LoneStar

If you're willing to move, you can often get better opaque deals in London, because some hotels are cheaper on the weekend. Like the well regarded Hilton Islington is often available for $80 (perhaps less with the appreciation of the dollar), but I haven't seen that outside of the Friday-Sunday time period. If you're checking HOTWIRE prices, go beyond the initial screeen to get a full quote from them. Sometimes I've seen them "forget" to charge you the full VAT (priceline never does), which can make hotwire the best deal in England. Even if you buy from PRICELINE, "fiddle around" with your dates on hotwire to see what may be a problem day. If you can stay somewhere else for a night or two, you may find remarkable opaque savings.

I'm sorry I have to say this, but when somebody on a message board alerts you to an internet travel deal that seems "too good to be true," do NOT call the company and ask if it's true! FWIW, I thought the deal was pulled, but it looks like it's still available for some days in January. I don't recommend "just showing up" at the hotel on the "meeting planner's" rate -- trying the priceline price match might be better. But priceline MAY wise up to this as well, so it's not risk free.

A nice x-mas week deal at this very posh resort. $64 was rejected. EDIT: looks like my days and price were cut off in the title 12/29 to 1/1. $65.

I personally would not go above $140 on a 4-star Rome bid -- especially in winter. Plug your dates into these 2 sites: sidestep.com and kayak.com. From there, you will find some excellent deals for winter in Rome from wholesalers like GTA Hotels and venere. You can limit yourself to 4-star or better (and, for tourist purposes, I'd look only in central Rome) and then research the cheapest ones on tripadvisor. Find a good price on a hotel that gets at least 4-stars on tripadvisor and you'll be very happy. Not worth the gamble on priceline above $140 (and might not be worth the risk above $110).

I would think your odds of getting a deal on priceline in Seward for a summer night approaches zero. Of course, you never know, but realistically it's the longest of longshots. That said, don't delay in booking something. That's a busy time there because of their big July 4 events (well known in Alaska). There's a highly regarded and inexpensive b&b in town -- and the owner is REAL helpful -- but you have to share a bath. It's the Ballaine House. For more privacy, I'd recommend the Alaska Saltwater Lodge. Their original lodge is right on the Bay if you want a more back-to-nature experience. They also have nice units in town at their Dairy Hill location. The owner also runs an excellent, but expensive, small boat tour into the National Park.

For future travellers, I believe it's the Grand Targhee Resort, but of course I can't be sure. I've never seen it on Hotwire for less than $89, which about what they charge in summer when booked direct. I did once get this property on priceline for less than $40 in mid-June, but I've never seen a similar deal in July or August. Targhee is fairly incovenient to Jackson and Grand Teton NP, so keep that in mind. Jackson itself has sky-high hotel rates in summer. Hotwire has a 3-star property labelled a resort with biz center, shuttle bus and swimming pool that often lists for $149 to $159 in summer. I've never been willing to take a chance at that price, but my guess is that it might be the mediocre Snow King Resort.

Nice to see a good priceline deal on Maui. It's been quite some time. Those dates are in the slow season, though. It will be interesting to see if there are any deals to be had next winter.

I think the Boscolo could be a good guess. But obviously we don't know. It doesn't appear to be a bad hotel (reviews are good, but not great on tripadvisor) but I don't think "the deal" is quite good enough. I saw it price in the $150s on HOTWIRE. In a thread started by norwegianwife last summer, you can see that there are a bunch of very good small hotels in Venice that have summer promo rates at around 120 Euros. For about the same price, I think the odds of "happiness" are higher with these book-direct deals. I'm thinking of hitting Venice this summer, too, and I may try some 4-star priceline deals. The zones don't bother me because at least they only include the lagoon -- you're not going to get a property in Mestre (on the mainland) if you don't want one. A 4-star in the low $100s -- if that's possible -- might be a deal for those willing to roll the dice. Otherwise, I'll book direct.

Ironic that folks are now getting this hotel for only $60 after the La Quinta cancelled the $40 priceline reservations as an "obvious" mistake 3 weeks after the fact. :) I've noticed that there are many cheap published rates in Palm Springs this summer under $100, so it pays to be careful bidding above that $60 level. I think the La Quinta is one of the better properties, so you did well for yourself (even if you didn't save a ton of money).

You obviously got a good deal compared to published rates, and for one night it doesn't really matter where you stay. That said, I would advise others to wait before paying that price IF you want to try to snag one of the fancy resorts. Just because there are no $70 rates at the Caribe Hilton now doesn't mean they won't load later. Early February is a bit of a slow travel period in the middle of "the season," so deals do pop up. In my mind, there's no reason to lock in a non-refundable priceline stay more than 90 days in advance unless the deal is truly sensational -- which we have seen periodically in Puerto Rico.

There haven't been a lot of successful bids for the Sheraton Maui recently. Indeed, bidding for Maui on priceline and HOTWIRE has gotten pretty unattractive in the past year or so (that could of course change -- there are published reports that occupancy levels in Hawaii are down, due to the higher prices, and unsold rooms are usually good news for opaque bidders). I agree that the Sheraton is the best place to stay on Kaanapali. I highly recommend it. If you don't have SPG miles to burn, I'd recommend reading some previous posts and the Starwood board at Flyertalk to see if you can find a Starwood Vacation Ownership package (which may or may not require a timeshare tour) for your stay. I think you will get much better value that way than trying to bid on priceline. Unfortunately, that's the current "lay of the land" in Hawaii.

A nice rate, given that the property's lowest published rate is well north of $200. Seems to be a business-oriented hotel, so it MIGHT be Sunday only (I've gotten other good deals in San Diego on Sundays). My $48 bid was rejected, so $50 may be the bottom. They annoyingly charge for parking, but I've heard there's some limited free parking available. Hotel gets generally good reviews.

Once again, this property is available direct from Hilton for about $90 or $95 using the 50% off Entertainment Card. So don't bid for it on priceline and pay more (and give priceline an extra fee)! :) If you buy direct, you may also qualify for HiltonHHonors points (they gave them to me on the rate). I'm a little surprised Priceline's rating this only 3 stars. It IS a resort. Mind you, not a grand resort, but a resort. I'd personally rate it 4 stars to differentiate it from the Hawaiian megaresorts (like the Poipu Hyatt). For under $100, it's probably the best hotel deal in all of Hawaii these days. Book it before it's pulled.

This is the Radisson Maingate. For the next several months, GTA Hotels and EasyClickTravel have great rates on the property (well, we'll see what happens now that we've alerted Radisson to it!) that are lower than those on Radisson.com. So using the 25% off best rate guarantee at Radisson.com, you can get the Maingate hotel for between $40 and $50. Read the price match rules carefully and make sure you can live with the restrictions. The Radisson Maingate is a decent 3 star property -- not fantastic, but you probably can't do better on priceline for under $50.

I just looked at HOTWIRE and, for your days, there's a 3 star in Buena Park for $59. Not perfect, but I would think entirely acceptable. So no need to worry about finding a place. Let the deal come to you.