Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - Priceline and Berlin

Any advice would be appreciated for Berlin and bidding...Any hotels or areas i should avoid?

I have looked on betterbidding but seems very few Berlin posts. Maybe I am looking in the wrong place.

Thank you for any advice.

If you can get the Marriott or the Westin, then Priceline is probably worth it. But the problem, of course, is getting those.

Otherwise, I am not sure Priceline is worth it, because Berlin has so many places with reasonable hotel prices, often with breakfast included (Tryp and Holiday Inn and Accor often have specials also). Unlike, for example, London, the savings from using Priceline might not be worth it.

I did use Priceline in 2004 and got the Westin, and thought it was perfectly located and of course a beautiful hotel. The problem with making any suggestions is that Berlin is a big city, and the Priceline zones are huge. Also, new hotels seem to be reported all the time. On the upside, Berlin public transit is excellent, so even a remote location need not be that bad.

I think the Westin offers the best location in Berlin (Mitte, with easy walks to Museum Island, Brandenberg Tor, Reichstag, and also :) the Staatsoper (3 blocks away) and the Komische Oper (next door). A U-bahn station is a few steps outisde the front door, the Tegel express bus a block away, and the S-Bahn about three blocks up the street (and the new Berlin Hauptbahnhof, not too far away, will be opening later this year, IIRC)

There are other 4* hotels in the East zone, but I have found that doing the following helps your chances in getting the Westin.

1. Check the rates on westin.com - if you see rates in the ~ €120-130 range, then your chances are better

If there is a fair/congress or convention in town, you may see the Westin rates spike up in the €200-250 range - this makes the Westin a less likely possibility,

2. Don't underbid - the lowest I ever got the Westin for is USD 61 plus tax/fee, a few years ago. My last win there, about 8 months ago, was for USD 65 plus tax/fee.

The Westin tried to double-bill me (accidentally presumably) after my July 2004 Priceline stay. From the billing information on the TV, in combination with the double charge, I was able to determine that the "real" Priceline rate was 55 Euros per night including tax. The tax rate is 16%. Of course the rate might have changed since, to say the least.

Any advice would be appreciated for Berlin and bidding...Any hotels or areas i should avoid?

I have looked on betterbidding but seems very few Berlin posts. Maybe I am looking in the wrong place.

Thank you for any advice.
http://p070.ezboard.com/bpricelineandexpediabidding

With a 4-star bidding, you can't get wrong in Berlin.

I got two hotels for $115 more or less. One was the Moevenpick at Anhalter Bahnhof (near Potsdamer Platz) ... btw, one of the nicest hotel I ever had, former Siemens Headquarter, very hipp & stylish.
The other was the Steigenberger near Ku'damm ... people believe that's one of the best hotels in Berlin (not me, but it's OK).

Put KADEWE on your to-do-list!

Thanks guys , lots of food for thought:)