Hockey Hall of Fame - Hotels

[goblue9280 33]

I'll be visiting my family in Michigan at the end of the month and was looking at driving my dad up to the HHOF in Toronto for a fathers day gift. Can anyone recommend a decent, affordable hotel in the Toronto area (~$100 or less US)? We'll be driving, so it doesn't have to be walking distance to the HHOF.

[Jason Harris 31]

BiddingForTravel.com

It's a message board of prices people have won on Priceline. If you think about it, Priceline is just a computer program. The people who created the BiddingForTravel website figured out the algorithms that Priceline uses, so they figured ways to beat the system. We got a room in Basking Ridge, NJ for $42 that Expedia had at $169, as well as one at the Philadelphia airport for $55 that was listed for $239.

[junior 1]

$100 might not get you much in downtown toronto. How long are you willing to drive?

[automorph 0]

try copycraigs.com

He will have you at decent hotel downtown for around $70/night

[fastmiele 59]

I say try Priceline or Hotwire.com

You can probably get a 4 star hotel for around $75 (after fees) US downtown, which probably suites you because you are going to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

[fastmiele 59]

BiddingForTravel.com

It's a message board of prices people have won on Priceline. If you think about it, Priceline is just a computer program. The people who created the BiddingForTravel website figured out the algorithms that Priceline uses, so they figured ways to beat the system. We got a room in Basking Ridge, NJ for $42 that Expedia had at $169, as well as one at the Philadelphia airport for $55 that was listed for $239.

I was just checking some of the prices and man are they ever low. People snagging 4 star hotels for the low $50's a night. I think the garbage/city strike is killing their business. Hence, the lowering of prices. They are usually in the $75 range.

[goblue9280 33]

Thanks for all of the info guys, I think I'll give priceline a try.

[Law Goalie 147]

If you can find a good discount for the Royal York, that would be ideal. It's just along Front Street from the HHOF and it's a lovely spot. I prefer the King Edward, but that's purely on sentimental grounds.

[Jason Harris 31]

BiddingForTravel.com

It's a message board of prices people have won on Priceline. If you think about it, Priceline is just a computer program. The people who created the BiddingForTravel website figured out the algorithms that Priceline uses, so they figured ways to beat the system. We got a room in Basking Ridge, NJ for $42 that Expedia had at $169, as well as one at the Philadelphia airport for $55 that was listed for $239.

I was just checking some of the prices and man are they ever low. People snagging 4 star hotels for the low $50's a night. I think the garbage/city strike is killing their business. Hence, the lowering of prices. They are usually in the $75 range.

We used it again last night and even got a better price than the guy had posted on BFT. He had said he booked the Hyatt in Mystic, CT for $55, but we put in $55 and pressed Tab (before hitting Submit), then $50, $45 and $40. What we noticed is nothing showed up on the page until we input $40, whereupon a note popped up saying we had a low chance of winning our bid. So we changed it back to $45 and hit Submit; eight seconds later, the price was accepted.

The scary thing with Priceline, of course, is you don't know what hotel or airline you'll be given, but the people with this website have figured how to manipulate the system somewhat to get lower prices on the higher rated hotels.

[fastmiele 59]

Thanks for all of the info guys, I think I'll give priceline a try.

just out of curiousity, do you know how priceline works and approximately what bid to put in ? Its a bit tricky and I had a hard time for my first trip to NY. After reading those forums and getting more experience I became a lot more confident.

If you don't have experience/confidence I would go with Hotwire. I saw a couple of 4 star hotels for as low as $57 downtown.

[fastmiele 59]

BiddingForTravel.com

It's a message board of prices people have won on Priceline. If you think about it, Priceline is just a computer program. The people who created the BiddingForTravel website figured out the algorithms that Priceline uses, so they figured ways to beat the system. We got a room in Basking Ridge, NJ for $42 that Expedia had at $169, as well as one at the Philadelphia airport for $55 that was listed for $239.

I was just checking some of the prices and man are they ever low. People snagging 4 star hotels for the low $50's a night. I think the garbage/city strike is killing their business. Hence, the lowering of prices. They are usually in the $75 range.

We used it again last night and even got a better price than the guy had posted on BFT. He had said he booked the Hyatt in Mystic, CT for $55, but we put in $55 and pressed Tab (before hitting Submit), then $50, $45 and $40. What we noticed is nothing showed up on the page until we input $40, whereupon a note popped up saying we had a low chance of winning our bid. So we changed it back to $45 and hit Submit; eight seconds later, the price was accepted.

The scary thing with Priceline, of course, is you don't know what hotel or airline you'll be given, but the people with this website have figured how to manipulate the system somewhat to get lower prices on the higher rated hotels.

I am a bit confused at what you are trying to say . I am guessing what you tried to do is find the lowest threshold bid Priceline will accept. For example, I tried testing out Toronto for the end of July. I started at $50 and kept changing the price until $20 which the computer said I almost had no chance of being accepted. I think if I put in $25 or $30 I doubt that the computer will accept either.

Also, I tried hitting the tab button, I don't see what that does ? All it does for me is go to the next field/row of information.

[AnthonyJTa 0]

I'm actually staying at the Strathcona... less than a mile from the HHOF, and Expedia had some great prices.

[Jason Harris 31]

I am a bit confused at what you are trying to say . I am guessing what you tried to do is find the lowest threshold bid Priceline will accept. For example, I tried testing out Toronto for the end of July. I started at $50 and kept changing the price until $20 which the computer said I almost had no chance of being accepted. I think if I put in $25 or $30 I doubt that the computer will accept either.

Also, I tried hitting the tab button, I don't see what that does ? All it does for me is go to the next field/row of information.

I may be wrong about it being the Tab button, although I'm pretty sure that was which button worked. When you are on the page that allows you to submit your offer price, there is a way of letting the computer "see" your price without hitting the Submit button at the bottom. Basically, this allows Priceline's computers to let you know what your chances of success are. What we noticed is nothing popped up until we got down to $40, when a notice finally told us we'd have a low chance of success. So we raised the price to $45, then hit Submit.

Bear in mind that once you submit a bid, Priceline will not allow you to "walk up" the price without increasing something about your bid -- either increasing the geographic region or hotel class. So it's important that you "enter" the price into the box without hitting Submit, because then you've placed your one bid under those parameters. And, back to this issue of Priceline giving us a notice of the low odds of winning, that was the first time we observed there was NO notice until we got down to $40. It seemed to us that any bid between $45 and $55 (which the guy on BFT had said was his winning bid) would be accepted, and ours was at $45.

[fastmiele 59]

I am a bit confused at what you are trying to say . I am guessing what you tried to do is find the lowest threshold bid Priceline will accept. For example, I tried testing out Toronto for the end of July. I started at $50 and kept changing the price until $20 which the computer said I almost had no chance of being accepted. I think if I put in $25 or $30 I doubt that the computer will accept either.

Also, I tried hitting the tab button, I don't see what that does ? All it does for me is go to the next field/row of information.

I may be wrong about it being the Tab button, although I'm pretty sure that was which button worked. When you are on the page that allows you to submit your offer price, there is a way of letting the computer "see" your price without hitting the Submit button at the bottom. Basically, this allows Priceline's computers to let you know what your chances of success are. What we noticed is nothing popped up until we got down to $40, when a notice finally told us we'd have a low chance of success. So we raised the price to $45, then hit Submit.

Bear in mind that once you submit a bid, Priceline will not allow you to "walk up" the price without increasing something about your bid -- either increasing the geographic region or hotel class. So it's important that you "enter" the price into the box without hitting Submit, because then you've placed your one bid under those parameters. And, back to this issue of Priceline giving us a notice of the low odds of winning, that was the first time we observed there was NO notice until we got down to $40. It seemed to us that any bid between $45 and $55 (which the guy on BFT had said was his winning bid) would be accepted, and ours was at $45.

I see your points, they are all valuable in the process of bidding. The better informed a bidder is the more likelihood of him/her being successful.

Although I have to say, a person better be know what they are getting themselves into. I know people who go on those forums and expect they will get the same hotel and price. It doesn't quite work that way. It would be nice, but the price and choice of hotel changes daily.

[Jason Harris 31]

That's one of the points of that website...to help people learn how to bid in a way that they are still somewhat protected.

For instance, at the top of many pages there is a list of all known hotels that Priceline has used, and what their ratings are. There's no doubt that Priceline will always add new hotels, but they aren't going to give a Motel 6 the same rating as a Ritz Carlton. So if you have an idea what hotels are being used, you can limit the geographic area and hotel rating and know that you want be given something lesser -- you just won't win the bid.

As I understand it, by expanding your parameters, you are allowed to rebid on the same day. So go from 4 stars to 3.5 also and raise the bid. If that still doesn't work, but you're keen on a particular hotel, either bid under someone else's account -- we did that with the Big D, but found we had to go to a different computer -- or wait a day.

So far, I've won four bids that were at the same price and hotel (actually $10 less than one) that people had listed on BFT.