jullian

Rooms were very scarce for this particular night (6/26/07)...maybe because of the Women's Golf US Open in Pinehurst this week perhaps? At any rate, I began bidding a few weeks in advance and started with SavingsBarn.com: $40 with RDU Airport; unsuccessful $45 with RDU Airport and RTP; unsuccessful waited 2 days and rebid: $50 with RDU Airport; unsuccessful $55 with RDU Airport and RTP; unsuccessful waited 2 days and rebid: $60 with RDU Airport; unsuccessful $65 with RDU Airport and RTP; unsuccessful waited 2 days and rebid: $70 with RDU Airport; unsuccessful but received an offer to raise my bid $22 and the offer would likely be accepted. I declined the offer and rebid immediately by adding RTP $75 with RDU Airport and RTP; SUCCESSFUL! The hotel's lowest discounted rate for this night is $134 + tax, so this was almost a 50% savings on a scarce hotel. Most other airport chain hotels have been SOLD OUT for at least a couple weeks. I'm thrilled with the hotel's location of .5 miles from the RDU airport as well as it's free airport shuttle and hot breakfast.

I knew this was a tough time as I'd already priced around and was finding very few deals on anything. Best I could find was $29.99 for an economy. I started out with $16 for a mid-size on the Savings Barn link and ended up winning at $20/day. Not a great deal for Orlando in general, but given the conventions and vacation time, I'm happy with the win.

Used the SavingsBarn link and started at $42 with Virginia Beach Resort area. Rebid by adding the Norfolk Airport area and won the Norfolk Airport Hilton for $46. This is a great win for us as we're looking for a stopover (starting our trip after 5PM on Friday) on our way from NC to Rehoboth Beach DE and it's right on the way. Actually the Virginia Beach resort area would have been a bit out of the way, but I couldn't resist trying to start the bid there. So, I possibly could have won the Norfolk Airport Hilton for $42 for those of you interested in this hotel. With it being Memorial Day Weekend and graduation weekend, I'm thrilled with this price!

I'm very familiar with this area as my in-laws have a house in Caswell Beach on Oak Island. There are very few hotels in the area anyways (most are very basic; no frills), and the ones that you've bid on are a good 5 miles from the beach...plus traffic can be terrible at that busy intersection at the time of the year. I'd suggest you try http://www.bluewaterpointmotel.com/html/motel__.html . I have never stayed there, but have eaten in their restaurant many times, and I know people who have stayed there. It looks like your average family-run hotel. It's not on the beach, but rather on the Intracostal Waterway...the beach is probably a 3-5 minute walk. I love Priceline too and this would definitely be a 2* at best on Priceline. But for your money, if they have availability, it would be my choice. It says their prices for your time period are $87.95/ night, so it seems to be in your price range...albeit on the high end. Another vacation rental agency that we've used in the past is: http://rudd.com/rentals/rental-search/. I did a quick search for your dates and there were weekly condo rentals available on Oak Island with 2 bedrooms on the beach for $550...looked pretty nice. Otherwise, if you want to stick with Priceline, you'll need to look at the Wilmington/Carolina Beach area which is a good 45 minutes away with traffic.

Bid up to $60 on 2/23 and was rejected. Started today 2/26 at $57 and was rejected, but won at $58.

Just wanted to update that my visit was great. The hotel was very nice. Spacious suites with a bar/chest of drawers/TV case separating the couch table area from the bed area. The TV swiveled so you could watch from the couch or in bed. The toiletries were very nice...white ginger. The front desk was extremely prompt and courteous. Wake up calls were done on time. Room service was surprisingly good. The bamboo basket dim sum appetizers had me craving more the next day. It was a super steal at $52/night. Other associates paid full price $189, and still felt it a good value at that. I had a very nice, quiet room away from Route 66 and didn't feel the least bit slighted at being a Priceline winner for the room.

I know it was a while ago, but thought it might help someone know the history.

Forgot to report this prior to our stay. It was great. Even AAA was like $180 so this was a steal. Very nice area. Nice Marriott.

I thought I would need $55 to win so I started at $52 and won on my first try. Thought I would get the Marriott, so I was excited to see the Hyatt show up for less than I figured it would be.