Bargain 4* and 5* Hotels in Amsterdam .
How do you get a four or five star hotel in Amsterdam for the price of a one star? It is not that difficult. With a bit of research real bargains can be found through a site called Priceline and their “Name your own price” option. At the time of writing (May 2009) people are getting rooms in top quality, central hotels for as little as $50 per night plus tax and admin charges, usually around $15.
It must be stressed that is up to you to do your own research and there will always be an element of risk in your bidding as the picture constantly changes. This article can do no more than get you started.
Links
The sites you will need to use are:
For research:There are a number of sites around discussing Priceline options. Experience has shown that the http://www.beterbidding.com site is generally the most user friendly of them. It also holds a lot of valuable information. The site will encourage you to use their own links to Priceline as this generates some revenue for them. For non USA based users this is difficult. For those based in the USA it is a way of supporting a very useful site.
For bidding: (If not going through the above link)
http://www.priceline.com (For USA based users)
http://www.priceline.co.uk (For UK based users, also easier for non-USA based people)
There is a way for non-USA based users to register on the priceline.com site. It involves using a state code of CA and a zip code 99999. Full details can be found on betterbidding.com. In general, if you are outside the USA , it is easier to register with the priceline.co.uk site. Both access the same database, thus the prices and hotels are the same. The one downside of using the .co.uk site is that, for research, you need to be aware of the USD/UKL exchange rate plus, if you are in another currency zone, the rate between your own currency and these.
Once you access the Priceline site select the ´Name Your Own Price´ option. It should also be noted that Priceline also acts are a regular hotel portal in the same manner as a site such as www.booking.com. The remainder of this article deals specifically with the ´Name Your Own Price´ option.
Restrictions:
It is important that you go into this process with your eyes open. Before proceeding you should be aware of the following:
- You are unable to choose a specific hotel. Only the star rating and the general area. Usually, with research, can make a good guess on which hotel you will end up in but there are no guarantees.
- Bookings are for double or twin rooms only, without breakfast. Whilst hotels often will make allowances for extras, such as a third bed in the room, after booking there is no guarantee of this.
- Payment must be made in full at the time of a bid being accepted. This is before you know the hotel you are in. There are no cancellations, changes to booked dates or refunds allowed.
If you cannot accept the restrictions listed above Priceline is not for you. You may instead be better using one of the reservations portals such as www.booking.com or www.expedia.com.
Priceline hotels in Amsterdam .
The list of hotels that you are likely to get can be found here: http://www.betterbidding.com/index.ph...
Please note that whilst the sites administrators endeavour to keep it up to date Priceline can and will make changes. It is generally very accurate but not comprehensive.
Those who have looked at the list for Amsterdam will have seen that there are no one or two star hotels. Also the choice of three star properties is limited. The real bargains are therefore in the four and five star category.
This section concentrates on the area ´City Center – Museum Quarter´ hotels as that is where most visitors will wish to stay. All of these properties are good quality, well respected hotels. All but two The 5* Hilton and the 3* Park Plaza Vondel) are very much in the central area. Amsterdam is a small city, so all the main sights are easily reached from any of the other hotels. If a central location is important to you by requesting 4* in this area you are pretty well guaranteed to get a centrally located hotel. It should also be noted that if you do end up on the edge of town Amsterdam has an excellent tram network. You can be in the central area within ten minutes for under a euro.
Bidding:
Before placing a bid you must first register and provide your credit card details.
You are first prompted to select an area, the number of rooms you want and a hotel category, you then put in a bid. You will then be presented with a total price including tax and administration charges before you submit your final acceptance. Typically a bid for one night at $60 will attract $15 additional costs but it can vary.When you place a bid one of three things will happen.
- Your bid will be accepted, your credit card charged for the full amount of your stay, you are then told which hotel you are in.
- Your bid is rejected outright.
- A counter offer is made.
In the case of a bid being accepted there is not a lot more to say. Well done, enjoy your stay.
If your bid has been rejected you can re-bid 24 hours later. You can also re-bid straight away if you change your criteria. A common trick to allow you to re-bid straight away is to add a criteria that you know will not be met. Say for example that you have been rejected for a 5* in the ´City Center – Museum Quarter´ area. You could re-bid if you added ´City Center South´ and you would be safe in the knowledge that Priceline has no 5* hotels in that area.
If a counter offer is made you can choose to accept it or to reject it and re-bid. The strategies are discussed at length on the research sites given above. In general you can get a price somewhere between your initial bid and the re-bid offer.
Recent Bids:
On the Amsterdam forum we maintain two threads with winning bids. The more recent wins are on the latter pages:
In addition to those it is always worth checking the ´Priceline - Other Countries´ forum on http://www.betterbiding.com.
The main thing you should learn from the above links is the importance of doing your research in advance. In general the best advice is to bid low and work your way up from there.
Happy Bidding and Good Luck!