Priceline Hotel: Bidding Help 3/18/10 to 3/21/10 (D.C.) - National Marathon

[nswensen]

A friend and I are running the National Marathon on March 20th. We're looking at staying near the start/finish line, but aren't opposed to taking the Metro a short distance. The start/finish line is near the DC Armory (2001 East Capitol Street, S.E. Washington D.C., 20003). I'm not sure what zone this would be in for Priceline or Hotwire. I wondered if someone more familiar with DC would know?

We're looking to get a REALLY good deal - like $55 max per night - because we have an option to stay at a friend's house but it'd just be more convenient to stay closer. We'd be happy with a 2.5* or 3*, maybe even a 2* depending on the safety of the accomodations (we are both women). If we can't find something for all three nights, we might just want to get a good deal on Friday night to stay overnight before the marathon.

The cheapest rate for an official race hotel is $129/night at the Courtyard Marriot, D.C. We have a reservation there already for Friday night if we can't find a better option via Priceline or Hotwire.

Thanks for the help!

[thereuare]

It appears PRICELINE's DC Suburbs-Northeast Area zone is closest to this location and on HOTWIRE it's the New York Ave NE-National Arboretum zone. Note that the start/finish line doesn't appear to actually be in either of these zones, but these look to be the closest. I'd start by looking at each of these zones to see if you would be willing to accept a hotel anywhere within the shaded region of the zone.

I would also enter the address above into the search box at MAPS and HOTELS.com as this will give you an overview of the area (as well as see that there aren't too many hotels in this immediate area0 From there i'd also find the nearest metro station and consider alternate zones which have that metro line running thru the zone.

Let us know what you find and we'll take it from there.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[nswensen]

Thanks for the advice. It was very helpful!

It looks like HOTWIRE is out because their prices were too high for the zone that I would want (actually South of Mall instead of NY Ave). I think for PRICELINE we'd be happy with DC Suburbs-Northeast Area or Convention Ctr-Capital Hill.

There's only one hotel for previous wins in the DC Suburbs-Northeast area. It's 2.5* which would be fine. Apparently the area isn't that great though, so that may be a concern.

There are multiple hotels and past wins in the Convention Ctr-Capital Hill area. From researching on Hotels.com, it seems some of these hotels have fewer rooms available. Does that affect PRICELINE's availability or do they allot a certain number of rooms to PRICELINE regardless? They also seem a bit more expensive. I'd appreciate any thoughts!

Thanks!

[thereuare]

Rates are not really that high for these dates... but a hotel room in Washington DC for ~$50 may be too much to ask for, imo.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[Doubleplay]

Do not bid in DC Suburbs-Northeast Area. You could get a lousy neighborhood. There are no hotels within walking distance to the start/finish line. The closest would be Capitol Hill. In the past, Metro opens early to accommodate race participants and spectators.