Priceline Hotel: Bid for Oahu and Maui Hotels

[ricken]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the board and trying to get some constructive suggestion on how to bid for the great hotels in Oahu and Maui. The trip is scheduled from May 27 to June 2 for honeymoon of my wife and I, therefore I would like to pick up 4* resort or above as my only options.

May 27 - May 29 3 Nights in Waikiki Beach (Target to get Hyatt Regancy Resort or Outrigger Reef) Up to 130 per night

May 30 - June 1 3 Nights in Ka'napali (Target to get Hyatt Regancy Resort, Hilton Resort, or anything else good) Up to 200 per night

I still feel little confused when bidding. If I increase my offering several times and still not get accepted, can I stop a certian period and re-bid for the same date again? I do not want to change my trip schedule.

Your advice will be very appreciated.

Ricken

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding! (and congratulations on your upcoming nuptials :) )

Please use separate threads for each leg of your trip. We'll use this thread for the Waikiki leg of your trip, feel free to start a NEW TOPIC for the Maui leg of your trip.

With PRICELINE you won't be able to target a particular property, you'll need to be willing to accept any hotel in the zone at the minimum star level or higher that you select. If you're trying to target a specific property, HOTWIRE may be a better option as you can often take an educated guess as to the hotel offered based upon the amenities shown by HOTWIRE. The trade-off is that HOTWIRE usually costs a little more than PRICELINE.

What is more important to you for this trip... having a guess as to the hotel you may receive OR the lowest possible price?

Let us know and we'll advise accordingly.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[ricken]

I am trying to find the middle ground, nice hotel with reasonable price. I prefer to stay in a quite and relaxed place, close to the beach and with kitchen available.

[thereuare]

I don't think you're likely going to find many 4* hotels in this area with a kitchenette available (not sure of the Outrigger, but i don't think the Hyatt has this amenity available).

If you search HOTWIRE what i believe to be the Marriott or Sheraton is offered at $126/nite... would this work for your plans or would you prefer to 'roll the dice' on a 4* or better hotel via PRICELINE for <hopefully> a little less?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[haras]

as a word of caution, I used PRICELINE for waikiki once for a 4* and got the Marriott. Although a nice hotel, it is a little far from the outrigger or hyatt.

[ricken]

Thank you very much for your information. I just learned that Hyatt has 48 hour sales running right now with $169/nt (non-refundable). Not sure if I need to pull the trigger The awaken package is starting from $173/nt with 3-day ahead cancellation policy.

[yellowdog]

ricken

Please check and use our links (if possible) in the support page for your hotel direct purchases.

Yellowdog.

PS. Please follow-up this thread with whatever you end up doing, even if you chose to book direct, cancell your trip, etc.

[ricken]

I am little nervous before bidding for maui hotel. Below is my strategy going to play:

1. Choose Kaanapali and Resort, put $125

2. if rejected, add Kahului airport, put $135

3. if rejected, delete Kaanapali, put $145

5. if rejected, add Kahului airport, put $155

6. ....

Will be that working? Please advise. Thank you.

[thereuare]

Please use separate threads for each leg of your trip. We'll use this thread for the Waikiki leg of your trip, feel free to start a NEW TOPIC for the Maui leg of your trip.

Please follow-up this thread with whatever you ultimately decided to do for the Oahu leg of your trip... for help with Maui please start a NEW TOPIC.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Thanks.

[ricken]

I have not decided to bid for Oahu hotel yet because I am still waiting for travel agent quote. It might be out of the topic, but trying to see if the current offering I got is reasonable: $760 for two people 4 day 3 nights in Hyatt with breakfast, 3 tours including pear harbor, circle island and cultural center. Pickup and drop-off is covered as well. Any thoughts from the expert here?

Thanks.

[thereuare]

HOTWIRE has a 4* hotel (believed to be the Sheraton or Marriott) for $129/nite ($418 all-in). So assuming this is your 'worst case scenario' in regards to price... is breakfast and the 3 tours worth $350?? I don't know the price/value of the tours you've indicated (can probably easily research and determine costs HERE), but my guess is that you can probably do better doing everything ala carte on your own (which also raises the question if you would be doing these specific tours if not included in your package).

HOWEVER, the HOTWIRE hotel above, or if you choose to bid on PRICELINE, doesn't assure you the Hyatt or Outrigger)... so you also have to weigh how important receiving one of these properties is to your stay.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[brandoj]

Hey Ricken,

I just booked the Hyatt @ $100/night + taxes and fees $37.

Hope this helps;)

[ricken]

The $760 is including the tax and fee. As far as I know, the tour for pearl harbor, circle island, and culture center is $30, $25 and $90 dollars pp respectively. Therefore, the hotel rate for Hyatt shall be around $150/nt including sercharge and breakfast. I may overpay about $100 at most.

[thereuare]

So now you can decide if that rate, and knowing the hotel, is worth it to you vs. any savings you might experience for an 'opaque' property.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[sodamanandcoffeegirl]

Hi Ricken, if you are looking for a Waikiki hotel with a kitchenette, try the Outrigger/Ohana West. They are just a couplr blocks from the beach. Pretty centrally located in Waikiki. The ohana East has suite. I am not sure if they have ktchenettes. unless you are going to be doing alot of driving I would only rent a car for the days you plan on driving around the island. Every hotel will charge for parking and it is not cheap. Taxis are easy to catch in Waikiki. And you can also walk to lots of places!

Aloha

[ricken]

Sorry to update my trip late. I had a wonderful time with my wife in Oahu and Maui. The Hyatt was our first stay (3 nt). We were accomodated in a high floor 32th with more privacy even though the room only had city view. I have to say the room is average, no fancy. You can hear the noise when the guest in other rooms closed the door. Anyway, the location is perfect. It takes about 5-10 minutes walking to international market. We very enjoyed walking on the major street at night. We have decided to stay at Sheraton Waikiki next time since they recently completed the remodeling.

Regardint the Maui, we got upgrade to the oceanfront view room in Shearton. We were in Building 4 which directly faces the pool and garden. However, as same as Hyatt, the interior of room is in average and the bed is not very comfortable to be honesy. We visited the other hotels and very impressed by Marriorit Kaannpali and Ritz-Calton. Maybe next time I would consider them.

[Dman]

I have to admit, I personally think that the Ritz Carlton is pretty darn nice as well. But you won't be getting it for $200 or so on PRICELINE, and I should warn people that during the rainy season, which runs from mid-late November to some time in March, it can rain heavily and continuously in Kapalua for several hours at a time and often for many days in a row. However that being said, the place is gorgeous, and you can sometimes find rates for as low as $300-350 a night there. Alas, I last stayed there when my company was throwing a corporate junket, and those days are long gone.

[thereuare]

ricken,

How did you book the Hyatt... was that thru the package you mentioned above?

How did you book the Sheraton on Maui?

If either was PRICELINE or HOTWIRE can you please add the star rating, city, zone, hotel name, room rate, dates (and for HOTWIRE the amenities shown before your purchase) so we can reflect your win(s) in the topic title. You can still view this information:

PRICELINE - the MY PROFILE >> MY TRIPS link at the top right corner of their home page

HOTWIRE - the MY ACCOUNT link on the top right of their home page

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Thanks.

[ricken]

I agree with you that Ritz Carlton is very pricey. However, I saw one attractive package (Air+Hotel+Credit) posted on Travelzoo.com before which costs about $800 pp. That was a nice deal if you only plan to stay in Maui. For me, it did not work because I also went to Oahu.