Priceline Hotel: Suggestions for OurLucaya Sheraton

[GripeApe]

Hi Folks,

We're getting a late start on planning a family vacation (mom, dad, 2 boys ages 6 and 11) to the Bahamas in July. We're tentatively planning on Monday, July 18th through Tuesday, July 26th, with a day or two flexibility on either end. We were originally looking at Cancun, but after drifting through a large pile of brochures and websites, somehow ended up deciding on the Lucaya Sheraton.

Never used either Hotwire or Priceline personally, though I did recently get a nice deal at the JW Marriott - Camelback Inn in Scottsdale AZ for $82 which got me thinking along those lines for the vacation.

Our goal isn't necessarily to get the lowest overall price for the trip, rather would appreciate tips on how to get the best deal for this particular resort. Apologies if I've posted to the wrong forum.

From the research we've done thus far, I see a lot of standard published rates in the mid $170's. We've also found a link through SheratonOurLucaya.com which redirects to a starwood site with rates of $129 for a traditional room and $169 for Deluxe (Click on 'book now' link below the Great Summer Getaways image). The pricing details show an additional $8pppn service charge and $4pppn resort fee (plus 12% tax)! Is it really another $48/day for the room? If so, is this typical of resorts in the area?

One potential hitch if we go this route is that the terms and conditions specify a Thur-Sat arrival, though there were no flags raised over our dates in the pre-booking stage. This pricing is also only good for 7 days max, so we might need to cut it a little short or find other accomodations or book 1 night some other way.

Priceline shows the Sheraton as the only 3* on Grand Bahama when I look via the NameYourHotel Screen. What is the likelihood that this would be the only resort we would be bidding on if we select Grand Bahama and 3*?

Hotwire shows the following two properties on Grand Bahama - Any ideas which these are:

- a 4* for $200/night: Resort, Beachfront, Restaurants, Pools, Fitness Center, Spa Services, Children's Activity Program, Golf Nearby, Tennis Nearby, Business Center, Laundry Facilities (Self-service)

- a 3.5* for $102/night: Identical list of amenities.

We would also need to book a flight out of Newark - non-stop is preferred as I don't fly well. I suppose we could fly in to any of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Nassau or Freeport(?) and take a ferry ride (assuming such is available) to the island.

Any suggestions or tips on the best approach to securing the best price for this resort is most welcomed and much appreciated.

Thanks and regards,

Chuck

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Few comments (to begin):

-priceline only guarantees double occupancy, after that it's at the descretion of the hotel. Where you planning on only getting one room for the four of you? (many people book one room and it's not a problem, other times (mostly in large cities with notoriously small rooms such as NYC and San Francisco, there are problems with only getting a room with one bed). Hotwire does allow for up to quad occupancy

- you can't bid for a specific hotel, you're bidding for a minimum star rating within a geographic area (as defined by Priceline or Hotwire). You need to be comfortable getting any hotel in the area at that star level

-the Shertaon has previously been reported on the board as a "resort" class hotel by priceline... rated 3.5* according to Hotwire. See the PRICELINE HOTEL LIST and HOTWIRE HOTEL LIST for more details. As per the Hotwire list, i believe the 4* is the Westin and the 3.5* is the Sheraton (there may be a Double the Difference Guarantee in here as well... ask us for more details)

-the "shop and compare" is not a good way to determine what you will get thru the 'opaque' product

Let us know your thoughts on the above (booking quad occupany and only guarantee double, understanding your not picking the exact hotel, etc) and we'll advise as to how to best proceed.

[GripeApe]

Thanks thereuare!

We'll be looking for a single room for the 4 of us, though might be willing to risk a king and shelling out a bit extra for a roll-out.

We're somewhat uneasy about the opacity of the Hotwire/Priceline model, hence my questions to get a sense of whether there really are other resorts that fall into our selection criteria, or whether our selections are specific enough to preclude everything else (other than due to abrupt recategorizations, etc).

I had previously reviewed both the Priceline and Hotwire hotel lists and seen that the Sheraton was on both lists. The question is whether we can customize the selection criteria to reasonably well assure we get what we want. In this case, as the resorts share most facilities, the Westin would likely be a perfectly acceptable alternative.

Regarding Priceline, in order to get a sense of the universe of properties available, I initially used the 'Shop and Compare' feature - this did not display any resort properties, only 1-3*. The Sheraton was the only 3* displayed for Grand Bahama Island. Any sense of how strong an assurance this would be that this would be the property we would bid on if we were to take the 'Name Your Own price' approach? By expanding the selection to both Grand Bahama and New Providence Island, 3 additional properties are displayed (Cable Beach Radisson, Holiday Inn Sunspree resort Paradise Island, and Wyndham Nassau - all on Paradise Island). In this case I'd prefer not to expand the region and would rather sacrifice pricing power to ensure we're bidding on a specific property. What would you recommend for a bidding strategy if we were to give this a go?

Regarding Hotwire, I had seen that the Double The Discount offer is still available through Hotwire, so if the Westin is in fact the $202 property, and it is available during our visit for $169 via the starwood site, the DTD would effectively reduce the daily price to 200 - 2*(200-169) = $138, is that correct? There would be no DTD benefit to the Sheraton if it is the $102 property as this undercuts the starwood rate. One question on DTD is how thoroughly Hotwire reviews the terms and conditions - as I mentioned in the initial post there are a couple of minor issues with the Sheraton (and I have not yet confirmed that the Westin offer is valid during our stay). It also appears that the $102 option is no longer available for our dates - though it is available from 7/20-7/28.

So, to answer your questions more directly:

1. We're a little less concerned with the risk of not having quad occupancy (presuming an extra bed can be rolled into the room).

2. We're pretty committed to wanting to stay at the Sheraton/Westin property.

Thanks again for your advice.

Regards,

Chuck

[thereuare]

I would expect the Westin/Sheraton given the above matching what is shown in our Hotwire Hotel List... but that doesn't mean that there is certainty of what you will get. You can either pay retail or accept the potential risks as there are no guarantess. You have to weight the potential savings vs. the risk and decide for yourself.

As stated above:

-the "shop and compare" is not a good way to determine what you will get thru the 'opaque' product

[GripeApe]

Understood. I'm not looking for any guarantees (well, I am, but realize there's nothing you can do about it:-).

If we go this route, what would you suggest for a priceline bidding strategy given that we'd like to get things squared away in the next day or two?

Would an approach along the following lines make sense?

Start with $80, go to $90, jump on the Hotwire for $102 if the Priceline bids are unsuccessful?

[thereuare]

I think i would start at $70... this area often gives counter-offers ("we haven't found a hotel at that price, but if you increase your bid by $xx we'll let you bid again immediately").

Note that you have no re-bid zones in this area.

[thereuare]

I think i would start at $70... this area often gives counter-offers ("we haven't found a hotel at that price, but if you increase your bid by $xx we'll let you bid again immediately"), if you get one let us know.

Note that you have no re-bid zones in this area.