Priceline Hotel: Royal Carribean Pre Cruise Hotel

[jamin376]

My husband and I will be in San Juan for 2 nights prior to our cruise leaving in January. I've been researching hotels and am overwhelmed at all the choices, and the prices. I want an affordable rate, but want a nice hotel near Old San Juan and near the cruise terminal. I'm not sure if I dare wait until closer to the cruise date to see if prices drop, or book now. I'm also wondering if I dare take a chance at using Priceline or Hotwire and having them choose our hotel. Any suggestions?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

What are the actual dates of your stay and your desired star rating and budget?

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

PS- you may also want to see our sister site Pre Cruise Hotels which will give you a good overview of the area in terms of the hotel and pier location :)

[jamin376]

Our dates are Jan 11-13, 2013. We arrive around 4pm into San Juan and will check into our hotel right away before sight seeing. I'm looking at a rating of 3 1/2 stars or higher, walking distance to Old San Jan, and near the Pan American Pier. While in San Juan we want to visit the forts, the rum factory, and do a rain forest excursion.

The Sheraton Old San Juan seems to be a great option, but don't know if we can get a good price for it. Currently, it's $353 a night plus all taxes and fees. I want to stay around $200 or less if possible.

[Romelle]

For your dates, Hotwire is currently showing a $170 4* and a $158 3 1/2*. You might look at those. In the list of hotels (first post in this and the Hotwire - Puerto Rico areas) you can see all the hotels other members have reported here.

Hotwire offerings change fairly frequently, so it is a good idea to keep an eye on them. When one comes along that looks good to you, you can try matching its list of amenities with the hotels on the hotel list. A good match means it is fairly probable you'll get that hotel. Not for sure, just probable. If you'd like assistance on the matching, you can post details back here and get some expert guesswork.

Regarding that rum factory visit, it has been several years, but I managed to make it there with a very inexpensive ferry ride (senior rate of about 50 cents) and a short taxi ride of about $6. The factory tour itself was free, and included a sample.

Taxis from the airport had a flat rate system, which was sort of comforting. I knew exactly what I would be paying, so didn't worry about the routing.

There usually is a "resort" fee added by the hotel, so keep that in your calculations. Hotwire now does show the resort fee. The two current listings are "about $15" and that would be per night.

When looking at either Hotwire or Priceline, do take a good look at their maps defining the bidding area. You can land anywhere in them. The Hotwire "guess" as to which hotel can help. But you might get enough better rate with Priceline that the difference will buy a few cab rides. There also is a public bus system on the island, although it is a fairly well-kept secret. Just think that the people that work at those remote resorts have to get there somehow. Both Hotwire and Priceline San Juan zones are at least 6 miles wide, although they are very narrow.

Regarding bidding now or later, there is a good general discussion in the FAQs above. But for San Juan, the cruise ships pretty much drive the hotel industry, and the hotels know the cruise ship schedules. So hotels can predict occupancy fairly accurately. Not likely to be weird swings in rates. You can explore the lower reasonable area for quite a while.

Have you found the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins yet (under Tools above)? Sometimes somebody else has already had a win on your dates and posted it.

Romelle

[thereuare]

Few comments...

We arrive around 4pm into San Juan and will check into our hotel right away before sight seeing.

I wouldn't expect to be doing much sightseeing this first day... you will not likely get to your hotel, checked-in, and up to your room until ~6pm.

...walking distance to Old San Jan...

You can't bid on a specific hotel or section of the zone when using PRICELINE, you have to be able to accept any hotel in the zone at the star level (or higher) that you choose. If you look at the PRICELINE zone it is much larger than just the Old San Juan area, and therefore no way to ensure a hotel that is within walking distance. With HOTWIRE you can often take an educated guess as to what is being offered based upon the amenities associated with the property, but it's still a 'best guess' and no guarantees you will receive the hotel you're hoping for (and therefore not ensure that you're in the precise location you're seeking). As well, HOTWIRE only shows one hotel at each star level per zone, so there is a chance the location you're hoping for isn't the one which is offered for your particular dates.

As well, do a search for 'San Juan, PR' at MAPS and HOTELS.com (then zoom in/out on the map) and you'll see just how few hotels there are actually in Old San Juan... most are a good ways east of Old San Juan and not a quick walk for most (especially with everything you have planned)

While in San Juan we want to visit the forts, the rum factory, and do a rain forest excursion.

You can try, but this is a bit aggressive, imo, unless you don't plan on boarding the ship until later in the day.

Based upon the location comments above, let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.