Planning a trip to Memphis next week and don't know where to stay. Have been advised to stay on the East Side. What hotels are located there? Is there a site to view the "star" ratings of hotels? Anyone had any success with Priceline.com?

For Priceline results, see www.biddingfortravel.com

http://www.mobiltravelguide.com/index.jsp?menu=lodging

Mobil and AAA, have the most valid rating systems. PCLN has their own which is sometimes dead on and other times misses by a mile. Hotels rate themselves and aside from user feedback, PCLN has no means of verifying star level accuracy, whereas both Mobil and AAA inspect their hotels anonymously and provide the rating, not the hotel. Either Travelocity or Expedia (can't recall which for certain but think it's Travelocity) uses AAA's ratings as well.

Stay downtown!! The flagship hotel in town is the Peabody, but there are lots less expensive places to be. The Radisson is across the street from the Peabody, and the Hampton Inn Peabody Place is just down the street. There's a Holiday Inn across from the Peabody, too. If you stay downtown, you can walk to Beale Street, which is a real treat...great music and great fun.

I would follow the advice of a local or someone that knows the area such us SusanCs. The star rating is not reliable in the US, it does not really exist, and although it is used as a reference , this does not mean much.
I have also found out that many good travel books even Fodors and Frommer often do not list the latest hotels in a certain area. And for some misterious reason sometimes do not list great choices. I my opinion there is nothing like word of mouth.

Try tripadvisor.com. Lots of people comment/rate their hotel stay and you can read any travel articles written about the city etc.

OliveOyl has given you excellent advice. The only thing I would add to it is that priceline's ratings have more to do with the hotels amenities than its service, location, and ambience/cleanliness.

Thanks for all the great advice. Glad to find this site.