I am a huge fan of http://www.priceline.com/. I have bid on hotel rooms three times since last summer. The first was to get a good rate on my personal retreat. The 2nd was a stay over in St. Louis during Thanksgiving. This past weekend was a girl's weekend in Chicago. All of these visit were under $50 per night! All three also were in the extended stay hotels that have kitchens. Since I bid on the hotel I didn't get to pick the specific hotel. I always choose 2 stars and above. It just happens that I got the kitchen each time.
This past weekend I bid $30 for one night on the outskirts of Chicago. I orginally bid the $30 for Chicago proper, but that was not successful. I was surprised and excited that I got the $30 price even on the outskirts of the city. We were only 20 minutes outside the city. There were 4 of us staying in the room. The great thing about priceline is that you are asked how many rooms but not how many people. When you bid it makes it clear that they can only guarentee space for 2 adults. What I did in this situation - I called the hotel itself and requested a room with two queen sized beds. There was an upgrade charge of $10. So the total of the hotel for each of us was $12.50!
So next time you are in need of a weekend away don't use the excuse that it will cost too much. Go on priceline.com and place in a ridiculously low bid and see what happens. I will definitely use this site then next time I need a personal retreat or a weekend away with the girls.
4 comments:
I have never checked that out...sounds like it works:)
Ok...I don't want to totally bum you out! BUT! My hubby and I did this too. Except...we stayed at THE most fabulous hotel across from The Drake in downtown Chicago....for $50. Parking there would have cost more than that. We didn't drive...so we didn't have to park.
It was so fabulous! They even have the afternoon snack session which provides a great choice of yum foods and drinks.
We had a blast!
Priceline is the best -- we have always had the best luck!!
My husband does this when he travels on business to SF. He gets great deals. One of the hotels he stays at seems to reserve their less desirable rooms for Priceline guests. Fortunately, he now simply mentions the problem at check-in: "I don't like being awakened by the noise of the trucks in the early a.m." (this is at a 4 star hotel). So far, they have always responded by moving him to a higher floor (for free), and then he gets a great room. He has saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars.
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