Have you been staying in motels when you travel in order to save money? There’s no need to. Motel rooms tend to be small, with the bare necessities for comfort. They’re also very strict on their fire codes, which means if you have more than three children, you need a second room. Because of that (and because dh is, frankly, spoiled), we opt for hotels when we can when traveling.
There’s nothing like coming back from a long day at an amusement park and falling into 450-thread count sheets, or soaking in a spotless tub surrounded by marble. Hotel stays offer that glimpse of opulence that the majority of us will never permanently reside in. When my children were babies (we had four in five years), my raised-as-an-only dh would occasionally take a weekend alone just to regroup. Now we enjoy leaving them with Grandpa, and taking books along for an adults-only getaway.
One of the best ways to do this is Priceline.com. But how do you know how much to bid? You obviously want to get the lowest price, but you don’t want to bid so low that your bid is not accepted and you have to wait three days to bid again. I’ll let you in on a little secret. It’s BiddingForTravel.com.
BFT doesn’t just tell you how much to bid. People who have bid successfully (and unsuccessfully) post by hotel rating and the price they paid. They also share secrets such as how to re-bid on the same day (no, it doesn’t violate Priceline’s rules; it’s just a clever way to use them).
So far, we’ve been mostly pleased using both sites together. We’ve hit the occasional hotel where we wondered how it qualified for three stars, but generally Priceline deals with the better chains.
Where you’re going makes a difference on what you’re going to pay, and that’s one of the beauties of BFT. It’s all broken down geographically. Make sure you read all the FAQs before you start bidding. 
Otherwise, you’ll likely bid the wrong price and pay too much or get rejected and have no re-bid left. Plan to spend about an hour the first time you go to the site, to read thoroughly. It’s an hour that will save you a considerable amount of cash!
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Ed’s Hotel Stories