Please Help With London Hotel (One Night) Priceline or Otherwise
 

Hi, I'll be need a room for London on a Sunday night in February.

I'm thinking maybe Priceline, but I've not used it in a while. Are there difficulties with booking just for a Sunday night, do people think? I'm thinking maybe Mayfair 4* -- it used to be reliable. Any surprises since I used Priceline? I got Thistle Charing Cross this way before.

I checked Days Hotel near Waterloo where I stayed a while ago. The rack rate is 85 pounds. It was cheaper then. I think this is more than what I want to pay.

Any other websites or options I should look into? I'm not picky, but prefer cheap and central.

Thanks!

Sunday night should be the best - as it's usually the slowest night.

The problem is that the Mayfair/Soho zone is so expensive, usually.

If you choose Bloomsbury, you could get the Kings Cross area, which is fine with me.

If you choose Westminster, you could end up south of the river about 10 minutes or so walk from a tube stop.

So personally, I'd stick to Bloomsbury or Mayfair for a one-night visit.

You could check www.accorhotels.com in case it's just easiest, for one night, to book a prepaid rate.

Ibis London Euston St Pancras has a 69 pound prepaid rate for Sunday.

I wouldn't use Travelodge, unless you book extra nights, because they are so inflexible about not storing luggage, so it would be a pain.

Try the Darlington. It gets amazing reviews on tripadvisor-I have not been there but I did book my husband and his three work associates there for a Feb. meeting. It's very reasonable and located near Hyde Park.

http://www.darlingtonhotel.co.uk/

Well, what do you need it for? Where are you going the next day? Do you need to be somewhere in particular?

Kensington seems to be consistently the cheapest on Priceline. Some of the hotels aren't super, but all seem to be acceptable. If you are coming from or going to Heathrow, this area has the advantage of being quite convenient to it.

Bloomsbury seems to be slightly more expensive, but seems to have a better selection of hotels. I got the Novotel Euston there recently, and was very impressed with what I got for my less than $100 bid.

If you don't know about biddingfortravel.com, then now is the time to learn. You should be able to find other good information there.

Hi, I know about BFT and checked it earlier today. The problem is that sometimes I get lazy and I'm also hesitant asking on BFT because the moderators usually insist that you follow a certain format with your questions. I don't need to get the best deal and I don't want to be that detailed.

I just need an ok deal. So that's why it's frequently easier to ask on Fodor's. Also I don't bid for a London hotel that frequently, and these things usually change, so it's helpful to know if there's been a big change since I last used it.

I'm flying in in the evening on a Sunday evening. Then I'll be out most of the evening. On Monday I'll be flying home. I'm leaving from Heathrow.

Actually that Sunday night I'll be at the British Museum to see the terracotta soldiers exhibition. So Bloomsbury will be convenient, but obviously Kings Cross is further away.

In general I think that I'm still most comfortable with the Mayfair zone.

I forget what hotel I was looking at earlier today, but there's a chain hotel near Aldgate (?) that's also around 69 pounds a night. It could be an Ibis as well.

It looks like I probably have to prepare to spend up to 70 pounds. Maybe if I can get Mayfair 4* for $140 on Priceline I'll think about it. I don't really need to be anywhere in particular, but I think that I find Mayfair, East End or Waterloo area most convenient for me.

Thanks!

Ratestogo.com has the City Hotel in Aldgate for 50 pounds per night. You need Feb. 17, right?

There are a couple 3* Bloomsbury options on RTG that are in the 50-70 pound range.

Don't forget to check Hotelscombined.com .

You can try, but I think the odds are against a 4* $140 Mayfair win.

It looks like Hotwire has some good options too. If you find one that interests you, maybe I can figure out which hotel it is.

Wow. That's a great deal! I wonder if that's the one I found earlier today. I don't think so. But probably same general location.

Yes it's Feb. 17.

The TripAdvisor reviews for this hotel are not good though. Also people complain about the location. I'm a little surprised. I wouldn't think that area is that bad.

Let me see if I can find the chain hotel I was looking at earlier today.

As usual you have some very good suggestions. :-)

Maybe I can pick your brains about Berlin hotels too. I think I'm a little late. I remember checking your favorite Mercure An Der Charite a few weeks ago. I think I saw it for 59 euros on hotel.de. I can't get that anymore.

I've booked a B&B called Hotel am Savignyplatz for 49 euros on hotel.de. But reception closes at 10 pm and I've not asked them about going in and out late at night yet. If you've some suggestions, maybe you can put them on the Berlin transportation thread I started?

Thanks!

Yeah it's Ibis London City on hotel.de. 69 pounds a night. Located at 5 Commercial Street and reasonable TripAdvisor reviews.

The recent City Hotel reviews on Tripadvisor are poorer, it seems.

I'll look into the other suggestions and continue to check this thread for suggestions. Thanks!

Remember before that when I found the cheap rate for Days Inn Waterloo, it was on Orbitz.

For your dates now, the Days Inn Waterloo is available on Orbitz for a relatively cheap rate - $107 USD per night + taxes, so about $129 USD total - so roughly 65 pounds.

Yes, you're right (as usual) about that Days Hotel! I didn't think of checking Orbitz. I just checked the hotel's website directly.

There's a cancelation charge of $25 associated with this booking. I think I'll decide between this one, Ibis City or possibly doing a PL bid. Probably I'll be too lazy to bid in the end unless I can get something with a lowball bid right away. It's not really worth my time even though the hotel is probably nicer.

"I'm also hesitant asking on BFT because the moderators usually insist that you follow a certain format with your questions."

I don't post on BFT, precisely because the moderators are so petty. They fail to understand that BFT is only useful if there are enough data points, yet they have stupid policies that drive people away. For example, you can be banned from the forum if you don't use their link (so they get the kickback). I just hope that it doesn't drive so many away that it becomes useless.

I would suggest trying www.londontown.com We have used them to book London hotels quite a few times, their website is helpful and easy to navigate, it shows you maps of where the hotel is and photos etc. Good prices too, generally you give your credit card for guarantee but pay at the hotel. This detail, plus any cancellation info, are clearly spelt out. It's a very good site.
Kay

How does BFT know if you use that A-B link they want you to use? When I checked yesterday there were very few posted bids for mid Feb -- and none (or maybe just one or two) for the Mayfair zone, if I recall correctly.

I can see though that the moderators shouldn't offer help for free, so I don't mind using the A-B link. And probably posting a request in some format isn't difficult, but I just think that I haven't gotten the time to learn this kind of thing. :-)

I've come across londontown, but I've not used it. I'll look some more.

Thanks!

"How does BFT know if you use that A-B link they want you to use?"

If they see a post about a winning bid without a corresponding bid on A-B, then they know you didn't use the link.

Agree with travelgourmet about BFT. It limps along, due to petty management, when it could be a vibrant site.

You will get much more friendly advice on betterbidding.com

These sites are mostly useful for getting hotel lists for the various zones, and seeing which ones keep coming up. It narrows down the uncertainty of which hotel you might win. One easy method I sometimes use is just bidding 15-20% less than what is available on hotwire for similar properties.

Wow. I didn't know they actually check. But I guess it's necessary if you're attempting to make a living off that website.

I'm taking a look at Priceline and BetterBidding. There used to be a trick of doing a free rebid for London. If I want to bid 4* in Mayfair, then I figure out if there's another zone that has only 3* or lower hotels and I can add this as a free rebid in the next round.

I looked at the list and zones listed on BetterBidding, and there are London West Suburbs zones not listed on Priceline. How could that be? Am I missing something?

It doesn't seem like I can use the free rebid trick anymore for London. Does this sound right?

Thanks.

Regarding the free rebids. It looks like Priceline has changed the zones, so I agree that there is no free rebid.

Of course, you can always just create an account in your significant others name and have them bid for you. Do this all the time with my account and my wife's.

At some point I think that I had about three or four accounts going with Priceline. That was when you had a lockout period of 72h. I would stagger my bids so that I could bid every 24h.

I'll try to bid and see what happens since I've a good idea that I can get a chain hotel for about $140.

If you are at the British Museum, try the Morgan Hotel http://www.morganhotel.co.uk/index.html. It is adjacent to the museum on Bloomsbury St. We stayed there on the recommendation of several Fororites and we really liked it there. It is not fancy, just a basic room, but VERY clean. Believe me, I am fussy when it comes to that! It came with breakfast which was wonderful.

The only way you can know for sure what London Zones don't have higher than 3* is go to priceline and start your bid. When you go to select your zone, test each one for a 4 star. If everything above 3 star is "grayed out" then that zone doesn't have 4* and you can use it for a free rebid.
Then, just close the browser and go back to your planning.

Thanks for the Morgan Hotel tip. It's still a little more expensive than a chain, and I don't mind a chain hotel.

Thanks also for the reminder about how to test for 4*. I had forgotten that method.

Anyway, I tried 4* Mayfair at $90 and the counteroffer is $167 for about $205 all in. I still have about two weeks before I leave, so I have some time.

Sorry, I see you are right, no free rebids for a 4 *

Remember that that counteroffer is inflated. You could rebid for less than that and still get the room. I never accept the counteroffer.

I didn't accept the counteroffer. Is there a rule of thumb for what a winning bid may look like if the counteroffer comes in at $167?

Yes, there're no freebies for 4* Mayfair anymore. All the current zones have 4* hotels.

But for 5*, the story is different and freebies are possible. But I've never bid for 5* anyway.

It is an advantage to have your price in USD. The exchange to GBP has been awful. Just returned from Cancun where it is much better on the wallet. Good luck.

Someone posted that if you get a counteroffer price (not an add $22 counteroffer) in Europe, try lopping off 10% and rounding up.

So in your case if this is accurate, I'd expect around $151 or $152 to work.

For me, I'm not sure that's been accurate, but it's as good a guess as any.

I'd try $140

When I got the Hilton Olympia for $75 last year, I started lower and the first counter offer was $152 -- so I totally ignore PL counter offers.

Thanks. I'll probably try again and report later. I think $150 is probably more than what I want to spend. With taxes it's looking like $180+. But I guess it's not that much more than $140.

The problem is that it's so easy to say this about everything. It's just $x more. Quickly it adds up.

:-)

Ok, I'll try to cap at $120 or so. With taxes it brings me to about $150.

I mean, it's mid February. Can the hotels be that busy?

If you aren't so picky, you could try a 3* bid in Mayfair/Soho. I'm not sure there are very many 3* hotels there at all, nor that they provide discount Priceline prices, but it might be worth a try.

This is a long shot, but I remember seeing the Royal Adelphi hotel near Covent Garden, and I think it's a budget hotel.

No, but are there surprises with 3* Mayfair? Why don't people bid 3* Mayfair more often if there are no nasty surprises?

I don't know because I've never looked at that list in great detail.

I have never won a bid for London on Priceline, though I have bid twice before. Does the price you win it for include the VAT or is that added on when you check out?

If they have high enough unoccupancy they will take a much lower bid as you get closer.

The way it works is that your bid price is the tax-free price. PL will let you know what the final amount is.

The taxes for London come to about 20%. So for example, if I bid at 120 and I win, I'm basically paying 140-150 all in.

I've tried PL for London a few times, but I've only succeeded once. (I got Thistle Charing Cross.) Before I think that I had issues with trying to bid for a Friday (or was it Saturday night). Supposedly it's the toughest. But apparently Sunday night is ok, so I'll try a few more times and see what I can get.

I think the only reported 3* Mayfair hotel is Thistle Trafalgar, which seems perfectly okay and very well-located. (I haven't checked, this is by memory.)

If I had to guess, I think maybe people who bid for Mayfair are willing to spend more money, so they won't consider 3* hotels. But if you are okay with a standard 2* European hotel, I think a Priceline 3* would be quite acceptable.

Thanks 111op. Usually I have gotten hotels inclusive of the VAT so I wasn't sure how that worked with PL. Now I know.

I think I mentioned it above, but Hotwire has some pretty good deals for your one-night stay too. The Hotwire Westminster zone does not extend south of the river, and there's a 3* for $90 for 2/17, and a City zone 3* for $62 for 2/17. The Hotwire City zone does not extend south of the river, but for Priceline, I think both the City and Westminster zones do (although I haven't checked really recently).

Right now the 3* City on Hotwire is showing for $76. Remind me -- I think taxes are extra on Hotwire? According to Better Bidding, this hotel is probably the City Hotel you found also on RatesToGo. There're no amenities listed by Hotwire, and this matches the City Hotel description provided by B B.

The 3* Westminster on Hotwire is now $105. There's no 3* Westminster listed in B B, so I don't know what this hotel may be. Separately in another thread on B B, the moderator acknowledges that the identity of this hotel is still a mystery (tennis nearby is a clue).

According to B B, 3* Mayfair on Priceline is either Thistle Trafalgar or Thistle Picadilly. There's nothing listed as 3* Mayfair on BFT.