Vancouver Forum: Bidding on Priceline--Better Area to Stay?

The Sutton and the Hyatt are a two minute walk apart so you can see that the two areas are not apart at all. Anything in either area meets your criteria. The two extremes are Opus to the south and the Marriott to the north. The Sutton is in the middle. I'd shorten the list based on your comments to the following in this order: Sutton, Met, Hyatt. Sutton is the stand out.

Interesting change. I haven't been on Priceline looking at Vancouver since summer 2008, but either areas 4 or 5 are fine... not area 1. In Jan. I'd likely just go for the Yaletown area... sorry "Granville Entertainment District", lol.

If you're bidding you don't get to pick so who knows you may even get the Opus... though I seriously doubt it. Hyatt was always the most common "win", but that one would be in area 4.

To help pick the area just compare the maps to see which of your choice hotels are in which section. Really there are no bad hotels in downtown Vancouver... or at least there weren't a year and a half ago.

BTW, you don't need to bid that high... check out Better Bidding dot com to see what the going rates are these days.

Yaletown is definitely a great area for what you're seeking. I don't know if the Westin Grand is an option, but that's a hotel a short walk away from Yaletown. The Sheraton Wall Centre would be another nearby option. There are cheaper hotels right on Granville Street, but Granville Street can be loud and rowdy on weekends with college kids and meatheads getting stupidly drunk.

Basically anywhere on the downtown peninsula (the downtown peninsula being the tiny piece of land that Robson Street traverses) would be within a 10 minute taxi ride of Yaletown.

All of those hotels would be perfectly fine, by the way. You'll soon realize once you get here how small downtown Vancouver is and that the Marriott Pinnacle is a short walk from the Listel, which is a short walk from the Hyatt, which is a short walk from the Metropolitan. A taxi from any of those hotels to Yaletown will take you no more than 5 minutes.

When I bid for Vancouver I just select both of those areas. There are several "free bid zones" for four stars and all the hotels in these areas are within a 15min walk of each other. The Opus might be the one that would be the best, but as said, it is unlikely to be the one you get. My experience has been getting the Hyatt a lot last year and now the Marriott Pinnacle this year. Both nice hotels with pools, gym and flat screen tvs. Also a good trick is to check out hotwire and then subtract $30 to $50 from the lowest 4 star to start your bidding.

Check out betterbidding.com to get a good idea of recent bids. My husband just stayed at the Marriot for $63 US on Tuesday night (it was a same day bid). Both areas are central but the Granville Entertainment area has an increased chance that the hotel will be walking distance to bars. When selecting both the Granville Entertainment District and Downtown I have never won a hotel in the Granville Entertainment District. But betterbidding.com will provide with a wider experience of bidders.

Christie

PS Happy bidding.

look at betterbidding.com and also bidding fortravel.com for some pointers. I'd stick with downtown core and 4 star. Some 3 star now include hotels on Broadway while technically still downtown arent' nearly as covenient as downtown. Recents bids have gotten Marriott Pinnacle for around $65 us

They also added a broadway/city hall area, that should take out the concern of getting a three star on broadway. Although I would still stick with only bidding on 4 stars.

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