Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Summary of winning bids on Priceline

dmk

By dmk,
in West Coast Departures

 Share

Recommended Posts

zimmerjulie

zimmerjulie

Posted
Posted

No way to be sure. No way to request.

 

With Priceline you enter price, star level, and specify an area. You commit to the purchase based on those things.

 

If you bid and they accept your price, they assign the hotel and it is charged to the credit card that you entered with your bid. Done deal. No chance to refuse and get a refund, no option to change the hotel.

 

For those who are flexible, it is a great way to save $$. If you want a certain hotel, you probably want to use another booking method where you have more control.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ohio-C-Luver

Ohio-C-Luver

Posted
Posted

I'm up to $126 and still it's turning me down. Should I try the Entertainment area? Am I just bidding way too early! Help, I've never had this much trouble before. They say someone just bid a 4 star in Downtown Vancouver and won for $75, but then they say the median price for a room is $270 for a 4 star.:confused:

 

Has anyone stayed in a 31/2 star downtown? Help! I wanted to stay close to Downtown as we are spending two day before we sail to see Vancouver. We would really appreciate any and all help!:o

 

Thanks!

 

Jan

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hope to Cruise

Hope to Cruise

Posted
Posted

Has anyone stayed in a 31/2 star downtown? Help! I wanted to stay close to Downtown as we are spending two day before we sail to see Vancouver. We would really appreciate any and all help!:o

Jan

 

I went for 3 1/2 star downtown for a room last month. Got the Pacific Palisades for $95 and it was wonderful!

 

But you may be a bit early for dates almost a year from now

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ohio-C-Luver

Ohio-C-Luver

Posted
Posted
I went for 3 1/2 star downtown for a room last month. Got the Pacific Palisades for $95 and it was wonderful!

 

But you may be a bit early for dates almost a year from now

Thanks, we wanted the location-and a nice clean hotel. Thats a big help! I've never had this much difficulty and thought maybe downtown Vancouver was really pricey. I wil try this bid, as now know the 3 1/2 is a good value!

 

Many Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
StLouisCruisers

StLouisCruisers

Posted
Posted
Thanks, we wanted the location-and a nice clean hotel. Thats a big help! I've never had this much difficulty and thought maybe downtown Vancouver was really pricey. I wil try this bid, as now know the 3 1/2 is a good value!

 

Many Thanks!

 

I think perhaps it's too early. Bidding $126 and not winning means you should slow down, in my opinion. Most 4 stars in Downtown can be had for less than $80. Take a little break, and start again at $70 or so. You don't have to keep going up, up, up. Sept. 2010 is so far off, there's no need to overpay. You'll be happy to be in the downtown area once you get there. You can walk to anything you need.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CPPADILLA

CPPADILLA

Posted
Posted
Thanks, we wanted the location-and a nice clean hotel. Thats a big help! I've never had this much difficulty and thought maybe downtown Vancouver was really pricey. I wil try this bid, as now know the 3 1/2 is a good value!

 

Many Thanks!

 

Be patient. We were in Vancouver this past September before cruise. Took several attempts on Priceline but finally got the Sutton Place for $105.00 after trying maybe three times. We were very happy with the hotel and location. I think we didn't staring bidding until end of July though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ohio-C-Luver

Ohio-C-Luver

Posted
Posted
I think perhaps it's too early. Bidding $126 and not winning means you should slow down, in my opinion. Most 4 stars in Downtown can be had for less than $80. Take a little break, and start again at $70 or so. You don't have to keep going up, up, up. Sept. 2010 is so far off, there's no need to overpay. You'll be happy to be in the downtown area once you get there. You can walk to anything you need.

Thanks, I did put a lower bid in today and they didn't take it, but they didn't give me the "you have absolutely no chance" stuff either. I'll keep at aroun $100 or less for a while and see what happens!

 

Thanks for the encouragement! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
StLouisCruisers

StLouisCruisers

Posted
Posted
Does this include being able to park your car there during the cruise?

 

No, just a room. If you need to park and sail you should probably call the hotel direct.

 

Just for more information on hotels won on Priceline, our daughter is on the Nov. 21 Mexican Riviera cruise on the Sapphire. She has won the Doubletree San Pedro for the 20th at $70, and the following weekend won the Crowne Plaza LAX for the night of the 28th Nov. for only $42. They're taking an early morning flight on the 29th so she'll be right there bright and early.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kampkids

Kampkids

Posted
Posted

San Diego area:

I chose the wrong map to filter on when bidding. Selected area 13 San Diego Coastal, thinking it would include Cruise terminal. It didn't. Bid $60 on 3.5 star. Accepted immediately by Marriott La Jolla. With taxes and parking, this will be $95.00! (Parking is $20 a night)

 

It is probably 15 minutes from the cruise terminal. Not too bad, but now we have to find someplace closer to park. Live and learn. :o

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
redtop101 Holiday Sharing Rare

redtop101

Posted
Posted (edited)

DW and I stayed at this hotel for 3 nights Sept '09. I got it on Priceline for $48. We had a rental car so didn't worry that it was away from the downtown Long Beach area. Most of those hotels charge $14-$16 per night for parking and some charge for internet. This hotel included free parking, free breakfast, free wired in-room internet, free managers reception Mon-Thur including free light dinner, beer and wine. I had read reviews on Tripadvisor and most were pretty positive. The rooms are in clusters like townhomes with 2 levels. We were on the ground floor level and had noisy neighbours above us for one night. Otherwise, no problems. The rooms had a queen bed, separate area with sofa bed, computer work desk and full kitchen and bathroom. They had a security guard checking guests names at the entrance gate on weekends. We thought it was a reasonably safe neighbourhood and never felt uneasy at all. For the price we paid, we had no complaints at all.

Edited by redtop101
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bruin Steve

Bruin Steve

Posted
Posted
Just got the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles for $80 for a Thursday in mid Jan.

anyone have any info on how this hotel is?

 

WHY???

It's a nice hotel...but...in a very poor location UNLESS you are in LA for one of few reasons:

1) You need to be in Downton LA for business

2) You are attending a conference or seminar at the hotel

3) You are attending an event at Staples, the Nokia Theater or the LA Convention Center...

 

Other than that, you are in an area where you will not want to walk out in the streets at night, where there are no restaurants or shops to go to nearby...

 

If you are there without a car and you arrived there by plane, you will spend an inordinate amount for taxis or shuttles to and from the airport...You are even farther from the cruise terminals.

 

If you have a car, you will pay an additional $42 per night to park at the hotel...

 

LA is NOT Vancouver...Downtown LA is NOT the center of things...

Downtown LA is more of an historical and geographical accident than it is an important location. California was first colonized by the Franciscan Friars, who built missions up and down the state in order to subject and convert the native populations to Christianity...In the LA area, the local native populations were densest not by the coast, but by the foothills, due to the availability of water sources...So, rather than sticking to the coastal route, the Franciscans took the mission trail inland to San Gabriel and San Fernando...The Spaniards typically built a Presidio--a fort--with each mission to protect the mission from attack...But the Spaniards didn't believe either San Gabriel or San Fernando to be an important mission, so, rather than build a presidio at each, they located a single presidio approximately halfway between the two...at a point with a ready water source--the Los Angeles River ran underground through the Glendale Narrows and emerged from the ground at the point Downtown LA is today...hence, the Spaniards built El Pueblo de Nuetra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porcuncula --the Town of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angel of Porcuncula (Porcuncula being a river in Spain that the small LA River, springing from undergroud, reminded them of...

 

But the small frontier fort was nowhere near much of anything...not near the harbor, not near the beach, not near the population centers of the two missions it was built to protect...

 

The harbor was TWENTY-FIVE miles away! So, economic important was diffused...as is cultural importance...

 

Aside from the missions, the Spanish divided up land by "land grants"--ranchos--large tracts of land given away to influentuial individuals--and people who wanted to farm them and hold them in the name of Spain...Over the years, as each land grant family decided to sell off or develop their rancho, different town sprung up at each of these developments--and each took on a different flavor depending on how they were developed and what was happening in the economy at the time...and how favorable the location for certain activities...

 

So, various functions and attractions are spread out all over a very wide area...The movie business sprung up at the time Hollywood and Burbank were being developed...and Beverly Hills was being developed as a residential area...Santa Monica and Venice were developed as "resort" areas...

 

Downtown LA, being one of the older settlements, but, more importanly, the seat of political power, was developed as a corporate and banking area...with industrial uses to the north, south and east of downtown...

 

But, nobody ever really wanted to live near downtown...LA was built in an era where transportation was paramount...and cheap...and easy...First, the railroads, then the automobile...For a long time, LA had an incredibly widespread fixed rail system--the Big Red Car--which was eventually bought up by a consortium made up of the auto manufacturers, tire companies and oil companies--and shut down...then replaced by freeways and roads...

 

Angelenos had no problem commuting to jobs...and living where they wanted to live...hence then nicer suburbs in all of the outlying areas...

 

So, meanwhile, Downtown LA has banks and law firms and industry...and a poorer, working class and transient and unemployed porpulation base...Monday through Friday, 8 to 6, there are bankers and lawyers and corporate types--who all desert downtown with some giant flushing sound...At night and on weekends, that leaves only the homeless, the winos, the poor and the illegals to wander the streets of Downtown...

 

Tourists are much better served staying in Santa Monica or Universal City or Beverly Hills or even West Hollywood--where there are shops and restaurants and walking streets where one can enjoyably spend an evening or night...and be close to attractions like the Venice Boardwalk or Santa Monica Pier or Getty Center Museum or Universal Studios and Citywalk or Sunset Strip, the Grove, Rodeo Drive, Third Street Promenade...

 

If you took it on Priceline, you're stuck with it...but, to anyone else even remotely considering Downtown Los Angeles, take it from a local...DON'T...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fredr

Fredr

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hello,

 

I live in Claremont California which is about 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. I agree with Bruin that downtown Los Angeles is not the best choice. However, since you will be here for one night with a nonrefundable reservation, I am going to make some suggestions toward making your stay an enjoyable one.

 

The Westin Bonaventure hotel is a very nice hotel so you should have no worries about staying in a flea bag. And for $80, you did very well in terms of cost.

 

Secondly there are several very good restaurants in downtown Los Angeles where you can have lunch or dinner and the cab ride will not break your travel budget. The Original Pantry is one such restaurant, open 24 hours and it is about a 10 minute cab ride from the Bonaventure. In particular the Pantry is famous for breakfast.

 

And about 10 minutes by cab from the hotel is Chinatown, where there are several very good Chinese restaurants, and 10 minutes away also is Little Tokyo where there are some great Japanese restaurants.

 

During the day time, you can walk around downtown Los Angeles as it is a major financial, legal, and business center with lots of professional and business people walking about. Sadly, there are homeless people on the streets of downtown Los Angeles. If approached and panhandled, politely but firmly say no thank you. But the Bonaventure is not located in a bad area of downtown Los Angeles.

 

Please also note that the City of Los Angeles has one of the very best police departmentsi in the world and the main police station is within several blocks of the hotel. I add this here so you should know that this area is well policed.

 

The next morning I would have Super Shuttle pick you up at the hotel by 10:30 AM as it is about a 30-40 minute ride to the cruise terminals in Long Beach or San Pedro.

 

Please note also that there are many very nice places to stay in Southern California in addition to the areas mentioned by Bruin. Since it is such a large geogrphical area those wanting to visit here need to select a few things they really want to see and stay in that neighborhood.

Edited by Fredr
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Canuckjammer

Canuckjammer

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the feedback about downtown LA.

I'm actually staying 3 nights before cruise. Booked downtown for 1st night because I'm going to Kings game at Staples center. With the price of $80 had been debating about staying there all 3 nights or moving to either Santa Monica area or Long Beach area for remaining 2 nights. Santa Monica sounds better, but more expensive. From what I've read here, I definitely won't be staying downtown longer than the 1 night.

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Canuckjammer

Canuckjammer

Posted
Posted
I'm up to $126 and still it's turning me down. Should I try the Entertainment area? Am I just bidding way too early! Help, I've never had this much trouble before. They say someone just bid a 4 star in Downtown Vancouver and won for $75, but then they say the median price for a room is $270 for a 4 star.:confused:

 

Has anyone stayed in a 31/2 star downtown? Help! I wanted to stay close to Downtown as we are spending two day before we sail to see Vancouver. We would really appreciate any and all help!:o

 

Thanks!

 

Jan

 

Be patient! I'd suggest waiting til at least March (after the Olympics) to bid for Vancouver. You want to be downtown and a 3 1/2 star or 4 star would be great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...