Priceline Hotel: San Juan resort 7/15/05

[FastEddie]

I was hoping someone could give me some insight as to what a resonable PL bid would be for 4 nites - Resort in San Juan 7/15-19. TIA, ed

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Are you really only interested in a Resort property? What appears to be the Sheraton Old San Juan seems to be a great deal right now on HOTWIRE for about $85. This may be good from a location point of view if you intend on going out in Old San Juan during your stay.

If you only want a resort we'll take a closer look, but without any other special events taking place during that time, summer is usually an off-peak time period.

[FastEddie]

Yes, we want a resort property so we are sure of beachfront, which is very important to the kids.

We will visit Old San Juan but really don't want to stay there.

Thanks, Ed

[FastEddie]

i forgot to add that I bid $80 for 4 nites 7/15-19 and got rejected. -e

[thereuare]

A few comments...

If you're looking for beachfront you may want to think about price vs. what you're looking for. Both the Caribe Hilton and the Wyndham Condado Plaza are rated 'resort' by Priceline... both have man made beaches, the Hilton's 'passable' while the Wyndhams is more like a small amount of sand dumpbed near the water's edge (it's also near a raod, so you'll hear traffic while on the beach). For me they'd both be 'fine' (with the Hilton's much prefered), but if you're looking for a 'beach experience' you want to be more in the Isla Verde area.

Is $80 around the price you're expecting to pay? If so, i think if you're successful it will likely end up at one of the two above properties mentioned above... and you're not likely to find success until much closer to your check-in date.

Let us know if the Hilton and/or Wyndham Condado are what you're after... and your expected budget.

PS- there are some pictures of the Caribe Hilton, including the beach, at our sister site: RealHotelPhotos.com

[FastEddie]

ok....

You are correct, we would really prefer to stay in Isla Verde, preferably at the IC, then the Marriott. Next choice would be the Hilton with the Wyndam Condado our last choice.

I have no expection at all of what I'll need to pay. I started at $80 because last summer, I got rooms at Hyatt Dorado for $75 through Priceline [booked in march]. I thought that would be a good starting point.

So, are you suggesting i just make a cancellable back-up and wait a few weeks?

Thanks, Ed

[thereuare]

OK, here are my thoughts...

What seems to be the Inter-Continental is available thru HOTWIRE for $160/nite. In researching if this is a good deal or not i went to the Inter-Continental's website and saw that rates were $199 for the first 2 nites, then $159/nite for the last two nites.

Going back to Hotwire i searched for just the first two nites and still came up with a rate of $160/nite, and when searching for the last two nites i saw the same hotel at a rate of $139/nite.

So this comes down to: 1) do you want to spend this much for your prefered hotel and 2) should you wait to see if you can do better.

The upside to waiting is that perhaps something less expensive comes up, the downside is that if something less expensive comes up i think it will likely be another hotel, and you may miss the opportunity to book your prefered hotel, the Inter-Continental (as Hotwire will only show you one hotel per star level, so if another 4* is less expensive than you will be shown that instead of the IC).

A similar problem exists with using Priceline, in that the Wyndham is always "out there" and i believe currently has a rate very close to that of the Inter-Continental... therefore you're really rolling the dice between the two if you want to continue to try Priceline.

Feel free to ask any questions you have regarding the above. If you choose to go the Hotwire route, please use THIS LINK to begin your purchases. As well, should you split the purchase as described above, please return to the link for the start of each purhcase.

Let usknow what you decide to do.

[FastEddie]

I'm getting different results on Hotwire. I DO get a 4* for 4 nites @160. BTW, can you tell me why you think this is the IC, and not Wyndham or Marriott?

But, when I try to split, I get first two nites at above property at $166 and second 2 nites @ $144 at a different hotel that i think is Hilton Caribe [no casino].

I made another [rejected] PL bid at $90 in the meantime.

Not sure what I'll do next....too tired to think straight.

Finally, and most of all, Thank You for your time on this! -Ed

[thereuare]

I believe the hotel discussed to be the Inter-Continental based upon it being a match with what is in the PUERTO RICO HOTELS list (see the 2nd post)

I'm also seeing a different hotel now for the last half of the stay (perhaps the potential problem scenario of another hotel being shown is coming to fruition... they're close enough in price though that they may just be rotating, i'd check again in 24-48 hours)

Let us know when you decide upon your next move or any further questions.