Seriously considering bidding on Priceline for Hotel at end of Sept.
 

We may try to place a bid today on Priceline. I'm hesitant about bidding on a Bloomsbury hotel since some are close to Kings Cross which I've been told by a friend from London to avoid. If I bid on a 4 or 5 star what are my chances of getting a bad neighborhood? Should I consider other areas such as Chelsea or Kennsington? Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

if you want to go to paris in oct my wife has a room in a 4 star hotel she got on priceline that she can't use!! be very careful on what you bid for!!

Tia, I'm really not trying to be rude, but you have already received a whole lot of suggestions on your other postings about your London hotel. I know it's hard to make a decision, but sometimes you just got to go for it! Many of the hotels that were listed on londontown.com are in your price range and are in great locations. What more do you want???

When you use Priceline for hotels, especially in most European cities, you run a risk of staying in a place that's not in one of the neighborhoods that you'd want to be in. Not necessarily a dangerous one, but possibly an inconvenient one. This in addition to the usual Priceline risks -- getting one of the less desirable rooms in the hotel, plus not having the option of canceling the reservation or checking out of the hotel earlier than you'd planned.

On the other hand, you obviously can save a considerable amount of money on the room.

So, if you're willing to accept the risk in exchange for saving the money, go for Priceline. But if staying in a not-so-good neighborhood would ruin the trip for you, find an online discounter that lets you choose your own hotel.

I have to agree with bettyk on this. I too have seen posts with many suggestions for London hotels for Tia. I get the very distinct opinion that you really DO care about what hotel you stay in, Tia, so I strongly recommend that you choose one, not go blindly getting a Priceline hotel which may not suit you.

Priceline is great for those who are less "picky" about their exact hotel location, style, and ameneties. It is not something for those who really have specific requirements.

I say forget Priceline in your case, because I suspect the hotel itself is even more important to you than the final price. Look for a bargain instead on one of your preferred specific hotels.

I'll be the lone dissenter. Everyone's been telling Tia to try Priceline but it's taken her a week to see it's worthwhile. Here's what I would do, based upon the hotels listed on biddingfortravel.

I'd start bidding 5* ONLY in
1)Kensington Knightsbridge Earls Court
2)Mayfair Soho

I won't tell you what to bid. Use biddingfortravel to help you with that.

If your bid is rejected, I'd add
Bloomsbury Marble Arch 5* (The 5* here are the Churchill Intercontinental & Langham Hilton, both good locations)

If still rejected, you can up your bid & add Westminster 5* for a "free" rebid since there are no 5* listed in Westminster.

You should be able to get a 5* in one of these locations for under your $130/night budget. Remember there's a 17.5% VAT tax added & I don't remember whether this is included in the price (read biddingfortravel carefully to see & of it's not, calculate what your top price should be.)

Good luck!

Thanks to all who have posted to my many hotel questions. I know I have been a pain as I can see by the posts here, but I am looking to seasoned Fodorites for help. Most of the places people have recommended are either full for the time I will be in London or way above what our budget allows. Yes, I am looking for a nice, small place in a good area. This trip is a splurge for us which is the bottom line. My hubby's job is iffy now, but the timing is right in other respects in our lives at this point. I won't go into details. Therefore, we are taking a chance in taking this trip and would like a nice place to stay without using most of our budget just on a hotel. I greatly appreciate the advice everyone has given me, but am getting frustrated with either the places being booked or mostly that all the recommended ones are out of our budget. I am sorry if I have been a nag for some posters, but again, I appreciate the help people have given me thus far. I have followed up on all suggestions thus far and will continue to do so if people offer any more advice. I still have not decided on trying Priceline or not. It's only six nights of my life, so if I get a 4 or 5 star hotel in an iffy area, it won't be the end of the world, either. Just don't know what to do yet!

I got on Priceline last night and only checked 5 stars and Bloomsbury area and got the Langton Hilton for under your budget.

Hi Linda,

Was that the Langham Hilton? If so, good deal.

Although as always there is no guarantee with priceline, if you stick to 5* bidding in the Bloomsbury - Marble Arch zone you shouldn't get a hotel near Kings Cross (I don't think there is one for starters). There is more risk for 4*, so I would avoid that zone at that qualithy level as you don't want to stay in that area.

That said the 5* and even the 4* hotels that usually come up on priceline don't really fit into your description of "nice, small place".

If you do decide to bid, please, please, pleae do plenty of research with the www.biddingfortravel.com site as the starting point. www.tripadvisor.com is also a must to check out additional reviews on the hotels you could get on priceline.

Good luck.

www.biddingfortravel.com will tell you how and why to bid - great site

I'd go with priceline. Stayed at 4* hotels in london for under $100 VAT included. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Just do the research of hotels and neighborhoods and you can almost pick the hotel if you stay 4*. There arent alot of them.