Great Learning Experience for Room in Seattle

I wanted to share a good learning experience that happened to me while looking online for a hotel in Seattle before our cruise in June of 2005. After watching the boards for recommendations for a good place to stay, I decided on the Inn at the Market. I went to their website and plugged in my information. We are traveling with another couple so I put in the date, 4 people 2 rooms and under preference I put “King.” It came back no rooms were available for that date. A few days later I decided to try again. This time I tried a few different things. First, I put in 2 people 1 room and under “Preferences” I put in no preference. Up popped a room with a [U]queen[/U] bed which is their standard room. I was ecstatic because I had set my maximum for $200 for a room and that is what their standard room is. I now realize that the best way to search is to use the [U]no preference[/U] category as opposed to selecting my own.

The second thing I learned was under “number of persons” I originally put 4 and under “number of rooms” I put 2. Again, I got the “no room at the inn” routine. I decided to try it differently. I put in 2 people 1 room for my room, booked it and did the same for a new room. The 4 of us now have our reservations for 2 rooms with a city view (I didn’t want to pay $295 for water view). This may be nothing new to experienced travelers but since I am new at this I felt very proud of myself for learning something new. Does anyone else have anything to share in regard to other learning experiences which would help me in the future?