Priceline Hotel: Resort Miami (Beach) Sheraton Bal Harbour

[bstayl1]

Started bidding at $70 for Resort in Fort Lauderdale Beach. Increased by $5 each time until end, which I think I went up by $10. Anyway, went up to $115.

Closed out, restarted for resort in Hollywood at $80. Added FLL Beach and ended up using all free re-bids up to $130 with no success.

Considering either booking Westin Diplomat directly with hotel or bidding on resort in Miami Beach. I'm just not too sure that I want to take the chance of getting the Eden Roc, I'd really rather have the Sheraton Bal Harbour in the Miami Beach area.

[rhoeffner]

bstay - I'm not sure what your dates are, but I have bid up to $150 for a FLL beach resort without any luck. I'm guessing they are going for $175+ right now.

I also dropped down and tried a 4* without any luck up to $100. Then I tried 3* downtown up to $100 without any luck. My stay is only for 1 night, perhaps that is another downside - and a Saturday stay at that.

Good luck and if you are able to get a bid accepted, please be sure and post here. I've resorted to looking at EasyClickTravel now! :)

[bstayl1]

My dates are 9/23/05 - 9/25/05. I also bid for Miami Beach for resort and went up to $110 with no luck. I found on Eden Roc's website that they had no rooms for my dates, so I felt comfortable that there was very little chance of me getting the Eden Roc when I really want the Sheraton Bal Harbour.

Rhoeffner - what date are you bidding?

[rhoeffner]

bstay - My date is further out. I'm looking for a one night pre-cruise stay of 11-5-05. I have checked the Pier 66 website and although they say they are sold out for that date, I can still get a rate from EasyClickTravel....not sure if that is a sure thing or not, it says available, but who knows!

I looked on EasyClickTravel for your dates and here is what I found:

Harbor Beach is $169.12 (if I could get that price for my date, I would snap it up!)

Pier 66 is $132.35 - again, a good price - but their pool area is being revamped and I've heard it is a mess. Anticipated completion date is 10-25, but even the hotel will not confirm this date.

For Miami - Eden Roc shows to be available at $192.65

Bal Harbour at $197.06

I'm wondering if I wait it out, if I can get a better price from EasyClickTravel for either HarborBeach or Pier 66...not sure if it would be a wise choice or if everything will be sold out by then....any ideas?

I've never used EasyClickTravel before, so I'm not sure how available an 'available' notation on their site really is.

[thereuare]

If listed as "Available" you will get immediate confirmation.

At most hotels they deal with, EasyClickTravel pre-purchases blocks of rooms, so they are already committed to those rooms (as is the hotel), so Easy Click Travel can often availability while the hotel otherwise shows sold-out on their own website.

[rhoeffner]

Thereuare - thank you for clarifying that! It will help as I continue to try and secure a room.

You provided a link in another post to Quikbook, which lead me to Hotel Marketplace. Hotel Marketplace showed Pier 66 with a $106 rate for my date as 'Available'....until I was ready to purchase, then suddenly, I get a message that this hotel is sold out for my date.

However, if ECT has blocks of rooms pre-purchased, then I would guess that might be my only avenue available.

I've been checking Harbor Beach fairly regularly on ECT and get $237 - any idea if this might come down closer to my needed date of 11/5? I know there are absolutely no guarantees, and the rate just might go up, but I was wondering if anyone had seen such a trend?

Thanks!

[thereuare]

With EasyClickTravel it is rare for rates to go up or down for a given date, it usually only occurs if they have an area wide repricing. The bigger risk with ECT is that the room goes from "available" to "on request" (and since rooms are cancellable up until 72 hours before check-in, we recommend users to book the room if they intend on using it for a back-up... many instances where users don't do this and then when they fail with Priceline/Hotwire, the hotel suddenly is no longer available)

As well, should the price with EasyClickTravel go down, you can alway just cancel your original reservation and re-book the new lower price (assuming you're outside of the 72 hour cancellation policy).

PS- the 72 hour policy doesn't apply to Disney properties, which have a 5 day cancellation policy (just an FYI for anyone else reading)

[bstayl1]

I decided to book the brand new Marriott Hollywood Beach directly. Travelzoo had a promotion for $99/night and you get free buffet breakfast each morning. The hotel was opened in June 2005, and the parking is relatively cheap (valet is $9/day, with self-park being cheaper, but I forgot the rates). Not overly excited as I wanted either Diplomat, Marriott Harbour Beach or Sheraton Bal Harbour, but it was hard to not jump on this deal, especially for a brand new hotel.

Rhoeffner - thanks for posting the rates for my dates. The Harbour Beach rates were hard to pass up, but when I factored in the difference in parking and the free breakfast, I had to go with the new Marriott.

[thereuare]

Hope you remebered, as per our SUPPORT PAGE, that this board is an affilate of the MARRIOTT properties and your hotel-direct purchases can help support this board. :)

[rhoeffner]

bstay - Glad you got such a great deal!

I ended up bidding on and winning a room at Pier 66 through SkyAuction for $97 - just got a confirmation number from the hotel so I'm happy now.

Thereuare - I apologize, I didn't realize you might have an affiliate link to SkyAuction, so I didn't take that route - I will double check in the future. I have used SkyAuction before to purchase cruises, but never a hotel room, so that was new to me.

I can tell this, and maybe help someone else. If you sign up as a new user with SkyAuction through the end of the month of September, they will give you $25 off your winning bid price. No...I didn't find that offer until AFTER I had won! LOL I could have signed hubby up at work and have gotten an even better price! Oh well...live and learn. At least I now have a room!

Thanks for your help and time!

[ddangelo]

I am new to here but wanted to post a success. I used this site as research, and tried bids for the Harbor Beach up to 135 which was rejected. The deal I actually got and booked was through a travel agency and ended up being about 180 per night with everything included.

EasyClickTravel during my stay was offering 169.12 but with fees and taxes it ended up to about 187.

I am pretty happy with that price and it was definitely the best I found.

Now if I can figure out what I want to do about a rental car...I want one, but parking at that hotel is over 20 per day, which is a crime I think!

This board is a great resource and I really learned a lot! Thanks to whomever!

[bstayl1]

Started bidding at $85, went up $5 each time and got Sheraton Bal Harbour at $95 (never added another area with resort, so was only bidding for resort in Miami Beach). Reservations for 9/23/05 - 9/25/05.

As noted in a previous post, I previously bid on this up to $110 with no success. Got it at $95 the day before arrival, this time. Also, was rejected on resorts for Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale Beach up to $111 in a separate bid.

Also noted in a previous post, I booked a room directly with new Marriott Hollywood Beach for $99/night, but was able to cancel.