Priceline Hotel: 4* Paris (St. Germain - Montparnasse) Le Meridien

[loanshark]

Started bidding 03/29/05 (Tue) - 04/04/05 (Mon)

- Started 4* (St Germain/Latin Qtr/Montparnasse) $80, was countered @$124.

- New bid....(Eiffel/Grenelle/Montparnasse), bid $90, was countered @ $126

- New bid....(SG/Latin Qtr/Montparnasse) + (Batignolles/Monmarte/Republique)....due to first bid above, I added Batignolles as a free re-bid...... $90 rejected

- New bid (Eiffel/Grenelle/Montparnasse) + (St Germain/Latin Qtr/Montparnasse)...$95 rejected

Decided to split the bid.....Started Bidding 03/29/05 (Tue) - 04/01/05 (Fri)

- Started 4* (St Germain/Latin Qtr/Montparnasse) $100, was countered @$124.

- Added (Champs Elysees/Opera West), $105, Rejected

- Added (Batignolles as a free re-bid), $108, Rejected

Went back to the original dates...03/29 - 04/04, bid 3* at various prices to a high of $93 Used all zones above, except Batignolles (which is not a free re-bid at the 3 * level)....all rejected, although a bid of $79 in the Grenelle Zone only brought a counter of $101.

At this point, I decided that I would rather pay approximately $115 for a 4* room versus $100 or so for a 3* room, as I had a backup 3* room available to reserve at an average of $136/night.

I thus started 4* 03/30/05 (Wed) - 04/04/05 (Mon), as I figured I could find a room for 03/29/05 if the bid were to go through.

- Started (St Germain/Latin Qtr/Montparnasse) $110, was countered @$132.

- Added (Champs Elysees/Opera West), $113.......And we have a winner!!!!:

Le Meridien Montparnasse (4*)

Your Offer Price: $113.00

Number of Rooms: 1

Number of Nights: 5

Subtotal: $565.00

Taxes & Service Fees: $53.57

Total Charges: $618.57

I attempted to add a night via Priceline for the first night 03/29/05) and received a message that Priceline could not add nights for this particular hotel. So I decided to bid again, in hopes of getting the same hotel.

Bid 4*, St Germain area only, $113, 03/29/05 - 03/30/05....and the result:

Le Meridien Montparnasse (4*)

Your Offer Price: $113.00

Number of Rooms: 1

Number of Nights: 1

Subtotal: $113.00

Taxes & Service Fees: $16.06

Total Charges: $129.06

[thereuare]

THAT is some nice bidding! :)

Congratulations on your win. I think the above is a good example of what we preach, "Have a plan before you start bidding." All of the thinking involved should be done beforehand, with the actual bidding process being somewhat mechanical in nature, knowing what your next move will be each step of the way if your bid is rejected. You obviously had an idea of how much savings you needed for a 3* vs. 4*, and when your 3* bidding failed and the bids become higher, yo switched gears and started for a 4 star.

Took a bit of work, but you did it!

Thanks for sharing the above with us and enjoy your stay.