Hello

Early January I was very lucky bidding for 2 4* hotels in Paris and one in Brussels for this coming July.

Madrid and Barcelona, no luck! Is it too early? Different markets?

I will appreciate your thoughts and advice.

What do you mean, "no luck?" Do you mean you didn't get them cheap as dirt or what?

see www.biddingfortravel.com for PL bidding tips, including list of hotels in each bidding zone and recent prices others have had success with.

I think it's a bit early to have a cheap offer They don't accept cheap offers from Priceline till they know if they are going to have full hotels at full price and in Spain it won't happen probably until the Easter vacation finishes. Then people began to think on the summer !!!

I meant "people begin to think ...", sometimes I hit the enter too early

When booking Madrid hotels for this coming weekend, i found there was loads of choice in the 3star bracket - we're paying 225E for 3 nights at the hotel opera - twin room with bathroom.

How much cheaper do you want?

Annhig, the OP's talking of July, not right now But it's possible to do better without Priceline, yes.

Thank you for your valuable help!

Dukey, I got the Meridien Champs E. and Novotel Les Halles for $105 and $110 the night. They are good and consistent with the Bidding for Travel forum. I am looking for something in that vicinity in Madrid and Barcelona but know I may have to go up a bit more. In the meantime, I do have backup reservations.

Special thanks to Kenderina for your insighful information about the "modus operandi". I knew that there was something I did not understand. I will bid again after Semana Santa.

I have the Continental Palacete booked for 4 nights in late May at 130 Euros per night. It's a Rick Steves recommendation as well as rated number 32 of 405 hotels in Barcelona.

For good deals also check out bancotel.com, petrabrax.com, and sol-melia.com

Sol Melia often has excellent deals. I've noticed people sometimes overbid on Spanish hotels because they don't realize the other options they have. In 2005, I booked a double room at the Tryp Cibeles directly through SolMelia.com . This is a very central 4* hotel, and I got it for a total price of 72 Euros per night including a fabulous breakfast and tax. Sign up for Sol Melia's newsletter on their site, and you will be alerted to deals. In any event, I think it's too soon to worry about not getting a bid accepted.