Hotwire Hotel: Newbie needs help planning Hollywood trip

[BuhBuy]

Hi All

Planning a trip to Hollywood CA...want my hotel to be as close to 6900 Hollywood Boulevard (the approximate address of the Hollywood & Highland complex, zipcode 90028) as possible. Dates are April 21 -26 2010.

I've booked a private room in a hostel (can cancel it as late as 48 hrs before check in with 0 fees, total cost with LA Tax etc = $350) so I have time to play around with rates. Hostel is not as close to Hollywood & Highland as I would like so I'm looking to see if I can do better price & distance wise...I am somewhat flexible in price but if I pay more I want to be closer to H & H not farther (I'm doing the public transportation thing). I'm also looking for clean, quiet, secure place (hostel might fail on all 3 of these it's online reviews vary wildly & of late they're more bad than good)

I got the following 3* Hollywood to come up in a search

AMENITIES:

Smoke Free Rooms

Complimentary Breakfast

Fitness Center

Laundry Facilities

High-speed Internet Access

BED SELECTION...if you want 2 queens it's $69/night otherwise it's $64/night I only need one bed so the $64/night is competitive if I'm closer to H&H & not further

Closest match I found on the pinned list is

3* Ramada Inn Hollywood near Universal (which is even further away than the hostel where I have reservations)

but the bed selection thing is throwing me off. ID anyone?

Reviewed positively by 55% of customers...am I being an idiot or are those reviews not available to be read while you're trying to decide to book the place or not? Couldn't investigate that further :)

Also HW is showing this 3* hotel as a 'Best Value' property...what the heck does that mean?

Yesterday a 4* Hotel at $153 (which I figure is the new W Hollywood...it has all the matching amenities & deal is similar to what others have booked for Feb & March 2010), which is a lot closer to H&H (but I'm not sure I want to spend that much yet because from looking at Google Street View/Map pics the W looks like it's right on the edge of where Hollywood goes from renewed to sketchy & dumpy-looking) had that 'Best Value' designation on it...I did a bunch of searching on W Hollywood prices & found a $189/night listing on the hotel's website so the Hotwire deal is not as smoking as it could be ($36/night savings isn't that earth shattering)...it's up for the same $153 today but the 'Best Value' thing is gone...what gives?

I might be talked into the W Hollywood but not at $150+ a night...I'll keep my eye on it.

Finally does anyone know if HW or PL work with either the Hollywood Orchid or the Hollywood Celebrity...really like their locations although they definitely look dowdier than the W Hollywood. If I could get into either one for $100/night or less I'd go for it.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Best guess for the 3* above is the Ramada Inn Hollywood near Universal.

All hotels which have been reported to the board would be found in the Priceline Hotel List or Hotwire Hotel List.

You may also want to enter your desired address location in the search box at MAPS and HOTELS.com as that might be an easier interface for you to find the hotels closest to your desirect location.

Let us know whatever you decide to do for the above stay or if we can be of further help.

[Colfax]

Welcome to BetterBidding, BuhBye.

I don't recommend that Ramada for your trip as it's not near Hollywood/Highland. Sometimes Hotwire has the 3* Hollywood Heights Hotel and that would work out well for you locationwise but HHH isn't on Hotwire right now.

I'll toss out a few options:

#1) Hollywood Motel 6. It's a Motel 6 but since you're booked at a hostel now Motel 6 might also be in your comfort zone. You'll have a private room anyhow. Motel 6 is four blocks from Hollywood-Highland and $53.99 for your dates. This is probably your cheapest viable option.

#2) Hollywood Orchid Suites. Excellent location behind the Kodak with free parking, breakfast, and internet. It's $119 for your dates. HOS has never come up on Priceline or Hotwire though. You'd have to book them conventionally. (I didn't check the Hollywood Celebrity Hotel you mentioned...I'm not familiar with it.)

#3) Bid for a 4* on PRICELINE. $110-130 range, guessing. You could win any of Roosevelt, W, or Renaissance. Roosevelt & Renaissance are very close to H/H. W is a mile away but VERY easy to get from W to H&H on Metro. The Hollywood/Vine Metro stop is practically next to the W's door. Ride it one stop west to H/H. Couldn't be easier.

#4) Bid for a 3* on Priceline. $65-85 range, guessing. Hollywood Heights Hotel is the only 3* that's ever come up on PRICELINE. Close to H/H. There's always a chance some other 3* could come up for the first time but I don't think it's likely.

Your thoughts?

[BuhBuy]

Welcome to BetterBidding

I don't recommend that Ramada for your trip as it's not near Hollywood/Highland. Sometimes Hotwire has the 3* Hollywood Heights Hotel and that would work out well for you locationwise but HHH isn't on Hotwire right now.

That's what I figured...not interested in that option.

I'll toss out a few options:

#1) Hollywood Motel 6. It's a Motel 6 but since you're booked at a hostel now Motel 6 might also be in your comfort zone. You'll have a private room anyhow. Motel 6 is four blocks from Hollywood-Highland and $53.99 for your dates. This is probably your cheapest viable option.

It's not about cheapest possible as it is about value for money. Wasn't thrilled with the reviews online I read of this place but it sounds like the best of the cheap chain accommodations.

#2) Hollywood Orchid Suites. Excellent location behind the Kodak with free parking, breakfast, and internet. It's $119 for your dates. HOS has never come up on Priceline or Hotwire though. You'd have to book them conventionally. (I didn't check the Hollywood Celebrity Hotel you mentioned...I'm not familiar with it.)

Last part 1st the Hollywood Celebrity is online directly at

http://www.hotelcelebrity.com/

I see $103/night there for dates I want. The parking there is also free (though reviews say sometimes it is tough to snag a spot in their small lot) as well as free Internet & continental breakfast, but I'm going car-free so a parking space irrelevant to my circumstances. The Celebrity has privileges with the Magic Castle so if that matters to others (i.e. being able to get in & see magic shows there) that's a plus. The Orchid & Celebrity are close to one another geographically & in their reviews (people like the proximity to H&H but they see the hotels as a little dowdy/not quite up to date & both have some noisy room issues).

#3) Bid for a 4* on PRICELINE. $110-130 range, guessing. You could win any of Roosevelt, W, or Renaissance. Roosevelt & Renaissance are very close to H/H. W is a mile away but VERY easy to get from W to H&H on Metro. The Hollywood/Vine Metro stop is practically next to the W's door. Ride it one stop west to H/H. Couldn't be easier.

I definitely know Roosevelt is sold out for those dates...it's the partner hotel for event I'm attending (the best deal offered to me on it for the event was $169/night for std queen- $209/night for deluxe king which I thought was kind of lofty but I'll give you those numbers so future bidders on PL can keep them in mind, no idea what their suites, cabanas & specialty rooms were offered at because I didn't ask). It also has a rep for sometimes having noisy guests & I like my sleep.

Renaissance is new partner hotel for the event's attendees who are slow to book (like me) & event rate is more like $200/night for their cheapest room. I don't want to go that high per night on just my room thanks...it's about $50/night over what I want to spend & I doubt a $150/night max bid from me will be accepted given the event taking place.

So best I could do on Hotwire or Priceline is probably going to be the W Hollywood, assuming they're working with PL as well as HW. And I'm not that hot to stay at the W...it's right on the edge of where Hollywood Boulevard goes seedy looking and I need to get around after dark somehow (public transport or cabbing it). I'm sure it's a nice place, and as a brand new hotel the staff will work hard to service their guests well inside the 4 walls of the hotel complex but the area is seedy & so far only rockstars are its clientele (the W's big opening weekend was Grammy Awards weekend). Rock stars + hotel = not good bet for assured good quiet night's sleep (for a fun place to drink & maybe celebrity spotting, especially if you like musicians though, it looks aces) :)

#4) Bid for a 3* on Priceline. $65-85 range, guessing. Hollywood Heights Hotel is the only 3* that's ever come up on PRICELINE. Close to H/H. There's always a chance some other 3* could come up for the first time but I don't think it's likely.

I think that is probably the best option if it were solely about keeping what I spend as small as possible but since I'd rather be sure of the location (safe, quiet, clean), I went with another option.

After I posted here, I did some research into nearby B&Bs online, found one I liked the looks & location of (chatted extensively with the owners last night whom I found really cared about accommodating me & who gave me a great discount rate on a cool room with private entrance, gated parking, a pool, free wi-fi, & a made to order breakfast as well as a lot of other little things) & booked it last night.

I appreciate all the help here on this site...you all make using PL & HW something a lot more viable (totally blind bidding is not something I was comfortable with before I found this site)...maybe on my next trip I'll book through here.

Thanks everyone...I'll let you know how the B&B stay goes.

BTW the hostel that initially looked like a good option but is now piling up bad reviews online (not clean, mice & bugs spotted, unhelpful staff, if you stay in a dorm security can really be a problem as your roommates might or might not lock up) is the Banana Bungalow Hollywood. It has a sister Banana Bungalow in West Hollywood (they're both converted old 50s motels with some private suites, some private rooms & dorm rooms) but the WeHo location is further to H&H than the plain Hollywood location is.

The other hostel options in Hollywood either only had dorms left or had worse reviews online.

[AaronJB]

Thank you for keeping us updated. Enjoy your stay and we look forward to helping with your next trip. :)