Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Bidding Blind
There are also good deals to be found at bidding sites such as
Priceline.com, which allows a user to pitch city hotels with a price they'd
be willing to pay, and if a hotel likes that number, it accepts, binding the
user to a reservation. When you bid, you only know that you're bidding for
a hotel in a certain neighborhood. The trick of the site is coming up with
a bid that's neither too low to attract a room nor too high so that you pay
more than you have to. The secret, instead of just pecking around and hop-
ing that your bid is within the sweet spot, is to use third-party sites such
as BiddingForTravel.com and/or BetterBidding.com, where people who have
recently seen their bids accepted by the site spill the beans about what the
rate was and which hotel took it. Through that, it's often possible to snare
a four- or five-star room for under $100—even $50 for a small establish-
ment. We studied the posts at BiddingForTravel.com over the last 12
months just to give you an idea of which major hotels are usually dis-
counted. The patterns are striking; the biggest price cuts come from hotels
with four or five stars. Here are some properties you might score:
u Hilton San Francisco Union Square (333 O'Farrell St. at Mason): The
most likely “get” in San Francisco, especially if you bid for a four-star
hotel in the Union Square West (USW) area, it's a truly massive place
(which may be why it's discounting so often). The look is ultra-cor-
porate, and hallways can be endless, but it has such nice amenities
as room service (careful ordering, or you'll rapidly wipe out whatever
savings you won in the first place!), health spa, pool, whirlpool, bar,
and two restaurants. Standard price (standard double room): $180
to $450; Priceline price: $74 to $100, with the average accepted bid
at $80.
u Hilton San Francisco Financial District (750 Kearny St. at Clay):
Guess Hilton ain't doing too well here when there aren't conventions
in town, as this is the second most-likely bid winner, listed as a four
of food at every price level. You won't find the old wooden Painted Ladies or Bay
views, but the other conveniences make this district a logical home base.
Just west of Union Square, in the Tenderloin (or at least the northern fringes
of it) you'll find affordable hotels in a higher concentration than anywhere else in
the city, although the sketchy characters you'll also likely find in the streets might
put you off the neighborhood.
$ Every lodging market needs a reliable place like the 76-room Grant Hotel (753
Bush St., between Mason and Powell; % 800/522-0979 or 415/421-7540; www.
granthotel.net; AE, MC, V), a simple, clean place at the bottom of the price spec-
trum. If you don't expect a view of more than a neighboring wall, and don't
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