Here's how cheap a Portland hotel can get: In October, 2008, you could stay at the 3.5-star Downtown Marriott Waterfront for $65 (full price is over $200) or the Downtown Hilton for $70. If you want to find a cheap, nice Portland hotel, we've simplified the process.
Seven Steps to Find a Cheap Portland Hotel
You'll use Priceline to find your cheap Portland hotel, using biddingfortravel.com for research. After doing steps 1-2 below, you can do steps 3-5 yourself or get help by registering at biddingfortravel, doing the research to fill out a Bidding Assistance Form and post your request. Someone will respond with a strategy. Our do-it-yourself process is quicker, but you may get a slightly lower rate with help.- Pick Areas
Go to Priceline, click Hotels and enter Portland, OR. Enter any date (you just want to see the map on the next page). Pick the area(s) you want to stay in. Write them down.
Most convenient: Downtown
Most upscale: Downtown
Cheap: Beaverton/Hillsboro - Pick Quality Level(s)
- Use the biddingfortravel forum to see sample hotels and their star ratings.
- A one- to two-star hotel might be cheaper, but if you can get a nicer place at prices that rival a really cheap hotel, why not?
- Maximum Bid
- Research rates at biddingfortravel, looking for the same quality level and area and same date range.
- Check a few online services to gauge cheap rates for similar quality.
- Set your maximum bid, remembering it doesn't include 12.5% hotel tax. You may also pay extra for parking fees later.
- How Many Rebids?
- To get the lowest rate, you'll start very low. If your first bid fails, Priceline won't let you just increase the bid. You must also either change quality level or add an area. You'll add areas. If your bid on a 3-star hotel in area A fails, add area B (which has no 3-star hotels in it) and raise it. The hotel you get can't be in Area B because there are no hotels of that quality in the area, so you are making what biddingfortravel calls a "free rebid."
Your total rebids will be the number of areas you want to stay in plus free rebids for your quality level. This is how to collect the data you need to count them: From the screen showing the areas, check the box next to one. Look in the box below the area list to see which areas are grayed out. Note the range of ratings available.
- Starting Bid and Increment
- Start $15 to $20 lower than the average Priceline rate you found during your research.
- Increase by $5 to $10 each time, keeping in mind the number of free rebids you have available.
- Start Bidding
- From Priceline, click on Hotels. Enter Portland,OR, dates and number of rooms.
- Select your most preferred area only. Ignore messages saying to choose more.
- Select the quality level you want and enter your starting bid. Ignore messages urging you to raise it.
- Fill in the required information. Wait for your request to process.
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Rebid
- Don't expect the first bid to be accepted. You're trying to find the lowest possible cheap rate by starting below it.
- Add an area from the free rebid list you created, raise the bid by your increment and try again.
What You Need to Know
- You won't know exactly where you'll stay until your bid is accepted. You WILL know the area, quality level and price.
- Your credit card is charged when your bid is accepted.
- Priceline guarantees a double occupancy room and nothing else. If you have special requests, don't use it.
- Some places hesitate to discount Saturday checkin, making it hard to get a cheap price, but you may have better luck if you wait until Friday to bid.
