem to indicate that the Crowne Plaza is not being offered. But you're saying I shouldn't believe this?

[AaronJB]

Do not use the retail side of the service as a guideline for the bidding side, as the two are different entities. Additionally, in terms of bidding in a particular area, if the Crowne Plaza is a potential 3.5*, then it is definitely a possibility when bidding 3.5* in this area.

[powerplantop]

Hi, Thanks for your reply Yellowdog. Here's the details:

Asheville, North Carolina: Priceline lists just three 3.5* three hotels in the downtown region: The Crowne Plaza goes for $87 and I know I don't want it. The other two each go for $129. I figure a low bid would land me in the Crowne Plaza. Yet, in the NYOP area, it says the median price for 3.5* is $129. So this would seem to indicate that the Crowne Plaza is not being offered. But you're saying I shouldn't believe this?

Post your dates and zones you would like.

[ontheroad]

Zone = Asheville Downtown-Biltmore. Dates: Jan 6-8 (two nights)

I want to bid on a 3.5* hotel in Asheville for 1/6-1/8. However I DON'T want to stay at Crowne Plaza, as it is further from downtown and not my style. The fixed-rate side of priceline lists the Crowne Plaza as 3.5*, and it cheaper than the others, which would seem to indicate I'm likely to get it if I bid. However, some people on this board have said that they bid on a 3* and got the Crowne. Any clarification on whether the NYOP side of Priceline considers it a 3* or 3.5*?

[thereuare]

I've updated the board's Priceline Hotel List to correspond with PRICELINE's new zone boundaries for this area. If you look at the hotel list, you'll see that the Crowne Plaza is listed as a 3.5* with a note attached that it used to be 3* rated... it has been upgraded since the old threads that you're seeing.

When you use PRICELINE you need to be able to accept a hotel anywhere within the shaded boundaries of the zone you select at the star rating (or higher) of your choosing. If the Crowne Plaza is in this zone and not acceptable, perhas you should try bidding at the 4* level OR use HOTWIRE and see if you can take an educated guess as to the property being offered and determine if it will work well for your plans.

Also note that the hotels seen on the 'retail' side of PRICELINE are not necessarily the hotels you will receive on the bidding side, so there may be more hotels than the three you reference above, or there could be even fewer if one of those doesn't participdate on the NYOP side of the PRICELINE service.

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly.

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