Friday, August 6, 2010

How to Get Great Hotels on the Cheap

For the last several years, I've been using Priceline any time we need a hotel.  I use the Name Your Own Price feature, and have always been pleased with the results.

The thing about Name Your Own Price is that you cannot choose the specific hotel.  You can choose the area and the hotel star rating, but within that category there are usually several hotels, any one of which might accept your bid.  You have to enter your credit card when you enter the bid; if the price is accepted, your card is charged right away and there are no refunds.

Needless to say, you need to be pretty certain you'll be happy with any of the available hotels in the area you are bidding on.  I've developed some strategies that have served me well, and I thought you might find them helpful too.

1.  On the first page, fill in the city and hit "search".  I put in Chicago.

2.  On the second page, click on the orange "name your own price" tab.  Now you will be able to narrow down the area further, and look at a detail map of each area to make sure you are where you want to be. I chose North Michigan Ave.

3.  Now click on the "list view" tab.  This will show you the participating hotels in that area.  You can further refine it by star rating.  Once you have looked at all the listed hotels with your desired star rating, and are satisfied that you would be happy staying at any of them, you can go back to Name Your Own Price.

4.  Fill in your dates, the area you desire, and the star rating. You will get at least that rating, possibly higher.  Put the price you want to pay per night, then all the rest of your info, including your credit card number.  Priceline will come back and tell you if your price was accepted or not.

If it's accepted, it will give you the hotel info.  If it was not accepted, you can try again, but you have to change something...add another area, change the star rating, or raise the price by a certain amount, etc.  That's more or less how I do it.  My main thing is to know what hotels are in the area before I place a bid.  Once  your reservation is accepted, then you can call the hotel and request a non-smoking room and bed preference. 

For this trip, I bid $90 for a downtown hotel.  I was beyond thrilled when my price was accepted by The Drake!!  It's a historic hotel built in 1920, and many famous people and dignitaries have stayed there.  If you go to the website, the least expensive room is $199/nt.  It had a comfortable room and a lot of character.



For the beach portion of our trip, we got a Holiday Inn Express for $75/nt, which is about $20 less per night than the listed rate.  It was a nice moderate hotel and a hot breakfast bar was included.

In Schaumburg, we got the Marriott for $55/nt.  The listed price on the website is $199.   This was a very nice hotel, with a well-appointed room and seriously one of the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in!


As William Shatner says, don't be a namby-pamby.  Name your own price and start low.  Just do a little research first! 


9 comments:

Tales From My Empty Nest said...

Thanks for the tips. I will give them a try next time I travel. Love & blessings from NC!

Tricia said...

My girlfriend swears by priceline. It's always the best when you get a great hotel for a great price! Thanks for your tips. Glad you guys had a great time!

Mrs Mary Joy Pershing said...

Oh...My...Gosh!!!!! I didn't realize that it would be that easy!!! I am planning a vacation for our family for next summer and we are hoping to go away for a weekend for our first anniversary next spring.

Now you have me VERY excited!!! I can't wait to see what's possible!!! We live just a few hours from Branson! Just think of the possibilities...

Shug said...

What great deals! I used this one time and it just happened to be one of the nicest hotels in Dallas! $50.00 per night at that!

Have enjoyed seeing your pictures!
Have a Blessed weekend!
Shug

FrouFrouBritches said...

Okay. I've always wanted to try that, but I've always been apprehensive. Next time, I'll give it a try. Thanks Holly!

Melinda said...

Great info to know.
Wow the Drake--lucky you!

Melinda

Holly @ Roller Coaster Life said...

We only use priceline too! We went to Paris a few years ago and we priceline a hotel and I actually got the exact one I wanted! The hilton right across the street from the Eiffel Tower Price tag 550.00 a night! We got it for 150.00 a night! Even the people at the hotel couldn't believe it! Ever since then we only use priceline! I love it! Its like thrift shopping =)

Amber said...

I think you've convinced me to try Priceline for our upcoming trip to NYC. We usually stay with friends but now that there are 4 of us - seriously, who can fit 4 extra people in their NYC apartment! And I do love IKEA - I always find something fabulous when I go :)

Unknown said...

I've used Priceline once before for a last-minute weekend getaway. It worked out well.

We are planning to go on a cruise in a couple weeks and will be staying the night before our cruise leaves out of Miami. How far ahead of the trip do you recommend purchasing your hotel room on Priceline? Should we wait until just a day or two before, or should we do it sooner than that?