Priceline Hotel: Resort Maui (Kaanapali - Lahaina) Hyatt Regency Maui Resort And Spa

[r34skyline]

Hi everyone,

ok, usually i've used Priceline to book for 1 room and had great results but this time we're going quite different, and keen to get peoples thoughts on multiple room bookings.

I thought priceline was only 1 room at a time but i see the drop down goes to 10 rooms, which is great because i'm thinking i need about 8!!

A couple things..

1) If i win a bid for 8 rooms, will these be all at the same property or will priceline send us in various directions?

2) What are peoples experiences with upgrading? I know that some of the people travelling in this group will not want the room that will be allocated from the priceline bid (garden view/parking lot etc). Can you ALWAYS upgrade with the property if you're willing to pay the difference and there's availability? Or do the properties sometimes just say know if they tell you're coming through from a priceline bid?

cheers,

daniel

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

All rooms booked in the same bid (ie- all the rooms you select from the drop down menu) will be at the same hotel.

Upgrades are based upon availability and hotel policy... sometimes there's just no availability and there's simply nothing that can be done in terms of an upgrade.

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

If/when you're ready to move forward, let us know your maximum bid and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

[r34skyline]

thanks for that :)

i guess my question should have been, do properties ever chuck a hissy about upgrading REGARDLESS of availability because you booked through Priceline?

judging from the calendar of wins, it seems $180-$190 is about the mark for that time of year.

[thereuare]

A 'hissy fit'... not that i'm aware of.

Many users want' upgrades but aren't willing to pay extra for them, so a common line from hotels is that they can't change anything on a 3rd party (or specifically a PRICELINE or HOTWIRE) reservation. However, usually if you make it known that you're willing to pay for the upgrade, they're often a bit more receptive... certainly they won't be rude about it.

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

[r34skyline]

cool, thanks :)

another questions, say i win and get 8 rooms at wherever, can i call the property the next day etc to sus out upgrade options? or are rooms not allocated that far out and we'd have to discuss at check-in?

[thereuare]

You can call the hotel, but their response will be based upon a variety of factors, mostly hotel policy.

They will either let you know your upgrade options, inform you that any upgrades will be based upon availability at check-in, or that they won't make any changes to 3rd party reservations.

However, i'll add that if some of your friends will not be happy with a 'standard' room and must have an upgrade, then they shouldn't use PRICELINE / HOTWIRE.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... please click this PRICELINE link before replying.

[r34skyline]

just to update,

i didn't bid personally, family member did, but they kept going until they hit $250 and got Hyatt Regency.

out of curiosity (and perhaps also to provide extra help for other people looking to bid for the first time) what should one do differently when priceline isn't excepting what you could consider 'high' bids that are not far off the cheapest direct booking deals? Hyatt has a $319 resort king room for advanced bookings. Given it's a $70 difference (still quite a lot)... is it best in those situations to just hang off bidding for a couple days? or is the price for each time of year set and that's the lowest they could have got?

Also, if you're jumping the priceline bids by a lot, does priceline "recognised" this and you end up with a higher rate than if you say jumped by $5?

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Thank you for sharing your win with the board.

out of curiosity... what should one do differently when priceline isn't excepting what you could consider 'high' bids that are not far off the cheapest direct booking deals?

Each situation is different, you first have to make sure your assumptions as to what is 'reasonable' are correct... ensuring no conventions, holidays or special event taking place that would drive up hotel demand/costs. As well as considering your best deal booked thru conventional booking channels and how much time is left before your trip.

...or is the price for each time of year set and that's the lowest they could have got?

Prices constantly change, both up and down, based upon current reservations on the books, expectations for new reservations and expectations for cancellations... and how actual reservations/cancellations come in relative to expectations.

...if you're jumping the priceline bids by a lot, does priceline "recognised" this and you end up with a higher rate than if you say jumped by $5?

No, the 'right' price doesn't change based upon your previous bidding... it's only based upon your bid price being high enough for a hotel to accept it.

When passing along the bidding information to others please ask that they stop by here and use the requested PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to start their bidding, searches and travel purchases. (or better yet have them post directly)

Enjoy your stay.