Priceline Hotel: new to the board & need help....

[Boomer22]

new to the board & have a question. i'm booking a trip to kauai in for the end of this month & really want to stay at the hyatt. I just want to book a a hotel room only, i went on priceline and see through a vacation package that the hyatt is the only resort hotel offered for my dates of travel. my question is this, am i right to assume that the hyatt is the "resort" hotel i will be bidding on? if i change the dates, it shows the hayatt & the mariott for resorts that are available, but for my dates it's the hyatt only that appears. i am willing to pay the $360 a night thru hyatt's website, but would enjoy the priceline deal...please help....

also, how much should i bid?

[LoneStar]

Look, there are no guarantees on priceline. If you absolutely HAVE to stay at the Hyatt, you should book direct. That said, if you are interpreting the data correctly, and the Hyatt is the lowest priced resort in that zone on a "packages" stay for those days, the odds strongly favor you getting the Hyatt. So if you can live with a litttle bit of risk to save a lot of money, youshould bid.

If you give us the exact dates, I can give you a suggested bidding amount.

BTW, thereuare, this thread is probably more useful in the Hawaii section.

[thereuare]

I was afraid you would be replying while i was in the process of moving it, so i waited :)

[thesqueegeekid]

Having bid this recently, I tried to actually get the Marriott Resort for nights not available through the package listing and did not win .... so, I think in this case, Packages tells the tale accurately. However, I have seen also vacation listings change from one day to the next so, I would try for the Hyatt ASAP.

[Boomer22]

thanks for the help....

the dates are march 4th- 8th, 2005.

[bbbb]

I don't think you have a very good chance of getting the Hyatt as I have never seen the Kauai Hyatt posted as an accepted bid. If anyone else has please feel free to correct me.

[Boomer22]

that is not good news, not sure what to do? if any one has succesfully bid for the hyatt please let me know....

has anybody stayed at the hyatt kauai? if so, is it worth the money?

[bbbb]

that is not good news, not sure what to do? if any one has succesfully bid for the hyatt please let me know....

has anybody stayed at the hyatt kauai? if so, is it worth the money?

I have never stayed there but know a few people that have and it sounds like a very nice place. If you have status with Hyatt you will be treated very well at this resort. It has to be nice as there rates are high every time I check.

[LoneStar]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there are no good priceline deals on Kauai resorts for March 4-8. Hyatt does have a rate loaded on priceline, but it's so high that I personally wouldn't bid on it -- too risky for too little gain (I think it's over $300/night, and there's always a chance something crazy could happen and you'll be given something else).

The Marriott Resort in the Lihue zone is available for March 6-8 through priceline. I've occasionally seen priceline rates just north of $100 for that property, but I don't think those are the rates loaded for March 6-8. My best guess is that it would take something between $150 and $170 to get it. But if you decide you want it, start at $100 and take your time -- you never know.

The best priceline deal on Kauai for those 4 days is the 3 star Kiahuna Plantation Resort, which I'm guessing would go for something between $125 and $150. It's obviously NOT as nice as the Hyatt, and it's more "old Hawaii" than resort hotel. But it's got a better beach and probably better rooms (I'm personally not familiar with it. I've been to the Hyatt and it's VERY nice -- although not $360 nice to me!).

FWIW, when I go to Kauai, I usually stay at the Waimea Plantation Cottages, which has plenty of fans, but is NOTHING like the Hyatt (it's like being transported to bucolic 1950s Hawaii). Usually half-price with an Entertainment Card through Aston.

Let us know if you have more questions.

[Scorp]

The Hyatt is available through Hotwire, also. I believe it is the 4.5 * Resort that comes up in Poipu for $294. You can double-check the amenities in the Packages product.

You could probably get a better deal on it through Priceline, but it would still save you at least $250 by purchasing at the above rate instead of the hotel rate.

[LoneStar]

Yes, Hotwire is offering the Hyatt, too. The rate came up at $306 when I looked at it, but we know Hotwire randomly alters it's prices a bit.

If you average the two, it probably means the Hyatt is available on Priceline for something like $285 night. I can't in good conscience recommend somebody bid that much for an opaque hotel. I mean, we have pretty sophisticated means of figuring these things out, but they're not foolproof.

Also, wouldn't he likely get at least a room upgrade by booking direct? And the frequent stay points would no doubt be worth something.

[LoneStar]

The other thing I wonder about is whether there are ever last minute deals on priceline Hawaiian hotels. It doesn't look to me like too many people show up at a Hawaiian resort "at the spur of the moment" -- you usually plan your stay at least a couple months in advance (just look at the bidding history on this board!).

Could that mean that places like the Hyatt might dump a few rooms onto priceline the week before? I don't know, but it's an option worth considering.

[Scorp]

Also, wouldn't he likely get at least a room upgrade by booking direct?  And the frequent stay points would no doubt be worth something.

This is pretty hard to say - I have gotten better rooms in the same hotel on Priceline rates than at full price, sometimes. Frequent stay points are fine, if that is what you are after. I understood that the OP wished to stay at the Hyatt, was willing to pay the $360 price if necessary, but would prefer to get a lower rate, if possible.

As for waiting until a week before, I don't think I would be willing to do that. The $360 rate is a fully prepaid special rate, and that prepaid rate goes UP to $455 for some dates in March. You could just as easily end up with a sold-out hotel or sit on a reservation (without paying the prepaid rate) and end up paying $400 more.

[LoneStar]

As for waiting until a week before, I don't think I would be willing to do that. The $360 rate is a fully prepaid special rate, and that prepaid rate goes UP to $455 for some dates in March. You could just as easily end up with a sold-out hotel or sit on a reservation (without paying the prepaid rate) and end up paying $400 more.

you've got to prepay to get the $360 rate? Good god -- that IS an expensive hotel! :)

Yeah, obviously waiting to the last minute isn't a good idea if you don't have a backup you could cancel.

[Scorp]

Yes, it is a very expensive hotel, isn't it?! :)

I should correct what I said earlier, though, after checking again.

For some dates, there is also an Aloha rate, which is $364/night, requires only two nights prepayment, and looks to be cancellable up to 7 days prior to arrival. That is for a Garden View room, for which the prevailing rate is $455 for most dates. And it looks like a Partial Ocean View room is about another $100 more. Some dates in March are completely sold out.

[Boomer22]

thanks for everybody's thoughts on my issue on this Hyatt. I have made 4 bids on pl, all rejected, started at $200 & my last bid was $265...

if you guys are 90% sure that the 4.5* hotel on hotwire for $299 is the hyatt i will pull the trigger.....

[LoneStar]

if you guys are 90% sure that the 4.5* hotel on hotwire for $299 is the hyatt i will pull the trigger.....

Well, if you're still undeterred by what I think is a very overpriced hotel stay . . . . :)

I'd recommend the following. First, I'd be shocked if the property listed on hotwire is not the Hyatt. That said, repeating what I said before, once in a blue moon shocking things do happen, and I'd hate to see it happen when somebody bid $300 for a hotel.

If you really want to go down the hotwire route, you could break your stay up into individual days, use the Entertainment Card $30 coupon and save a total of $120. It would be annoying at checkin (they'll have to combine your reservations), but I'd personally put up with the 3-5 minutes of annoyance to save $120. Just double check each night to make sure there's no other 4.5 star hotel being offered (I don't think there is). BTW, this would also limit your exposure for a "shocking" bid selection to one-night's hotel price, instead of four.

But I'd do two other things first (assuming you REALLY want to stay here). First, I'd call the hotel reservation office direct (not Hyatt's 800 number). Tell them something like it's been your wife's lifelong desire to stay there but the rates for your nights on the internet are too high. Can they give you some sort of deal -- perhaps a "package" price? If they balk, tell them you saw it on priceline for $275. Could they at least match that? I'd give you slightly less than 50-50 odds of success.

Second, post a note on flyertalk.com's hyatt site and tell them you want to stay at the Kauai Hyatt but you don't want to pay $360/night. Do they know of anyway to get the place cheaper? Flyertalk folks are extremely knowledgable "gamers" and somebody may know about some sort of crazy coupon or promotion that could help. Odds of success: 25%.

Let us know how you do.

[thereuare]

I'll add that if you do go with the Hotwire offer, you can split the stay up as LoneStar suggests, taking advantage of the $30 rebate multiple times.

As well, this will enable you to confirm that the offer is indeed the Hyatt. If after the first booking it's not the Hyatt, you don't have to book the other nites (if you don't like the hotel received) and look elsewhere for the remainder of your stay (of course this would mean you'd change hotels after your first stay).

So by splitting the stay you not only have the advantage of $30 off each purchase, but you also get to "look behind the curtain" after the first purchase.

If you go with Hotwire, please click our HOTWIRE link before each purchase. Thanks.