[zbenye]

I'm vacationing in the Dominican Republic and have found Hotwire useless here. Their rates for all star levels are equal to or higher than the rates on Expedia and Travelocity, where you also get to pick your hotel.

A 2.5* hotel in Santo Domingo was offered for $48, but Hotwire then added on an unbelievable $46.35 in taxes and fees. On Expedia, I booked the Dona Elvira B&B for $60 with taxes and fees and it turned out to be a very nice place with free high-speed Internet access in all rooms!

In La Romana, Hotwire offered an all-inclusive resort for $76. With taxes and fees = $83. I suspected that this was one of the Wyndham resorts in Bayahibe, so checked on wyndham.com and found... $83. So I booked on wyndham.com and got points and all the amenities that come with the free Wyndham By Request membership.

So don't automatically believe that Hotwire or Priceline always offer the best deals. Check the conventional websites and you will often run into great finds. And remember these sites should be accessed through savingsbarn.com to support betterbidding.com!

[jicms]

Have you considered booking through UK sites. Prices are very competitive here for the Dominican Republic. You can find All Inclusive resort rates for double rooms from £300/£400 UK Sterling for a week for 3/4* resorts. Don't know if there's any restrictions/credit card problems for overseas customers. You could try:

www.broadwaytravel.com
www.holidayhotels.com
www.lowcostbeds.com

[jicms]

It doesn't seem possible to use Priceline bidding for Dominican Republic hotels? Can anyone confirm this is correct please?

[RobG]

Jan 2009: I see PRICELINE has added Dominican Republic hotels.

I have not seen many people posting their wins, only 1 person who got the Hotel Melia Caribe Tropical for an unbelievable rate of $154 per night, all inclusive.

[Marga]

I did use PRICELINE for bidding in a resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, got Sanctuary Cap Cana FIVE star! for about $180 (can't remember ecxactly). This was for June 27-29 of 2009. It was pretty dead, "low Season". I Booked a week ahead But was great, and one of the most elegant/fancy hotels I've ever stayed at.

[thereuare]

Marga,

Can you please post a NEW TOPIC with the details of your previous PRICELINE purchase so we can add this property to the Priceline Hotel List.

You can still view the details of this purchase by going to PRICELINE and clicking the MY PROFILE >> MY TRIPS link near the top right of their home page.

Thanks.