When you do not live near a location for the conference it is usual question where to stay during 3-5 days while attending conference.
From BorCon 2004 website here we can find information about City of San Jose, driving directions and link to BorCon’s online reservation form for the hotel room.
What we have here?

Fairmont Hotel San Jose $145
San Jose Marriott $140
Hilton San Jose $139
Crowne Plaza Hotel $105

Nice hotels, but what if you think it is not price you are looking for…
Can you get 3 stars hotel for half or even 1/3 of the price?

Yes, you can! There is a list of on-line hotel reservation services available for travelers (list is not complete, it is just “my preference” list).

http://www.priceline.com/
http://www.hotwire.com/
http://www.hotels.com/

If you do not have high established preference about exact location and level of service I would try next scenario:

  1. Go to Hotwire and find information about hotels in an area. We usually looking for 2 stars hotels, and in this case it will be Downtown San Jose area. If you have a car you can also consider Sunnyvale. Information found will give you an idea about highest bid you can go for on the next step
  2. Visit this link http://www.biddingfortravel.com/ and see what people are saying about hotels in an area and what they paid for the hotels. This is your lowest price.
  3. Now use PriceLine and try to place a bid for the hotel. Beware of PriceLine policy for bidding – you cannot bid again within the same area, hotel level and contact information for the next 24 hours if your bid didn’t win. So it is better if it will be not a last day before conference. You range is – from prices in step 2 to the prices in step 1.
    Also, start with one area (SJD+3*+1st bid) then add another area (SJD+SV+3*+1st bid). If you didn’t win wait for 1 day or use your friend contact info and try again with 5-10$ increment.

This is a basic technique. Worked for me in 90% of the cases.
Again, if you prefer not to gamble, standard BorCon reservation form is for you.

Categories: Delphi

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