Report your Priceline successes discusion area.

nikkig_3

Success on Priceline! Wanted a room for the 3rd December in London put in a £80 bid for a 5 star in Mayfair or Soho ( have now found the London hotel list on betterbidding) got a counter bid of £111, so using the list put in extra bids and areas we would be happy with and got our bid of £100 accepted! and very happy to get the Hilton Park Lane! going to get a toptable deal now we hope for dinner at Galvin at the Windows! I have then spent the last week trying to get a 4 or 3 1/2 star in New York for the 4th December for 3 nights, started the week at £80 and went up to £155 (plus taxes) for all the areas with hotels which we would not mind ( again using the betterbidding list) nothing at all! Even tried a couple of areas with decent 3 stars - I use my log in and my boyfriends to give more chances. Nothing at all not even any counter bids. Finally got a mailer from Hotwire saying prices for a 3 1/2 4 star mid town east was reduced! Got the Millenium United Nations for $245 plus taxes which was bang on budget! I had worked out earlier in the week that the hotel was going to be that one so was very very pleased!
Shame we have got the Not so Jolly St Ermins to look forward to on the way back!
But thanks for all the helpful posts on this site and the betterbidding site!

blindman

nikkig wrote: »

Success on Priceline! Wanted a room for the 3rd December in London put in a £80 bid for a 5 star in Mayfair or Soho ( have now found the London hotel list on betterbidding) got a counter bid of £111, so using the list put in extra bids and areas we would be happy with and got our bid of £100 accepted! and very happy to get the Hilton Park Lane! going to get a toptable deal now we hope for dinner at Galvin at the Windows! I have then spent the last week trying to get a 4 or 3 1/2 star in New York for the 4th December for 3 nights, started the week at £80 and went up to £155 (plus taxes) for all the areas with hotels which we would not mind ( again using the betterbidding list) nothing at all! Even tried a couple of areas with decent 3 stars - I use my log in and my boyfriends to give more chances. Nothing at all not even any counter bids. Finally got a mailer from Hotwire saying prices for a 3 1/2 4 star mid town east was reduced! Got the Millenium United Nations for $245 plus taxes which was bang on budget! I had worked out earlier in the week that the hotel was going to be that one so was very very pleased!
Shame we have got the Not so Jolly St Ermins to look forward to on the way back!
But thanks for all the helpful posts on this site and the betterbidding site!

Hope you have a good time!:T

Bub

Hi!

Thanks for the helpful information on this forum..

I am also trying to get a 5* hotel in Cologne at pretty much the same time. I noted that pcg2001 was able to get it for $65. I put in what would have been an equivalent then slightly higher bid on the UK site for £45 (about $69 according to travelex).

In your (combined!) experience, was it because:
- we are trying to get 2 rooms
- rooms allocated to Priceline by the hotels are gone
- US and UK sites accept different rates?

Suggestions of where to go from here are appreciated.

I have also tried for a 4* room, but bidding up to £32 ($50USD) has been unsuccessful too. This does not seem too much less than what the 5* have been going for..

Also, the 4* I have my eye on from the regular accommodation booking sites is going for £43, incl breakfast but in neighbouring town about 20mins away.. So, at what point should I just do that, considering that I know breakfast is included?

A newby at this obviously! Thanks so much!

Nordictat2

Give Blindman a PM. He's great at this stuff hehe

blindman

Bub wrote: »

I am also trying to get a 5* hotel in Cologne at pretty much the same time.

Pcg2001 did not put any dates Christmas markets go on for a while IIRC.

I noted that pcg2001 was able to get it for $65. I put in what would have been an equivalent then slightly higher bid on the UK site for £45 (about $69 according to travelex).

In your (combined!) experience, was it because:
- we are trying to get 2 rooms

Only a cerain amount of rooms are "given" to PL
- rooms allocated to Priceline by the hotels are gone

Possibly-depends on how the Hotel is managing to fill their room conventionally.

- US and UK sites accept different rates?

No. Factoring the Xchange rates they are the same.

Suggestions of where to go from here are appreciated.

What are the rates for the 5* on their web-site?
Is there a BIG hike in prices over your stay (which si WHEN)



I have also tried for a 4* room, but bidding up to £32 ($50USD) has been unsuccessful too. This does not seem too much less than what the 5* have been going for..

Also, the 4* I have my eye on from the regular accommodation booking sites is going for £43, incl breakfast but in neighbouring town about 20mins away.. So, at what point should I just do that, considering that I know breakfast is included?

A newby at this obviously! Thanks so much!

Have you looked at Hotwire to see if their rates are available and at what price?

Is the 4* in the neighbouring town cancellable? If so book it.

Give the dates of your stay, (two rooms I understand) and what rates the 5* in Koln has for those dates and I'l see if I can help.

Mardrew

Bub

I, too, have been trying to get the 5* hotel in Cologne using Priceline. I have been trying, on & off for about 3 weeks, bidding between £35 - £41, based on the winning bids shown on Betterbidding. I haven't had any success either. I was initally thinking that the reason was I was wanting 4 nights but I have also tried various combinations of dates/nights for whilst I am there but still no luck. Now, I am wondering if there is something major either happening at that hotel or in the city itself. I am there over October Half Term but I really wouldn't have thought that is the reason. The thing is, after reading the reviews on TripAdvisor I would really like to stay in this hotel (especially for the Priceline price!!!) but it really is looking as if I am going to have to book another hotel at full price. Boo hoo!!! (Yes, I know the guidelines state to always book a cancellable back-up but I've just not had chance to do this.)

Extra note - I have just checked the Marriot Cologne website and it doesn't look as if there are any 'normal' rooms left for my period (25/10/09 - 29/10/09) which probably answers my own question. I am going to give it one last go tomorrow. (If anyone knows of any other good deals on Cologne hotels please pm me.)

pcg2001

Sorry guys. I forgot the dates, since I copied my post at betterbidding and the dates were there as the title of the post. I have now edited the post.

It is 28-11 to 1-Dec. This is Sat, Sun, Mon. For those dates I am getting €120 on the Marriott (advance purchase), and 111€/120€ on Renaissance.

Just a note: Those dates were beginning to look pretty busy. For instance, I had been keeping my eye on the Ibis Cologne Am Dom (near the cathedral, but €110 per night) and this was fully booked for my dates. I had booked the much cheaper Ibis Dusseldorf Haputbahnhof for €59 per night, and since it was in the train station I decided to commute one day to Cologne instead of staying there.

I did use the US priceline website (my credit card is not from the UK). Not sure if it makes a difference.

Bub

Thanks for all the replies and offer to help, Blindman!

I did see pcg2001's betterbidding post, so knew their dates.

We're going 27-29 Nov, so I thought we'd be able to get the same/similar.

I've decided to just book the 4* I know about as I know breakfast is included and can park on the streets for free. I've bid up to the same amount (when the fees are included) on 4* on PL without success and it was over £55 on 5* PL (incl fees) and both 4* and 5* were not accepted. At least I know what I'll be getting for much the same price and it seems fine.

Also, understand that booking through some of the engines have some points etc too (Expedia has nectar points, apparently hotelclub.com gives £15 cashback - MSE write up, someone mentioned in a thread about getting a discount with quidco...).

Thanks so much again for all the help though. PL seems like lots of fun and good value, so will have to try my hand at it again soon..

Bub

Mardrew,

Hope your last bid worked for you! The one I'm going to book (hopefully!) is the Best Western in Leverkusen, which looks like a dated 4*, but as I mentioned, has breakfast buffet (and pool and gym if you'll have time!).

At £43, it's pretty much at the bottom end at the time I've been looking for and for a 4*, it's very good value. I think it might be a bit more inconvenient transport-wise, but we will rent a car - and it's supposed to be a 20min drive into Cologne.

Hope that helps.

Bub

oops.. Mardrew, as I was booking this, there were extra fees and charges added on at the end (though not for other hotels on the website) - so, sorry for the misinformation.