<p>Any hints for getting what you want using Hotwire or Priceline for hotels in DC and surrounding areas? Thanks!</p>
<p>Biddingfortravel.com</p>
<p>^^^^I use that it. It is a really good resource.</p>
<p>I was able to guess the DC area hotels i would get on Hotwire by looking at Bidding for travel.
We got 4 star hotels in Dupont Circle (Fairfax at Embassy Row) and Arlington (Hotel Palomar). Dupont Circle was a nice area to stay in and the hotel was near the Metro.</p>
<p>I use Hotwire a lot, so I have a good feel for which hotels I’m going to get as my “surprise.” It’s hard to reconcile “I want to be near the Metro” with “Hotel in Bethesda/Gaithersburg Area.” For that reason you might consider a discount Web Site that identifies the hotels.</p>
<p>The other day I had to stay in Pasadena for a night and Hotwire gave me Hilton Padadena for $100 all inclusive, but the parking is $15, which defeated the purpose. I could get a better deal elsewhere for $115 total.</p>
<p>another thing about the hotwire is that some times they do not include “engergy surcharge” and some “hotel charges” in the quote, so when you arrive, you had to pay extra to stay. I was suprised several times before, but this time in Pasadena I did not get the shaft.</p>
<p>I went to Washington DC three times within the last 5 years. I used Hotwire twice and Priceline once. We saved a lot of money and I was very happy with my hotels. Keep in mind that parking fees are charged at many hotels in Washington DC (many hotels in other cities charge for parking too).</p>
<p>I use betterbidding for assistance.</p>
<p>Agree,northeastmom. Most of the better hotels in DC are going to charge extra for parking, regardless of how you booked and what you paid for the actual hotel room. When we stayed at the Fairfax, we saved alot of money with Hotwire. Had we had a car, I think it was about $30 a night extra to park (but that cost would have been the same for anybody).</p>
<p>maybe in DC you need to pay for parking, but I would expect LA hotels will provide free parking.</p>
<p>We used Priceline when we went. We ended up in the Westin in Alexandria. The hotel was lovely but hindsight I would have preferred to pay a bit extra and stay at one of the hotels across from the metro there, Embassy Suites or the Residence Inn (I think that was the other one). Both had free breakfasts, which is a big deal in the DC area. Breakfast alone for our family was a minimum of $50/day (5 people). We LOVED the Alexandria area and I can highly recommend staying there if you go. It was nice to have a quiet area to walk around in the evenings and Old Town was fun too. </p>
<p>You don’t need a car in DC. If you fly in, fly into Reagan, take the metro from there to wherever you are staying. Save the hotel parking fee to pay for food–which is really expensive in DC.</p>