Hotwire Hotel: 3*-3.5*: Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa

[hamachiaddict]

Hi, new user here, hope I'm doing this correctly and pls. bear with the simple questions.

The hotel we want to stay at is, Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa. I did a search and found that a few people had gotten it around $88-$95.

1. Is there a thread that gives you the step by step instructions on what to do?

2. Also, does this work for two rooms for two separate families or does it have to be done in two different orders?

3. Are there any guarantees that we get that hotel?

Date: May 25, 2012

Rooms: 2

Adults: 4

Kids: 4

:edit:

I went to priceline and adjusted the search results.

Hotel area: North County Coastal

Star Rating: 3.5*

Price Range: $125-$300

Guest Rating: 8-10

Hotel Brand: Sheraton

These were the inputs that narrowed down the search to the hotel we want, Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa.

I noticed that bidding I cannot specify the Hotel Brand. Also reducing the price range down to 0, returns 3 hotels, Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa, Grand Pacific Palisades Resort And Hotel and San Diego Marriott Del Mar.

Is there a method to not get the other 2 hotels during the bid?

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

There is no way to ensure/increase the odds of a particular property with HOTWIRE or PRICELINE, which is one of the trade-offs for the discounted rates that are offered. HOTWIRE can allow one to make an educated guess as to which hotels are showing, but there's only one hotel showing at each star level in each zone, and there's no guarantee the one showing will be the hotel you are looking for.

If you need two rooms, then you would indicate two rooms when searching on HOTWIRE or bidding on PRICELINE. I would strongly suggest only one transaction, as there's the possibility you may not get the same hotel if breaking up into two transactions (there's always the possibility you may get the last discounted rate.)

Additionally, PRICELINE only guarantees 1 bed/double occupancy, while HOTWIRE would be a better choice, given that you get bedding for the amount of people in the room. PRICELINE's retail side is different than the bidding side, and should not be used as an indicator of what hotels you may get when bidding.

Are you only interested in the Sheraton?

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

[hamachiaddict]

Hi Aaron,

Thanks for the reply, yeah, the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort is the only both families agreed on. :)

Ok, we'll stick with the two rooms search.

Any tips on how to bid on the priceline rooms, I'm not sure I understand the zone thing to get multiple bids. Can you give me an example with this hotel?

[thereuare]

...the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort is the only both families agreed on.

So are you ok if you were to receive a hotel other than the Sheraton?

I'm not sure I understand the zone thing to get multiple bids.

When bidding 3.5* in San Diego you have TEN re-bid zones If you've read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and are still confused, try the following:

1) Use the PRICELINE search box on the upper right of this page, enter 'San Diego' and your dates, and click "GO".

2) List each zone that is offered in this region.

3) Next to each zone list the highest star rating offered in the zone. The way to determine the highest star rating offered in the zone is by selecting the first zone i the list, then scrolling down to see the highest star rating selectable (ie- not greyed out). NEXT UNcheck the selected zone, place a checkmark in the next zone, and repeat the process for each zone in the region. Each time take note of the highest star rating in the zone, make sure that only ONE zone is selected above.

4) post your findings and we'll take it from there

Feel free to confirm your re-bid zones with the board OR if you don't follow the above just post back and we'll break it down further.

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