Priceline and San Francisco/Union Square question
 

I want to get a 4 star hotel in the Union Square area but Priceline gave me 2 choices for Union Square. They are Union Sq. East-Embarcadero and Union Sq. West. Which area is the better choice? Thanks

Go to www.biddingfortravel.com and look up what 4* hotels have been "won" in each of those areas. Then check to see which group of hotels fit you better.

You should learn how to use the "free rebids" if you don't already.

Union square is several blocks from the embarcadero but I would go Union Sq East-Embarcadero instead of going west of Union Square as you could end up quite a distance from Union Square by heading west. East can only go so many blocks and you are at the bay.

Actually, Shar, the area is not "anything west of Union Square". It's just called Union Square west. Priceline clearly defines the boundaries of each zone with maps on their website that you can look at before bidding.

The Union Square East-Embarcadero area is about 1 mile by 1 mile and includes Union Square and Chinatown, and continues east basically to the water, south almost to I-80.

Union Square West is about 1/4 mile wide by 1/2 mile high, starting on the west side of Powell St. and extending to about Leavenworth St., with north and south boundaries being roughly California St. and Eddy St.

I don't know the areas well, but www.biddingfortravel.com was a good suggestion. They have pretty comprehensive lists so that you can see what might come up. Of course, a new hotel may join ranks with priceline at any time and not be on BFT's list, but it's a good start. www.betterbidding.com is another one that may have info that BFT does not.

Definitely check out biddingfortravel.com to see what hotels have been won before deciding.

For myself, I would probably choose Union Square East.

West is getting sketchy the father west you move. I'd go for East.

I'm curious, for those recommending against the West area, is it for a specific reason? The hotels in that zone seem nice, and mainly 1 block west of Powell. Here's a list of the 4* hotels in that zone, from BFT:

Hilton San Francisco
Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel
Hotel Nikko San Francisco
Mark Hopkins Inter-continental
Pan Pacific
Hotel Monaco
Renaissance Stanford Court Hotel
Prescott Hotel

I don't know the area well, or the specific hotels, but I'm curious if that really is a bad list (or even if 1 or 2 of them would be pretty undesirable), or if the negative recos are based on not knowing the area defined or the hotels on the list.

There is nothing wrong with any of those hotels--the issue is that 1 or 2 blocks from some of them lands you in the the Tenderloin, which can be seedy during the day and downright scary for some at night i.e. hookers and drug deals. If you know what streets to avoid, not an issue, but if someone is unfamiliar with SF--such as a first time visitor --it can be disconcerting. Hence the recommendations for Union Square East.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I bid on the Union Sq. East and got the Grand Hyatt for $100/nt. (Fri. and Sat.) It went for over $200/nt on Expedia so I think I got a pretty good deal.

Great location!

We stayed overnight at the Grand Hyatt last December and it was good. The location is very convinient and the hotel is nice.

marg102469, Congratulations!!! The Grand Hyatt is right on Stockton at Post. Good for you! It is a good hotel and a fantastic location.

jlm, most people here that suggest bidding for east of Union Sq. DO KNOW SF. As SAB said, there are some good hotels in the west of Union Sq. area. But for those unfamilar with SF suggestions are made to bid on east of Union Sq., since they do not know SF at all or not very well. For those that do it a different story. And some of the hotels you listed are on Nob Hill. Great location for sure although I prefer to be more downtown. Confusing subject - anyway marg 102469 got herself a real bargain! Have fun in SF marg!

Congratulations. A couple years ago we stayed at the Grand Hyatt around Christmas, happy with a "senior half price" deal and still paid more than you are. It's a very nice hotel.

AND...you now know where to go while in SF for hookers and drug deals. Tnx. to the knowledgable folks at fodors.

Tandoori, it's actually a good thing to know - not to get in that area!

Thanks for the explanations, folks. I didn't mean to be accusatory in my question - I was very curious, because most of the responses were of the variety that if you get "too far west" of Union Sq. it's bad and the priceline area is very small, so I didn't know if people were basing it on the actual priceline area. I don't doubt anyone's knowledge of SF itself - I was just questioning the actual logic behind recommending against the west area (as opposed to for the east area).

Thanks for the explanations. :)

Union Square East is a fine area and marg102469 has done very well getting the Grand Hyatt, but for the benefit of jlm_mi and others, I do want to emphasize that there are some very fine hotels on the Union Square West Priceline list, and there's no reason to avoid staying in the area as long as you don't make a habit of strolling in the Tenderloin. There are fine hotels, restaurants and other points of interest right up to the corners which mark the entrance to the true Tenderloin and this excessive fear of coming anywhere close to the place with which some would scare tourists is a shame. As is, also, the tendency of some people in their descriptions to expand the area of the Tenderloin into blocks that are close by but are very different in character from the Tenderloin's truly notorious blocks.

In a number of threads, I've seen people have asked for specific street boundaries to make sure they don't venture into the place. Some of the attempts to answer that question have been way too inclusive, I think. It's actually not hard to avoid the true Tenderloin because things change dramatically, very fast. Buildings, stores, even the people on the street suddenly look much seedier than they were on the the block before, and you'll feel like turning around and going back.

It isn't like you're immediately in some undetectible danger; it's just obviously unpleasant, and you'll know you don't want to be there. Your own observations and natural good sense about whether you want to continue in the same direction will keep you from going very deep into it--no reason to be quite so fearful of wandering into it without recognizing it.

However, because this question seems to come up so often, I decided to develop my description of the boundaries of the real Tenderloin for those who want to mark their maps. I posted it on a thread that promptly died when someone pointed out the original poster would have traveled more than a year earlier, but I'm repeating it below. Not everyone will agree with me, but I both lived and worked (much of the time in social service)various places in the area and its fringes for years, and so a lot of day to day experience has gone into my block-by-block opinions.

THE BOUNDARIES OF THE SAN FRANCISCO TENDERLOIN:

Northern boundary: Sutter Street between Van Ness Ave. and Taylor St.; Ellis St. between Taylor St. and Powell St.

Eastern Boundary: Taylor St. between Sutter St. and Ellis St.; Powell St. between Ellis St. and Market St.

Southern Boundary: Market St. between Powell St. and Van Ness Ave.

Western Boundary: Van Ness Ave. between Market St. and Sutter St.

I would consider businesses on either side of the street on the "border" streets to NOT be in the Tenderloin, with the exception of the southern boundary (Market Street between Powell Street and Van Ness Avenue,) both sides of which I would recommend avoiding.

I wouldn't hesitate to visit the buildings in the San Francisco Civic Center (City Hall and surrounding buildings) during the hours they are open, or to take a cab or bus to the Golden Gate or Orpheum legitimate theaters on performance nights or matinees, even though these places are within the boundaries I've described, but I would avoid them at other times.

Everybody's been getting the Grand Hyatt at USE for $75/night. Why did you bid $100? Did you look at biddingfortravel.com, and use free rebids?

I just hate people throwing away $50 like that.

You can easily bid 5 times, as there are 4 rebid zones with no 4* properties.

This was the first time I had used Priceline and I thought I did well. I guess I should've done some research on biddingfortravel.com before I bid. I want to bid on a place in Sonoma and Napa now. Some of you mentioned the "free rebids". What website is that on? I didn't see any reference to "free rebids" on Priceline.com.

I haven't read this entire thread, so forgive me if this is repeating something.

A "free rebid" is a technical trick that frequent bidders use. It works like this:

Say the city you want to bid in has two zones, only one zone has 4* hotels, the other zone hotels start at the 3* level.

So, you bid $50 on a 4* in the 4* zone and your bid is rejected.

You use the "free rebid" trick: you bid higher, say $55, and add in the 3* zone. Since there are no 4* hotels in that zone, you can't get a hotel in that second zone. However, you have gotten a free second bid on the 4* hotels in the first zone. That's the "free rebid".

Thanks for your help! I think I understand now.

marg - Using your own SF USE example, this is what you should have done:

1. Go to Priceline and find out exactly what class of hotels in each zone. You should find that Cathedral Hill, Civic Center, Fishermans' Wharf and S. San Fran has no 4* properties. <b>These are your free rebid zones.</b> Make sure you go to Priceline.com to find out, and not just look at the list on biddingfortravel.com.

- Check biddingfortravel to see what winning bids people are getting for Union Square East. On the first page alone, you'll find that multiple winning bids for the 4* USE, people have been winning the Grand Hyatt for $70-75 and the Palomar for $80, <b>in July alone</b>.

- Now, since you think $100 is still a fair price, that should be the last bid if you have to use all your 4 free rebids. And since it's unlikely you'll get anything cheaper than $70, that's where you should start. [BTW, minimum winning bid for 4* on Priceline is $40. So, no point of bidding lower than $40.]

This is what you should have done:
- Bid USE for $70.
- If rejected, add one of the free-rebid zones, like Cathedral Hill and bid $75.
- If still rejected, add another for ~$80.
- If still rejected, add another for ~$90.
- If still rejected, add the last zone for $100.

Chances are you'll get yours for $70 or $75. Even if not, I'm sure $80 will do it. Save you at least $40, most likely $50, and if you're lucky and get the $70 bid accepted, save you $60.

That's how you do it.

This will not work as well, or at all, for smaller cities with fewer zones, or if there are no free-bid zones. But San Fran is easy to save money.

Very interesting - thanks for the Priceline explanation (haven't tried Priceline yet, but will someday!)