dopplerbob

OK after reading some horror stories about the "Garden View" rooms on Tripadvisor and Yelp, I decided to pay the extra and jump on the Priceline Express "Tower" room. I read and confirmed that all of the Tower rooms have balcony's. The price dropped by $7 this morning from $126 to $119. I knew it had to be the Hyatt Pier 66 because the Express deal gives it away by offering a Marina View or a Tower Room . I believe this is the only 4* hotel that has those types of rooms in the same property in the FT. Laud. beach zone. So with the 5% coupon code, the 7 nights came to $913 after taxes and fees. If I booked through the hotel, it would be $1391 for the same room. Just be careful. If you want to do a "name your own price" on this property, you won't get the Tower room with the balcony. You will end up with the "run down" Marina view room. I put "run down" in quotes because I am going by what 85% of the reviewers said after staying in one of those rooms. I am glad I held off and read all of the info on this site and also reviews. I will return the favor and make sure I give a review upon return (or maybe while I am there- free wifi in the Tower rooms) Bob

Ahh- did not see that code. Thanks for mentioning it. I may just jump on it. I really wanted a room with a balcony which the express deal doesn't have as a choice. But I think once I get there I may be able to negotiate with the front desk agent. I have done this in the past.

Thanks for moving it into here Aaron. I bid up to $90 on a 4* FLL and they still didn't bite, but yet they offer it on PRICELINE EXPRESS for $95. Sometimes they don't make sense!

I have a feeling it is the Pier 66, but you guys have a better idea. Here is the info it gives me. Priceline express deal: Check In: Sat Apr 27, 2013 Check Out: Sat May 4, 2013 Ft Lauderdale Beach Area Guest Score: Rated 7.0 out of 10 (or higher) Choose Bed: $95 per night Marina View - 1 Bed Requested. $126 per night Tower Room - 1 Bed Requested. Guaranteed Amenities: Indoor or Outdoor Pool Pets Allowed Business Center Fitness Center

Good idea. I might do the same thing. My dates are 4/27 to 5/4 and I am not having any luck up to $120 a night for 4* in the beach zone either. My question is this: Did they charge you the first night on your Credit Card in advance for deposit? Bob

Very good analysis. Thank You. Makes a lot of sense. I am going to keep trying and push my offer up to $100 for now. You never know when maybe I'll get lucky. I'll start to hit the panic button maybe in a month or so. Bob

OK this confirms my suspicion a little bit. I have been bidding up to $90 also for the beach zone for the past week with no luck. But my dates are much further away, from Apr. 27 to May 4. So it seems that they let the rooms go cheaper as you get closer, maybe to fill what would have been empty rooms anyway.

Just saw the answer of my question on the PRICELINE site: Yes! I'd like to purchase Trip Protection for $5.00 per room, per night.

I am not as talented as others on the board in bidding, but what I found is it is probably better to stick to 4* bidding at first. This way you have more rebid options using zones that do not have a 4* hotel. here are the FL zones that do not have a 4* property within: Fort Lauderdale (Airport FLL) Fort Lauderdale (Airport North FLL) Fort Lauderdale (Coral Springs) Fort Lauderdale (Miramar) Fort Lauderdale (Pompano Beach) So you can start bidding at lets say $80 and increase by $5 while adding one of those zones above each time. Keep going until you get up to your max of $115. If you don't score, then now you may have to go down to 3* or 3.5 star hotels and start back at $80. You can see which zones have for star ratings when you check each zone separately one at a time. They list the star ratings down further from where you check off the zones. Bob

nice hit! just curious- how much was the insurance and I wonder if they charge according to how many nights you book or just a one time charge regardless on the length of stay. Bob

I booked airfare to Ft Lauderdale for April 27th to May 4th, 7 nights. I just tried bidding on a 4* Ft. Lauderdale Beach area hotel without being accepted. I went from $70 up to $80 in 4 separate bids spaced by $3 or so. Didn't really expect to get anything at those rates yet but I figured it would be a good opportunity to try out my bidding skills using the methods from this board. I added 4 other zones that lacked a 4* hotel, 1 at a time, to my desired "Beach" zone while also adding $3 to my bid each time. Worked flawlessly. But I am not sure if I should go higher now, or would I have better luck waiting a few weeks and start low again. I only want a 4* and have seen some successful bids here on the board for the Beach area for under $90. Obviously I have a few months to go so I have a choice. What do you folks think is better to do, in your experience? Bob

Oh yes and I read about the construction and noise issues on the Tripadvisor Washington, DC Forum in the hotel review section. I guess it has been going on for at least a year so it will probably still be there by April. We shall see. Bob

Thank you so much for that great info. That sounds great on the transportation issue. I was a little worried about that but not anymore. That's a bummer about the blossoms, but I already have my airfare. But I can always change it- Southwest allows changes for free. Maybe we'll get lucky. Thanks again for the info, Bob

Yes I thought of that but to tell you the truth, for the 4 days we will be there, I would rather save the travel time into the main event area and pay the extra for the closer room. $135 a night for that time is a great deal I thought for a hotel so close to the action. Have a great trip, Bob

I did the same thing for the same areas, starting at $80 also. But I had to go all the way up to $135 before I scored a priceline win. But I am going during the peak Cherry Blossom Festival time frame in early April 2012. I thought about waiting longer and maybe the prices would come down, but after thinking about it further, I decided to book it now. I have a feeling the prices will go up as it gets closer, not down. Congrats on your great bid price! Bob

Thank You for that info thereuare. I will give that Viator a look and check back. Bob

Thank You Aaron. It's a long way off but looking forward to our trip. I had some credit on Southwest and had to use it up before May 10th. I looked on SW.com to see where they fly nonstop from Hartford. BWI was one choice. Put 2 and 2 together and remembered seeing the Cherry Blossom Festival every year so figured it would be a nice trip. Free airfare and not a bad rate for the hotel. Now I just have to figure out the best way to get from BWI to our hotel :) I found this service called SuperShuttle that looks pretty reasonable through Priceline. Bob

Well, first off, I would like to thank everyone on this forum for helping me in choosing a hotel, and getting it cheaper through Priceline. I found out about this forum while reading a topic on Trip Advisor about Wash. DC hotels. So here is my experience on booking through Priceline. I originally booked a hotel at the Days Inn directly on their site for $140 a night (not through Priceline). It is only a 1 or 2 star hotel, but I had full cancellation options included if I chose. Upon reading on Trip Advisor, I found that it isn't the greatest place and that I should check out Priceline and this forum. So I started bidding on 3.5 and 4* hotels in the Downtown and Capitol District areas. I had no luck starting at $80 and working up in $5 increments. The problem is I am visiting during the Cherry Blossom Festival time. Probably one of the busiest times of the year. Well, after trying different things for a couple of hours, my bid was finally accepted to the above hotel for that price of $135 a night. I an going from Apr. 7 to the 10th. Right smack during the peak of the cherry blossom blooming. Looks like a nice place and I got it for the same price that I had for the Days Inn which is far away from the main sightseeing areas. I think I did ok? :) Bob