Priceline/Hotwire etc.

[zzzyyy]

Hi ladies and gentleman,

Given that our community as a whole utilizes hotel rooms quite a bit, I think it would be useful for us to share information about any tips/tricks for getting reservations at good quality hotels through priceline/hotwire or any other ways. At the end of the day, the hotels are taking a cut from our interaction (they are taking away from the total pie of our community) and it is in our mutual interest to minimize this amount. This information may have been shared in the ladies powder room, but would be useful for us the gentlemen as well, for possible outcall dates.

So, I would appreciate comments about:

- Which sites/means do you use for booking hotel rooms?
- Which areas do you prefer?
- Any tips for entering bids, i.e., what time of day, how much for which areas, etc.
- What is a good price for a given area/hotel rating (e.g. 3/4 star hotel in the Galleria area...)
- Any other tips/tricks?

Thank you for the information everyone.

[Plutothedog]

The third party does take a cut from the hotels. If you find a hotel that you like and rate online that you like just call the hotel directly. This way atleast you will be able to cancel if anything changes or pay differently if you wish. If you saw a better rate online just mention it and 9/10 times they will honor that rate.

[HoneyRose]

When I was between incalls and using hotels, I found the site betterbidding.com really useful.

There are stickies that show the area, amenities and stars associated with each hotel through both Hotwire and (the opaque portion of) Priceline so I was usually able to know exactly which hotel I was looking at before booking it.

In addition, users will post what they just booked/at what price/what the listed amenities were.

[zzzyyy]

Thank you Plutothedog and Honeyrose. Honeyrose, are the stickies and postings that you mentioned only available to the ladies? We would love to have access to the information as well.