Priceline Hotel: Bidding advice for santa monica

[Jfandre]

Hi, I used the HOTWIRE link and searched sept 16-18 in the santa monica area.

There is a hotel listed for $186/night (With a $395 as the regular?). Since it doesn't list the same ammenities as those on the Hotwire hotel list, its hard to narrow it down. Could I use the tennis and golf to guess it could be the Shore hotel?

Ammenities:

Fitness Center

Pool(s)

Restaurant(s)

High-Speed Internet Access

Golf nearby

Tennis nearby

Accessible for the blind

Accessible for the deaf

Accessible path of travel

In room accessibility

Accessible bathroom

Handicapped parking

Roll-in shower

Thanks!!

[thereuare]

I'm not certain, but i think this may actually be the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey... that would be my guess.

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

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[Jfandre]

It looks like someone else confirmed your guess that this hotel is the ritz. I think we're going to keep searching as we wanted something closer to the pier.

Thanks!

[AaronJB]

Please keep us updated on what you decide and let us know if you have additional questions.

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

[Jfandre]

Hi, we're looking for a 4* in santa monica sept 16-18. Priceline's listed median is $362. I've gone to many hotel sites to see what the going rates are, and they seem to be ~$350-$400 for hotels like loews, the fairmont, etc. The last winning bid that I could find in the forum was from 2010... So not very helpful! The 3 and 3 1/2 * hotels are going for around $240-doubletree ~230, holiday inn $263. What would a good starting bid be? And what would a reasonable cap be for this area? In our other priceline experiences, there have always been more recent wins in the locations we travelled to so we had a better idea of what to bid, and where to start.

Thanks!

[thereuare]

In our other priceline experiences, there have always been more recent wins in the locations we travelled to so we had a better idea of what to bid, and where to start.

Now that you've joined the board it would be appreciated if you started to share your wins, so that others can benefit from the information, just as you have benefited from those who posted before you. ;)

The last winning bid that I could find in the forum was from 2010...

Are you referring specifically to wins at the 4* level OR in Santa Monica in general? If you use the search box on the bottom row and to the right of the header at the top of the board... enter 'Santa Monica' (without the quotes) in the search box and then change the drop down menu on the right from 'Forums' to QUICK SEARCH... do you now see the results you're looking for?

With rates for your dates in the $350-$400 it's possible that hotels are at or near capacity and therefore won't offer any inventory to the opaque suppliers for these dates, or what they do offer is not discounted very much. Given rates of $350-$400 for a 4* hotel, how high are you willing to bid to make an opaque purchase worthwhile?

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

[Jfandre]

We're definitley planning on posting wins from now on-just have to win something first...

I did a seach for 4* wins for the area in particular, and the last one was from 2010. I'm definitley at a crossroads on what to do, as the whole purpose of using priceline is to save money (generally a lot of it...). I may just have to abandon the 4* and try my luck at a 3*, or just book directly so I can at least get a location I want...

[thereuare]

When demand is strong, and prices are higher, the percentage discount often actually goes down as hotels don't have as much (or any) excess inventory... why sell a room at a deep discount if they feel they can sell the room on their own at full price. They may offer a small discount 10%-20% (which can still add up on a a $350 hotel room and multi-nite stay) to guarantee the revenue and non-refundability, but there is little reason to offer 50% savings when demand is high and extra rooms are in short supply.

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

Let us know whatever you decide to do for this stay or if we can be of further help.

[Jfandre]

Ended up booking Loews through another 3rd party site. Just couldn't get a bid that was within our price range on priceline or find a room on hotwire either.

[AaronJB]

Thank you for closing the thread.

Please use the site's Support Page links to book regular rate.

Enjoy your stay.