grram1

Was thrilled with this win! We are going to see our Dodgers open up the baseball season in San Diego, and were hoping to land this hotel, which is literally across the street from one of Petco's entrances (the "Gaslamp" entrance) :D . We normally would've used Priceline, but the bidding area for downtown is just too big, and there was virtually no chance of landing a 4* in the Gaslamp, since there was a 4* Sheraton avail in Harbor Island for much cheaper, and that hotel is in the same Priceline bidding zone, and has been won in the past. Hotwire has much more precise zones for downtown San Diego, and we wanted an hotel within walking distance to Petco (so we preferred the Gaslamp South, but even the Gaslamp North would've worked). Note: This hotel was not showing up (at the time of booking) when searching for more than 2 people in the room (a different 4*, likely one of the two Hiltons near Petco, would show up... different amenities, and showing "Recommended in 90% of Hotwire Customer Reviews", and a 4 of 5 Tripadvisor rating). Note: This hotel currently shows "Recommended in 100% of Hotwire Customer Reviews", and a 4.5 of 5 Tripadvisor rating. Amenities: Smoke Free Rooms, Business Center, Fitness Center, High-Speed Internet Access, Restaurant(s) Note: Direct book (non-refundable) rate through Marriott.com was $159 at time of booking.

It was in the plain "Harrisburg" zone... not in the East or or West Harrisburg zones.

Very pleased with this win. Had failed bids on Priceline up to $130 before booking this through Hotwire at $139/night (with little savings left to be had by continuing Priceline bids at this point, it was worth it to book through Hotwire where I can list the kids on the reservation). Normal rate is $216/night, so we did pretty good with this one :) Crowne Plaza Hilton Head Island Beach Resort 130 Shipyard Dr., Hilton Head Island, SC, 29928 Hotel Phone:(843) 842-2400 Check-in Date:Wed, Jul 21, 2010 Check-out Date:Fri, Jul 23, 2010 Amenities: Resort-Near Beach-Fitness Center-Pool(s)-Restaurant(s)-Business Center-Laundry Facilities-High-speed Internet Access-Golf Nearby-Tennis Nearby-Children's Activity Program 2 adults / 2 children

Originally was targetting a 3.5* (Sheraton) in area, but after failed bids up to $95 changed strategy to go after 3*. Used multiple free rebid zones, and raised bid by $1/time after getting offer for "one time" re-bid if I would add $15 to a $50 bid... wound up winning it at $55. This one gets mostly poor reviews on Tripadvisor... we're hoping we are the exception. I will say that I was a bit disappointed when I called to request a room with 2 beds, and they wouldn't even make a note on the reservation of the request. I understand 100% that it's the hotels peragative to assign whatever room they want to... but in dozens of opaque wins 90% of the time they will grant the request over the phone (or via. e-mail)... and when they can't, they will normally at least note the request on the reservation... this is the first time I've ever simply been told they could do nothing... not even make a note on the reservation :) . We've been able to get what we wanted about 95% of the time when using PRICELINE... and on the rare exeptions the hotel has normally been very graicious (and has offered extra bedding, etc.)... so even if this one doesn't work out well... it will be the exception... Here's to hoping for the best. Four Points By Sheraton Harrisburg Harrisburg 800 East Park Drive Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17111 717-561-2800 Check-In Date: Sun, Jul 11, 2010 / After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Wed, Jul 14, 2010 / 12:00 PM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $55.00 Subtotal: $165.00 Taxes & Fees: $27.36 Total Charges*: $192.36

Absolutely thrilled with this win. This hotel fluctuates between the #1 and #2 ranked property per tripadvisor. This is a nice savings over the special the hotel was running of $179/night (which was still a decent deal compared to other similar properties in area). :) Avia Savannah Historic Savannah And Riverfront 14 Barnard Street Savannah, Georgia 31401 912-233-2116 Check-In Date: Mon, Jul 19, 2010 / After 04:00 PM Check-Out Date: Wed, Jul 21, 2010 / 11:00 AM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $99.00 Subtotal: $198.00 Taxes & Fees: $37.32 Total Charges*: $235.32

Used multiple re-bids to get lowest rate avail at time of booking of $36/night. Marriott Charlotte Executive Park Executive Park - Airport South 5700 Westpark Dr Charlotte, North Carolina 28217 704-527-9650 Check-In Date: Fri, Jul 9, 2010 / After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sun, Jul 11, 2010 / 12:00 PM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $36.00 Subtotal: $72.00 Taxes & Fees: $19.30 Total Charges*: $91.30

Used multiple free rebid zones, raised $1 at a time once I got message at $35 that I could add $15 for a "one time opportunity", and landed this Marriott for $41/night. Marriott Perimeter Center 246 Perimeter Center Pkwy Ne Atlanta, Georgia 30346 770-394-6500 Check-In Date: Sat, Jul 17, 2010 / After 04:00 PM Check-Out Date: Mon, Jul 19, 2010 / 01:00 PM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $41.00 Subtotal: $82.00 Taxes & Fees: $19.60 Total Charges*: $101.60

We are a family with small kids as well. I have used PRICELINE extensively for 6 years now with over a 90% success rate at getting the bedding type that we want. Once you've booked the room just call the hotel directly and place a request for a room with two beds (this is hit or miss... but most of the time they will at least note your request... and about 1/2 of the time they'll just go ahead and give you your request right then and there). At times it does happen where hotel room availability is such that they won't be able to accommodate your request for 2 beds. San Diego is one of our favorite weekend getaways. In dozens of trips we've been assigned a room with only 1 bed three times... the last time was recently in a 4* in La Jolla (Torre pines Hilton). For what it's worth the hotels have actually been pretty understanding... each time we were able to get extra bedding and have the kids sleep on the floor (so it's not like we were relegated to sneaking them in/out of the hotel ;-) If you're really worried about it, and still want to seek a deep discount, I would suggest HOTWIRE... you can list the kids on that reservation (and thus guarantee the desired bedding)... but it's been our experience that the very best deals are through Priceline. For what it's worth we normally go with Priceline... until we get within $10 of the HOTWIRE price (you don't bid with Hotwire... it's also an opaque service, but they simply give you a price and you either take it or leave it). Once we get within $10 of the Hotwire price we figure that added piece of mind is worth the minor charge (plus you'll know ahead of time if the property has a pool, or other amenities that may appeal to you... as those are also listed before you purchase on HOTWIRE). If it's weighing on your mind, it's never a bad idea to book a cancel-able back-up plan (like the Hyatt you mentioned for $168/night)... as long as there's no fee to cancel, you've got nothing to lose (it's actually an established strategy... kinda like taking out insurance). As for location... it really depends on what you're into. Coastal and Mission bay areas are both good choices... downtown can be fun too... but parking is higher downtown, and it's a little more hectic... but there's a lot to see and do on the other hand. We've stayed downtown a few times, but normally either choose the Coastal or Mission Valley areas (they may have changed names... PRICELINE does that with some regularity). Sometimes we make our choice based strictly upon where the best deals are at that time (you can use this web site to see where rooms are being won, and in what price range... then play with it using Priceline). San Diego is awesome! We love Seaworld, they have a world-class zoo, and too many beaches to name... one of our favorites is in La Jolla... just a block or two from the Hard Rock Cafe there's a scenic beach with a seal colony... http://www.lajollaseals.com/ Downtown is also surprisingly clean and welcoming (compared to most cities of its' size)... lots of good shopping and dining.

Started bidding at $55 and worked up $5 at a time until, at $65 was met with a "one time offer" to add $17 and rebid... which instead of accepting we proceeded to add $1 at a time until we hit at $74. This is a very good deal (best direct rates offered are $149... best available for my nights was $179)... especially for a holiday weekend. This property is very nice (have stayed here 3 other times... once through Priceline, and twice booked direct). It gets a very nice Tripadvisor rating of 4 of 25 La Jolla hotels also. Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $74.00 Subtotal: $148.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $27.98 Total Charges*: $175.98

Very happy with this win. The excellent info on this website made this a slam-dunk I.D. before purchase. The $104 rate represents a very nice savings over the $179.10 net-direct (best) rate offered from the hotel's web site. For several days leading into this purchase it was listing at $109/night... so it looks like we got it at a pretty good time. This hotel is also highly regarded on Tripadvisor (10 out of 242 area hotels!). As a bonus we got to use a bunch of "hot bucks", and only ended up out a little over $100 out of pocket for the 3-day stay! Ironically last time we were in San Diego we stumbled across this hotel (got lost on the way to a restaurant) and we noted how nice it looked and commented that we'd like to try it someday... now we get to try it out at a huge discount! Doubletree Hotels San Diego-Mission Valley 7450 Hazard Center Drive San Diego, California 92108 (619) 297-5466 1 room; 3 nights 2 adults, 2 children Check-in: Mon, Aug 18, 2008 at 3:00 PM Check-out: Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 12:00 PM Hotel rate per night: $104.00 Nights: 3 Rooms: 1 Subtotal: $312.00 Tax recovery charges and fees: $46.80 Total price: $358.80 HotDollars**: -$251.61 Total charged to credit card: $107.19 Amenities: Airport Shuttle, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business Center, Laundry Facilities, High-speed Internet Access, Tennis Nearby. Other Details: "Customer Favorite", "Best Value", on details page it states that the property carries a 4.5 out of 5 rating on Tripadvisor.

We had quite an eventful stay... full of problems (not the least of which was that the sofa sleeper was broken and no concessions were offered despite having our kids on the reservation, and checking in with them at the front desk... they ended up sleeping on the floor w/mix-matched sheets and blankets that took 45 minutes, 3 calls, and an in-person visit to the front desk to secure.). We complained to HOTWIRE, and to my delight, were awarded $251.61 "hot Bucks"!!! This was 1/2 of what we paid for our trip (after taxes and fees). The property was a disappointment, but Hotwire's response was completely unexpected and wildly appreciated. We've been doing this for many years and have never had such a strong response from HOTWIRE!

After an exhaustive multi-week effort we finally landed this resort! During the bidding process I noticed that the taxes and fees would vary wildly. It took a while, but I finally figured out that the fees are MUCH higher when bidding the Fairhope area by itself... when you add your free re-bid zone (Foley) the fees drop by a HUGE amount. This discovery ended up slowing my bid process significantly as I would only be able to make a single bid, on both zones, in order to avoid the higher fee rate... just for kicks I would test the fees using the Fairhope zone only, then adding the Foley zone... on the winning bid this ended up saving me nearly $20!!!! I think this is a glitch, as the Fairhope zone probably SHOULD have higher fees due to the resort... this is the first time I've ever noticed such a discrepancy. Bidding started at $80 and I worked it up $5 at a shot, over many different bidding sessions, until at $140 I was greeted with a "one time offer" to increase my bid by $22 and re-bid immediately. I declined and took several days (raising my bid $1 at a time) until it hit at $148 (so at least I know I got the best deal available at this time :) ). All of the major travel sites sell this resort from $269/night. AAA had a special at $242/night... BUT charged 20% for "taxes"... which would have come to $96.80 in taxes (almost double the taxes and fees I paid through Priceline!). Winning bid was placed through the PRICELINE link on this website. Marriott Grand Hotel One Grand Boulevard Point Clear, Alabama 36564 251-928-9201 Check-In Date: Thursday, June 19, 2008 Check-Out Date: Saturday, June 21, 2008 Your Offer Price: $148.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $296.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $49.87****** Total Charges*: $345.87 ****** Fees would have been $69.29 if this bid were placed with the Fairhope only zone :) !!!!

Started bidding at $40 adding $3/bid until at $55 I was given a "one time offer" to increase my bid by $17 and rebid immediately. I opted to instead continue the bidding process adding $1 at a time until it was accepted at $59 (so we know we got the best rate possible at this time :) ). This is the former Wyndham and it gets decent Tripadvisor reviews (ranks 53 out of 131). The hotel website and AAA were both offering a $139 rate, so this win represents a nice savings of nearly 58%. Seems like a good win. Albuquerque Grand Airport Hotel 2910 Yale Blvd Se Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106 505-843-7000 Your Offer Price: $59.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $59.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $15.37 Total Charges*: $74.37 Check-In Date: Monday, June 16, 2008 Check-Out Date: Tuesday, June 17, 2008

***Hotwire has lowered their rating on this hotel from 3* down to 2.5*. They gave me the option to either keep the reservation and get $25 in "Hotbucks" credited to my account, or to cancel the reservation for a full refund. I took this rare opportunity to go ahead and cancel (since it didn't get good reviews on Tripdavisor, and since I only saved $16 off of the hotel's web site rate anyhow). Ended up winning the Albuquerque Grand Airport Hotel through PRICELINE (former Wyndham)... will post that win on the Priceline forum.

After an exhaustive 3-week long bidding process I finally gave in and bid the hobby airport area. Had failed to secure a 2.5* in the Clear Lake area (likely either the Hilton or the Residence Inn... each time I would be offered a re-bid if I would add $22 to a $95 bet... but the most I was willing to pay in this area was $105/night and it never hit at that level). Also tried bidding both the Downtown and Galleria areas for 4* hotels bidding up to $110 each over multiple days, never even getting a sniff (little frustrating as I see lots of folks hitting in these areas for crazy low bids in the $60's... must be the time of year I