Yeah...I just realized that the reason they do that on PL is the 24 hour lockout for rebidding. Took some time reading up on biddertalk and other places to realize that. Silly me.

At this point, since time is winding down for me to get my hotel snapped up, I am angling for the Intercontinental or even the Sunshine City Prince in Ikebukuro. I've stayed at the Prince in Shinagawa and it was far from impressive (unrenovated room...twice!) but Ikebukuro is very convenient for my needs. I remember reading about people getting the Intercontinental for under $100, but I guess that was during a bygone era when the yen wasn't so strong!

I've tried bidding up to $99 for a 4* for Shinjuku-ku/Ikebukuro but no dice so far. I'm tempted to drop down to a 3* bid but again I fear that if the Prince somehow ends up at 4* bids, 3* hotels might be again, more dodgy. Normally when I travel to Japan, I stay at a myriad of business hotels with the Toyoko Inn chain (http://www.toyoko-inn.com) but unfortunately most of their Tokyo properties are full and I need a twin room since I'm traveling with someone. If the dollar was stronger, I'd have screwed off the whole thing and made sure to get two singles. Much easier.