Priceline Hotel: Resort Maui (Ka'anapali - Lahaina) Sheraton

[dumbo10b]

Since I've picked up so many tips from your site, I figure I ought to contribute. Not sure what the difference would be here, but my bid of $151 on priceline.com for a Kaanapali resort was accepted for the dates 5/23-5/26. I got the Sheraton Maui.

[LoneStar]

Hi dumbo10b --

WHEN did you get that bid accepted? It would not seem to be the logical outcome right now for those days.

Thanks.

[Keoni]

Is there a typo in your last post or did you actually shift your

visit from April to May?

[dumbo10b]

Hi Lonestar,

I got the bid accepted last night, shortly before I posted to the website. It was my third bid after bidding $132 and then $140.

To answer Keoni's question, I've always been looking for May and not April. This is the first time I've posted to the board. So the dates May 23-26 are correct. Sorry for the confusion, and maybe that's the reason my bid was accepted since it was for May and not April?

[thereuare]

The posts above were originally replied to an already ongoing thread of another user whose dates were for April, and i think that is what caused the confusion ... i have now separated dumbo10b's post into it's own thread.

Thanks for sharing your win... have a great stay.

[LoneStar]

What "concerns" me about this reported bid is that it does not seem supported by the "packages" data. The Sheraton is not listed as the cheapest property for those nights, and the rates quoted are MUCH higher than would support a successful $151 bid.

Can anyone come up with a logical explanation for why Priceline would be jacking up the price of this room on their packages' feature? I suppose it's possible, of course, that dumbo10b got the last cheap room. Otherwise, it throws into question our so-far successful efforts to predict winning priceline properties, and the price range you can expect to have to pay.

[WillTravel]

I think the opaque Priceline price for a hotel room is typically different than the package Priceline hotel price. There is sometimes a relationship between the two, but not always. This is from looking at NYC and London packages - not a perfect indicator because I can't bid to test it out, but judging by the typical going rates.

[thereuare]

Rooms thru the hotel product are sold as opaque, while rooms thru the vacation product are sold as non-opaque, and therefore likely have different rates loaded for each product. Opaque rates should be less as you're trying to get the business from a customer that is willing to stay at any hotel within that class... while non-opaque rates can be higher since hotels are selling their own brand and simply using priceline as another avenue to sell their rooms, much the same as Orbitz, Expedia, etc.

While many hotels may not load different rates for the opaque vs. non-opaque, some certainly do.

[LoneStar]

While many hotels may not load different rates for the opaque vs. non-opaque, some certainly do.

That's logical, guys. But it doesn't explain why the Sheraton often has packages rates loaded that equate to a (roughly) $150/night rate, but for some reason didn't in this circumstance. Seems quite "mysterious" to me.

[thesqueegeekid]

Can anyone come up with a logical explanation for why Priceline would be jacking up the price of this room on their packages' feature?

I have seen this a few times... as recently as yesterday...

Packages for San Diego-Del Mar listed the Hilton as the cheapest suggesting their $32 rate and we ended up having to bid up to $53 for the Doubletree .... in this case, it was most likely because we were bidding for two rooms (although, my package search was for 2 rooms).

In the past, the Hilton Phoenix Mesa showed a very high rate on packages while I was able to win it for a much lower $32.

New York .... On Vacations, Grand Hyatt listed much cheaper than the Waldorf ... ended up with the Waldorf.

Previous examples aside, Vacations has still proven very very useful ... such as: Vacations Packages

[LoneStar]

OK, then we're going to have to conclude that the packages "winner" is only a "likely" outcome for a priceline hotel bid. I do still find it strange, though, why the Sheraton usually comes up cheap on a packages search when it is available at the $150 rate, but didn't this time. I don't know who at priceline or at the hotel would be "manipulating" it that way, and for what business purpose.

[WillTravel]

I think a hotel can agree to give Priceline X rooms at the opaque rate, Y rooms at the package rate, and so on. If the allotment is used up in one, but not the other, the results may be anomalous.

[LoneStar]

That theory is certainly consistent with what we've seen here.

[dsg56]

My bid of $150 was rejected, albeit for a longer period of time (5/20-5/31) and I that is when I received the message suggesting a $25 higher bid (which I ignored). Perhaps if I had upped my next bid to $155 the Sheraton would have come up, but I bumped to $160 and the Hyatt accepted. Guess we'll never know.