Fodorites: Need Bidding Help for Hotel
 

Help, all you lovely, people! Where is the site I can go to for researching what others have bid on hotel rooms? Also, what is the highest "star" rating you have picked & at what price? This is driving me batty.

assuming you mean Priceline...<BR><BR>www.biddingfortravel.com<BR><B R>the woman that moderates that site apparently never sleeps. and she's good!

Another good site for good hotel prices (even if you use priceline.com you can get a good idea of what to bid) is hotwire.com

After getting 4 bids rejected on Priceline I just tried Hotwire but it only gave me one option in Philly city center and it was a 3 star for $126! That is terrible!!

Shelly: I tried hotwire - but I thought their prices were way too high!

I've had great success w/ hotire.com. $136 sound high but without add'l info who knows?<BR><BR>On several occasions I purchased the one night then researched to find Expedia,etc. prices much higher. I then booked the rest of the nights on hotwire.<BR><BR>Once, I arrived the night before my Hotwire reservation and found that I had to pay $109 insteasd of the $62 rate<BR><BR>Also, You can call hotwire (armed with tel. # & PW) on the day you need the room (before 6:30 pm).<BR><BR>

I just used priceline for the first time and benefitted greatly from the advice given on biddingfortravel. By the time my bid was accepted I felt like a pro and through reading all of the posts of what other people had bid (and been accepted by PL), I was 90% sure of which hotel I was going to get. Although it was not my first (for that matter second or third choice in location), I did get a 4* hotel in NYC for $99 a night.<BR>Good Luck!

Thank you for all your help - I KNEW you were lovely folks!

Most of the knack is knowing your area. If you look at the maps closely you will see that some of the smaller markets (like Sarasota or Tampa for instance)- have so many clues that you can almost tell which hotel it is by looking at the hotwire amenitities list. In very wide choice areas like NYC or SF- it gets much tricker. But always underbid and leave yourself enough time to try again the next week or three days, whenever you are allowed. <BR><BR>I have had lots of luck with both hotwire and priceline. I just obtained a 4 star in Orlando for $52 a day in early December. It also includes a made to order breakfast and is a suite, not a single room. That one was real, real lucky. On the same trip I have a 2 day stay on Lido Key near Sarasota for $68 a day. The rack rate at the resort is $189. I bid that last one 4 different times over a period of 2 weeks because I guessed (and guessed right this time) which resort it was and wanted to get it at the least $$ I could. You can't do that as easily in a large market, but by only picking the exact areas you are willing to buy into, you can be quite a bit more selective than seems apparent, at first viewing the web sites.<BR><BR>My all time best was summer before last. I bid on Priceline and get the Couples Station Westin in St.Louis. The suite I got was unbelieveable and looked right into Busch Stadium. I got it for $48 a day on a game weekend. It has a rack rate of way over $200. The shower was bigger than some hotel rooms I have been in. The bathroom was like a ballroom and the marble shower had a window looking into the bedroom. Why pay more when you can get better for less!<BR>

What about other websites just for getting good rates on hotels? ... besides Priceline and Bidding, etc., like Travelocity, or some others? Thanks.

From my experience, the prices on travelocity or expedia aren't as good as priceline deal but, if bidding may not work for you, sometimes a decent price can be had on expedia or one of the other booking sites. Before booking anything, check hotel rates on the hotel websites, calling the hotels general 800 number, calling the specific hotel directly and checking on-line booking sites. Prices do vary. Also when calling remember to ask about specials or discounts (senior, AAA, corporate, etc.).