cha_charoni Posted March 7, 2005 Report Share Posted March 7, 2005 Hi, this is my first post.I'm just wanting get your help on figuring out what the best thing to do. I'm planning my honeymoon at the Westin St. John, USVI from July 5-12th. Earliar in the year, I noticed it was on Hotwire for $245 a night. That offer is no longer there. When I try to do Expedia, I notice that the $290 price is not available on the weekend nights. Is that an indication that there's a conference or something going on during the weekend? I read that the summer months are considered the off-season at the USVI.Any idea what a realistic bid for 7 nights if I went with Priceline? Any help or guidance would be much appreciated. Link to comment
irobot Posted March 7, 2005 Report Share Posted March 7, 2005 I had a few minutes, so I thought that I'd check this out for you. You're right in that Hotwire doesn't show anything for those dates in St. John, USVI, so they probably don't have any inventory right now. Anyway, $249 doesn't seem like any big bargain, since the Westin's own rate is $289. You're also right that Expedia seems to have weekend nights X'd out. However, you can still book the $289 rooms through the hotel's website (via starwood), and through Orbitz, so it doesn't look like they're completely sold out. Link to comment
thereuare Posted March 7, 2005 Report Share Posted March 7, 2005 Expedia is a terrible source to use for hotel availability... stick to the hotel's website for a guage of occupancy levels.You're not seeing any St. John available thru HOTWIRE? I just tried the previous link and do indeed get hotel offerings in St. John from 7/5-7/12 Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
cha_charoni Posted March 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 Wow, they must have added the dates back.I agree that Expedia is not a good resource, but just passed on what that site was saying as a comparison to explain maybe why Hotwire wasn't showing it.Do you think that I could do better than $237 on Priceline?Thanks! Link to comment
thereuare Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 Should be able to beat it... but less of an opportunity to target specific properties (not sure if that's a problem or not).If you need help with a bidding strategy let us know. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
cha_charoni Posted March 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 I believe that the Westin St. John Resort is the only place offered on Priceline for St. John, USVI, right?I would definitely would like a bidding strategy but I'm definitely not ready at this point to pull the trigger. Do you think there's an advantage to bidding now or later?Thanks again for all your help, this site and the admins rock! Link to comment
thereuare Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 The advantage to bidding now is that you know it's available... you've already seen rates pulled once and you don't know if that was a fluke or if the rates currently in the system is a fluke.I wouldn't rush to make a purchase based upon this fact alone, but once your plans are firm i wouldn't sit on my hands too long. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
cha_charoni Posted May 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 Hi thereuare,I think I've sat on this long enough and we're set on going to the Westin St. John checking in 7/5 and checking out 7/12.Could you help me out with a bidding strategy? :) Thanks! Link to comment
thereuare Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Do you have a maximum bid in mind?Rates are up substantially since you first started this post and HOTWIRE no longer shows availability for your complete stay (and the Westin's website is showing sold-out as well). Both Hotwire and the Westin do show availability for 7/5-7/10, but i'm not sure if you're willing to split your stay. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
cha_charoni Posted May 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Yeah, If you think that the 11th and 12th will not opening up, we're willing to stay at another place. Do you know what the all-inclusive resort that shows up on Hotwire for $384 on St. Thomas is?Not really sure if we have a maximum bid, just want to get the best price. We're pretty committed on staying in the USVI for those dates. I know I should have booked this a long time ago. Oh well, can't look back now. Link to comment
thereuare Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 I have no idea if rooms at the Westin will open up or not... not sure if they're fully booked or holding back rooms for a special event and will release them at some date in the future. However, rates are pretty high for the previous dates which are available.Another place for the entire week? (and scrap plans for the Westin) Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
cha_charoni Posted May 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 If you can help me with a bidding strategy for the Westin for dates July 5-10th, that would be great. Do you see other resorts within St. Thomas and St. John that might be comparable with better rates? Link to comment
thereuare Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 I don't know much about the other properties on the island. I usually "island hop" by cruising as that is my preferred vacation.HOTWIRE lists what is believed to be the Westin for $229/nite. If you want to try to beat this on Priceline you can try the following....Since you're bidding for Resort in St. John, you can use St. Thomas as a re-bid zone (but always check beforehand to make sure that no Resort or 5* properties have been added to that area).Given Hotwire's rate and the Westin's rate, i would likely start in priceline as follows:Bid $150, if rejected add re-bid zone and bid...Bid $170.If rejected in 72 hours....Bid $175, if rejected add re-bid zone and bid...Bid $180.Continue to increase your bid by $5 every 72 hours until you get as high as $205 or so.Any questions feel free to ask, keep us posted as to your progress. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
cha_charoni Posted May 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Do you mean the Hotwire price of $312 is based on the $449 rate on westin.com?Should I begin at $250 then and then incrementally increase from there? Link to comment
thereuare Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 HOTWIRE listed the 4.5* this morning for $229.I would bid as presented above... at least it should only take you about 10 days or so and still plenty of time if not successful.If you're confused let me know and i'll explain further. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
cha_charoni Posted May 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 I just put in 6/10-6/15 and that came up as $229. 7/10-7/15 has come up with $312 for the past couple of days which is the dates I need so maybe the June dates is what you might have saw as $229.With Hotwire showing $312, I tried $175 this afternoon and that bid got rejected. In 72 hours, I'll try and increase it by $5 and see what I come up with. Thanks! Link to comment
thereuare Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 You may be right by my selecting the incorrect date, i'll try to remember to have a look again tomorrow morning. If rates are in the $300's on HOTWIRE $5 increases aren't going to do it... are you using your re-bid zones? Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
cha_charoni Posted May 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 You may be right by my selecting the incorrect date, i'll try to remember to have a look again tomorrow morning. If rates are in the $300's on HOTWIRE $5 increases aren't going to do it... are you using your re-bid zones? Hello,Well I got the bid that I wanted! Thanks so much.72 hours after my failed bid, I logged into Hotwire and noticed that 7/10-7/15 was at $229.I went to Priceline and tried $175 intially. That was rejected.I then tried $200 and won the bid. I guess I shouldn't have increased it so much but I'm pretty happy with that I got it for $200. Thanks for all your help! Link to comment
thereuare Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 EXCELLENT!Glad to hear that it worked out well for you. Guess i hadn't used the wrong dates afterall!Congratulations on your upcoming marriage... i'm sure you're a bit overwhelmed at the moment with all the planning but at least this part of your honeymoon is all settled.Have fun at the wedding and a great time on your honeymoon. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
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