Priceline

Priceline bidding has become a hobby of mine. While there is strategy involved, getting a spectacular hotel deal also involves luck. Many of the hotel prices that I mention in my blog entries are nightly rates that I've obtained at a discounted price through sites such as Hotels.com, Hotwire, Orbitz, Kayak or Priceline. The upside of bidding on Priceline is that you can get unbelievably cheap rates. The downside is that you won't know where you are staying, which is undesirable when traveling on a tight schedule, and usually don't get the best room at the hotel.

My job requires me to commute 40-70 minutes each way. I absolutely despise commuting. My ideal drive is under 7 minutes and I will tolerate up to 30 minutes. I've looked for a place to rent near work and decided that I since I was fortunate enough to work at a location full of nice hotels, that I would stay at a hotel on nights I don't feel like driving.

I've inquired about long-term rates at the nicest nearby hotels and learned interesting things I'm willing to share to those who read my blog.

At first I thought I would be negotiating with the hotels on parking, breakfast, non-smoking rooms to get to a desirable rate. I found that the best the Westin can offer was a $149/night corporate rate. The Hilton could provide a $99/night rate for consecutive stays of 3-weeks or longer with advance payment, or my $155/night corporate rate which includes breakfast and business services. And the Holiday Inn Express came in at $89/night and the Courtyard Marriott offered a corporate rate of $114/night. By the way, thank you Hilton and Westin for the superb customer service.

I was actually recommended to continue using Priceline if I am able to obtain great rates. The hotels are not able to offer those low prices. The way it works is that Priceline buys 1-2 rooms at a rate that is negotiated by the hotel's power-that-be, uncontrolled at the local level. This rate becomes unavailable when the hotel reaches 70% capacity.

Happy bidding!