Priceline Hotel: Miami South Beach - Feb 23rd 2 nights

[sterankin]

I am looking 2 rooms in south beach, both for 2 nights (23rd - 25th Feb). This will be our first trip to Miami and it is for a pre-cruise stay.

From reading other posts, the desirable areas in South beach are Central, Collins Av and Ocean drive?

I have bid up to $135 for a 4* hotel in each area (and used the free rebids also). No luck yet (too early?). Do the prices on hotwire/priceline seem high for those dates?

I would be willing to pay $150 max for a 4* and if I was getting nothing I would drop to the 3.5* at a max of $125 per night. Does this seem reasonable?

Failing this - does anyone know what other areas of Miami would be best to stay in, or is the general quality of the 3* hotels good in a particular south beach area?

[thereuare]

Please follow-up your previous Hotwire San Francisco thread with whatever you ended up doing for that stay, then click each of these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links and reply to this topic, we'll have a look at your post above.

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

[sterankin]

Please follow-up your previous Hotwire San Francisco thread with whatever you ended up doing for that stay, then click each of these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links and reply to this topic, we'll have a look at your post above.

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

Done!

[thereuare]

Your budget seems low for this area, and while rates are date specific, using the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins there are a few wins around this time frame which are both lower in star rating and higher then your budget.

What is the best rate you're able to find at an acceptable hotel in this area? (use MAPS and HOTELS.com to assist in your search)

[sterankin]

Using the link above, the cheapest 4* is Lords South Beach at Nash @ $259 (but it seems this hotel is aimed at certain clientele). I have seen the clifton hotel on another website for $190 a night.

We would be able to bid as high as $165 as we have to consider the tax that is added on. But it looks like we might not even get a 3* at that price?

[thereuare]

Rates can, and do, change, but at the moment a 3* does look like even a 3* may be tough at $165... although there is certainly no harm in trying for this, and even a higher rated hotel, first.

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

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

[sterankin]

I have provisionally booked the Clifton hotel as a backup (can cancel up to the 20th FEB). I think I will try some 4* only bids over the next few weeks in the hope that the price will drop. We got the Clifton at $165 a night, but there is a resort fee of $12.50 to pay (I guess a lot of the hotels have this). Do you think its worth trying for a 4* hotel with low bids everyday? I am trying to determine what the highest is I should bid to, obviously it would need to be less than $165 (including tax). So about $130 a night.

I see there are 6 rebid zones. I will use the PRICELINE link from this website to start bidding.

[thereuare]

Do you think its worth trying for a 4* hotel with low bids everyday?

I'd be bidding up to your maximum ($130 bid) as anything close to this for a 4* hotel would be a very good deal at this point in time.

You can bid everyday, but as your odds of success are somewhat low, i think you'll likely get quickly frustrated and therefore would only bid every 2-3 days.

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

Keep us updated on your progress and let us know if we can be of further help along the way.