Priceline Hotel: NYOP or Express

[hwsv07]

So I have just started with PRICELINE but have had several bad aftertaste.  Used Priceline and have since got myself into 1 NYOP and 2 Express. Felt like non-value deals and relatively poor hotels.  One of the PRICELINE EXPRESS deals (in Hollywood LA was even more expensive than Expedia.

 

For Las Vegas I really do want to get it right and score myself a nice stay.

 

- Check in/out. 10/14 July

- Casino is not important

- Free parking / wifi

- Not more than 60/night (incl any resort fees)

- min 3 stars or highest possible for that price

- location no preference as long as is convenient for a first timer visit to Vegas

 

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

 

You don't mention what hotels or star ratings you have previously purchased, but based upon the information above i can see why you potentially have not received the amazing deals that you have hoped, and you are likely going to need to adjust your parameters for Vegas if are looking for an incredible deal.

 

4 hours ago, hwsv07 said:

Free parking / wifi

Most on-strip hotels now charge for parking, and internet is included in the resort fee.

 

4 hours ago, hwsv07 said:

Not more than 60/night (incl any resort fees)

With most resort fees now in the $30/nite area, you're basically looking for a $30 hotel room, less taxes and we're now down to a room rate of about $27, and take into consideration PRICELINE's booking fee (for opaque purchases) you're now down to a room rate of about $23-$25/nite.  So even if you could get a 30% discount vs. a regular booked a hotel room, the regular rate would only be about $35/nite, so saving $10/nite is good on a percentage basis, but not necessarily on a dollar amount basis.  Bottomline is that there is just not that much margin in a $35/nite hotel room for the hotels to discount very deeply and still make a profit on the room.

 

Now Vegas is an exception to the general PRICELINE / HOTWIRE rule as nowhere else in the country will you typically see 4* hotels priced at under $50/nite, but if you're looking for better deals/savings in Vegas the 'sweet spot' is when hotels are regularly priced at $100+ and then you can often see $30, $40, or $50+ or more discounts per nite... these dollar off amounts are almost the regular price of the entire room rate given your parameters above, and they're certainly not going to take $30 off of a $35 hotel room and sell it to you for $5/nite.

 

If you're trying to keep things in the $60 all-in price point you could do something like (confirm your dates on the landing page):

4* The Strip - Southwest for $36
Business Center
Restaurant
Free Internet
Casino
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> for which my best guess would be the Monte Carlo, but with a $39/nite resort fee this will quickly put you over budget

 

You could stay further down the strip (ie- near the Stratosphere) but you're going to face the same issue with the resort fee being half of your budget, but now you're not in the best location for a firstime visitor to Vegas (which would then have you crying foul about PRICELINE)... or you can stay downtown where you will find lower resort fees (still an issue but slightly less so), but you're then looking at a much lower class of hotels and not being in a great location for a first time visitor (and therefore once again being up set with PRICELINE for the type of hotels they have assigned you)

 

Based upon the above you're going to need to make a choice between your budget vs. what you want from a hotel (nice property, good strip location for first time visitor, decent savings compared to regular rates, etc)

 

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.