Priceline Hotel: Resort Aruba The Westin Aruba Resort

[cns2131]

Going to Aruba March 8-14 and I tried a bid on Priceline for a "resort". Now when I have bid in the past local and in vegas it was usually very easy to determine the hotel because I would pick a place that only had 3 or 4 hotels and I was good with any of them. Now in Aruba if you select "resort" there are 3 listed; Westin, Hyatt and Radisson. Now I have read some other post that a 4 star selection could be bumped up to a resort level, can that go vice versa? The reason I ask is that I am a starwood member and I have one room on points but need a second room. I tried to bid last night 149 and it was rejected. Now I look at the express deal and there is one resort property listed and it pretty much matches the Westin, especially since it says pets allowed and those other two don't list that and the price is pretty close. Now they are asking 202 on the express deal and that isn't to bad for this time of year and only a little more than I bid and the regular price is showing 359. So sorry for the wordy question but am I reading this right in that it has to be one of those three "resort" hotels and the Westin seems like the most logical?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

When bidding 'Name Your Own Price' the star rating you select is the minimum that you're willing to accept, so your 4* bid can be upgraded to the higher rated 'Resort' class property. If you bid 'Resort' you won't receive a 4* hotel since 4 star is lower rated then the Resort class, and PRICELINE will not give you a star rating lower then what you have selected.

When using the PRICELINE EXPRESS the star class you see is the star class you will receive (no upgrading).

The only 'flaw' in your strategy above is:

Now in Aruba if you select "resort" there are 3 listed; Westin, Hyatt and Radisson.

Not sure where you're getting this list of three Resort class properties, but if from the 'retail' listings of PRICELINE note that the bidding, PRICELINE EXPRESS, and retail parts of their site all use a different universe of hotels. So while there is a lot of overlap between the different universe of hotels, there are some hotels that participate with one side of their service but not the others, so you can't assume that these are the only Resort class hotels offered on the island.

However, with the above noted, if we're seeing the same hotel offered thru PRICELINE EXPRESS:

Indoor or Outdoor Pool

Pets Allowed

Restaurant

Business Center

Casino

Fitness Center

... i'd agree that the best guess for this one would be the Westin.

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.

[cns2131]

Well I went ahead with the express deal and as we suspected it was the Westin which is great. Now I got one room with the partial ocean view with two beds for 213 for my mother and our two boys. The wife and I will stay in our king bed room which I used points for so it was a win for me. The total for the 6 nights was just a tick over 1600. Thanks for confirming what I thought and giving me something to think about when looking at other places that are much bigger than Aruba. Not sure how much better I would have gotten if I bid since my 149 was rejected plus now I have piece of mind and for sure I got one room on points.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you received the hotel you were hoping for and this will work out well for the additional room you booked with points.

Thank you for sharing your win with the board.

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

Enjoy your stay and have a great family vacation.