Priceline Hotel: Resort Oahu (Waikiki Marina) The Modern Honolulu

[madz902]

Has anyone ever successfully bidded the Hawaiian village or ilikai? Any tips on maximizing the chances of getting either of these hotels? The more I research the surrounding hotels, the more attached I'm getting to certain hotels making me afraid to bid!

We need 3 rooms and prefer free Internet (hence ilikai) and something on the beach

...I'm a total newb...

[Romelle]

The very first thread in this Priceline Hawaii area is a list of all hotels members have reported getting. I did see both the hotels you mention on the list. But the Ilikai was there as a 3*? It also is a 3* on the Priceline retail side.

Regarding getting specific hotels, there really isn't any way to do that. You have to be willing to accept any hotel in the zone map, at the star level you are bidding or higher.

Romelle

[madz902]

Thank you!

We are traveling with 2 kids and 6 adults so we're planning to either go all out for the kids (Resort) or getting the Ilikai with kitchenette.

Looks like if you bid for the resort in Waikiki Marina, it could really only be Modern Honolulu or Hawaii Village - am I correct?

[thereuare]

Looks like if you bid for the resort in Waikiki Marina, it could really only be Modern Honolulu or Hawaii Village - am I correct?

No, the hotel lists only contain hotels reported to the board... there could always be others recently added to the system, upgraded/downgraded from the last time reported to the board, or simply a new hotel not yet reported (see the comments at the top of the Priceline Hotel List).

Also, keep in mind that PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy, after that it's at the discretion of the hotel, and you could receive a room with only one bed (and you're more than double occupancy in at least one of your rooms). While you can call the hotel you win and request a room with two beds, the hotel may not be able, or willing, to honor your request.

If this is not a risk you're willing to take, HOTWIRE may still be an option as they allow you to search for up to quad occupancy and ensure sleeping accommodations for everyone you include in your search (although this usually means two beds, the second 'bed' could be a sofabed, rollaway, etc)

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

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

PS- any decision for your San Francisco Hotel stay yet? Please post a follow-up there with your current thoughts and/or decisions that you have made for that leg of your trip. Thanks.

[Romelle]

Going with HOTWIRE can let you select for specific amenities like kitchen (and free internet).

Priceline lists "guaranteed amenities", but I only saw Condo (implying kitchen) in a few areas.

Romelle

[madz902]

Ooohh! Ok thank you :)

Double occupancy is fine. The children are 3yrs & 9 months so we can work with 1 or 2 beds. The other adults are grandparents so if need be, we can pawn the older one off to them :P

I have never booked with Hotwire so I will definitely do more research! I saw the other post for 4* in Waikiki and your suggestions so I will try that tonight as well...anything less than $5500 for 3 rooms, 7 days PLUS resort fees will be nice LOL

[Romelle]

HOTWIRE actually is a little easier that PRICELINE, IMO. They have rates listed for different areas (zones) and star levels. If you see one you like, all you have to do is accept it. No bidding.

HOTWIRE areas usually have different boundaries than PRICELINE zones. Different names. Do look carefully at the maps, and even zoom in on them to see more details.

HOTWIRE lists amenities for each offer. Sometimes just a few are listed, and then the statement "see all amenities". Click on that statement to get the full list.

But probably the best part of using HOTWIRE is this - if you post back here with the rate, date, and full list of amenities the experts here can give you an "educated guess" as to just which hotel you might get. It isn't 100% sure, but definitely helps a lot.

Romelle

[madz902]

Ooohh!! Thanks Romelle!! I will look into that :)

Thank you so much for your help everyone! I refer everyone to this site!

[madz902]

Anyone able to identify this hotel?

4* - Waikiki Marina for $234/night

Amenities include: Free Internet, Smoke Free Rooms, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business Center, High

Speed, Golf, Tennis, Spa, Blind, Deaf, Travel, In-Room, Wheelchair, bathroom, Handicapped parking, Roll-in Shower.

90% hotwire customers recommend this hotel.

[madz902]

Another stump:

Priceline Express Deal: $260/night for a Waikiki Beach RESORT class. 8.0 guests LOVE this hotel, amenities include free Internet, pool, restaurant, business center, fitness and Condo?

[thereuare]

I'm re-listing the HOTWIRE amenities for the 4* Marina property:

Free Internet

Smoke Free

Fitness

Pool

Restaurant

Business

Hi-Speed Internet

Golf

Tennis

Spa

Blind Accessible

Deaf Accessible

Travel Accessible

Room Accessible

Wheelchair Accessible

Bathroom Accessible

Handicapped Parking

Roll-in Shower

--> Best guess for this property would be the Modern Honolulu.

I don't have any insight for the Condo property since this type of accommodation is new to PRICELINE EXPRESS.

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

Let us know what you decide and how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[madz902]

Bid all day Tuesday up until 185. Today I started again at 175 and they said if I raise my price up to $221, i can re-bid the same RESORT rating in the same zone (Waikiki Marina). Do you find they usually accept? Does this mean this is their final lowest price or should I just wait again tomorrow in hopes for a 200 and below price?

[madz902]

We got The Modern Honolulu for $195/night. We're happy :)

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

Very nice deal for this property - hope you are looking forward to your stay.

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.

[madz902]

Thank you!!

[Romelle]

Bid all day Tuesday up until 185. Today I started again at 175 and they said if I raise my price up to $221, i can re-bid the same RESORT rating in the same zone (Waikiki Marina). Do you find they usually accept? Does this mean this is their final lowest price or should I just wait again tomorrow in hopes for a 200 and below price?

I was happy to see your success. But thought I'd answer the above post, just for future reference.

You received a "counter offer". All that means is there really is something available between your last bid ($175) and the offer ($221).

It usually is best to just ignore it and continue with your plan.

If you do rebid at the offer level, I've never heard of an instance it hasn't worked. I suppose it is possible that the very last room might have just sold out in the short time interval, but that is pretty unlikely.

It definitely is NOT their final lowest price. I've seen people win by just adding a dollar or two. More typically it takes somewhere in the middle. I know one person that swears by 50% plus one dollar. And it usually works, but he will never know if a lower bid might have worked.

I did once get a counter offer, declined it, and raised my bid a dollar a day for quite a while. Maybe a couple weeks. When I hit the counter offer level my bid did NOT work. But the hotel could easily have sold out the available rooms by that time.

PL seems to use some interesting psych with the counter offers. Sometimes when you raise your bid the next day you do get a counter offer, but it is higher than what you got the day before. That can scare people into thinking prices are rising and they accept the offer.

One good reason for just accepting the counter offer is you simply are out of time and alternatives. Or maybe just tired of fooling around with the process.

You didn't have a lot of time left and probably are happy to have the situation resolved. You had a good alternative. The Hotwire offer could have also gone away while you were trying some more bids with PL.

I think you made an excellent choice, and it clearly turned out well.

Romelle

[madz902]

Thanks Romelle!

I love this site!