Priceline Hotel: Amsterdam 4* on 7th May 2010 - whats going wrong?!

[dambuster]

Hi folks,

Please furnish me with some of your wisdom here, I'd really welcome some assistance?!

I'm trying to get a 4* in Amsterdam (Museum Quarter) on 7th May 2010 for four nights and am having zero luck. I've bid (per night)

$84

$88

$90

[Romelle]

HOTWIRE has a 4* Museum Quarter for $250. On the other hand, the airport and Amsterdam East both have rooms at $89. You could by a lot of cab fares and train tickets for the difference?

Somebody else will have to tell you what is causing this. Tulips are blooming then, but I don't think that is enough to run up the prices that much.

Romelle

[Rialb]

[thereuare]

Can any guess whats going wrong with my bid,is there some major convention going on at this time? Ive looked but cant seem to find anything...

It would be appreciated if you used the requested PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your future bidding and travel purchases.

[Pascal]

Hi!

It seems to be a busy weekend in Amsterdam, although I don't know the reason. E.g. the Movenpick, which pops up a lot here, is sold out on May 8th. So it might be difficult to get a hotel at a reasonable rate.

We stay there from May 9 for three nights and got it for $74.

You should probably think of splitting your stay/bid...

[BacSi]

The Movenpick is sold out? Not a good sign if you are a bidder.

I just looked at the NH Amsterdam Centre for your dates and they do have openings. But fairly expensive (this is the other hotel you are more than likely to win at the 4* level)

Maybe better luck with a 5* bid?

We are seeing some busy AMS weekends this year. More so than last spring-summer. It may be nothing more than that.

[four leaf clover]

Hi,

The singer Mika is in Amsterdam on May 7th .....must have lots of adoring fans! I have also seen other specific dates force bidders to pay $100 - $105 for 4* hotels. Some break up their stay and bid separately for 1 - 2 nights. Fortunately, this does not have to be done very often.

Good luck with the bidding!

[dambuster]

Thank you for everyones comments - It must be Mika, although can't think why!! - Cheers & I will continue to bid using the PRICELINE link.

[dambuster]

*Update*

Still no luck - Is anyone else experiencing problems - getting the usual $80-$85/4* accepted bids in Amsterdam April/May time?

Thanks for your continued feedback everyone.

[Romelle]

I looked at 4*s on HOTWIRE for your dates. City Center-Museum Quarter had the following rates:

8 - $250

9 - $250

10 - $140

11 - $140

Oddly enough, the per dates on Expedia don't have such a clear pattern.

Have you tried splitting your bid into two parts? May 8 & 9 in one, and May 10 & 11 in the other. Then bidding the least expensive dates first? When bidding a span of dates, in order to be successful one's bid has to be equal to or greater than the highest priced night. For the May 8 and 9 you probably will either have bid a whole lot higher, or consider other areas and lower star properties.

You also could try bidding 9, 10 and 11 first, and then deal with 8 later. The Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins had wins between $80 and $90 for your last three dates but no reported wins for your first date.

If you happen to be arriving in the afternoon or evening, maybe an airport hotel could work for the first night?

I suppose you could get lucky at the very last minute with the bidding, but it might be a good idea to make some cancelable back-up reservations now. Then you could keep bidding to see if you can improve the situation.

Romelle

[dambuster]

Update -

Ive given up - simply cannot get a bid accepted in Amsterdam!!

I think the prices have gone up, perhaps due to the time of year?...can anyone verify if they have been getting 4* Museum Qtr hotels recently & at what bid?? thx

[four leaf clover]

I looked up some 4* hotels and it seems that Friday 7th and Saturday 8th are more expensive than the other two nights. CitizenM Hotel, for example, prepaid rate (excluding city tax) is 109 euro on Friday; 119 euro on Sat. night and only 89 euro on Sunday and Monday nights. So it would, perhaps, make sense to break up your nights accordingly on PRICELINE, if you want to keep rates down. Of course, I can understand that this arrangement may not not suit you!

[Hemikiwi]

I looked up some 4* hotels and it seems that Friday 7th and Saturday 8th are more expensive than the other two nights. CitizenM Hotel, for example, prepaid rate (excluding city tax) is 109 euro on Friday; 119 euro on Sat. night and only 89 euro on Sunday and Monday nights. So it would, perhaps, make sense to break up your nights accordingly on PRICELINE, if you want to keep rates down. Of course, I can understand that this arrangement may not not suit you!

I think you wil have more luck if you try same numbers for 5 star. Tripadvisor amsterdam forum has some great threads on 5 star priceline. Good Luck!

[dambuster]

Hi Guys,

Looking to book for 2 rooms - it seems harder to win on NYOP at the rates im used to.Any reason do you think?

Thanks

[MadFlyer]

I book multiple room reservations frequently. If the inventory is there then you should have same chance with 2 room reservation.

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

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

[haaletaja]

Hi!

I'm trying to bid for approximately same time - 5-9th May 2010. So far I have tried 5* for 100, 4* for 80, and 75 $ for 3* in Museum/Center area. Can someone give me some suggestions? Should I try to split up the period (but getting the same hotel 2 times doesn't seem to be very likely). Or what would be the good $ to bid? Any success from the people who started this topic? Got a deal?

[Romelle]

Hi!

I'm trying to bid for approximately same time - 5-9th May 2010. So far I have tried 5* for 100, 4* for 80, and 75 $ for 3* in Museum/Center area. Can someone give me some suggestions? Should I try to split up the period (but getting the same hotel 2 times doesn't seem to be very likely). Or what would be the good $ to bid? Any success from the people who started this topic? Got a deal?

Look up your dates on HOTWIRE, one day at a time. If there is a lot of difference in the rates, that suggests one would be better splitting the bid into the high and low groups. And bid the least expensive dates first.

Or you can do the same thing on Expedia giving your full span of dates, since Expedia lists the rates day by day.

Are you familiar with PRICELINE's "add a night" feature? You might want to read about that on PRICELINE also. Essentially, after a successful bid PL will SOMETIMES let you add additional nights. Same hotel. SOMETIMES at the rate you bid, but more likely at a higher rate.

I put an answer for you here so you could find it, but really you need to start your very own separate thread for your bidding.

Romelle

[europa00]

Mika is at a venue with a 5,500 capacity. The real issue is the Giro d'Italia, a major road cycling race, which is in Amsterdam over this weekend. Will be a lot going on associated with this - http://www.giromania.nl

[frenchmn]

When I stayed in Amsterdam in early May a few years ago, I stayed at the airport for around $75 a night.

Saving over $100 a night buys a lot of shuttle service.

[actraveler]

I'm an airline employee and go to Amsterdam a lot.

When I can't get something on PRICELINE or HOTWIRE, I go the the Tourist Office on the Platform upstairs in Centraal Station. It's the platform closest to the main entrance. You can also compare prices with the GWK Office downstairs as they sometimes have different and competing attractive offers.

I'm going the weekend of 14-16MAY, and I wound up at the Airport Sheraton. If you're a SPG member with points, you can get a room for 2 nights for US$60 plus 4000 points per night. I've got that and will try the tourist office because it's cancelable up until 6PM.

I have never been disappointed with the Tourist Office or GWK. I often walk out with 4* & 5* places for less than US$100 inc taxes. Not bad for a walk-up.

If all else fails with PRICELINE.......

Good luck,

Hal

actraveler