Priceline Hotel: 3.5* Hilton Head Island The Beach House a Holiday Inn Resort

[Candoeller711]

Dates: July 30- August 3

I have been bidding (unsuccessfully) for about 2 weeks now on rooms in Hlton Head. My strategy is:

- start at the resort level and bid in the Hilton head area, if unsuccessful use the rebid zone of Bluffton

- I have bid up to $85.....I'm sure this is a little low but one can hope right?!

- go down to a 3.5* in Hilton head (as of today there is only one 3.5* hotel in this area- The Beach House by holiday inn)

- if unsuccessful use Bluffton as a rebid zone

- I have bid up to $70 in this area....again I may be bidding too low but I'm not sure where to try as there is no previous data on wins for this hotel/star level

Do you have any advice or suggstions for me?

I love your website and recommend it to friends all the time!!!

Thanks for your help,

Candice

[Romelle]

You might look at Hotwire to get a general idea of how high you'll have to go. The 4* there is $139. And of course Hotwire can be a little more generous with stars, so their 4* might be Priceline's 3 1/2*. Not necessarily, but it tends to be that way. Oddly enough, the Hotwire 3 1/2* hotel was $151.

Your days are all week days so that doesn't suggest a split. I also looked at the rates by individual day and they are pretty flat. So there doesn't appear to be a holiday or short local event that would still suggest splitting your bid days.

I guess the conclusion has to be that your bids are just too low. Sigh. You might consider making a cancelable back-up reservation. Then you can keep bidding, and hoping for a last minute break at a lower rate.

Romelle

[thereuare]

I guess the conclusion has to be that your bids are just too low.

I'd agree... using the retail rates in BiddingHelper.com what is the best available rate you're able to find at an acceptable hotel for these dates?

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

[Candoeller711]

I am not familiar with BiddingHelper.com.com. Could you give me more information on the site please?!

Thanks!

[Candoeller711]

OK- so I had to turn my pop-up blocker off to see anything but I got it to work. The hotel I'm looking at (it's the only one in the 3.5* area) lists as $180 on hotels.com and Hotwire which is the exact same price as if I were to book it through the hotels website. Suggestions?

[Romelle]

What is your max budget? During high seasons, the deals just don't have such a high % off rack rates. I've seen people be happy with 10% savings. You haven't quite bid to 50% off yet. And even 40% off would be good for the time of year.

Other options besides bidding higher are going a little further afield and/or lower star rating. Priceline has Savannah nearby, although I don't know if the rates there would be more reasonable or not. You could get an idea of that via Bidding Helper. Hotwire has a 3* Bluffton for $75.

I did check the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins in Savannah for a month beginning mid-July and ending mid-August. Unfortunately nobody has reported any results there. (As you tell your friends about this site, do also make sure how much bidding results reports are appreciated!) ;)

Romelle

[thereuare]

What is the $180/nite hotel you're seeing?

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

[Candoeller711]

The beach house by holiday inn

[thereuare]

As Romelle points out above, during peak season you're not likely to find hotels willing to discount as deeply as during slower periods, and with the best rate you've found for a 3.5* being $185, a $70 bid is not a high probability bet.

At current rated I'd guess you're likely looking at about ~$110-$130 or so for a 3.5* or Resort class property (not too much of a price difference between the two).

Given rates you're seeing how high are you willing bid bid for these dates? Do you want to first try up to your limit for a Resort property or do you want to try for the least expensive 3.5* or better for this trip?

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

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

[Candoeller711]

Used re-bid zone of Bluffton. Bid for over a month.

Started at $70. Ended at $100.

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success.

Very nice win for this property and hope you are looking forward to your stay.

Thank you for letting us know about this new PRICELINE property so that we can update the site's Priceline Hotel List.

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.