For all of you priceline experts. If I choose a four star hotel in Napa or wherever, how do I know which hotels qualify? Or is it a secret? I've never used this before and I'm doing a long weekend so it's not a hotel I'd have to live with forever, but do you ever know what the options are? I've narrowed down some options for booking direct - looking at some spots in Calistoga, but I thought it would be fun to try the Priceline thing. :lct:

If you have not used Priceline before, do yourself a BIG favor and go to Biddingfortravel.com. It has numerous threads that will tell you not only the most common hotels/star ratings as well as how much people are bidding. I used it to get pay $80 for Pier66 in Fort Lauderdale for our upcoming Bermuda cruise. The best online rate I could find was in excess of $249 per night. It works.

From what I recall there is not too much selection in the Napa area. You may do better in Sonoma. Also there are many very nice B&B's in Napa that would put most of the hotels to shame. We staying in one for a week a few years ago and it was great. Try www.napaonline.com or www.napavalley.com for some ideas.

Don't know much about priceline, but this is one of Napa's finest:

www.abuergedusoleil.com

And not far down the road...
http://www.frenchlaundry.com/tfl/frenchlaundry.html

Closed thru April I think for remodeling so it depends when you are planning your trip.

Enjoy!

TODD!
Help answer this question please!!!

Good luck trying to get into the French Laundry!
First, they open reservations at 10:00 AM 60 days out, and are sold out within minutes.

Second, it's closed for renovations.


We ate at La Toque, in Rutherford. It was fabulous!! Dinner only, 5 nights a week. Would go back in a heartbeat.

Also Martini House in St Helena is great. And Don Giovanni, and Bistro Geanty, and the restaurant at Domaine Chandon . . . we call it Gourmet Gulch. You certainly won't go hungry. We certainly haven't and have the waistlines to prove it.

Where in the Valley do you want to stay? Are you near a library? You can go to the travel section and check out some good books, they should have hotel info. Or go to the local AAA and get a Northern Calif. tour guide.

Bon Voyage!

Yes Mailman has it right. Go to the informed bidders website at www.biddingfortravel.com and do your research BEFORE bidding on Priceline.com. Biddingfortravel takes some of the guesswork out by:

Listing hotels, by stars, by area that have been won on Priceline
Members post their winning bids with stars, dates and amounts paid.
You can see history of what hotels are coming up in an area by star rating.

I have found the moderators there to be militant and would caution you on posting there.

Todd:

After I read that message board, I'm not sure I'd like to tackle priceline - your're right about the moderators - they are really bossy!

Luckly I don't need a hotel room very often - I'll just stick to cruise ships! :)

Margo, Todd is our Priceline Pro, I am sure he will guide you if you ever attempt it. Priceline does offer some huge bargains!

Karen:

Their moderator need some lessons from you! They sounded so snarly!

Thanks for the advice. From what I read on bidding for travel I'd be happy with any 4* facility if I can get it at this late date.

Bob and Frances

Re: The French Laundry reservations...it depends who you know...

Table for 1 please! Sometimes I hate traveling by myself.....

Margo, Todd summed them up perfectly, they are militant! If I acted like that, you guys would steal all my shoes and replace them with these:

The other advice re: Priceline that I can offer is to check Hotwire.com for prices where you want to go.
Then -at least- you have a benchmark. (and a fall back)

So many people over bid on Priceline that is it no wonder that they make money!

Doug

Karen,
I really like the boots - especially the ones on the bottom - reminds me of the psychodelic ties one would buy in the sixties. Great shoes

Marty

DougW - So would you trust hotwire on anything over 4*?

Oh Karen, you know you love those shoes!

:ohmy:

Yes the mods can be a little snippy, but think about it.....if you were constantly being expected to do legwork for someone that 1. does not provide all the information and constantly says what about these days or those days or 2. simply EXPECTS a free service....you might be equally as snippy. I look at that board simply as a resource, nothing more. In that light it provides a valuable service. If someone has the need to post there they should at least show some respect for the mods time by following what they ask for. Doing legwork just for myself takes alot of my time, I can't imagine trying to support all the people in those forums !

BTW..Margo...it really is not that bad of a process if you read and understand their faqs and then read the posts for the properties you are interested in to see what prices are coming in at. Like I mentioned above, I am pretty happy with my price at Pier66 for our pre-cruise, especially compared to what Radisson was asking for !

As far as Napa : We ate at Don Giovanni, Bistro Geanty and Tuscany and they were all very good. Depending on the time of year of your Napa trip, I would also recommend making some reservations at particular wineries for tours. We enjoyed the ones at Merryvale and Cakebread especially. Also don't miss the wineries along Silverado Trail. Chimney Rock was our favorite.

Michael, you make a good point. I'm sure it becomes irksome to answer the same "stupid" questions again and again.

I think most new bidders are intimidated by the possibility of making a mistake. I need to read more of the information if I decide to "shop."

Margo - it's actually not that bad once you read the FAQs posted and read through some of the other bids that have been put in in the past - you'll get the feel for how it works pretty easily. I've done it twice now and had great success. I highly recommend doing Priceline and using BiddingforTravel.com to use Priceline more effectively. Though Todd's a pretty good resource too. :)

Masaki

Hello --

We've used PL for probably 20 nights worth of travel in the last year (and a few planes & rental cars as well). BiddingForTravel.com is definitely the resource to use to figure out what to spend... a few other tips --

- Find a fallback that is cancellable and book it.

- Don't be afraid to wait until late in the game if you can't get your price right away - a lot of times, hotels don't make inventory available to PL until a week or so out.

- If you have trouble booking for what seems like the going rate, call a few of the PL hotels in the zone you're going for directly - sometimes there's a festival or something going on and you'll NEVER get a room through PL (no availability). Helps to find out before wasting too much time...

- Regarding * ratings, I haven't ever used for a 5* - PL doesn't have too many in inventory. They consider the Venetian in Las Vegas one, and from time to time, Raffles in Bev Hills has come up (but never for me!) I've been really pleased with our stays at Park Hyatt properties in Bev Hills & SF (and at $55 a night, who wouldn't be?)

Glad to help with any more questions - it's definitely a nice resource (more $ for cruises!!)

-- Gordon + Rebecca

Thanks for the great advice! I usually stop in at Merryvale, and don't ever miss Chateau St. Jean and Domaine Chandon. Other than that I try to find some new spots each time I go. Luckily Missouri is wine friendly so I can ship a few cases home.

It looks like if I go 4* I end up at Silverado which I like, but isn't a fav. Thinking I might try the Mountview in Calistoga. I could book that and see what becomes availabe on PL closer to May. One thing about add-on weekend - they give you the freedom to try new stuff without a lot of risk.

I've always wanted to try the French Laundry but have also never gotten in. There is a hotel that will send someone down if you book a room there two months prior to get you a reservation, but I'm not that organized... :ohmy:

Sue:

re: Hotwire.com. They have always been good to me. I have always gotten good value.
My bride drove me crazy so many time when we used Priceline or Hotwire.. afraid that we were going to be in some hell-hole. It never happened. I think -going out on a limb here- that she is starting to trust me.

BUT I always suggest that you use a higher * rating than a lower one. Remember, while good... the sites' * ratings are NOT anyone else's but their own. That is where a site like Biddingfortravel comes in. You can see what someone got as a 3 or 4 star!
Remember: your 5 star might be someone else's 4 star. It just ain't standardized.
A Hilton isn't always the same as a Holiday Inn or a Motel 6..... but sometimes it could be.

And, remember that you do not get any sort of points or miles with these sites...

SO...

I always recommend checking with the hotel's site, too. Sometimes, and more often these days, you can really get the best deal on the hotel's site... although I have always found that calling the local hotel directly can get a better deal.

happy hunting!

Doug

Oh... I forgot to add...

I love Merryvale Chard!!! How can I get you to send me a couple of bottles?

Doug

Sue:

Good luck with the bidding...let us know what happens!

Maybe Robert can help you with the French Laundry???

Margo: I am completely undone by bidding for travel - sort of like math problem solving to me - the train left the station at 2:05 pm - and the moderator is soooo rude - I know I just need to take the time to learn the ropes - I check it all the time to see the great deals people get - the Stanhope in nyc was coming up last yr for $75 per night - Joanna

Joanna:

I have the same feeling! Oh well, maybe someone here will take pity on us. I'll write to Todd if I get serious about bidding. Do you think the Hotel Paris in Monte Carlo is up for grabs? :D

We need a day room on Nov. 1!

Margo,

According to biddingfortravel.com, I do not see any Pricline Hotels in Monte Carlo. Write me when you need help on Pricline.

Todd:

I was afraid of that...actually I checked biddingfortravel.com when you posted the link earlier and noted that there aren't too many hotels listed in Nice or Monte Carlo. Just though I'd check.

Thanks for your offer of help!

Robert,

Yes, I know they save some tables for "special" people, and those people have an unpublished phone number to call. I'm not one of them.

We actually had reservations once, with friends from NYC. Then Gordon ended up in the emergency room by Yosemite, and we had to cancel.

So we've had to settle for La Toque, Bistro Geanty, Don Giovanni, Domaine Chandon, and lots of others. Haven't eaten at Tuscany yet. Living here is So Painful!

Chateau St Jean has a nice wine club. They send out 3 bottles every 3 months, it runs about $90-115, and the stuff they send is wonderful. Plus, you get a discount on what you buy at the winery.

Bob's favorite is Robert Mondavi. Another good one is Grgich Hills.

Heck, they're ALL good. Our car is set on autopilot for wine country.

Enjoy!

Don't forget to visit Copia!!

Frances:

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of them either!! But I know someone who is. St Jean, Hills and Mondavi (funny how they turned themselves around!) are favorites - but you are right, it's hard to get a bad glass of wine in your neck of the woods.

Oh, to live in California! Good food, great wines, and other items too numerous to mention! <img border="0" alt="[naughty]" title="" src="graemlins/naughty.gif" />

But, oh to live in Texas. None of that state income tax here. And Ca's is so high. But I agree about the weather and wine. It might be worth the taxes just to get the $2 chuck!
I don't think that most people who live here know what a blessing this tax thing is until they move away. I got so tired of state taxes, city taxes, subdivision taxes (yes, subdivision taces 1 place I lived) & I don't mean your community assoc dues. In Indiana I even had to pay a city jail tax & it was based on income. Oh yes, and those states that charge the worst tax of all - the intangible tax. You pay that on the value of your investments at the end of the year (Dec 31st), plus out of state savings, money markets, etc that you own. And I mean the value - not the $$$ up or down or interest earned or what you have sold. The feds get you for that. I truely mean value. Sorry, got off topic about taxes.
So, live in Texas & pay about an 8% sales tax but nothing else. Sure helps with money for cruising.

Betty:

No property taxes?????

I may have to start thinking about moving...ooops, Tom just said who the **** wants to live in Texas?

Sorry Betty - he's a NY'er born and bred! I grew up in Iowa - so I'm much more flexable!

Unfortunately, we do pay property tax & of course in places like Houston they are high, but there are now so many little communities in the hill country (outside Austin) & up & down the coast - if you don't live right on the beach were the property taxes aren't bad.
If Tom is a died-in-the wool NYer, I am afraid he might have a bad case of culture shock, but the image of Texas in general, is so different from the larger cities. Extremely cosmopolitian - great restaurants, clubs & all the fine arts things you could ask for. I don't get to see all the plays, musicals, operas or ballets I would like to, because the expensive would be horrible. I would be homeless, for lack of paying those property taxes. But they are deductible & when you don't have all those other state taxes to deduct from your federal, you don't mind the property tax as much. And the property tax really isn't that high!

If Todd's busy, I've done quite a bit of Priceline bidding myself and would be happy to help :)

Thanks Peteropny, we can use all the help we can get!

Margo,

Come live with us out here!!

:)

R

BTW, we bid on a 3 star on priceline.com at JFK for Monday night (3 star is the highest category offered at JFK) and got the Radisson. We stayed there the first night (luckily all we had pre-paid/won) and checked out after the first night. Last night we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express at JFK which is rated a 2.5 star. I think they have their ratings mixed up....The Express was MUCH nicer and newer and the room was larger, and it included Continental breakfast. The JFK Radisson is a dump, lots of wear and tear and terrible service. Our clock was broken and after 4 calls to get a replacement...it NEVER happened. We finally gave up. Also things like an empty tissue box, a smoke detector without a battery and wires hanging out/exposed. I couldn't wait to get out of that dump. These star ratings can be very misleading!