VacationDude

I won this hotel for $56/night in July also as a PRICELINE EXPRESS Deal. My dates are a Tuesday and Wednesday night though, so maybe that's why it was cheaper.

Won the Siete Islas hotel in Madrid, Spain in the main tourist part of Madrid. This was a Priceline Express deal. Amenities listed were only Restaurant and Free Internet. Happy about the price, even if the rooms look somewhat ordinary in Tripadvisor photos. The thing is, before I bought, Priceline Express said it averaged 9+ in user reviews, but of course, after the deal went through it turned out only 6 people had reviewed the hotel---hardly a large enough sample size to be accurate. Very misleading on Priceline's part. I probably wouldn't have bought the deal had I known that.

Won the Grandior Hotel in Prague, Old Town neighborhood, as a PRICELINE EXPRESS Deal for $92/night. This hotel is a little farther east oin Old Town than I wanted (a 0.8-mile walk to Old Town Square, which is about 10-15 minutes), but it has lots of great reviews on Tripadvisor, and looks nice and modern, so I'm happy. Hotel Amenities listed were: RestaurantFree InternetBusiness CenterOn Priceline, user reviews are 8.9 out of 10, with over 4,200+ reviews, so I'm guessing this is a frequently purchased/won hotel on Priceline. Please note that this hotel is not listed in BetterBidding's list of won Prague hotels, so could an admin please add (do you add Express Deal hotels to your list?)

Hey, I'm the original poster of this topic here. If you're sticking with this hotel, note that Ocean Park beach is just a 5-minute walk away, and it's a pretty decent beach (although you start out on the wrong side of it where the surfers are and rough waves). You might ask how to get there since it's not visible from the street. It's true, this is in no way a 4-star hotel, and I'd complain to Priceline if you want to try and cancel. It was just a really average hotel, and they will stick you with one of their lesser rooms because of the price you paid. As someone who's done several PRICELINE hotel bids, the $9.60 fee is pretty standard and is actually pretty low. I now always price in on around $30-$50 total to whatever I win on Priceline these days. The good thing about using PRICELINE EXPRESS Deals instead of bidding is that they tell you about these fees before you click the confirm button.

For what it's worth, I stayed at the Water Club (won through Priceline) and had a great time. It's literally right on the beach, you walk out the front door and you're on the beach. It's a smaller, boutique-style hotel and it's not perfect, but there was an awesome bed and I was comfortable the whole time. I've stayed in San Juan several times and the Water Club had the best location of any hotel I've stayed at (for a beach vacation), although...yes...it's not the nicest, but still, it does feel a little upscale. It was a solid deal for me. I'd consider myself lucky if I won the Water Club again as opposed to a few other regular Priceline San Juan hotels.

Not that I think it makes any difference in identifying the hotel (it didn't for me), but the amenities listed were: Free Internet Indoor/Outdoor Pool Restaurant Business Center Fitness Center

Purchased this property via a PRICELINE EXPRESS Deal and not via bidding. I felt a little deceived, because when trying to figure out which hotel this was beforehand, the casino was not listed among the 5 amenities displayed beneath the Express Deal (meaning, the little blue icons representing amenities that display beneath the mystery hotel featured in the Express Deals). I rate this an OK win, as the price is great. But I'm mostly interested in a beach vacation, and although there is a beach within walking distance, it's not a great one (I've been to San Juan several times). I can always take the bus to Isla Verdes, I guess. Solid hotel for a discounted price near a beach, can't complain. Price: avg. per room, per night $87.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 4 Room Subtotal: $348.00 Taxes & Fees: $53.20 Total Charged to Card: $401.20 **Another $45 will be charged to me at checkout (resort fees probably). Priceline informed me of this *before* I purchased the property, so it's ok. I'm not sure if Priceline has always displayed these resort fees beforehand and I just never noticed them, but I'm so glad they are doing it now. Makes me feel less like I've been conned.

Did you bid for this hotel or was this a PRICELINE EXPRESS Deal (no bidding), as I'm currently seeing a 3.5-star hotel Express Deal for January 17-21 for the same rate?

Anywhere in San Juan is close to the airport, as the cab prices all cost the same from anywhere in san juan to the airport and san juan is not that big of an area. Not sure what kind of "idea" you want, just go onto Priceline and bid under $90 for a hotel in the san juan area, if that's what you want. It's extremely unlikely you'll get a 4-star for that much, especially because they all add on resort fees. You might get a 3.5-star for that much, but they'll probably pile on resort fees as well.

I've stayed at both the Conrad (multiple times) and the Water Club. While the Conrad is a much nicer hotel, your assertion that the Conrad is in a better location is absurd. It's probably the worst located hotel in San Juan--it's surrounded by abandoned hotels crumbling to the ground, and there is no beach save for a tiny private beach that is unpleasant to swim at(although the Conrad does have a nice pool). The Water Club, on the other hand, has probably the best beach location of any in San Juan, being right smack dab in the center of Isla Verdes beach. You walk out the front door of the Water Club and you're literally on the beach. Sure, the Water Club is a pretty much a boutique style hotel (although it may be a bit too large to really be a boutique), but judging by what San Juan really has to offer in terms of nice hotels, I can't argue with Priceline making it a 4-star hotel. I'm not sure what your beef is, but I think you lack perspective about the true quality of San Juan hotels. Puerto Rico ain't Hawaii, my friend.

If what you mean by "amenities" being the icons shown below the words "Las Vegas Strip Vicinity South" and 5 stars (on the Express Deal page), the icons seem to be Wi-Fi, pool, food (a fork and knife), business center (an image of a printer), casino, and gym. That's it. It also says that the hotel has a Guest Rating of 8.0 or higher from PRICELINE reviewers.

Saw someone on this board got a similar hotel (the Vdara) for $91 through a Priceline bid during dates that are a few days earlier than mine, but I couldn't land it at that price. I saw a mystery South Strip vacinity hotel for $109 on Priceline's new Express Deal page, and decided, what the heck. The mystery hotel turned out to be the Aria for $109 a night. This will be my first time staying on the south strip, so any, and I mean any, advice or tips are welcome. Price: $109/night Nights: 3 Room Subtotal: $327.00 Taxes & fees: $53.91 Total Charged to Card: $380.91

Note that I did not bid but rather used the PRICELINE EXPRESS Deal, which is something new on Priceline, I think. The Express Deal showed me a mysterious 3-star hotel for my dates in Waikiki Marina, saying it had over a 7.0-star Priceline reviewer rating. I had to buy it blindly for $109 a night. But I saw someone on this board won the Ramada Plaza for a similar price at almost the exact same dates as mine, and figured the mystery hotel was the Ramada. All of Priceline's 3-star hotels have good TripAdvisor ratings, so I felt good about buying blind even if it wasn't the Ramada. And, I know from a past stay that the Waikiki Marina area has a nice long public beach area within easy walk of any hotel in the area, and there's a nice huge mall within walking distance as well, so it's a good area for a beach vacation, maybe even better than Waikiki Beach, in my opinion, which is better groomed but really just a fancy clean tourist trap. In any case, Waikiki hotel prices are insanely high this year. I landed The Modern (4.5 resort) last year for just $110/night! This year, it only gets me a 3-star. Ah well, it's Hawaii. You can sleep on the beach and still have a great time. Aloha. My Priceline win stats. Price: $109.00/night Rooms: 1 Nights: 5 Room Subtotal: $545.00 Taxes & Fees: $97.70 Total Charged to Card: $642.70

I have won this hotel on PRICELINE twice in the past, but never as cheap as $80! The rooms are beautiful, very modern and chic hotel. Try to get an oceanside room for the best experience. I always paid a little extra to upgrade to the oceanside. My only complaint is that the immediate area around the Conrad is not very nice. Also, the beach attached to the hotel is in a lagoon with rocks that hurt your feet, but there are some really interesting fish swimming in the lagoon. You can walk 10 minutes down the street though and find a nice long public beach. The waves are a little high there, so it's not as great as Isla Verdes beach for swimming. Isla Verdes is a short bus trip away. Restaurants in area have tourist trap pricing. But I really enjoy the Conrad, especially at that pricing. Wow.

Just won the 4-star San Juan Water And Beach Club Hotel for only $105 a night. This is a GREAT price for 4-star hotels in this area (It's in the Isla Verdes beach part of San Juan). I've been winter vacationing in San Juan the last couple years, and always use Priceline for my hotel---this is one of the better prices for this level of hotel I've received yet. TripAdvisor has good reviews and photos of rooms look great (TripAdvisor link here.) A tip for anyone bidding in San Juan for 3.5-star hotels and up, read BetterBidding's Priceline rebidding explanation in these forums! Basically, you can rebid almost endlessly in San Juan until you get the cheapest price. This means you can also start with a superlow bid and inch upward. Why? Because, of the 7 other Priceline area zones besides San Juan in Puerto Rico, only 1 has anything above a 2-star hotel. So just add those zones and rebid and rebid. This will save you tons of time (and possibly tons of money). Apologies to Betterbidding for not using your PRICELINE link (I always forget ) Also, to the forum moderators, this hotel is not included in your list of San Juan hotels. Will you add? Here are my complete Priceline stats: Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $105.00 (USD) Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Guests Per Room: 2 Number of Nights: 4 Room Subtotal: $420.00 (USD) Taxes and Fees: $58.68 (USD) Total Room Cost: $478.68 (USD)

Looking at photos of the hotel on TripAdvisor, can't say this looks like a 4-star+ resort hotel. Looks old and outdated, although the location and the views are amazing. Not so sure I'm glad I won this one.

I posted earlier about not accepting a Priceline counter offer, but to update: I went ahead and rebid for $140 for a 4-star Waikiki Beach hotel on Priceline for Feb 19-21. It was rejected and again Priceline asked me to raise my bid to $167. I decided to go with that price and won the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resport and Spa. Priceline stats: Offer Price: avg. per room, per night $167.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 2 + Add nights for the same rate! Room Subtotal: $334.00 Taxes & Fees: $59.24 Total Charged to Card: $393.24

After my bid of $135 on a 4-star Waikiki Beach hotel for Feb 19-21 was rejected, Priceline countered with a a $167 per night hotel offer. I didn't accept it, but thought I'd post on here to let everyone know that's a likely accepted bid price for those dates and hotel rating.

Won the Palazzo on a first bid of $131. I hope the 5-star rating is worth the money as four-star hotels are so much cheaper in Vegas. My Priceline details: Offer Price: $131.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 2 + Add nights for the same rate! Room Subtotal: $262.00 Taxes & Fees: $43.38 Total Charged to Card: $305.38

Started out with a Priceline bid of $100 on 4-star hotel in San Juan for Sunday, Jan 22 through Thursday, Jan 26. I didn't win, but Priceline asked me to raise bid to $127. I took it, as I know from past Puerto-Rico vacation experience that it's a solid if not great discounted price for a 4-star/Resort hotel. I won the Conrad. They will likely stick me with additional resort fees as well. I stayed at the Conrad previously, and it is a nice hotel (awesome rooms) in an average location. You'll need to take a ride to a public beach to get the full beach experience, as the hotel only has a small sandy beach by a noisy road (but a nice pool). I will try to upgrade to a ocean view (ocean view is awesome at this hotel, as it's right on top of the water). Priceline stats: Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $127.00 (USD) Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 4 Room Subtotal: $508.00 (USD) Taxes and Fees: $71.96 (USD) Total Room Cost: $579.96 (USD)

I just had one of those nightmare moments with Priceline where I accidentally bid on (and won!) a hotel in an area that I didn't really want. And of course, you can't cancel because it's nonrefundable. It's not a huge nightmare, as I was looking for hotels in the Waikiki Beach area for the same dates. Waikiki Beach is only a 10-15 minute walk away, so I'm told. I was hoping for a beach hotel, and this doesn't quite offer it. But the price is great for Waikiki and it's close enough to walk, so I'm not completely upset. I was originally messing around, bidding on 5-star hotels for $150 a night (no chance, I know), then went down to 4 stars with a lower bid but forgot to change the checkboxes for areas where I was looking in. Ugh! Let that be a lesson. Don't mess around on Priceline! In any case, The Modern looks like a nice place. It recently had a change of management and was renovated. Not many customer pictures on TripAdvisor, but descriptions make it sound like the rooms have been modernized. Additional fees on top of Priceline cost (see below), but I wonder if they'll smack me with resort fees in addition. I'll let you know! Rooms: 1 Nights: 3 + Add nights for the same rate! Room Subtotal: $330.00 Taxes & Fees: $58.68 Total Charged to Card: $388.68