travelbug21

I would like to stay in Virginia Beach for Easter Weekend. I was looking over the 3 star properties, and the Wyndham seems to be frequently won and quite uncomfortable. I am leaning towards just trying for the Sheraton but money is tight. Any opinions?

3* Allentown-Lehigh Valley $65 July 11-July 12 3* Allentown $60.00 July 13-14 Its hard for me to post because I do not have an internet but I think it is very helpful so hear goes my win, my feelings and my strategy. I needed to go from Carlisle PA to Palenville New York late at night and know I couldn't make it at one time. Wanted an inexpensive but not scary hotel room. Did some research and decided that Allentown was the most reasonable in this area. I wanted to travel a couple hours before I quit and didn't think I could make New Jersey. I checked Expedia and best western and I think $90 was the best price I found. I further checked hotwire and saw I think $89. I did my research on pinned and decided I preferred the hotels in Allentown and didn't like the 4 points. I found out that quakertown has no three stars. I started out with just Allentown at $55.00. I was rejected and went to $60.00 Allentown plus quakertown and was rejected again. Now I was stuck because I didn't want to wait so I added Allentown-Lehigh Valley for $65.00 which was accepted. Next I needed a hotel for the return trip July 13-14. I really wanted the Allentown Hotel so I changed my strategy. ALso I had seen a hotel in Hotwire for $66 so I didn't want to go past this amount. I started at $50 this time since hotels were cheaper this night. I was rejected and added quakertown but this time rather then be rejected went to $60.00. I was accepted at the Allentown Holiday inn that I wanted. I have not done this long but I have found that sometimes spending a little more gets you what you want. I most cases these hotel prices are inflated and I have seen many of the hotels that I get for $50-60 for $75-85. But that is still a good savings and sometimes these deals are hard to find I'm not talking about straight hotel.com type rates but rates through credit cards and airlines that are not always easy to find. I feel if you go in looking for more moderate savings you save plenty and get what you want (just my thoughts). I have not been truly disappointed yet.

I did not completely explain this properly. When I added the 3 star selection I put my bid down to $50.00 so this should be updated to reflect my $50.00 win. Thank you.

The price was $89.00 the amenities were: Fitness center, Pool, restaurant, business center, high speed internet.

I was really never able to post because I do not have an internet but wanted to share my experience. I recently travelled to Orlando (Disney) and Miami. I really couldn't afford this trip and used hotwire/priceline to help defray the cost. I had wanted to stay in South Beach, but the cheapest hotel I could find was $109 plus tax. Doesn't sound like a lot but I needed to do better. Not sure if it would have been better spending the extra money but this is what happened. I think that it turned out between the pluses and the minuses of both hotels they turned out to be equal but I payed less for where I stayed. When I searched late April early May there was very little in Miami/South Beach area. I decided to try the 4 star I think it was Coral/Gables Coconut Grove and got the Hyatt. I checked it out on line and was quite excited. There were pros and cons but mostly it was an enjoyable stay. The greatest two disappointments of the property were the condition of the rooms and the location. I didn't really know where Coral Cables was and its a little far from South Beach. Even though I was determined to hang out in South Beach and not only had no trouble getting there but all but one time found street parking. On to the conditions of the room. The hotel itself is beautiful it has a real feel of an elegant hotel and the Hyatt service was unparalleled. When I arrived, however I was disappointed that when I reached the floors there was a musty odor. This odor was worse in the rooms, unless it was one of the one's that was so filled with air freshener you gagged. The first room was plauged with a sopping wet carpet and I was happy that the front desk had no problem switching me and infact came up and moved my themselves. The second room was even mustier but extremely nice. The other distraction was the both rooms had unsitely stains on the carpets. At first I was a little annoyed, but the hotels other amenities and service made me forget the inconveniences. Considering the price, and the beautiful pool the only real negative is that if you want to be in south beach this is not the place because while it was beautiful and in a very nice area it didn't have any of the feel of south beach. Would I do it again, in a minute if I didn't have the money for something on the beach, otherwise I'd choose the beach.

I do not have an internet so I have not been able to post but wanted to share my experience to help others. About the beginning of May I planned a trip to the Orlando area and because I had very little money decided to try Priceline. I decided to book for just one of two nights in case I was not crazy about my hotel. I started bidding on a 4 star in the universal area for travel dates June 12-June13 for 50 dollars with no luck. I tried $55 still no go. I expanded to Universal and Disney Maingate still a no. I finally expanded to Three star and got a booking. I got the Holiday Inn Maingate and want to say that it was a wonderfull experience. The hotel was perfect, very updated inside and close to Disney. The only down side was the pool which was a postage stamp. Because of this I rebid on HOTWIRE for the next night. I still feel that I got a very good deal.

Thanks, we will be going to Disney for two days but I don't mind staying closer to universal where the hotels and deals seemed to be a little better. A lot of people have been bidding on a three star in the Universal area which has turned out to be the Hyatt Place which seems great. I wondered if there were better quality hotels in that area or I should try all areas. Should I select several areas when I bid or is there less change of knowing what hotel I am getting. Any other hints would be appreciated. Thank you.

I am traveling to orlando June 12-14 and need to do this very inexpensively. What is everyones feeling about priceline versus hotwire. The one thing I like about hotwire is that you can choose your amenities, but it looks like sometimes priceline comes in a little cheaper. I really want a pool but it looks like most hotels in Orlando will have one. Any comments about the two? Second, I do not care what area I stay in, any thoughts about what area I could narrow down my choices the best? Thanks a lot in advance, this board is amazing.