Hi all.. I am planning a a weekend in Boston (1-27/1-30). I see that Hotwire, which I have never used before, has rates of around $85 for a 3-4 star hotel in the Copley/Back Bay area. Does anyone have any experiences they can share about Hotwire in general and especially booking a hotel in Boston through them?

TIA,

Geoff

You'll probably be better off going through Priceline for the time period that you're looking at, and looking at the hotels in the same area. You should be able to save yourself $20-$30.

Check out www.biddingfortravel.com for the history on Boston hotels, the names of the hotels, and a strategy.

To answer your question, the hotels in that area that are Priceline hotels are the Sheraton, Hilton, Colonnade, Westin, Park Plaza, Radisson. There are some others too.

Thanks Leslie..I am familiar with both Priceline and Biddingfortravel.com. I have bid at this level ($85) without success for my dates (actually 12/27 through 12/30.

In addition, a Priceline bid for a 3 star hotel in that area may well get you the Park Plaza, which has gotten some pretty brutal reviews.

Here's another suggestion for you. Have you considered bidding the Airport/Revere district on Priceline? There aren't any 3 star hotels in Revere, so as long as you bid 3 stars, you'd get yourself a room at either the Hilton or the Hyatt. And, you can use the Seaport as a free rebid. Although, I live just outside of Boston, I have stayed at both hotels, and have had successful bids at the Hilton for $50 and at the Hyatt for $38 and $40. I actually stayed at the Hyatt last Sunday night upon my return from London, as it was easier to stay there and get to my office in Boston instead of going all the way home, besides I needed to get to sleep quickly.

Both hotels have shuttle buses to the Airport T-station (blue line), and the Hilton actually has one that goes downtown, and makes stops at South Station and the Quincy Market, amongst other locations. A ride on the T costs $1, but for $7 you can buy a day pass.

It's just a thought in case you want to save some money.

If you still want to go with Hotwire, and you can tell me the amenities at the hotels, I can probably tell you which hotels they are.

Geoff, are your dated 1/27-30 or 12/27-30?

I use Hotwire all the time for Boston and have never been disappointed with the results. Whenever a 4-1/2 star in the Quincy Market/Financial District comes up at a decent price, I always book that. So far, it has always been Le Meridien, which has been well worth the Hotwire rates. We love that place! For the Back Bay I booked this coming weekend with Hotwire. The 4-star "customer favorite" turned out to be the Sheraton. But, you never know, I've gotten the Hilton every other time. They're across the street from one another and both are just fine. I don't have any experience with Hotwire 3-stars (usually the rates are within just a few dollars of the 4-stars). As far as I know (but I'm not positive)the only Hotwire partners in the Back Bay area are the Fairmont Copley Plaza, Hilton, and Sheraton. Maybe the Radisson, but I think that one's in the Boston Common/Theater area.

Note that booking a Monday night in addition to a Friday and Saturday night will usually significantly increase the rates on both Hotwire and Priceline.

PS I meant Sunday, not Monday. You might want to try booking just Friday and Saturday with Priceline. If your bid is accepted, you can then add the Sunday night with the "additional nights" feature. Actually, you can start with all three dates, and drop the Sunday night for free re-bid purposes along the way.

I did this with Priceline previously for Baltimore in November. Got a rate of $80/night for a 4-star. Then, added Sunday night. Rate came back $100 for that night. But, in the overall, paid a lot less than I would have with Hotwire. Same went for NYC in April. When Wed-Sun was rejected after four bids, I dropped Wednesday, added $5 and my bid was accepted. Bid on Wednesday as an additional night. Again, Wednesday night was $20/night (a pattern perhaps?) more than the other nights, but who knows how high I would have had to bid to get Wed-Sun accepted?

Note that in Baltimore we were automatically upgraded and did not have to change rooms.

I'm a huge priceline fan. Got the Grand Hyatt on Park Ave in NY for $70 a night during spring break of last year and just booked The Melrose (4 stars) for the weekend before Christmas for $100. Hotels.com etc all had much higher rates for those properties.

I haven't bought in Boston, but prefer Hotwire to Priceline for one simple reason. You can often figure out exactly which hotel they are selling by the amenity list. That's far preferable to Priceline's crap shot, and I mean that description literally!! You could get lucky or you could get crap.

We used Hotwire to reserve several nights in a Back Bay hotel for $75 per night. It was the Boston Park Plaza (http://www.bostonparkplaza.com/), which worked out quite well for us. A great location in terms of nearby restaurants, 'T' access, and walking distance to Boston Commons. The rooms were definitely smallish, old, and slightly seedy, but they were clean and comfortable. I would go back there anytime, particularly at that price!

HOtwire is great. as above you can usually figure out the hotel based on the star level and amenities, especially if you know the area. So far I have not been disappointed. I only use the 4 or 5 stars though, I have no experience with 3 stars. however, when hotwire says 4-5 star they aren't kidding and you get what they are telling you. I would guess the 3 star in backbay might be the colonnade, I don't know of any others that would be considered 3 star.

Thanks to everyone for their input. I usually use Priceline and this is my first experience with Hotwire. They show a four star on my dates for $60 a night. That sounds great no matter if it is the Hilton or Sheraton. As others have pointed out, the tradeoff for (mostly) higher prices on Hotwire is the transparency in identifying the hotels. All of the three choices offered to me on Hotwire had pools. Therefore, I knew I would not get the Park Plaza.

Priceline considers the Colonnade, Hilton and Sheraton 3 star hotels. All of them have pools, the Sheraton's is outside on the roof, as is the Colonnade's. All of them are nice hotels, but the views from the corner rooms on upper floors of the Hilton are excellent.

Leslie:

Minor detail, but Priceline doesn't rate hotels. Hotels name their own # of stars based on Priceline's loosey goosey guidelines ("most have, should have, many have, most" etc).

I wound up getting the Sheraton, and I could not be happier. I am sure the Hilton, Westin and others are great hotels, and probably a bit nicer and more intimate than the Sheraton. However, the Sheraton seems just fine for my purpose: a cheap and cheerful solo three night weekend getaway from NYC. It is by all accounts a good hotel and well located.

Next time, I will try for one of the downtown 4 stars like the Le Meridien or Wyndham. Thanks for your post, Donna.

My understanding is that the Sheraton pool is an indoor/outdoor job with a retractable dome. I'm looking forward to spending time in it

Now on to restaurants! I want to try the "Daily Catch"..Last time I tried, the line was well outside the door.

Thanks again.

Geoff

PS--Priceline rates the Colonnade as a four star. I get the feeling a winning bid for a four star in that area on those dates might have been around $95-$100. As for the Hilton and Sheraton, they are rated as threes but they don't seem to come up much. Not nearly as much as the Park Plaza. BTW I have never stayed at the Park Plaza and know that some people like it very much. It might be fine,but experiences on these message boards and others have been decidedly mixed.

Hi,
Just booked a 4 star hotel thru Hotwire for 12-30 and 12-31 and got it for $60.00 per night. As per the other postings it was the Sheraton. I am shocked that I was able to get New Years Eve for $60.00. I'm happy.
Happy Holidays and thanks for the postings