Priceline Hotel: 5* Las Vegas (Strip South) Aria Resort And Casino

[rickharrison]

Hello,

This is my first time using priceline and I am using the link I've seen posted on this forum to look at hotels. I have a couple questions about the bidding process. My friends and I are looking to stay at the Aria or the Cosmopolitan. Should I be bidding in the "Las Vegas Strip Vicinity South" zone? Also, what would be a good starting bid to try and lock in the cosmopolitan specifically? Also, is there a way to specify that I want 2 queen beds instead of 1 king bed?

Thanks,

Rick

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding.

A few notes/questions:

There is no way to bid on a specific hotel. If you bid (for example) for 5* Strip South, you have to be willing to accept any 5* in that zone. HOTWIRE, where you can make an educated guess as to which hotels are showing, is a better option in trying to get a specific hotel, but there's only one hotel at each star rating in each zone for each set of dates, and it may not be the hotel you are looking for.

Neither service guarantees exact bed type, although HOTWIRE guarantees some form of bedding for the amount of people (if you indicate 3-4 people, you should get 1 + sofabed, two beds or other combination.)

How many people are in the party, and what would be your desired budget per night? Additionally, are you willing to accept any 5* in the zone or only these two?

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

[rickharrison]

Hello and thanks for helping me out!

We are willing to accept any 5% in the zone. Is Strip Vicinity South the same as Strip South? Do you have an idea of which hotels are in this zone? I saw in one of the pinned threads that there is the Aria, Vdara, and Cosmopolitan there. There are going to be 4 of us (so we need 2 beds). Our budget is about $200 and under a night, but I was thinking of trying to bid in the low 100's for 4/26 - 4/29.

I appreciate any help and tips you can give me. I feel so foreign to all of these things.

Thanks again.

EDIT: Also, if for some reason we would only get 1 king bed on priceline, do you think the hotel would let us switch to 2 queens for free or a little bit extra?

[AaronJB]

There is no way to know if the hotel will allow you to upgrade; they may be more than happy to or charge or say no. People have had different results at the same hotel on different days - it could depend on availability or who you talk to.

What appears to be the Aria shows for $232 on HOTWIRE when searching for four adults and $158 (the prices you see may vary slightly) when searching for two adults - the added cost when searching for four being due to likely added person costs being added in for the additional two people. In terms of bidding for a 5* in Strip South on PRICELINE, I think you're likely looking at $120-135, although I'd start at $110 and work higher by $5's. If you do bid though, it's definitely a risk as to whether or not you will get two beds. With HOTWIRE and indicating two people, you would also likely risk not getting two beds.

Please let us know if you have any questions before bidding.

The list of hotels that have been reported to the board in Vegas can be found here: Nevada Priceline Hotel List.

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

[thereuare]

I'll also add to the above:

If you decide not to take the risk and decide to book for quad occupancy, you may be able to get two rooms each for double occupancy via PRICELINE for about the same price as one room for quad occupancy thru HOTWIRE.

Also, at most Vegas hotels it's fairly standard now to charge for more more than double occupancy (usually about $25 per person per nite for each person over double occupancy... although enforcement of this is sporadic, sometimes the hotel requiring the additional charge, other times waiving it without even bringing the subject up... although you can always minimize the risk by only have two people go to the check-in desk while the others wonder the hotel lobby or browse the casino).

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

[kethee]

just FYI - I was trying to achieve the same thing. I got the Wynn over memorial day weekend for $225 and there is 0 chance of calling to change to a double. They said all of the rooms for priceline is booked as a king and there is no changing. YMMV (could be just that weekend).

[thereuare]

I got the Wynn over memorial day weekend for $225...

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Could you please share your win with the board as a NEW TOPIC so that others can benefit from the information when searching the topic titles on the board and in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins.... i suspect there will be others looking to go to Vegas over Memorial Day Weekend and i'm sure they would be helped by knowing of your win. ;)

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

Thanks.

PS- and please read your messages too. Thanks.

[rickharrison]

Thank you for all of your help. I used your bidding strategy and was able to get the Aria for $145 a night. I then called and they put a request on my room for 2 queen beds. They warned me that this will only work if there is availability and I asked if I could purchase an upgrade to 2 beds and they forwarded me to their wholesale department. I was able to upgrade to 2 queen beds for $30/night for a total of $175/night. That is definitely better than the $232 on hotwire! Thanks so much for all of the help.

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

Very nicely played! Glad you were able to get two beds and the total is still a very nice discount off regular rate. Hope you are looking forward to your stay.

Thank you for sharing your win and please use the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches.

Enjoy your stay.