Priceline Hotel: Bidding help for Atlantic City (or whereabouts)

[maryann1]

Hello,

As a single mother with two kids (aged 3 and 7), I've been looking for a nice place to stay within reach of Atlantic City for a decent price on labor day. A 10 to 15 minute drive to the hotel is not bad. I used the PRICELINE link from within this forum (prior to registration) in an attempt to get the Chelsea hotel. I clicked on 3.5* hotel in Cape May, and rebid 3 times adding the other zones. Each time, Priceline did not allow me to rebid by stating "Thank You for Naming Your Own Price - Unfortunately, we can't accept your offer. During our search, however, we did find special priceline rates available for your travel dates at the hotels shown below." I just started again, and kept trying. I went upto $65 /night, but was not successful.

I realize it is labor day, but I'm still hopeful. Can anyone help?

Thank you.

Mary

[dahammer]

Welcome!

What are the "Special PRICELINE Rates" for your dates of travel?

Labor day weekend at the shore is a time of high hotel occupancy rates. You may want to consider Absecon or West Atlantic City zones, both of which are about a 15-20 minute drive to the beach.

[maryann1]

Thank you for the reply.

I don't think the rates were any 'special', but here they are:

Starlite Motor Inn Absecon, in Absecon for $55/night

Econo Lodge Vineland, in Vineland for $64/night

Motorsports Inn And Suites, in Milville for $64/night

Liberty Inn, in Absecon for $65/night (with an additional box that states "Pay When you Stay Rooms available" :) )

Economy Motel Inn And Suites, in Somers Point for $69/night

Everything above that was above my budget, so, didn't bother.

Absecon or West Altantic sounds good if I can find a good hotel. I will have to wait 24 hours to be able to rebid those zones. Any recommendation on bid strategies? If needed, I can also shorten my trip to 3 days 2 nights as well. Pls let me know.

Thank you.

Mary

[dahammer]

You don't want to stay in Vineland or Millville, the drive to the beach is about 45 minutes without traffic.

What is your maximum budget per night before taxes and fees? What is the minimum star rating that you will accept?

[maryann1]

I guess my max budget for the hotel would be $70 per night before taxes and fees. Anything 3* or above would be great. Thank you.

Mary

[thereuare]

I think you're facing an uphill battle with this one given the Labor Day weekend... and i'm guessing (simply based upon the names) that many of the hotels above you've mentioned are more likely 1* and 2* properties than 3*.

It's not clear from above, please indicate which zone(s) you're willing to accept 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.

As a side note, not sure how much your kids necessarily want/need "the beach and boardwalk", but you may also want to consider seeking out a hotel with a pool... you could probably find a nice hotel which is used to catering to business customers, which would likely be relatively quiet on this holiday weekend, and offer a nice rate and good value.

[maryann1]

It's not clear from above, please indicate which zone(s) you're willing to accept and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

Atlantic City Area, Absecon or Atlantic City West zones. Thank you.

Mary

[thereuare]

There are currently no 3* hotels in the Atlantic City West zone so we'll just proceed with bidding on Absecon and Atlantic City.

At the 3* level you have TWO re-bid zones. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

Select 3* Atlantic City...

Bid $50, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $55, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $60, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE...

Select 3* Absecon...

Bid $50, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $55, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $60, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE...

Select 3* Atlantic City and Absecon...

Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $68, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $70

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[maryann1]

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Thank you for your help.

I tried all three strategies, and on the last one even went upto $81 (before taxes and fees).

For most of my searches (including my very last one), priceline responded back wtih:

"Thank You for Naming Your Own Price - Unfortunately, we can't accept your offer. During our search, however, we did find special priceline rates available for your travel dates at the hotels shown below."

For a couple of them in between, priceline allowed me to rebid.

Am I out of options? I do still want to keep trying the Atlantic City area, because of the fun the kids can have on the boardwalk and beach. They've been looking forward to this, but I've procrastinated. I don't mind lowering to the 2.5*, but is it really worth spending $70+ for a 2.5*, that may in actuality be a 1*-like? Also, any non-priceline recommendations? Please let me know what you think.

Thank you again.

Mary

[thereuare]

Rates are much somewhat higher for Saturday nite vs. Sun-Tues nites, if you're willing to change hotels during your stay OR make this a 2 nite trip instead of 3 nites you can re-try the above for 9/5-9/7, dropping the Saturday nite.

Alternately, i'd check Expedia to see if there is anything offered within your budget and desired star rating, and you can also consider 2.5* properties since you'll know the name and can research if the property will suit your needs (clean, proximity to beach, etc)

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. (or our Expedia link if you go that route)

[maryann1]

I checked but it wasn't worth it. I guess this was poor planning and timing on my part. I decided to cancel out on Atlantic City, and instead take the kids to Six Flags, Jackson, NJ. They have a Labor Day special that turned out great for us. Thank you all for your help.

[yellowdog]

maryann1

Thanks for the follow-up and closing this thread.

Please check and use our links (if possible) in the support page for your hotel direct purchases.

Sounds fun with Six Flags :)

Yellowdog.

[dahammer]

You might be able to get a hotel deal in the Princeton area, its a bit of a drive to Six Flags, but just a thought. BTW, Six Flags charges an arm and a leg for lunch and bottled water, so you might want to bring your own, just check with the park to see what you're permitted to bring in. There are some state parks in NJ along the Jersey Shore that don't charge for beach access, such as Corson's Inlet State Park. Good Luck!