njsurfer

Just a thought: I recently saw a deal where you get 2 free nights if you sign up for a Hyatt credit card. Card is $75/year, but you could cancel the card. 2 nights at this resort for $75 is a good deal, and helps lower your out of pocket nightly room rate. (Plz only consider the CC if you understand the costs, terms and so on associated with this CC, and CC in general.) Also, if you you do end up staying at the Hyatt, you should check if Costco still has the Hyatt $100 credit for $80. This will not help you on the room price, but can help offset your food and drinks. Good luck. I hope you get the Hyatt. It is an absolutely fabulous property, only downside is there is no swimming beach on the property (the beach in front of the hotel is all coral), but there are many pools and lagoons.

I have been charged a resort fee at the Moano Surfrider, the Hyatt and the Marriott. I saw that someone else did not pay resort fee at the Hyatt, but I certainly did every time that I said there. If you are planning to get a car, make sure that you also check the parking fees, as $25/day adds up. I can't confirm if the posted list is complete, but I will say that I have stayed in Waikiki (resort) many times and I always received a hotel that is on the BB list. I have read the same thing, but that absolutely has not been my case. I've used priceline quite a bit and have never been put in a small or dirty room. Granted, most of the time I don't get the best views, but IMHO I would rather save $100 or so per night and have a parking lot/mountain view. Call me a snob, but when I go to Hawaii I now only stay at resorts. I would not consider anything else. I once stayed at a 3.5*, and for me it took away from the vacation experience. I want to be either right on the beach or right across the street. I guess it depends on what you want out of your vacation. I want convenient beach access and a nice pool area. Walking 10 minutes to the beach doesn't cut it for me. BTW, I think what room you get has a lot to do with the attitude that you portray at check in. If you are kind and polite, you will tend to do better. It depends on what you want out of your vacation. I've already established that I am somewhat a Hawaii snob, so I personally would not stay anywhere else in Waikiki, except Waikiki Beach. If I could not get a reasonable win at Waikiki Beach, then I would go to a different part of the island like the North Shore or the Ko Olina. The advantage of Waikiki Beach is that you have the beach at your disposal and the night life all conveniently located. I always call the hotel in advance (as soon as I win). I have not had a problem with late check in. Early check in is more of a problem. The one problem that you may have with a late check in is room availability - IOW, less rooms means less opportunity to get placed in a "good" room. Not sure.One more thing, unless you are a "night life" kind of person, I would recommend staying on a different part of the island for some of your stay. Don't get me wrong, I love Waikiki (my wife does not), but 3-4 days is plenty for my liking. Oahu is just so diverse and a drive to the North Shore is not the same as staying up there - it's just a different lifestyle. I guess it depends on what you want to do on Oahu. If you want to do all the touristy things, then being based out of Waikiki Beach is OK. If you are looking for relaxation, then I think you would be better off going to the North Shore (Turtle Bay) or Ko Olina.

Well Thereuare, you were right! I really ended up liking the Marriott Waikiki Beach Resort. The room was large, clean and comfortable. The service was great. I liked being a little further away from the hustle and bustle of International Marketplace and the street acts. I prefer this hotel over the Hyatt :)

I won the only resort in the waikiki beach area that I did not want. Oh well, we'll give it a go and see how I like it. This is the first time that I did not get the hotel I wanted on PRICELINE, but that's the chance that you take with bidding. Started at $100 Rebid 4 non-resort areas in $5 increments Added Ihilani for $125 Added North Shore for $130 Will post back after I return

I googled it and the consensus seems to be no resort fee. I know that there is a parking fee though. Enjoy your stay.

Thanks for the advice. I've never used HOTWIRE before, but I will check daily until my departure (unless I somehow get a last minute steal on PL) I tried the link that you supplied above for Enterprise and get $100/day for full size. YIKES!!!

I had the same concern about the Whaler when I did my recent PL bid for a resort on Kaanapali. After reading its description, the Whaler sounded to me more like a "condo resort" rather than what I consider a "real" resort (no flames please!). I was prepared to call PL and complain if I got the Whaler and explain my views on condos vs. resorts. I'm usually a last minute kind of guy. I typically browse this board looking to see what others have won in terms of price and property. In my case most posts showed that the Maui Hyatt was getting a lot of hits for the $130 range, so I kind of set that as my expectation. I did the same for Waikiki. In both cases I received the Hyatt, which happened to be the properties that were won the most. Note that it does not always work out this way, so you have to be prepared to get a different hotel. I also start my bidding a little lower than the lowest price posted for dates that are similar to mine. Anyway, the more people who post - the more data that we have to make our bidding strategies, so I hope that people continue to post their wins! NJSURFER

I've been trying for the past few days to get a car through PL on Maui (OGG) from 2/12-2/16. I see recent posts for rental cars at OGG in the $12-$15 range (none on my days though). Any suggestions? I'm looking for a standard or full size, and I've bid all the way up to $27. Not sure if I want to go any higher. Beyond $27 I might just get a car service to the hotel. Any tips or suggestions are certainly appreciated! Thanks in advance, NJSURFER

Pretty happy with this one also. I was getting outrageously high rates when I tried to book through hyatt.com or through the hotel reservation line. Started at $125, added Kehi for $130. This seems to the same rate that others have been getting. Just like my other post, some Hyatt Gift Certificates from Costco ($100 value for $80) will help ease the incidental hotel costs. Thanks BetterBidding!

Can't confirm that it is the only resort, but it is the resort that I just won on Priceline. I don't know of any other resorts in that area. Perhaps you'll do better, but I only saved $40 a night using PRICELINE. Good luck.

Not that great of a deal, since Turtle Bay has advertised non-refundable rate of $190 for same dates. But $40x3=$120 savings, so I can't complain. Started bidding at $120 and worked my way up. BTW, this was my final offer. If this wasn't accepted I would have tried staying someplace else.

Won the Hyatt Waikiki Beach for $105 for 2/6-2/9/2010 I thought for sure that I was going to get stuck at the Marriott. I'm real happy to get the Hyatt. Now off to Costco to buy some of those Hyatt gift vertificates ($100 value for $80). Decent rate on hotel, now 20% off my drinks and resort fee! Thanks BetterBidding

I really wanted a 3* hotel, but figured if I could get a cheap 2.5* in WDW or Universal that I would take it. I started with 2.5*, but after 2 failed attempts that kind of left me hanging, as there were no more 2.5* sites that I liked and 3* was no longer available for bidding by increasing price. I could have tried adding Sand Lake Corporate Park, but was nervous as I was too close to the 2* range and didn't want to find out that a hotel had been re-classified and thus leave me stuck in an area that I didn't desire. So here's how my bidding went: Started with 2.5* bid: Tried 2.5* in WDW for $25 Added Universal for $30 Started new search for 3* Tried Orlando Airport $30 Added WDW $35 Added Universal $40 Added Sand Lake Corporate Park $42 Added Kissimee $45 Added West Disney $50

Congrats on the win. We just stayed there and it is the best! We had to split our stay because I couldn't get a resort in the WDW zone for 4 straight days. We did the first 2 at the Cypress and the next 2 at the Gaylord Palms. The Palms was a bit of a disappoinment after coming from the Cypress. Enjoy your stay! Don't forget that you'll get nabbed for $13 resort fee. BTW, I paid $125 per night at each hotel - a bit high, but the certainly worth it at the Cypress!

I just won the hyatt for 11/14 for $50. My first bid was $35, got rejected, then added WDW area and bid $50, and won. I thought that was OK, as I like Hyatt hotels. Good luck with your bidding. As I mentioned in another post, I was having a hard time getting a place in Florida. I guess there is a lot going on down there next week.

I just got Gaylord Palms from 11/11-13 for $125 a night. I know that is quite expensive, but I had a hard time getting a room at a resort. In fact, I had to split my vacation into two hotel stays, since I could not get a single resort from 11/9-11/13. My wife was ready to pull the trigger and pay full boat at the Gaylord. So the way that I look at it I still saved. I guess if you're the type of person who is going to spend most of your day at the parks, then it probably isn't worth the money for a resort. However, we always try to stay at resorts if possible. I get Disney'd out real quick and enjoy having a nice place to relax and enjoy having an alternative to being with the crowds all day. BTW, my other win was at the Hyatt Cypress for the other nights. I am excited about this since I've wanted to stay here for quite some time, but didn't want to pay the really high $$$$. Enjoy your stay.

Just wanted to follow up. Our stay at the Hilton went really well. Nice room and pool area. One thing that I really liked was staying at this hotel allows you to get into the Disney Parks 1 hour early.

Hi, I'm going to Orlando with my wife and kids from 3/28 through 4/3. I have accommodations for all dates except the first and last - 3/28 (Easter) and 4/4 (the following Sunday). I was hoping to get some suggestions as to what I could expect to bid. On the first night I would like a hotel with a nice pool and someplace that is fun for the kids (My guess is a 4* or better). Actual location is not too important. On the last night I would like a similar type place, but either close to the airport, or a place with shuttle service since I have an early flight. Any suggestions will be useful and greatly appreciated. I read through the posts on how to bid and re-bid, and I understand that quite well. Thanks to Thereuare and all the others who participate on this site for making this possible. Njsurfer