Priceline Hotel: Need Help For Hotel Before Christmas Cruise in Miami

[taihard]

Hi and thanks for the help and support. I am getting married on Dec 20th and my fiance and I are going on a 3 night NCL cruise that leaves out of Miami on December 23 and comes back December 26. We are flying to MIA on Dec 21 (as it was cheaper than flying on the 22) and will need a hotel for the night of the 21 and 22 (and also the 26 as we will fly back home on the 27 but that will probably have to be a different bid or whatever). I am from Utah and am not to sure of which areas in Miami are good and bad so I have tried a few bids on priceline already just for the MIA airport area. I have tried 2 1/2* - 3 1/2* from between $55-60 and have been rejected on all my bids. As I will be a newlywed with not a lot of money I want to try and stay as low as possible. What do you think the best prices for those dates are and are there other areas that would be good to stay in that would be reasonably priced when commuting from hotel to Port of Miami to board cruise? Also since it will be my honeymoon I would like to keep it nice and clean :). Thanks again for all the help and support and just let me know if you need any other information! (flight and cruise are already booked so dates are not changeable)

[taihard]

Also can I confirm these are the max star ratings so if I'm bidding 3 1/2 star in MIA airport area I can also choose the 5 listed with a max star of 2-3 and stay in airport area?:

10 North Miami

[thereuare]

Most pre-cruise stays try for the Downtown area as it's on the way to the port (so you're heading in the right direction) and there are typically place to shop, eat, etc. all near by to occupy your day. The airport is usually a good, and cheaper, alternative, but there isn't much to do in the immediate area so, assuming you're not renting a car, what will you go for the fully day you have between when you arrive and when your embark on your cruise?

So ultimately it comes down to convenience and things to do in the immediate area vs. price.

HOTWIRE has a 2.5* hotel in the Miami Airport zone for $67/nite showing Shuttle and Complimentary Breakfast. The La Quinta Airport East has previously been seen with this amenity set so that would be my best guess for this one. More important than my guess though, is that this property shows a 90% recommendation from previous HOTWIRE guests, so this at least gives a little comfort/reassurance when purchasing the lower rated hotels that the hotel should be decent based upon feedback from previous guests.

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

Let us know your thoughts and what you decide and how we can be of further help.

PS- congratulations on your upcoming nuptials

[taihard]

Ok, I see that one on HOTWIRE which I might end up going with, but the question now is, is it better just to go ahead and get it through hotwire or would it be good to try and get it cheaper by bidding on it through PRICELINE? Generally, are the low rates you see on HOTWIRE the lowest you would be able to get?

[AaronJB]

Both services are different and it depends what you are looking for. HOTWIRE is more expensive, but one can - in quite a few cases - at least make an "educated guess" as to which hotels are showing. PRICELINE is cheaper, but one has to be willing to accept any hotel in the zone chosen at the star rating selected. You could take the Hotwire hotel if the potential hotel is of interest, or try PRICELINE for cheaper, but you could very likely get a different hotel.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.