Did I do something wrong?
 

This may not be as intersting as it might sound. However, I just booked the Hilton Boston Back Bay for Memorial Day weekend (May 27-30) at $139 an night for one adult and 2 kids. I did not use priceline, hotwire, etc. But in searching on the web at hotels.com and travelocity, it was listed at the same price as the hotel website. I have never used priceline - I am nervous that you can't change the reservation once your bid is accepted, especially since one of my children tends to get sick alot (respiratory stuff) and that makes all our travel plans tentative. Any advice or suggestions?

Priceline is not a good strategy for a group of 3 or 4 people who plan to share a room. PL's policy is to bid for a room that will accomodate two people. Although many, if not most, hotels will gladly give you two beds (I've even had one go out of their way to give us two beds plus a rollaway), you can't count on it. Boston isn't as risky as NYC, but I wouldn't chance it.

Anonymous, Thank you. Now I feel better about my decision. Maybe someday when there are only 2 of me I'll try priceline!

I use Priceline a lot, but only when there are only 2 of us in a room and when the travel plans are firm and/or the deal on the hotel is good enough that it wouldn't kill me to lose the money should my plans change.

Sounds like a good plan! And when you do use it in the future, if your travel plans are at all tentative, consider not using it. If you can save so much using priceline that the benefit of the savings offsets the risk of losing your money completely it might be worth it, but that could only be known on a case-by-case basis.

$139/night in Boston for that weekend sounds like a good price! I don't know that hotel, but I wouldn't worry. Sounds like a decent deal. :)

$139 is an excellent price for that hotel. Keep what you have.

Thank you all. I really am relieved! I have to admit, I felt like I might be missing something by not using priceline. People seem to get such good deals with it. I couldn't figure out how to make it work for me, but I understand it better now, thanks to you all!

I agree with the others that you should probably not try Priceline this time. Boston does incur a risk of a very small hotel room if you use Priceline; with only three people you would probably be able to get a cot or something if the room had only one bed, but if you can afford $139, it's probably not worth the risk.

Keep in mind for the future, though, that you don't have to bid way in advance to get a good Priceline deal. I've done it both in advance and at the last minute (even at 5:55PM for a hotel that same day) and still get great hotel deals. The best strategy when planning a trip is to book your own hotel first, something that you can cancel, then bid on Priceline closer to your trip when your plans are more firm. If you get a Priceline deal, great - cancel the other hotel; if not, you still have your original hotel.

Andrew

Sailing, put me on your list! I don't dare to make reservations I can't cancel, besides location for me is extremely important, I don't want to find out AFTER I paid that my hotel would be 6 blocks from the T.

$139 a night on a holiday weekend in Boston is a very good (low!) price.

I haven't looked at the priceline website for a while but I think for something like five dollars a night you can get cancellation insurance.

You can get cancellation insurance, but it's pretty strict. I don't think you can just say, "Eh, I don't feel like going and want my money back." I don't know the restrictions, but definitely look into the details before buying it.

You're getting a great hotel at a very decent rate, so that would have been my choice. If you're not a member of Hilton Honors, be sure to join before your stay. ;)