Priceline Hotel: What is a good starting bid?

[virtualrain]

Waikiki Beachfront

Selected amenities include: Resort, Beachfront, Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Fitness Center, Children's Activity Program, Business Center, Laundry Facilities (self-service)

4-Star

$203/Night

Nov. 5-12th

[virtualrain]

We are travelling to Waikiki Nov 5-12th.

We would like a resort property on the beach. Upon inspecting a map of Waikiki there are perhaps 6-8 properties that would qualify for us but according to the FAQ there are only 2 properties sold by Priceline in Waikiki (North) that qualify... The Hilton and the Sheraton. Are there none in the south Waikiki zone?

Are properties like the Outrigger Waikiki Beach, Royal Hawaiin, etc. not part of Priceline?

What is a reasonable starting bid or strategy?

Finally, I assume using Priceline that you are likely going to end up with city/mountain views instead of beach or ocean views?

Thanks for any help here.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

The Hotwire hotel above is a match for the Sheraton Waikiki so that would be our best guess.

Regarding Priceline, there is Resort bidding in the South zone, but none have yet been reported... just as there can be other Resort class properties in the North zone (see the comments at the top of the hotel lists).

Some guests get great views, others not as good... bst to expect a mountain/non-beach view and hopefully be pleasantly surprised.

What is your maximum bid and we'll be able to suggest a strategy for you to follow.

[virtualrain]

Sorry about the confusion above... My first post was intended for the Hotwire forum and the second one for the Priceline forum... I'm not sure what happened there.

Anyway, I would like to get a resort property for $150/night but I don't know if that is realistic. My backup property through a travel agent is at that rate but it is not a resort although it is a guaranteed ocean view. I guess I would consider paying $185 for a resort. Is that reasonable? Way too high? What?

Thanks.

[thereuare]

I understand one post was regarding priceline and the other regarding hotwire... they were merged so that all posts for the same stay are in the same thread, much easier to keep the board organized and have one thread going for a stay than two.

The Sheraton Waikiki is sold-out for your full stay, but the (lesser rated) Sheraton Princess Kaiulani is available for $150/nite (non-oceanview) to $185/nite (oceanview)... not sure how that compares to your current back-up reservation.

If you want to bid, would you also want to include the South zone where there are Resort properties but not yet identified, or would you want to only bid the North zone?

[virtualrain]

I would be willing to bid both north and south as long as it is actually a resort and on the beach.

I actually have two backups, the Princess as you pointed out at $150 (non oceanview) and the Resortquest beach hotel with oceanview for the same price through my travel agent. According to my travel agent, none of the resorts have availability. I'll be happy with either of the above backups but I'm interested in seeing if I can do better for the same or marginally more.

[virtualrain]

Actually, I double-checked my rates on my backups, they are actually closer to $170US/night not $150 as I thought (I'm in Canada so my exchange rate calculations were a bit off). Perhaps $200 is my upper limit on a resort property? I still have no idea what is reasonable.

[thereuare]

Priceline says the following about Resort class properties:

Those resorts in coastal areas will feature beachfront access

(emphasis added)

While i suspect being directly on the beach is likely, it is not guaranteed the way priceline defines resorts (at least according to my interpretation).

In the beginning of this thread we mentioned a 4* thru Hotwire for $203 which was believed to be the Sheraton... that selection is no longer available but there is now a 4* for $232 which matches the Hyatt (still no gurantees, but a good guess).

Not sure which direction you want to go at this point.... you can try Priceline (given the beach caveat above, see if Hotwire gets any cheaper or if the $203 property returns, or stretch your budget a bit). Let us know and we'll continue to try to help.

[LoneStar]

When I stayed at the Princess Kaiulani, it was a 3 star (a nice 3 star).

I do not think priceline would make it a "resort". While it is unwise to underestimate priceline's ability to "shaft" unsuspecting bidders in unusual circumstances (and then offer non-existent customer service), I think this one is pretty safe. A Waikiki priceline resort is going to be a nice hotel -- otherwise, their whole bidding system there would be screwed up.