Have used Priceline successfully several times for hotels and will do so again. Have tried Hotwire several times but have never booked through them because I have always been able to get a better rate/fare myself. <BR><BR>I won't use Priceline for flights because I don't want to end up with a ridiculously long layover and I like to control my times better. But using Priceline I have stayed at 3-stars in NYC (midtown west) for $75 and $85 (Hilton Times Square and Novotel) and at a 4-star in Chicago (W Lakeshore) for $41. I will continue to use Priceline for hotels.<BR><BR>By the way, I generally check biddingfortravel.com first to see what people have been getting, then check various other sources. I start my bid a dollar or two lower than whatever people are posting on biddingfortravel.com as successful bids -- or at 40% less than whatever the least expensive rate is that I can find, whichever is lower.

Hi Sandi, I have great luck with hotels(never airlines, it is not worth it to me) in all my bidding except for 1 time. I was bidding for a hotel in Sonoma, and I was having a devil of a time finding a price....I then widened my parameters to include Sonoma County. That was a big mistake, on my part. I got the Hilton/Sonoma County in Santa Rosa. It looks good enough, but it was not where I wanted to be. So be careful, if widen your paramters, to check and see if that is your final goal. <BR>I am now going to do Bodega bay for a day trip, and the Pertfied forest and the Geyser and Armstrong redwoods. I will be going to Napa for 2 nights, so I will have some winery experences however. <BR>FYI, Judy

I just had an interesting interaction with Priceline that I thought people should be aware of. Based on info I got from this board, I bid $40/night for a 4star hotel in Seattle for 3 nights in June. My bid was accepted, and I was really excited until I noticed that the confimed reservation was for only the 1st night! I immediately tried doing another bid for the 2nd 2 nights, but was rejected even when I added a region and increased my price. <BR>When I called Priceline, their response was that I could try rebidding for the same 3 nights and increase the area or the price or decrease the star rating and if my bid was accepted they would refund my 1st purchase for the one night. I ended up getting a different (older) 4-star hotel in downtown Seattle for $75 a night, which is still a great price. However, I'm about 95% sure that there was some computer bug at Priceline in the first place that caused my bid to be screwed up. (That is not unprecedented for me, Expedia once changed my destination accidentally and then double charged me when I tried to correct the ticket. That one took a full year to resolve.)<BR>I'm not really complaining, I will try Priceline again in the future for hotels. I just wanted to let people know that there are potential problems with a "all sales final" type service.<BR>

Sandi: No one here can, or desires, to sell you on one or the other. How satisfied you are with the results will depend upon YOUR priorities, preferences, and preparation. Obviously, you should take your own advice.

What is your point? You indicate first that you are "naive", then proceed to dispense advice? Please indicate cities where Priceline offers 5-star properties. Then, do let us know which 5-star properties are in less than better/safe neighborhoods. You can book any way you like.

Why would you, even "naively", think you could bid on Priceline on a specific property? If you don't need more than one bed, what do you care? The overwhelming majority of hotel rooms are "non-smoking" these days. It's more difficult with Priceline to get a smoking room. How would you KNOW "Priceline is great"? No matter HOW you book a hotel room, if you haven't stayed there before, what you're getting is "site unseen". Eh? Particularly, if, as you say, you are unfamiliar with the city or area. Those who are experienced with Priceline continue to use it because, if you know what you're doing, you can get a hotel room in the CATEGORY and AREA of your CHOICE for a rate far lower than through any other booking resource. Those who use Hotwire do so because they don't have to endure the "bidding" process and are still assured of an excellent property at a rate far lower than through other resources. You can book otherwise to avoid being "disconcerted", but those of us who are experienced users of Priceline and Hotwire are satisfied with the results and are able to spend the HUGE savings on dining, shopping, seeing and doing, or simply not having larger credit card balances to pay off when we get home.