seningen

I have stayed at both -- and there are plus and minuses to each. Just remember to check the radison webpage to know what they are asking there, and don't overbid. Assuming you want to b close to SeaWorld and that is the focus of your trip -- either should meet your needs. The Hyatt is probably nicer -- but as the weather gets more iffy, the Radissons heated pools are a nice plus! m

Pretty awesome hotel and fantastic location unbelievable for $41-42/nt. felt like I was robbing the place when I was there a month ago :-) Note garage parking was $12/nt, on Saturday night you can park at the pay meters for free. m

Started at $45, $1 increments via free rebids and hit at $49.

Last year, the last week in March, I PL'd the Hilton -- a resort/4star on their list back then. It was sold out according to their website -- I got 2 rooms for $80/night for 7 nights. Most folks there paid more than $250/nt according to a discrete survey my wife had with some guests. so YMMV, Mike

Awesome hotel -- fantastic location -- right next door to Toyota Center, handful of blocks from Minute-Maid Field, adjoins the Convention Center. We stayed last weekend. A bit swanky for my tastes -- but it truly was a 4* hotel. Didn't get to check the amenities other than lobby bar. But rooms were great. Got a kick out of the sticker on the door that tells you how much they could have legally charged $554 per night! we paid $42 -- got a good laugh at that one. Parking garage was $12/nt. Use of Gym was $6. My buddy splurged and worked out there -- said it was top notch equipment -- even had free weights. We'll be hoping to get this again when we return to Houston -- esp for Astros games. mike

BTW, a friend of mine attending the same event also hit at 42 -- first bid.

I'm actually going to an event at Rice University I tried a couple 2.5* and 3* bids in the Med Ctr location in the upper 20's-low 30's I saw that the Americas had hit at $42 on this board in the past. So I tried $40 at 4* Med Ctr and $42 DT & Med Ctr. So yes this was the first 4* DT bid. Plus/Minus couple $$ I didn't care that much since I'll be sharing the room with a friend. Just wanted to secure the place. Mike

topics say it all

My beloved Hokies are Sugar Bound and I hope to join them, but prices for 1/2-1/4 are outrageous -- I'd drool over $75/nt then -- but don't think it will happen! $46 sounds sweet! have a blast! m

Just trying to get a feeler for good ski locations that might have decent PL/HW participation? Generally interested Rockies or West. Any places actually PL/HW participation on the slopes? In my mind SLC does not work, since the skiing is 1hr away. More interested in "in the ski town" or "on the slopes" pointers appreciated. thanks, mike

many of the hotels in and around the mco area seemed to have been hit hard by the hurricane == seems like a swath from Medeival Times along 192 upto the airport and beyond has a considerable amount of hurricane charley damage. m

Just got back from the Wyndham at $62/nt + $10 resort fee Was nice enough to me -- the extra $150/nt would buy your 3 disney tickets and still have some change -- at some point you have to ask yourself just how nice is that SWAN. BTW, we utilized none of the Wyndam facilities -- but the room sure was nice and large enough. Had a ceiling fan too - which was a nice touch. Has bus service to all the resorts and it is a short walk, or very short drive to Downtown Disney -- cheers, m

In my case it was maybe 3 or 4 weeks before we left. One thing that was a little harrowing was bidding for a hotel, and also trying to secure the charter flight -- really didn't want to get the one with out the other -- fortunately it all worked out :-) good luick and enjoy your stay! Another interesting point -- I was open to about 5 different weeks during late march early april last year, figured out the availability and rates for various hotels via all kinds of websites and plotted it out. Bid on PL for various weeks, and the one week I did hit, most of the inventory claimed it was sold out, even the hotel I hit (the Hilton) --- so go figure. mike

If you believe this is the Wyndham and you are interested in booking -- try PL for Resort in WDW zone. The Wyndham is geneerally considered the lowest value resort offered on PL for this zone and can be had in the $60's. I landed this for $62/nt - Oct 5-10. At this same description and time HW had it for low-mid $80's. YMMV, Mike

To the best of my knowledge no hotel in PL is all-inclusive, at least not in Cancun. I would stick to the RESORT level, as of the last time I investigated this, they were all on the beach. Not sure about the other * levels. When we got the Hilton, we were treated no differently, in fact we ended up with two great rooms with balconies and a guest we met there got stuck with a non-balcony room, yet had paid >3x our nightly cost -- ouch! bet they will PL next time :-) good luck. I'll probably be looking to return to Cancun next year in the spring. (we get good charter flight costs then) BTW, nothing says you'll have to leave the hotel for food --- but if it is your're first Cancun trip -- you might want to do some exploring around. The bus system is awesome and very convenient (maybe $0.50/pp per bus hop) If you plan to eat out a lot -- check out this discount card -- we used it in the spring -- it is on the up and up and had a decent amount of choices. http://www.entertainment-plus.net/english.cfm I also highly recommend this one day excursion --- very good price to experience ratio. Nice limo pick-up, catamaran ride, a couple of beers, a budget local buffet on the island, and a good snorkling excursion, prettty good all day excursion. http://www.entertainment-plus.net/tour_isl...sla_mujeres.cfm I wouldn't think twice about doing it again when I return. Another suggestion is that many folks (depending on hotel staff of course), pick up beverages at the convenient stores and discretely (occasionally not so discretely) consume them instead of paying full hotel prices. YMMV. cheers, M.

That of course is completely depending on your eating styles -- I'm sure you could spend $100pp eating. But I figure (assuming no alcohol) On the high end...... Breakfast buffet there was ~ $20, Lunch was typically $10-20, and Dinner could be had for ~$30 this was at the resturants at the Hilton. They did have a huge Pizza which was very good for about $15, and made for a great meal for 2-3 people. So just a matter of what you want to eat. We generally went into town (30min bus ride), hit the bakery and bought pastries etc for breakfast. Lunch was sometimes at the hotel and sometimes around the island. Dinner was the same, although we also went into Cancun proper for dinner, and that drops it about $5-15/plate. So for us it was probably closer to $50/day p.p. We also had a 4yr old -- and she probably costs <$20 day for food. If you have never been to Cancun -- staying at an all-inclusive is almost a crime (unless you are consuming lots of alchol) -- there is everything from traditional small Mexican town dining feel in the inner-city to mini-USA malls, and tons of eateries inbetween. It all depends on the type of vacation you want to have. M.

Stayed at the Hilton in April for $80/nt priceline -- AWESOME A little ways down the island -- but a very nice place. would stay there again in a heartbeat -- and that was my 4th or 5th Cancun trip (first Hilton). m.

Might have snagged a bit cheaper -- but limited rebids and hw had it in the mid-30's. m.

One other thing I like to do is open up a new priceline window and actually click on all the "free" rebids just to make sure no new hotel has shown up in a zone that I was not expecting. This helps insure that I will not land a hotel in an area I was not planning on staying in. It is not unusual for me to bid over a period of 2-3 months for a certain area if need be trying to get the price I'm interested in paying. m

Which PL/HW hotels in the MCO area have shuttle buses to/from the airport with service after midnight? thanks, m.

I think you'll like the location -- about 3 blocks from the Inner Harbor and 2-3blocks from the convention center. Hit the Wharf Rat for some good beer and pub food. mike

Might have been able to priceline a couple $$ cheaper -- but knowing it was either this or the Tiki-Bird was perfect as a place to crash during my conference and pre-family WDW visit. Only got to squeeze out a MCO area for 10/1 -- since I save $75 picking up the rental car Saturday morning........ My wife would be pulling her hair out with all these shenangans -- The maschochist (and cheapskate) in me loves it. m

Well well well, after months of bidding -- some place finally bit for my WDW trip. Started at 60, used a rebid -- hit at 62. Wyndham Palace Resort And Spa Not my first choice -- but at $62 I'm pleased. $161/nt on Wyndham Webrate, $86/nt on Hotwire. My wife will be thrilled with the location. Not the best of reviews -- but we will be at WDW the whole time. Still need to fill in my conference stay earlier in the week. But I can survive in lessor surroundings :-) cheers, Mike

Assuming you can get to the hotel -- once there -- you should not need a car. You can walk to downtown disney (across the street). You'll have your own hotel shuttle (5or 6 hotels in the DTD use the same shuttle) runs about every 30 minutes, 2 bus routes cover the Disney resorts. You can even walk ~5-10 minutes up the hotel plaza road to restuarants and a grocery (although the grocery is known to be on the high side price wise) I stayed at the Courtyard (now Holiday Inn) and did saved the money on the rental car. m.

Without looking at HW or PL --- Fort Worth puts you pretty close to TMS. TMS is right next to Alliance -- last time I was there (3-4 yrs ago) there weren't many places to stay -- Ft Worth < 10min away (15 max) will have an abundant amount of hotels. mike