Travel Guru

Just reporting to ensure the hotel lists etc. stay up to date. Amenities: Free Internet Outdoor Pool Spa Non-Smoking Gym Restaurant Handicap Accessible

Thanks for the update. I do always use the links from here for both Priceline as well as Hotwire. I was also aware that the lists are not comprehensive, but nevertheless it was a good reminder. I had based my speculation on the fact that there is no 3.5 star hotel at all in that area other than the Hilton. What I was more concerned about is the mandatory fee portion - I guess my question was this. "Hilton charges a 14% resort fee and Priceline tells me hotel has 15.54% per person mandatory fee - so if I book (and assuming it does turn out to be the Hilton), will the mandatory fee be what Hilton charges or what Priceline shows - this mandatory fee is not going to be charged by Priceline anyway, it will be at checkout". I was hoping someone had some experience with this type of scenario. Anyways, I bit the bullet and booked it. It did turn out to be the Hilton. Now I guess I will find out for myself what the resort charges me - I will update that once I am back. Thanks again.

So, I am trying to book the Hilton in Ponce for 23rd and 24th night (check-in 3/23, check-out 3/25). The regular rack rate is $169. Priceline Express shows a 3½ Star Hotel in Ponce - Guanica Area for $125/night. Since there are no other 3.5 star hotels in that area, I am fairly confident that this is the Hilton. Could it be any other property?? Now, my second concern is that Priceline shows: Summary of Charges Price per night: $125 Rooms: 1 Nights: 2 Room Subtotal: $250.00 Taxes & Fees: $41.86 Total Priceline Charges: All prices are in U.S. Dollar. $291.86 Charged by Priceline today when you book. Additional Mandatory Fee: $74.17 This hotel fee is charged by property at checkout. The mandatory fee description shows "Mandatory fee of 15.54% per person per stay is collected at the hotel." I could not find any hotel in that area (3.5 stars or otherwise) who has that kind of fee. Hilton does have a 14% resort fee, which I think is pre-tax so becomes 15.4% if you add 11% tax. But it is per room and not per "person". So, my question is would that fee be charged by the hotel no matter what (I mean do they have some deal with Priceline) or is that an estimate by Priceline and the actual resort fee would be the 14% or whatever. On a side note, I did bid up to $125 for a 3.5 star hotel in Priceline and did not win. The Hilton was showing up as a hot Rate Hotel on Hotwire for $150, but it no longer does.

Dates are 9/3 to 9/7

Bid $100 on the first try and got accepted. 4 Nights, 3 Rooms at $100/night/room for a total of $1200 + Taxes. Used the PRICELINE link from BB.

Forgot to mention....I did use the Savingsbarn links from here.

Started the bidding from $25/day and went up to $40. Hotwire was offering at $46/day. One thing though - with priceline bid of $40/day, the total came to $227.27 (ie $60.27 in taxes) while the Hotwire at $46/day was coming to $237 total.

I tried searching the forum for any information on hotels for the Dells, but could not find anything. Any one have any idea as to what hotels participate, what the ideal bid price is etc. I will be trying to bid something tomorrow and will post my results, but any information ahead of time will really help.

I did mention that I booked for this rate through Priceline in a "Hotwire" post regarding this hotel, but I thought I should post it here so that someone can benefit from this. I started out bidding for a 3* in the Del Mar area at $45 and then added non-3* areas (as explained in the free re-bidding process) and finally got it for $75. The re-bidding process was explained by a friend, but I think I would have had better information if I knew of this site before. Please do use the SavingsBarn links to help support this site because this site is awesome. One quick thing - I called the hotel to get myself a bigger 2 Queen Beds room instead of the 1 Quen Bed standard room booked by Priceline and I had no issues getting it changed - the most pleasent reception staff I have dealt with. Check-In Date: Mon, Jul 3, 2006 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Tue, Jul 4, 2006 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $75.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $75.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $16.25 Total Charges: $91.25

I am staying in the same hotel on the same night of July 3rd 2006 and I had a successful bid of $75 through Priceline. I did do the bidding on the 23rd, so that might have been the reason for a lower price. I wish I had know n this site before because I have seen a lot more helpful tips here (and I could have used the savingsbarn link too).

The last rejected bid was $52 By the way, here is more information about the accepted bid: Check-In Date: Fri, Jul 14, 2006 Check-In Time: After 04:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sun, Jul 16, 2006 Check-Out Time: 11:00 AM Your Offer Price: $56.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $112.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $22.12 Total Charges: $134.12

This is the rate I got for a friend for Orlando (Universal Studios) area. Doubletree Hotel At The Entrance To Universal is at the entrance to Universal Studios as the name suggests and you can walk to the park. We started from $30 and went up to $56 adding in the non-3* zones. Hopefully this information helps anyone looking for a hotel in the area.