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Looking for hotel in SFO

Looking for hotel in SFO

Old Jul 17, 2005, 7:19 pm
  #1  
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Looking for hotel in SFO

Due to strikes on Air NZ I am taking an earlier flight from AKL-SFO later this week as a precaution against delays, and spend two nights in SFO before flying on to ORD.

I will be travelling alone and would like to do some sightseeing in the city. I checked Hotwire and there are rooms for about $80 for 3 star in Civic Centre and from $97 for 4 star in Embarcadero, with Nob Hill being $120 (about the maximum I would want to spend). I have no idea if this is good value or if these are good areas to stay (they appear to be).

Is it worth using Priceline or are these prices alright?

An alternative I just thought of would be to spend the Friday night somewhere near the French Laundry and go there for lunch on Saturday if they have a table for me (unlikely?), and then spend Saturday night in SFO - not sure of the logistics though.

Any tips very welcome!

Last edited by Fliar; Jul 17, 2005 at 7:55 pm
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Old Jul 17, 2005, 8:33 pm
  #2  
 
Join Date: May 2005
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French Laundry's in Yountville (Napa), about 60 miles north of SF. Reservations are required up to two months ahead. No walk-ins accepted. BUT you can call (email??) and have your name put on a waitlist.

Since I have family in SF, I've never stayed in a hotel. But do you have an Entertainment Book? Would you be able to use the $30 rebate? Or there's at least a $10 off promo code I read about somewhere.

I just checked the bidding-help sites. It looks like there are 4*'s going for $75-$85 on Priceline.
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Old Jul 17, 2005, 10:07 pm
  #3  
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Best value would be 4 star at Embarcadero. Much nicer than 3 star. Those are good prices for right now, SF hotels are very expensive this year (booming compared to past years). You won't find any lower prices and are doing well to get that. You know that French Laundry reservations are impossible to get, and cost is USD 175 per person (set menu, without wine, tax and tip; so USD 300 is a reasonable per person cost and USD 250 is rock bottom minimum; many diners spend USD 1000+ due to the rather nice wine cellar). It is a great restaurant, but price doubles for every 10% increase in quality, and SF has many great restaurants which are much cheaper and almost as good.
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Old Jul 17, 2005, 11:01 pm
  #4  
 
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I still don't trust Hotwire's 4* to be the same level as Priceline's 4*. Thus, I would use Priceline and bid. And you'll likely still undercut that $97 for 4* from Hotwire anyway. Would not recommend 3* anything in SF; 3* in most large cities are far too variable for my taste.

We bid for "Boutique" level on Priceline for our stay a few weeks ago and got a room at Villa Florence for $75/night (plus the tax/fees). We thought this hotel (run by Kimpton) was just fine for that price and the location just off Union Square on Powell St. seemed ideal.

I don't think the level of service/amenity here was really less than most 4* places, although there are things I don't typically use like gyms, etc. which may play into other people's choices. For downtown SF, 4* is typically seen as the better value as bids for Boutique are often in a similar price range. We settled on it partly because we liked the idea of these type of places but also because I thought it narrowed the possible locations somewhat plus gave us more opportunities to rebid (vs 4*).

See http://www.betterbidding.com/ for some extra help and recent bids.
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Old Jul 18, 2005, 12:32 am
  #5  
 
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I still don't trust Hotwire's 4* to be the same level as Priceline's 4*. Thus, I would use Priceline and bid. And you'll likely still undercut that $97 for 4* from Hotwire anyway. Would not recommend 3* anything in SF; 3* in most large cities are far too variable for my taste.


This is interesting CrazyOne, because I actually have an opposite perception when it comes to Hotwire star ratings to Priceline. I guess I tend to put Hotwire's scale a notch higer since all the amenities of the property in question are listed and if a 'customer favorite,' then a sampling of customer comments could also be obtained.

I agree with you regarding Priceline's 3 star offerings. Just too variable, for me as well, that's why I try to limit my biddings on either 4 or 5 star properties as much as possible to guarantee a great deal. So Fliar, I think that 4 star at Embarcadero is pretty good deal. It might be the Omni or the Hyatt Regency. I think the Park Hyatt (my favorite) is .5 star higher. Good luck.
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Old Jul 18, 2005, 12:11 pm
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It may not be as true anymore I suppose, but I saw specific examples of hotels that were 2* or 2.5* on Priceline being 3* on Hotwire as well as Priceline 3* that were 4* on Hotwire. Some shuffling on the part of both outfits may have evened this a bit, but it still exists to a degree.

Whether or not specific hotels are worthy of either site's ratings is a separate question. I'm just thinking of the difference between the two sites. Quick example I just found on Better Bidding: in DC the Hilton Washington is 3* on Priceline and 4* on Hotwire. This sort of disparity has been around for years. But it's not universal, either. Looks like the Omni Shoreham is 4* on both.

You just have to know what you're getting, that's all. Also, even if you accept the ratings as equal, you should still be able to beat Hotwire's price with a Priceline bid in all but the rarest cases. (In the case of $97 for 4* in downtown SF, I think that can be beat.) Hotwire can also be a useful guide for prices to bid under, but sometimes it's totally out of whack (such as last week in Baltimore for me).

Also, for a number of large cities you can't count out a site like QuikBook http://www.quikbook.com/ which can sometimes have a price good enough that I don't bother with Priceline. It'll never be cheaper than Priceline/Hotwire, but it might be a small enough difference that picking the exact hotel becomes worth it, depending upon your particular needs.
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Old Jul 18, 2005, 2:41 pm
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Based on my research I did on betterbidding for a trip back in April, I ended up going with Hotwire rather than Priceline (probably paying more) because the district used for Priceline is much wider, and contained several hotels that I really didn't want to stay at (can't remember which ones right now). For Hotwire Embarcadero 4*, I think it's just the two listed above. I ended up getting the Omni for $125, which is not super cheap, but had a nice room and was happy with my stay. So I'd recommend checking the Priceline lists on betterbidding for the district and making sure you're happy with the possibilities.
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Old Jul 18, 2005, 8:00 pm
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Have to agree, good point on the differences in zones. I hadn't thought of that. Most places that doesn't make a difference to me. The other problem is that there is somewhat less info about possible Hotwire hotels vs possible Priceline hotels (as the other board has been tracking the latter for longer). But this is lessening due to the increasing popularity of Better Bidding.
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Old Jul 19, 2005, 11:23 pm
  #9  
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Thanks for your wonderful advice, everyone. I decided to take the 'risk' and go with Priceline USE/Embarcado 4 star and got the Grand Hyatt for $75 - recent comments are good so I am very happy with that. Thanks again for your help!
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