Priceline Hotel: Bid Help Needed for DC

[sleepless2]

I've used this board and PL once successfully before, but never in DC. I'm strictly doing tourism, mainly Smithsonian. I've got 3 adults 11yr, 2yr, and I'd like to keep it under $160/nt total. I assume I'll have to do 2 rooms @ $80/nt. I just looked up the stars in zones and found the following, different than in the pinned article:

Conv Ctr / Cap Hill 1-4

White House / Downtown 1-4

Alexandria W 1-3.5

Bethesda 1-3.5

DC Suburbs 1-3

Mt Vernon 1-2

Silver Springs 1-3.5

(No Springfield zone)

I only found one successful bid in the Calendar of Wins for PL and HW. Seems strange.

I think I want a 3* or above. I'm hoping to get something close to the Metro. Are there real "stinker" hotels that I may get stuck with that are a long ways from any Metro?

I think my zone plan is as follows:

- bid CC/CH, WH/DT, and both on all levels. That gives me 3 bids to start. I'll abbreviate that as 'Z'

3* (3+2) bids using Z, MV

3.5* (3+4) bids using Z, MV & DC Suburbs

4* (3+32) bids using Z, AW, Beth, DC Sub, MV, S Springs

I'm a bit nervous about how far away the hotel might be from a Metro, and whether they allow young children. For that reason I was wondering if it's reasonable to bid for just 1 room, 1 night and then if that checks out book the rest of the nights & other room using PL again? Seems like a big risk to book 2 rooms for 5 nights without knowing. I guess the risk could remain the same because the subsequent bid could go to a different hotel. Advice?

I'm also wondering about taking taxis with a 2yr old. I can't bring a carseat to the Smithsonian for the day so I am going to have to hold her on my lap if we take a taxi. Will the taxis or police hassle us for that?

[AaronJB]

Good evening. :)

First, please post a reply to what you decided to do in regards to the prior stay discussed in this thread (post what you decided to do in that thread) and then reply to this thread noting that you have replied to the prior thread.

Additionally, I'm not familiar with DC in great detail and board moderator thereuare will not be available for a couple of days, so hopefully in the meantime those more familiar with DC can discuss issues such as Metro distance. The list of PRICELINE hotels that have been reported to the board for DC is available at this link. If you bid on a 3* in a particular area, you could get any of the 3*'s in that zone (or possibly be upgraded to 3.5*)

If you bid for one night and then tried again, you could possibly get a different hotel. You could use the extend your stay option, but I believe you can only extend for the length of your stay. It may be a little easier (although still not guaranteed) to try to do something like this via HOTWIRE.

As for the Calendar of Wins, possibly not many people planning a DC trip for that time period yet (?)

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchase.

[sleepless2]

I've updated the previous thread. This trip is turning out to be a similar thought process - finding two rooms through PRICELINE at a bargain rate seems harder than finding one big room that I can ID.

I'm looking at using HOTWIRE if I can ID a particular hotel. I am interested in the Embassy Suites at 1250 22nd St NW because it can handle all of our party in one room. I need help ID'ing it in Hotwire. Expedia lists the hotel at $189/nt for two queens. HOTWIRE has only one 3.5* in the Embassy Row area with Botique, Fitness, Restaurant, Business, High Speed and two doubles for $144. I figured out I can look up vacation packages for 3.5* and see the Embassy Suites but I don't see where it lists the amenity icons. When I look at details it seems to be using Expedia's hotel info. I thought there used to be a way to get a Travelocity rating, count, and amenity icons? I'm guessing that changed within the last year. It pretty much matches the Expedia amenities, but HOTWIRE lists it at 80% recommended with 2 double beds but Expedia lists 95% and 2 queen beds. Is this within tolerances to be the same hotel?

[AaronJB]

One used to be able to go to the vacation package side of HOTWIRE in order to get help narrowing down what was showing on the other side of the service. However, a few months ago, that stopped being the case, as the packages became handled by Expedia.

The ES is $182 on Expedia, but there's an extra $20 added at checkout for extra person fee for the third adult, making it $202. However, coupon code 10NOV takes $10 off.

When I search for 4 on Orbitz, the 4* Melrose Hotel has 1 King Executive Suites for $143, then coupon code WELCOME10 takes another 10% off. Unfortunately, that HOTWIRE property has not yet been ID'd/reported to the board, but it would not be the ES, as that is not a boutique property.

Thank you for using the site's PRICELINE, HOTWIRE or Expedia links.

[slygirl]

Stick with either

Conv Ctr / Cap Hill 1-4

White House / Downtown 1-4

I used to live in Silver Spring and from that metro station, it takes about 25 minutes to get into DC. To switch lines and go the Smithsonian it is about 30-40 minutes. Keep in mind that the red line and the orange line have many delays. Being as it is a station that is fairly popular, you will probably not wait more than 5-8 minutes for a train to go into the city. I'm not sure how late you want to stay in DC before heading back to the hotel but the later it gets, the longer you wait for a train. Not much of an issue at rush hour. I always work closing shifts at my hotel so at 9 or 10pm I'll be waiting 10-15 minutes for a train.

I used to work in Bethesda, too--coming from Silver Spring, it was faster to take a bus than to take the Metro. Bethesda's way near the end of the red line by way of Shady Grove. Getting there from Smithsonian would be a long trek. And from what I remember there are not too many hotels there. Mostly Marriott since that's their HQ.

I use PRICELINE to book rooms in DC. I personally like picking Dupont Circle... it is on the red line, but it is only 3 stops away from Metro Center and there are lots of restaurants nearby. Foggy Bottom/Georgetown is another good one, but only if you are also interested in shopping/restaurants.

Many people underestimate how much walking they will do in this fine city. I think your best bet is White House / Downtown.

[whidbeyone]

Hello Sleepless2-

I have bid Washington DC quite a few time since I go there on business a couple of times per year. In fact I will be there from the 16th to the 20th of February, just after you are there. I won a bid for the night of the 19th for the 4* Liaison Hotel on Capitol Hill for $62 just a few days ago. If you are willing to split your bid, I think a similar price could be had for the 12th and 13th (weekend) and possibly the 14th (since the 15th is a holiday). (The 13th could be a little more of a problem this weekend than usual because of Valentines Day.) You could then bid a little higher for the nights of the 10th and 11th and still stay within your overall budget for 2 rooms at an average of $80 per room per night. I think that is very possible. Since you have so many free rebids at the 4* level you could start low and even get lucky for the weeknights. You would have to be open to the possibility of getting a different hotel on the two bids so you might need to move during your stay. I don't think there are any "clunkers" at 4* or even 3.5* in the DT-WH, CC-CH, or DC-WP zones, though the Omni Shoreham and Marriott Wardman Park are a ways out in the DC-WP zone, but there is a Metro stop not far from either of them and they are near the zoo if that interests you and are nice properties in any case. I saw a $65 win at the Marriott Wardman Park for a Mid-week Tues-Thurs stay the last week in January, so maybe you can catch a bargain there too.

Having said that I think I would start with DT-WH even down to 3*, then bid CC-CH at 4* and 3.5*, and then move to DC-WP at 4* and 3.5*. I'd start my bidding at about $60 for all star levels, but be willing to raise your bid a little more per bid on the 3.5* and 3* bidding sequences since you won't have as many free rebids. If you get an offer to bid again for a certain increase in your bid, do not take it but make another bid for about 1/2 of the increase suggested by Priceline as they will almost always accept less than the suggested amount, sometimes even as little as $1 or $2.

Good Luck and let us know what happens with your bids.

[sleepless2]

Thanks for all your replies. I found the best price for the Embassy Suites was at their own website for AAA members at $190 for the Wed/Thu, and $145 for Fri/Sat/Sun for an average of $160. The Embasssy Suites is good enough that I wouldn't have wanted to bid on PL and get two rooms unless I could save $40/nt. That would require rates of something like $70 W/T and $53 F/Sa/Sun to get it down to $120/nt. So, I just booked it with Embasssy Suites directly. Thanks for the tips on splitting the booking. For whatever reason the Hilton/Embassy wanted $190/nt for all 5 nts but dropped it to $145 when I booked separately. Sweet!

[yellowdog]

sleepless2

Please check and use our links in the support page for your hotel direct purchases.

Yellowdog.

[KLB]

The DC Metro website has an excellent Trip Planner tool so you can determine traveling times and times between trains. LINK