Is Bidding for Hotel Room is Still a Thing?

[Rose]

I didn't see any mention about bidding for hotel rate other than from the post below...over a decade old.
viewtopic.php?p=1136800#p1136800

Is there no longer bidding for hotel stay?

Or what is the alternative?

[techrover]

I used to bid successfully for hotels/air/car about 9-10 years back. Recently I tried and did not see any advantage on Priceline who championed it originally.
It seems that with the improved internet connectivity and digitization of inventory tracking - most marketplaces are able to adjust price in near-real time based on supply/demand. Hence the bidding has become bit less productive for suppliers, and of course consumers also have less patience to wait for bid results.
If you see listings on eBay, most of them now have fixed prices - very few have auction format.

[runner3081]

Nope, it is dead. The new thing is the whole "mystery hotel" offers on Priceline and Hotwire. They show you a great rate and you get one of the three hotels. Fortunately, it is very easy to tell which one you are getting, through a variety of methods.

[Rose]

Thank you, techrover, runner3081!

Fortunately, it is very easy to tell which one you are getting, through a variety of methods.

Runner3081, can you please elaborate?

[dboeger1]

Thank you, techrover, runner3081!

Fortunately, it is very easy to tell which one you are getting, through a variety of methods.

Runner3081, can you please elaborate?

The theory behind the feature is that hotels can get more cost-conscious customers by offering a good mystery deal instead of having to compete directly against others based on the specific details of their property. So they'll say, hey, you can get 25% off the going rate for this room, but you have to take it without knowing which property you're booking with.

The thing is, they have to give you enough detail to get a general idea of what you're buying, otherwise nobody would buy it. So you get things like regular price, room size, general region, number of rooms available at that price, etc. What's funny is that on Priceline at least, they give you enough information to compare against the regular listings and figure out which place is the mystery deal. It's been a while since I tried it, but I vaguely remember the last time I used Priceline, they even guaranteed that you would get 1 of 3 specified hotels, which made it really easy to work backwards and deduce which one it was.

[8foot7]

Wait for travel demand to crater again and it'll probably come back. Hotels are full these days so there's little need to incentivize stays.
One option if you like flying by the seat of your pants is hoteltonight.com but of course your risk there is you don't have a place to sleep if you can't get a...hotel tonight

[JoMoney]

Thank you, techrover, runner3081!

Fortunately, it is very easy to tell which one you are getting, through a variety of methods.

Runner3081, can you please elaborate?

The theory behind the feature is that hotels can get more cost-conscious customers by offering a good mystery deal instead of having to compete directly against others based on the specific details of their property. So they'll say, hey, you can get 25% off the going rate for this room, but you have to take it without knowing which property you're booking with.

The thing is, they have to give you enough detail to get a general idea of what you're buying, otherwise nobody would buy it. So you get things like regular price, room size, general region, number of rooms available at that price, etc. What's funny is that on Priceline at least, they give you enough information to compare against the regular listings and figure out which place is the mystery deal. It's been a while since I tried it, but I vaguely remember the last time I used Priceline, they even guaranteed that you would get 1 of 3 specified hotels, which made it really easy to work backwards and deduce which one it was.

Yes, and it will show you within a very small radius on a map of where the mystery hotel is so you know if the location suits you. I wouldn't say you can determine with 100% accuracy every time, but in many areas based on the amenities offered by the mystery hotel, the ratings, and the location, you can make a pretty good guess as to which of the branded listings the mystery one is.
FWIW, sometimes it's nice to be surprised and discover some place that you wouldn't have otherwise tried.

[runner3081]

Thank you, techrover, runner3081!

Fortunately, it is very easy to tell which one you are getting, through a variety of methods.

Runner3081, can you please elaborate?

Tips I use:
Hotwire
Refresh 3-4 times. The hotels all change except for one of them. That is the one.
Look at the room picture and compare to each hotel
Google search some of the booking terms for that hotel
Look at normal rate hotels to match rating/number of reviews

Priceline
Compare terms
Compare pictures
Google the type of hotel and star rating, there are sites like better bidding that can help.