I'll be attending a conference at the San Diego Convention center and want to be within walking distance. I'd like to bid for a hotel room on Priceline. But they have only one region for downtown - "Downtown San Diego and Harbor Island". Harbor Island is out by the airport and certainly not walking distance (which I define as no more than a 20 min brisk walk).

Is there any way to structure my priceline bid so I don't end up on Harbor Island? Are there other priceline-like bidding sites I can try that *exclude* Harbor Island? Looking for a 4 star or higher property. Would consider 3.5 if it was close to the convention center.

Finally, does anyone have experience with booking the Marriott attached to the convention center? I've got one night booked on points (cat 6, so it's costly--30K points per night). A room at their online "rack rate" is $250. To rich for my tastes. I saw that they've got a federal gov't rate of ~$150. But the most I'd qualify for (via my wife perhaps) is State Government rate--but I see none listed for the nights I need. Might it be possible to negotiate the Federal Gov't rate over the phone? I'm not a AAA member or a senior. Are there any other discounts I could ask for if Priceline doesn't pan out?