HotelChatter

(The following is an email from an MIT student explaining the bidding strategy):

For those still looking for a room (or have not booked it yet), I have one word of advice for you...Priceline. Yes, I'm channeling Bill Shatner(remember those commercials?), e.g.,"hey do you want to live like a king on a pauper's budget, get something from the mi-ni-baar..."

We have $90 per person per room (I believe including taxes and fees), which equates to about an $76 bid on Priceline. So with Priceline's low, low rates, you can likely get YOUR OWN ROOM for even lower, and save MIT money!

The downside is you have to pay up front, and I think you won't get reimbursed until you finish your stay per MIT's accounting rules; plus you don't know what hotel you are going to get, but if you follow my instructions below, you will get a VERY NICE hotel (all nicer than the Residence Inn).

The upside,of course, is that you get your own room and save MIT some money. I personally have done this and got the University Park at MIT (Hotel @ MIT) which is very, very nice digs for $71/night bid (or about $80 a night including taxes and fees).

As you will see, you will likely get a lower bid (and thus less money on your credit card)

Bidding strategy (pay attention):

Go to Bidding For Travel (Boston Link), and see what the going rates are for Cambridge hotels. I got $71 because of my extended stay and the timing of my bid, but rates change all of the time and seem lower now--I've gotten 3* for $45 on several occasions. Last check on bidding for travel, shorter stays were going for as low as $48/room (for Hyatt) and I saw another bid for $60. I think bidding now for an extended stay:

$55 is 2-sigma

$65 is 3-sigma

$70 is maybe 6-sigma confidence

Next, go to Priceline.com (Hotels) click on Boston, put in the dates you want for your room.

GET THESE DATES RIGHT, THE BIDDING IS NON REFUNDABLE

When the areas screen comes up, check off CAMBRIDGE. Then on the next screen:

Check off 3* UPSCALE. DEFINITELY BID 3 STARS. DON'T BID LOWER. The 2.5* hotels at Cambridge I don't think are worth the Priceline downsides. 3* on the other hand will get you one of these lovely hotels, all as nice/nicer than the Residence:

• Marriott Cambridge
• Hyatt Regency
• University Park at MIT
• Doubletree Guest Suites
• The Inn at Harvard
• Royal Sonesta Hotel Boston

I have done Priceline several times and have gotten mostly the Mariott (the one right across the street from MIT) or the Hyatt (next to Tang, a little farther but very nice as well). The other hotels are all nice and convenient to MIT.

Bid maybe $10 over (to be safe) the biddingfortravel rates. The lower the rate, the more you save MIT money and the less $ on your credit card.

That said, with the free-rebid strategy (see below), you have FOUR chances to get the room, so I would start at around $50/night. In 15 minutes, you will know if you got your room. At this range, you should be able to get it.

If not, Pricline will ask you to rebid by changing either the zones, star quality, or dates. However, DON'T DO THAT. You can do a FREE rebid with the following trick: keep your bid at 3*, bid up $5 a night, keep your dates, and select "Medford-Summerville" as another zone. The trick is that Medford-Summerville has NO 3* hotels, so since you bid 3* Priceline will again only check Cambridge hotels. If THAT bid fails, you can also do SOUTH BOSTON (no 3* hotels) and then again CAMBRIDGE-ARLINGTON so in total you have 3 free rebids.

You may want to bid like this:

First try: $50/night

If rejected, check Sumerville box, second try: $55/night

If rejected, check South Boston box, third try: $65/night

If rejected, check Cambridge box, fourth try: $71/night (what I ended up getting)

If for some reason you've been rejected four times, then you can rebid in 3 days, or do it in someone else's name right away (e.g., spouse). I would not go over $76 though, as with taxes/fees that equates to roughly $90 a night (although that $90 may not include taxes, but that said the less you bid the more money we save MIT).

So overall this may be a good alternative, or even better if you consider 1) you get your own room, and 2) you can save MIT $$. If you can get the room at $65, you will save ~$25/night for MIT. If you spend 6 nights at the hotel, this is $150. If we get ten students to do this, we will save MIT $1500. This is enough to buy FOUR textbooks! :)