A Taste for Travel

Vancouver, British Columbia isn’t known as a destination for tightwads. Whether you’re into skiing Grouse Mountain, experiencing award-winning cuisine or just walking the scenic seawall, there’s hardly ever a low season. That makes it tough to find a bargain on hotel rooms. So, when armed with a budget of only $80 Canadian and just a few days to find a room in downtown Vancouver, I wasn’t very optimistic.

I’d heard of Priceline, the on-line bidding website, before. But I’d never tried it. Oh, I’d browsed it plenty of times, but when it came time to fork over my credit card number, I always ditched bfore completing the transaction.

This time - with only days before my departure - I took the leap.

And I was shocked to discover that I’d scored a 4 star room at the Marriot Pinnacle Downtown . Everything went perfectly. From confirmation to check-in. I even had an ocean-view room.

Would I do it again? You bet.

Here’s what I learned in the process:

• Check on Hotels.com and Expedia first so you don’t overbid.
• On Priceline, restrict your searches to 4-star hotels only. That’s where the best deals are.
• Be careful when selecting your location. You don’t want to end up at the airport if your meetings are downtown.
• Canadians: remember you are bidding in US dollars so do the math on the currency exchange!
• Remember: although you don’t know the name of the hotel you’ll get - your reservation is non-refundable. That’s the scary part.But if you’ve selected 4 star, then that’s what you’ll get.
• Relax and let the system find a hotel match for you.
• If your bid is successful, print off the confirmation and you’re done!
• If your bid is rejected, don’t give up. Check out Bidontravel.com to get more tips on how to get the lowest prices on  Hotwire or Priceline.

Good luck!

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