Hotwire Hotel: Help - 4* Fort Lauderdale Beach

[Canadianmom5]

Family of 5 (7,5 and 3-year-olds) + Grandma arriving in Fort Lauderdale January 14-16, 2012 before heading out on cruise from Port Everglades. Trying to find a nice hotel very near or on beach to help entertain the kids. One or two hotel rooms fine. The least expensive the better but would pay $150/room/night for the right hotel. Should we be looking in Hollywood or Fort Lauderdale Beach areas? How do you determine what amenities the hotel has i.e. on beach? when you are bidding on Priceline/HotWire. Sorry that these questions have probably been asked before but I can't seem to locate the answers. Any help is appreciated - I have never bid on Priceline or Hotwire before.

Thank you.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

First thing to take note of is that PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy, after that it's at the discretion of the hotel, and you could receive a room with only one bed. While you can call the hotel you win and request a room with two beds, the hotel may not be able, or willing, to honor your request. On the otherhand, HOTWIRE allows you to search for up to quad occupancy and ensures sleeping accommodations for everyone you include in your search (although this usually means two beds, the second 'bed' could be a sofabed, rollaway, etc). As you will be SIX people i would recommend two rooms, but whether you're willing to take the risk of only one bed in each room (a possibility with PRICELINE) or want to include six people in your search for two rooms (via HOTWIRE to ensure accommodations for everyone in your group) is a decision you'll need to make.

With PRICELINE you don't know the amenities offered by the hotel... whereas HOTWIRE shows the amenities offered by the property.

The trade-off with the above is that HOTWIRE usually costs a little more than PRICELINE.

For additional info on the above, see the related I've Never Used Priceline or Hotwire thread which discusses other similarities, and differences, between the two services.

I'll also recommend our brand new site (officially launched just a few days ago) Pre Cruise Hotels.com which gives a very easy way to see how far hotels are from the pier, the current rate for your specific dates, how much it would cost to go up to the next highest star rating or down to a lower star rating, how much you can save by staying slightly further away from the pier, etc, etc... as well as links to the official pier website and parking info (as may be able to tell i like to cruise too! ;) )

After reading thru some of the threads above let us know any additional questions you may have and/or if you think PRICELINE or HOTWIRE is the better option for your needs, and we'll take it from there.

As you will likely need two rooms, is your $150/nite/room budget still the same, or do you need to lower that figure?

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

[Canadianmom5]

I did have a look through that thread and I had a look at your new website (that was actually more helpful than I thought it would be because I really didn't have a clue as to where the different hotels were - and was quite a bit off in their locations to be truthful). We will need 2 rooms although I suppose 1 or 2 beds is not such as big deal as my children are all very small and they often end up in our bed in the middle of the night anyway. I would still try for $150 max./room/night. My major issue is trying to find something on or near the beach. It is not clear to me if the 4* hotel that they have listed in Fort Lauderdale Beach at $107...is on or near a beach. They don't mention that at all. It is a resort that charges $15/room/night resort fee with a business centre, golf nearby, tennis nearby, fitness center, pool, business cener and restaurant (I think that is the list). Any ideas which this hotel it is??? It only as a 75% recommendation reading which is somewhat concerning. They have another 4* under Hollywood beach for more (about $140) that has an 85% recommendation level that is also a resort with a restaurant, NEAR BEACH, fitness center, high speed internet access, pool, and smoke free rooms. This may be a better option as it at least lists a beach but it appears to be farther from the port.

[Canadianmom5]

Sorry it is $168/room/night.

[thereuare]

Glad to hear the Pre Cruise hotels.com site was useful... it's a project i'm very excited about and i think it has lots of potential and useful applications.

I think you're missing amenities for each of the hotels above, please search HOTWIRE again and list the complete amenities associated with each property (if you click the SHOW ME button next to each offering (with the price inside the box) and then click the 'See all amenities' link to the right of the details box on the ensuing page, you'll get a list of the amenities and won't have to try and write them all down with the 'disappearing' box ;) )

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

[bschrager]

If I may?

Using the HOTWIRE link here for 2 rooms, 3 adults, 3 kids in Fort Lauderdale comes up with 4* Fort Lauderdale Beach area $101 a night, 75% recommended 1/14/12-1/16/12, also 4* Hollywood Beach Area, 85% recommended for $159. I belive the Fort Lauderdale hotel is the Hyatt Pier 66 which is off the beach, not sure how far and Hollywood Beach is the crown plaza which is accross the street from the beach. I personally like the beaches better up north from Hollywood. Good luck.

[Canadianmom5]

Thank you. That helps a lot. Is there a hotel that you would recommend?

[Canadianmom5]

I do see what you mean about the amenities. They appear to be.....

Resort

Fitness center

Pool

Restaurant

Business center

High-speed Internet

Golf nearby

Tennis nearby

Spa services

Now this may be a silly question but if this hotel is Hilton pier 66 will other hotels possibly be added between now and January or will it always be Pier 66 for the dates I'm looking at?

[AaronJB]

This would be a possible match for the Hyatt Pier 66. On HOTWIRE, there is only one listing per zone/per star rating for any set of dates at one time. Between now and your travel dates, the price can change at any time, and the hotel offered could also change.

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

[bschrager]

That is the Hyatt Pier 66 not Hilton, I have not personally stayed there but to answer your question about whether or not something else will become available between now and then I would say yes it is possible but you are also looking for a weekend so maybe not. For example I just booked a 4* Ft. Lauderdale Beach, 95% recommended and it is the Westin Beach Resort which is beautiful and right accross the street from a really nice beach. Someone else may be able to comment on how far the Hyatt is from the beach or you could look on a map but I do know the Crowne Plaza in Hollywood Beach is directly accross the street from the beach. I would say the beach in Hollywood was very narrow last year when we were there. Couple tips I could offer, keep an eye out for Ft. Lauderdale 4* 95% rec. which will be the Westin and you will be very happy. Also 4* 90% which I have seen as the W and down in Hollywood Beach 4* with 90 or 95% rec will be the Westin Diplomat Beach Resort which is directly on the beach. We got that last year on Hotwire through the BB link for like $69 a night which was ridiculously cheap.

[Canadianmom5]

Thank you very much for your helpful advice.

[bschrager]

Keep checking, if you have any questions please feel free to ask. I travel down to the Fort Lauderdale area pretty often.