Priceline Hotel: 4* London

[michelle.moo]

my husband and I are heading to London at the end of January. (29th January check in, Feb 2 2010 check out, 4 nights in total)

I am wanting to use priceline.co.uk as I've had trouble with my credit card (australian) on priceline.com

I tried the tip to put in a US state and zipcode with my own address but it doesn't want to let me get away with that! Not sure if it's my bank blocking the transaction or priceline itself.

Would like to spend about 55 pounds or less per night before tax. Interested in the following areas (in this order):

Mayfair - Soho

Bloomsbury - March Arch

Kensington - Earls Court - Knightsbridge

Notting Hill - Bayswater

Ready and keen to bid ASAP.

Any tips?

[MadFlyer]

While I have had luck with Priceline on occasion, the zones are too spread and variation in hotel quality within zones is often too great to get me to book anymore.

I use www.lastminute.com , top-secret hotels. You can usually search the description and figure out which hotel it is. They even have almost live tripadvisor rating come up sometimes. Sometimes hotels run campaigns there with 50% off where you see hotel name.

It is owned by Travelocity now.

Good Luck.

I am staying at a Radisson Edwardian tonight. Hiltons and Grange are also big users of that site.

And... not credit card issues.

[Romelle]

The minute you put Kensington in your bidding, you are highly likely to get the Copthorne Tara. And it at least tends to go for the lower bids. I've gotten it a couple times, and think it works just fine, but you might want to read the reviews first. On the other hand, the Mayfair area tends to be more expensive.

So - if the Kensington area is still OK, at least structure your bidding so you bid the least expensive area first, then add in the more expensive ones as you increase your bids. That keeps you from overbidding.

As an example assume Kensington had the Copthorne at $90, and Mayfair only had a hotel at $110. If you bid Mayfair first at $90 and aren't successful, then raise to $100 and add Kensington, you will get the Copthorne (but with a $10 overbid). Whereas, if you start at $90 with the Kensington area, you will still get the Copthorne with the bid, but this time at a better price.

Sorry I can't help with the credit card issues. Perhaps somebody else here will have some suggestions.

Romelle

[bkcarolina]

In Kensington you are also likely to get the Hilton Olympia, which is a little inconvenient, as the Olympia tube station only runs trains three times per hour. It's a bit of a hike to the Kensington High Street station (20-30 mins). Also the Hilton Olympia has excellent service and a nice lobby, is very clean, but the rooms are a little shabby (as with the Copthorne). Not 4-star, in my opinion.