Priceline High

In these "tough economic times" just about the only buzz you can brag about acquiring is that from scoring a kick-ass deal. And it has to be something that you were going to buy anyway. Like accommodation in Boston for your upcoming vacation, say, for instance.

I managed to score three nights at the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Boston for $55/night on Priceline last night. I am euphoric! Boston accommodation is notoriously expensive - even the dorm beds in hostels were going to cost $60/night for the both of us, so $55 for the Courtyard is quite a steal. The Courtyard is not the coolest hotel on the block, but I don't care. I expect to spend my time (and my money) getting out and seeing Boston. Expensively cool hotel rooms are great in places where (a) I can afford it, and (b) there's nothing else to see.

How did I do it? It wasn't my first bid, and I think the trick with Priceline is to start bidding a while before you leave. That way, if your first bid doesn't get accepted, you have time to up it by $5 and try again. I also had a good idea which property it would be as I searched some other hotel sites and saw that the only 3-star property from a chain in that neighbourhood was this one. I also saw that the hotel looked curiously under-priced on other sites, leading me to think that a tour operator had cancelled a room block, or a convention had pulled out, leaving the hotel to suddenly fill a large number of rooms.

In other planning news, we've decided to take the bus from New York to Boston instead of the train. It's $18 each versus $62 each. We might consider taking the train on the way back, though.

Our trip is roughly mapped out like this - three nights in Boston, a couple of nights in Vermont with family, a night in Portland, then four nights somewhere on the ME/NH/MA coast before dropping the car in Boston and heading back to NYC.

Next challenge, finding somewhere on the ME/NH/MA coast that's not too WASPy.