I clearly remember one summer when I was about twenty years old & was planning on visiting San Diego with some friends of mine. When I informed my parents of the hotel we had booked, my dad basically said, "No, you are not staying there". Because it was kind of gross & probably not safe, but we didn't really have money to spend on a hotel, we wanted to use our money for more fun & exciting things!
Even now, I still get restless. Being in one place too long gets me all fidgety so I am usually in a state of feeling like I've got to go somewhere.
Tired driving is undesirable nor do I have many friends, especially not any who live in other cities. So hotels save the day, but here is another fun fact, I am not rich.
This is why I have come to really enjoy using Priceline's, "Name Your Own Price" thing when I need to find a hotel & I would definitely recommend this method. Basically, you tell the website where you want to stay, how many stars you would like your hotel to be, it gives you a map of which areas you might like, you give it a price, & it comes back either telling you to try changing something or that your offer has been accepted.
The catch is that you have no idea what hotel you just bid for, but you have to agree to follow through with your offer.
I've used Priceline's hotel bidding about three or four times & have been really happy with it. I used it for this recent quick trip to Los Angeles & was quite pleased at the hotel I ended up getting a reservation with, the Westin Bonaventure.
The room was clean, not the quietest but nothing intolerable, & the staff were all very friendly. The hotel is made up of window-walled towers so there were plenty of nice views.
On one of the upper floors, there was a revolving lounge which again, gave us really nice views of various city lights.
As with every time I use this method of finding a hotel, I keep thinking, "Maybe this will be the time they give me a horrible hotel & I never want to use Priceline again!", but that time wasn't this time, I still like you, Priceline.
Wow! Does that work for hotels worldwide? I'd love to try it as I am also not rich and need to escape from time to time. It's scary/exciting not to know where you'll end up though!
ReplyDeleteJeff's used it -- once. The results weren't the best, but we would use it again now that we've learned more about how it works. Fortunately we have family everywhere and hardly ever have to pay to stay anywhere :D
ReplyDeleteSweet! Me and a friend are planning a trip to New York next fall, so we need all the help we can get finding a reasonable hotel.
ReplyDeleteHey, I know some of those places! I pass the second one down everyday on my way to work.
ReplyDeleteWoah, that hotel looks really nice! I'm a total cheapo, I'll stay in a "roach motel" just to avoid hefty prices lol.
ReplyDeletegreat pictures!!!
ReplyDeletei wish i could someday go to united states...
what a beautiful shots!!!
ReplyDeleteLa Petit Poucet
You know, I'm not sure if it applies worldwide, you should definitely check it out!
ReplyDeleteI find it incredibly nerve racking not to know what the actual hotel will be! Especially since hotel star ratings can be really inconsistent. I haven't been let down yet, but I keep expecting to end up in some sleazy place!
Lucky!
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! I've always wanted to visit New York! You'll have to tell me all about that trip when you take it
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Do you work downtown then? How do you like it?
ReplyDeleteHaha I know how you feel though! I hate to spend a lot of money on a hotel because it's the place I spend the least amount of time during a trip! But I also like to feel safe while I sleep, this hotel cost me $90 a night, which I didn't think was too bad compared to it's usual nightly rate which was about $170 when I checked online.
ReplyDeleteI hope you can! I'd like to travel out of the United States one of these days!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I’m so glad you left a comment since I can now see all the pretty pictures on your blog!
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't know that was the way Priceline worked. That's kind of exciting, the element of surprise. Maybe/hopefully the reason why the hotels have all worked out well is because there's some kind of quality control on the site. Maybe they weed out the particularly bad ones? This is pretty cool though, I'll have to try it sometime.
ReplyDeleteThat's just the way the "name your own price" option works. I haven't actually used Priceline in the regular, choose the actual hotel that you want method, but that is available. It's definitely more exciting this way although a bit scary! You can really save a lot of money, I think choosing a four or three & a half star hotel from them is the best way to go.
ReplyDelete