We're heading to Grand Teton and Yellowstone NPs in early June. We've made our Yellowstone reservations and are looking for something under $100 for one night in Jackson.

Has anyone here used Priceline recently for Jackson? I looked at Bidding for Travel and Better Bidding, but didn't find anything useful.

Lee Ann

In my experience, Priceline doesn't usually offer deals in small towns without big hotels. Their usual hotels are business hotels or convention hotels that aren't always full and thus use Priceline to fill up spare rooms. If you don't see anything on BetterBidding, that's a good indication that no one else has been successful there, either. You can try Hotwire and if you see no good deals there either, that's another good indication that Priceline doesn't have deals there.

There are lots of hotels on Priceline for Jackson under their regular price section. I would just go to the bidding section and start by choosing the Jackson Hole section and bid on a 3 star accommodation at well under the $100 and go from there.

It's possible if you're not careful to bid too high on Priceline if you aren't aware of going rates for hotels - and "win" a Priceline bid for a hotel that's simply booked at about the AAA rate (plus Priceline fee, plus non-changeable/non-refundable). As a rule I need to save a significant amount to make a Priceline bid worthwhile. I'd never bid say $80 when I can get the same class of hotel for $100 on my own - because first of all there's probably a $10 Priceline service fee and secondly, I can't change or cancel if I need to. Not worth a $10 savings to me to be locked into a hotel especially this far ahead of time...

If you go to biddingfortravel, there are very few hotels listed anywhere in Wyoming. Now the BFT hotel lists aren't necessarily comprehensive, but it is a pretty good indication . . . .

Andrew, so far everything I've seen without using Priceline has been at least $100, if not higher. So if I could make a successful Priceline bid and get a room in Jackson (not Teton Village), that would be useful.

I'm going to keep looking and checking the chain motel rates. Thanks, everyone.

Lee Ann

My daughter used to work in Grand Teton Park and once while visiting her, we stayed at the Kudar Motel. It is in Jackson, but doesn't have a web site and has different size cabins...nice wooden interiors with microwaves and a fridge and neat as a pin. They were not expensive and since you were in your own cabin it was very quiet and we were there on July 4th! I would recommend them for the budget-minded traveler. They are located right on the edge of town neading towards the park.

Thanks, PatN. The Kudar looks nice (they have a website now - www.kudarmotel.com ), but it looks like it is a little out of our price range.

I just booked a room at Motel 6 for $75. Hurray!

Lee Ann

Any other comments on Kudar Motel? It's quite a bit cheaper. Tripadvisor reviews are mixed. I'm not interested in breakfast and amenities, just a clean place to sleep.

We drove past it, Ella, but that's all I can say. We were very pleased with the Motel 6. It's newly renovated and quite nice.

Lee Ann

Thanks Lee Ann. Kudar Motel has 2 bedroom units which would be great. Just looking for a clean place to sleep. Would still like to hear if anyone else has stayed there.