Priceline Hotel: looking for 4 star in Embarcadero weekend of April

[mrochon]

Hi,

I've never tried Priceline and am a little scared...

I'm going to a concert in San Jose with friends but want to just stay in the city for the weekend. Friends are flying in and have never been here. We are going to share a room, so I just need two double beds. The room needs to be roomy and would like to find a hotel that comps your parking...yeah right, but I can hope!) If there is no comp parking, a place where you can park for free around the area on the weekends. I've seen someof the prices people have gotten rooms for so I'm hoping what I would like to pay isn't unreasonable. I would like to get something for around 70 a night. Another thing, do you ask for two doubles upon check in or do you know when you get the hotel that's what you want?

Anyone have suggestions for me?

Thanks,

Michelle

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Few comments for starters....

With Priceline you're buying an opaque hotel, as you don't know and can't pick the hotel beforehand... you only get to choose the star level and the zone(s) you would like the hotel to be in (based upon Priceline's zone boundaries). Therefore, it is impossible to ensure that you will get a hotel that offers free parking or that there will be free parking in the immediate area.

Priceline only guarantees double occupancy, and not bed-type. Many have bid on hotels for families of four or more, but they take a risk in doing so (taking the area and such into consideration... doing this in a family oriented area like Orlando i think is a small risk, doing the same for a hotel in NYC is a much greater risk). Once you win a hotel you can call the hotel and put in a request for your bed type, but this is just a request and no guarantees it will be honored (some hotels go as far to say "i can't change anything on the reservation, make your preference known at check-in).

If bed type and parking costs are 'deal breakers' for you, you may want to book direct (at much higher cost, and i'd sooner add that you're likely to be able to get two rooms on priceline for less than the price of one booked conventionally), or try EasyClickTravel or Hotwire... each will probably cost you a bit more than Priceline (but still cheaper than conventional rates), but you'll have a bit more control over the actually property received.

If you'd like help going forward let us know your thoughts/answers as to the above and the actual dates of your stay.

[mrochon]

Thank you so much. There is just so much to absorb here, lots of info! Bed type is a deal breaker for me. Parking not so much, I'm familiar enough with parking in the city if I have to park somewhere else, just would be nice if I didn't have too. I'm thinking hotwire might be best for me too, I will definitely check out the other link!

Michelle

[thereuare]

You can continue this thread for your stay and if you ultimately use HOTWIRE we'll move it to that section of the board.

With Hotwire you'll need to select the actual number or people in the room in order to ensure enough sleeping accomodations for everyone in the room. Do note that this usually (but not always) also raises the price somewhat. Many hotel chains now also charge extra for more than double occupancy on their own websites as well.

[mrochon]

Now I am really confused! I have a degree in business and my brain is boggle with all these theories or maybe it's because it's late and I'm tired.

I just want to know what are the general prices certain star hotels go for. So I have an idea of where to start.

Is there an area on this board that you can direct me so I can see what theses zones are? It seems hotwire has there zones broken out a little more than Priceline. After all this reading I think Priceline is now the way I want to go, but who knows that coudl change again as I read more.. :)

Thank You,

Michelle

[thereuare]

Let's make this easy....

You can see the Priceline zones by going to Priceline, selecting a city and your dates, and on the next screen you'll see how they have broken up the zone and the geographic regions. Look at which zones you are willing to accept (you can click the lnks next to each zone for a close-up look). Most choose the USE-Embarcadero zone but i don't know how this fits in with your intended plans itinerary.

Next you'll need to know about re-bidding, which is explaned here: RE-BIDDING EXPLAINED. If you are bidding for 4 star hotels you will have 5 re-bid zones in this area... see if you can figure out which ones they are and post them here for the board to confirm them for you. If you're confused, list each zone in San Francisco (as per the first paragraph above) and the highest zone offered in each area (you do this the 'old fashined way'... checkmark the first zone, click NEXT, see the highest star level offered, click BACK, UNcheck first zone, checkmark the next zone, click NEXT, record higher star level offered, repeat until all zones are done and report them here).

Once you decide upon the zone(s) you want and we know you have your re-bid zones correct, let us know what your maximum bid is and we'll detail a strategy for you to follow.

If i've left something out feel free to ask (but please keep questions for this same stay as replies to this thread so that you don't have questions spread throughout the board and that this thread has continuity)

How did you overcome the bed situation... are you bidding for more than one room or are you going to chance it?

[mrochon]

I think I'm going to chance it. I've done some more reading and it seems people have had pretty good results with calling the hotels afterwards. I'm also going to call around to the hotels that I want in that specific area before I bid and feel them out. It's a good thing I started looking into this now.

I could stay anywhere in the city, but I'm looking at the Embarcadero area just because it's pretty much a central point for sights and transportation.

Michelle

[thereuare]

When you are ready to bid, go thru the re-bidding 'exercise' mentioned above we'll provide a step-by-step strategy to follow.