Priceline Hotel: 3* San Diego (Mission Valley) Crowne Plaza

[rjolson]

I have bid up to $80/night for a 3 & 3 1/2* hotel in Del Mar with no luck. Others appear to be winning at lower bids for the same timeframe. Any thoughts/ideas?

Thanks

[yellowdog]

What is your max budget/night for a 3* vs 3.5*? Is Del Mar the only zone your willing to stay in?

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

Yellowdog.

[rjolson]

I don't have a budget for the hotel, just trying to get a good deal. I have now gone up to $85 with no luck. I had noticed that the Doubletree and the Hampton Inn in the area are normally going for $150/night. We will be attending a wedding on Saturday and I don't know the area (driving, traffic conditions, etc), so I was hoping to stay relatively near this area.

[thereuare]

So with the Hampton and/or Doubletree at $150... how high would you be willing to go for an 'unknown' property? Are you willing to pay more for a 3.5* vs. a 3* OR is your goal the least expensive 3* or better?

Let us know and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

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

[rjolson]

My goal is a 3* or above at the lowest price. I tried again with the following:

1. $85, 3.5*, Del Mar

2. $90, 3*, Del Mar

3. $95, 3*, added Escondido

4. $100, 3*, added National City

5. $110, 3*, added Sa Ysidro

Priceline did not accept. Is it because my stay is for only 2 days, Friday & Saturday night? I was hoping for something less than $100, but I've already gone above that. I am planning on bidding on hotels in the Mission Valley area for Sunday - Wednesday, as we would like to visit some sites in this area. Hotwire is showing some pretty good deals for nice hotels in Mission Valley, closer to the $50-$70 range.

Thanks again.

[thereuare]

I imagine this is a popular time of year in the area and with weekend get-aways the hotels are fairly busy on their own and don't need to discount too heavily to the opaque suppliers as they can probably fill many/most rooms on their own at full price.

How far away are you willing to stay from Del Mar in order to get a cheaper price... or do you wan to increase your bid price further? When i searched for this stay yesterday I saw a 4* hotel about 20 minutes away for ~$100... would that be acceptable or is that further then you would like to be?

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

[rjolson]

I would be willing to spend more so that I would be closer. I am leaning towards the hotel on hotwire for $149 in Del Mar. It has the following amenities:

Resort

Boutique Hotel

Smoke free rooms

Fitness Center

Pool

Restaurant

Business Center

High-speed Internet Access

I don't see anything that matches these amenities in the BB hotel list. Any idea what this may be?

Thanks

[J-R]

If your goal is a good deal on 3.5* Del Mar, then San Diego via priceline is great areas for bidding. For your dates the 3.5* Del Mar retail sites show only Marriott offering rooms at $199/per, Hilton "sold out". For a 3.5* / priceline / Del Mar(San Diego) you have 6 free rebid zones which give you around 60 individual bids / day.

The free rebid zones are below and when checked individually, only Zone 2, Del Mar, has up to 3.5*:

• Zone 2, Del Mar - Rancho Santa Fe, max 3.5
  
• Zone 5, Escondido - Vista, max 2.5
  
• Zone 6, Kearny Mesa - Mission Valley North, max 3
  
• Zone 7, La Mesa, max 3
  
• Zone 12, Point Loma - Shelter Island - Old Town, max 3
  
• Zone 15, San Ysidro - Mexico Border, max 2.5
  
• Zone 16, Sorrento Mesa, max 3
  

Since it looks like you're willing to go to $145, I'll demonstrate a possible bidding strategy using only 4 rebid zones starting at $85 and up to $145. Theoretically, if done correctly and based on the above info at the time of this post only a 3.5 Del Mar win or 16 failed bids should be possible.

Of course you can adjust the $ figures as desired as you still have some time till your desired stay. As a matter of fact, if you extend the below bidding to take full advantage of all free rebid zones (and you have nothing better to do) you should be able to bid from $80 to $140 in $1 increments ... but I'll leave that for another day.

1. Start new bid, select your target zone Del Mar (Zone2), select 3.5*, $85
   
2. Add Zone12, $89
   
3. Kill browser, start new bid, select Zone2+Zone5, select 3.5*, $93
   
4. Add Zone12, $97
   
5. Kill browser, start new bid, select Zone2+Zone6, select 3.5*, $101
   
6. Add Zone12, $105
   
7. Kill browser, start new bid, select Zone2+Zone5+Zone6, select 3.5*, $109
   
8. Add Zone12, $113
   
9. Kill browser, start new bid, select Zone2+Zone7, select 3.5*, $117
   
10. Add Zone12, $121
    
11. Kill browser, start new bid, select Zone2+Zone5+Zone7, select 3.5*, $125
    
12. Add Zone12, $129
    
13. Kill browser, start new bid, select Zone2+Zone6+Zone7, select 3.5*, $133
    
14. Add Zone12, $137
    
15. Kill browser, start new bid, select Zone2+Zone5+Zone6+Zone7, select 3.5*, $141
    
16. Add Zone12, $145
    

Good luck

Let us know how it goes.

Of course use the PRICELINE link for each new bid.

J-R

[rjolson]

Thanks for the help.

I tried going up to $130 with no luck. Ended up using my Choice Privileges membership to get a discount on a hotel for $145.

I used the recommended method for 3 1/2* hotel for 8/15 - 8/18 in Mission Valley. Again bid up to $75 with no luck. Re-set browser and dropped the star rating to 3*. Priceline countered with $60, used free re-bid zone and bid $53 (total $188 inc. taxes). Bid accepted for Crowne Plaza Hotel. Very good deal.

Thanks

Always used PRICELINE link

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Hope you're happy with the results and this works well for your plans.

Thank you for sharing your win and using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.

PS- note in our support page that we have links to Choice Hotels as well as most other major hotel chains and online booking agencies... please check for and ue the links there for your hotel direct purchases whenever possible