[TigerKatt]

Are the taxes and fees included in the bid that I place or are they in addition to what I put down as my bid? DO I get to see the final total before I officially place my bid?

[dahammer]

taxes and fees are excluded but when you place your bid and go to the next screen, you will see the cost of taxes and fees. Just note that some hotels may have parking or resort fees which will be collected by the hotel upon check in.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to search and also please post your winning bid information.

[TigerKatt]

I'm thinking about placing a bid for a Resort in Hawaii for a few nights and came across a post that made me leery and I'm hoping someone can clear it up, or at least put me to ease. This person said that although they won their bid for a resort (which is very nice btw) the hotel put them in a low floor room, which was very small, and overlooked a parking lot, and they were asked for $$ to upgrade.

Based on your experience bidding on resorts, is this always the case or do you sometimes luck out and get a really nice room or do these hotels tend to put you in their meager rooms because you bid on your room? Thanks.

[AaronJB]

There's no way to know. I think, the best way I could describe it would be that the majority of experiences are in the enjoyable middle ground. You get a fine room for a great price and, given that PRICELINE is not eligible for upgrades (and that's not surprising, given that you're paying steeply discounted prices.) There's a small percentage of experiences on the high end (there have been instances of people getting really nice ugprades at various properties around the country and in other places) and there are small percentage of experiences like the one above.

[thereuare]

I have merged your threads and move it to the Hawaii section of the board.

What island, zones, dates, etc. are you looking to travel?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[TigerKatt]

I'm looking to travel for just over 2 weeks starting on July 04th of this year. We're looking at heading to Honolulu & Maui.

[thereuare]

Your booking is for a "standard" room... i think the majority of guests are happy with their rooms assignments, especially for the price paid, but sometimes you do get a room that is "less than desirable". However, i have known guests who have gotten poor rooms even when booking directly with the hotel, so when you receive such a room, it's very easy to attribute it to the deeply discounted rate you received, when sometimes it's simply that the hotel is booked and what you received is the best available at the time you checked-in.

If the hotel has one side that faces the ocean and one side which faces the city, i would expect to receive the city view, but sometimes you get lucky and get the better room-type. While i would expect the city view, i would not expect staring at a dumpster or anything like that. A LOT has to do with the mood of the front desk clerk, what is available at the time you check-in, etc. As well, many times the room with the better view is considered an upgrade by the hotel and they charge more for these rooms even when booked direct, in these circumstance, the hotel is (imo) well within their right to require an additional charge to upgrade the PRICELINE / HOTWIRE guest.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

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

[BrianD4]

I have booked rooms via PRICELINE (and this site) for both the Sheraton Waikiki and the Marriott Resort and Spa (several times each). For both properties, I have been given upgrades at check-in, and other times I received a parking-lot facing room. You just never know, although overall I have always received a better room than I expected.

I have also been offered the opportunity to upgrade at check-in at both properties for added costs (which I always decline, since one time I declined and received the upgrade anyway because it was the only room available).

[TigerKatt]

What does this mean with Priceline: "Best Price Guaranteed + no priceline change or cancel fees"

So if I book and something comes up that I don't need to use a hotel anymore, can I cancel with absolutely no penalty?

[dahammer]

this is for PRICELINE's "shop and compare" product, not the "name your own price" bidding product.

[gmc]

In my experience it depends on you and the front desk. Yes a basic Priceline room is garden view/parking lot, but we do we go to Hawaii to stay in our room if you are using Priceline? I think not. However, be sure to join the hotel chain guest rewards club before arrival, then arrive in a good mood. Smile, be friendly and tell them you belong to the frequent guest program and ask for the best room they can give you. I have used my Marriott Rewards Card in Hawaii to get a free upgrades every time even though the room was booked thru Priceline. If you are coming from or connect at the West Coast the Front Desk staff in Hawaii always seems to like See's chocolates. You would be surprised how a small kindness can work wonders for you as they are usually hasseled by people who are jetlagged and tired and rude to them by the time they get to their hotel from points East and West.
Give the aloha spirit to them and you shall receive in my experience.
Aloha gmc

[TigerKatt]

Hi,
I'm looking to get a hotel from July 04 - July 10th in Honolulu, preferably something near/on Waikiki beach. The max that I want to bid is $100. Can you give me some pointers (i.e. price to start with, etc.)? Thanks.

[TigerKatt]

So, I've made a few bids tonight, all of which were rejected:

One Zone + $80 + $10 Bonus Cash = $90 bid
Two Zones + $82 + $10 Bonus Cash = $92 bid
Three Zones + $84 + $10 Bonus Cash = $94 bid
Four Zones + $86 + $10 Bonus Cash = $96 bid

The additional two zones that I chose do not have resorts in them. Any suggestions on what I should bid? Is there something I'm doing wrong???

My dates are July 04th - July 09th.

Anybody know if any of these three resorts in Waikiki charge resort fees: Hyatt, Sheraton, or Marriott

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

What star level and zone(s) are you bidding?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

NOTE: you can still use our PRICELINE link along with your bonus money as follows:
1) click our link to PRICELINE and let the page fully load
2) at the top of the page go to MY PROFILE >> MY REWARDS
3) use the bonus money link found in the MY REWARDS section of your profile (and not the link in any emails sent to you)

[TigerKatt]

I'm bidding on a resort stay.

One Zone (Zone 7) + $80 + $10 Bonus Cash = $90 bid
Two Zones (Zone 7 + Zone 8) + $82 + $10 Bonus Cash = $92 bid
Three Zones (Zone 7 + Zone 8 + Zone 1) + $84 + $10 Bonus Cash = $94 bid
Four Zones (Zone 7 + Zone 6 + Zone 1 + Zone 2)+ $86 + $10 Bonus Cash = $96 bid

Zone 1 - Diamond Head
Zone 2 - Executive Center
Zone 6 - Waianie
Zone 7 - Waikiki Beach
Zone 8 - Waikiki City Central

[thereuare]

With your FIVE re-bid zones i'd try as follows:

Select Resort Waikiki Beach...
Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $94, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $96, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $98, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $100

Any questions feel free to ask.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[TigerKatt]

I realize there is no 100% guarantee of getting a particular hotel, however, after doing some research on here and on priceline, is it fair to say that if I look to book a 3.5 star hotel in the Waikiki City Central Area that I will most likely get the Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio hotel? I looked in the listing of hotels and in this area, the only two listed as a 3.5 star hotel is the Hilton and the Courtyard Marriott, however, if I were to book directly with the hotel the Marriott is cheaper than the Hilton by about $50 per night, but it has not been won recently (in the last 2 years). It would make sense that if the Marriott is still in the running on "Name your price" then it would be the hotel people would be winning over the Hilton most often, but that's not the case. Can someone verify my thought process? lol

We're staying at soem resorts too (have to bid on them) but in order to keep to our budget, we have to stay in a 3.5 star for a bit...judging from this website and a few other hotel review forums, this 3.5 is a very decent hotel.

Also, how do you politely ask for an upgrade..while hoping not to get charged? I have a Hilton Honors card and I just stayed in 2 Hiltons recently (last week). I want to stick to my budget..an upgrade would be nice but I don't want to pay anything additional for it..lol I know all hotels don't give any upgrades, and some don't give it if you go through priceline.

Thanks again.

[thereuare]

We don't see too much 3.5* bidding in this zone (seems most people want a resort and bid the Beach area) so there's isn't too much data to draw too much of a conclusion, imo. However, while your theory is logical, it's not always the way it works in reality... there is a low correlation between the least expensive hotel in the zone and the one that you will receive when bidding on PRICELINE. As well, there is only one reports of the Courtyard being won thru PRICELINE... and ironically it is the most recent report of a 3.5* being won in this zone.

Not sure of your needs for this trip, but i would also look at the Marina zone to see if that would work for your needs... the Hawaii Prince is often won in this zone, a very nice hotel imo, and has been going for very affordable rates of late.

As far as an upgrade goes, a "i was wondering if there might be any complimentary upgrades available" might be the best way to express your interested while also having it be known your not looking to pay for it (although chances of a 'true' upgrade for free may be fairly low, you might at least be able to get one of the better room assignments within the category you've booked.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[TigerKatt]

Just won my bid for a resort at the Hyatt Regency on Waikiki Beach for $105/night :-)

From all of the reviews on this hotel and after Google mapping it, I'm extremely pleased with this win! :-)

[yellowdog]

TigerKatt

Thank you for sharing your result with the board!

Enjoy your stay.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE and PRICELINE links to start future purchases.

Yellowdog.