Priceline Hotel: Resort Kauai (Poipu-Koloa) Grand Hyatt Kauai

[puppy555]

Hi,

7/7/11 - I bid through Priceline for August 18-21st to stay at the Grand Hyatt in Kauai but had neither bid accepted (for $135 and $150).

7/8/11 - I tried $155 and $160, but again both bids were rejected.

Since the dates I am looking for are Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, do you think it might be a better idea to bid on just the Thursday night with a lower bid, and then separately bid on Friday and Saturday with a higher bid. If I won I'd have two reservations, and I'd hope they would let me stay in the same room for all three nights. I was just thinking that Thursday might be easier to get with a lower bid amount, while they may charge more for the weekend.

If anyone has any thoughts on this, please let me know.

Thanks so much,

Puppy555

[thereuare]

You can try SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID, but a few issues, the first which i wouldn't make the assumption that the weekend nites will be cheaper... when looking at rates directly thru the hotel website, the Saturday nite of your stay is actually the least expensive. As well, there are no 'garden view' rooms available on Thursday. Should you be successful for two out of the three nites, how would you feel about needing to change hotels for the other nite should there be no PRICELINE availabiity (at any price)?

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

Let us know your thoughts on the above, your maximum bid, and how you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly.

[puppy555]

That is great advice!!! I split up my days and tried various combinations. Dates in question are Thursday (8/18/11), Friday (8/19/11) and Saturday (8/20/11). As you know, I am trying for the Grand Hyatt in Kauai. This is as good as it gets with Priceline since the Hyatt is the only resort in Poipu/Koloa. This way, there is a high probability that I will not get a less desirable hotel.

I tried to get Thursday alone and was rejected at $135 and $150. Then I tried Thursday, Friday and Saturday together and was rejected at $165 and $170. Next I tried Friday and Saturday and was rejected at $140 and $150. (By the way, I am getting two bids per request since the first time I check "Resorts - Poipu/Koloa" and the second time I add "Princeville." Since there are no resorts in Princeville, I get a "free" bid.) Next I tried Saturday alone and got my bid of $150 accepted!!! I am very happy about that! I tried Friday alone and was rejected at $145 and $150. I will continue to keep trying Thursday and Friday alone and see if I get anything for those days.

In your experience, are you more likely to get a good rate if you try to book a trip far in advance, or if you try to book once it gets closer to the date of travel? I would think that hotels would be more eager to fill their rooms the closer it gets to those dates. Since my trip is 5 1/2 weeks away, do you think I might get lucky the closer we get to that time? I am just trying to understand the logic behind it all.

Thanks again for all your help!

Puppy555

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your (partial) success!

Glad to see you got at least one nit of your stay take care of and at a very good rate!

As far as better deals later, it all depends upon hotel occupancy levels. Hotels have a pretty good sense of how busy they will be on any given nite, and given the time before that nite, how many reservations they should already have in hand. If bookings are stronger then expected, they may raise rates and not offer any availability to the opaque suppliers, or what they offer may not be discounted by much (preferring to hold onto rooms for walk-in customers or last minute bookings who, with lack of time or options, are more inclined to pay full price). If bookings are less then expected, or they receive more cancellations then anticipated, then they'll lower rated (and/or offer discounted inventory to the opaque suppliers).

While on the surface it would seem logical that hotels would drop their rates substantially at the last minute, this isn't necessarily the case, for a few reasons... occupancy may 'normal' now and discounts offered, but perhaps they're strong then expected in the next few weeks and therefore rates rise... what might be accepted today would then not be enough in the future. As well, and probably more telling, is that while your viewpoint is that the hotel will just want to get 'some' revenue for a room which would otherwise go empty, their viewpiont is that "it's very close to check-in and this person has to stay somewhere, we can probably get a higher price from them since they don't have much time or options to go bargain hunting". Lastly, hotels know that by 'x' number of days before a trip most people have their plans set, and lowering the price doesn't bring in much incremental business since most travelers already have their plans confirmed and aren't making to make last minute changes... so why discount deeply to a last minute traveler if it won't likely bring in incremental business, better to charge that walk-in customer full price. While the above is fairly detailed (not sure why i'm so verbose at the moment), there is a further discussion in the "Bid Early or Close to Check-in" link in our PRICELINE FAQ.

Since this thread already reflects your solo nite purchase at a given price, to continue the discussion, or to report a win, for your remaining nites please start a NEW TOPIC.

Thanks for sharing your win with the board.

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

Enjoy this leg of your stay.

[puppy555]

Just want to say THANK YOU for setting up this amazing message board!!! What a terrific resource! I greatly appreciate your taking the time to write me such a detailed message. I am going to continue to bid on the other two nights in Kauai and will post any wins on a new thread.

Just wanted to say thanks again!

Puppy

[thereuare]

Glad you're finding the information here helpful :)

[puppy555]

Glad you're finding the information here helpful :)

I also got the Grand Hyatt Kauai for $185 a night on Friday, 8/19/11. I was hoping to get it for a bit less, as others have done on this board. Nonetheless, it is still a lot lower than the published rates of $400+ a night. After winning that bid, I got a message from Priceline with an offer to try to extend my stay in either direction at the same rate. So I took them up on it and agreed to pay $185 for 8/18/11. However, even though Priceline made the offer to me, they actually rejected it. Oh well. I am going to keep trying. I am happy with the $185 and the $150 rates, and am trying for my third night there.

Thanks again!

Puppy

[thereuare]

I also got the Grand Hyatt Kauai for $185 a night on Friday, 8/19/11.

Can you please post your win to the board as a NEW TOPIC so that others will be aware of your win when searching the topic titles on the board and in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins. Please include the star rating, city, zone, room rate, dates and amenities shown before your purchase... you can still view all of this by going to HOTWIRE and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

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

Thanks.