Priceline Hotel: 4.5* Las Vegas (Strip Vicinity South) Elara, a Hilton Grand Vacations Hotel - Center Strip

[tehnoir]

Hello!

I'm planning a trip to Las Vegas from 5/30-6/1 with a few friends for a birthday. This will be my first time using Priceline to bid. I'm interested in a 5* hotel on the Strip. I've been looking at Hotwire, but after learning about rebid zones on this site, I figured I'd try Priceline first. Currently on Hotwire I see a north area hotel for $127/night which I think is Trump and a south area hotel for $188/night that I think is Vdara. If Priceline bids don't work out, I'll fall back to one of those.

 

I'm going to bid on the Strip North area for a 5*. It looks like I can use the following 11 rebid zones by keeping my rating at 5*:

Boulder Strip

Fremont St. Vicinity
Henderson
Lake Las Vegas
Las Vegas Airport
Las Vegas Convention Center
NW Las Vegas
Near Las Vegas Strip East
Near Las Vegas Strip West
Nellis - Las Vegas Speedway
Summerlin

 

If all of those fail, I may also add Strip Vicinity South (Vdara is a little off the strip, but if the bid was still below the $188 from Hotwire, I may do it anyway). 

 

The current Priceline hotel list here shows the Palazzo, the Venetian, and the Wynn as the known 5* hotels for Strip North. Looking at prices through the normal hotel websites, the Palazzo and Venetian both show $289/night (hotels which I think are these seem to range $220-250 on Hotwire), and the Wynn is $599. I'm not quite sure how to strategize my bidding. My maximum bid will be between $180-200, but I'm hoping to keep it closer to $150.

 

Questions:

1. Is that range too low for the area I'm targeting? Am I just wasting my time bidding or does that range seem feasible?

2. How should I determine where to start my bid?

3. How much should I increase the bid each time? $10?

 

And of course, any other information or help is greatly appreciated. Please let me know what other information I can provide and thanks for this informative site and your help.

[tehnoir]

Decided to try and give it a shot tonight without much luck. Here's what I tried.

 

5* North Strip - $150 not accepted

5* North Strip, Boulder Strip - $160 not accepted

5* North Strip, Boulder Strip, Fremont St. Vicinity - $170 not accepted

5* North Strip, Boulder Strip, Fremont St. Vicinity, Henderson - $180 not accepted

5* North Strip, Boulder Strip, Fremont St. Vicinity, Henderson, Lake Las Vegas - $190 not accepted

5* North Strip, Boulder Strip, Fremont St. Vicinity, Henderson, Lake Las Vegas, Las Vegas Airport - $200 not accepted

 

4.5* or 5* North Strip, Boulder Strip, Fremont St. Vicinity, Henderson, Lake Las Vegas, Las Vegas Airport - $150 not accepted

4.5* or 5* North Strip, Boulder Strip, Fremont St. Vicinity, Henderson, Lake Las Vegas, Las Vegas Airport, NW Las Vegas - $160 not accepted

4.5* or 5* North Strip, Boulder Strip, Fremont St. Vicinity, Henderson, Lake Las Vegas, Las Vegas Airport, NW Las Vegas, Nellis - Las Vegas Speedway - $170 not accepted

4.5* or 5* North Strip, Boulder Strip, Fremont St. Vicinity, Henderson, Lake Las Vegas, Las Vegas Airport, NW Las Vegas, Nellis - Las Vegas Speedway, Near Las Vegas Strip East - $180 not accepted

4.5* or 5* North Strip, Boulder Strip, Fremont St. Vicinity, Henderson, Lake Las Vegas, Las Vegas Airport, NW Las Vegas, Nellis - Las Vegas Speedway, Near Las Vegas Strip East, Las Vegas Convention Center - $190 not accepted

4.5* or 5* North Strip, Boulder Strip, Fremont St. Vicinity, Henderson, Lake Las Vegas, Las Vegas Airport, NW Las Vegas, Nellis - Las Vegas Speedway, Near Las Vegas Strip East, Las Vegas Convention Center, Summerlin - $200 not accepted

[thereuare]

Few questions regarding your bidding above...

How many rooms are you bidding for?

Are you interested in a 4.5* hotel in the Strip North zone or did you lower your star rating in order to increase the number of bids you could make?

Let's start with the above and we'll take it from there.

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

[tehnoir]

I am bidding for 4 rooms.

 

I changed to 4.5 star to also include Caesar's Palace when I couldn't land a 5*.

 

I was also thinking adding Vicinity South to see if I could get a room for $150-200/night thinking it'd most likely be Vdara, and just dealing with walking to the strip.

 

For that though, I had noticed in the last couple of days when looking at hotels on Hot.wire, the hotel that I thought was Vdara is no longer showing up under their deals. I think Trump is the cheapest 5* star at $128/night and next cheapest is Venetian at $238/night (though these are just guesses). If what I think was Vdara (it was $188/night) is no longer showing up on Hot.wire, is it possible that Vdara is out of the running on Hotwire and Price.line right now? Or is that making too much of a leap?

[thereuare]

If what I think was Vdara (it was $188/night) is no longer showing up on Hotwire, is it possible that Vdara is out of the running on Hotwire and Priceline right now? Or is that making too much of a leap?

Well it's certainly out of the running on HOTWIRE at this time... but just as it had disappeared without any notice, it could return just as quickly. If you're asking if the hotel's disappearance on HOTWIRE now also eliminates it from a PRICELINE possibility, that's not necessarily the case as each company is independent of the other and have access to different inventory.

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

Keep us updated on your progress and let us know how we can be of further help.

[tehnoir]

For bidding does my range seem plausible or does it seem unlikely to snag a 5* in Strip North for $200 or less?

 

Presumably the number of rooms decreases chances some based on hotel availability, correct? Is it accurate to say that I could potentially increase my chances by lowering the number of rooms, but would carry the risk of being able to succeed trying to get the same hotel with the same bid again?

[thereuare]

For bidding does my range seem plausible or does it seem unlikely to snag a 5* in Strip North for $200 or less?

At current rates if i were to guess the expected range of a win i would put it at $210-$230, so you're $200 limit isn't so far off the mark that it would be worth trying.

 

Presumably the number of rooms decreases chances some based on hotel availability, correct? Is it accurate to say that I could potentially increase my chances by lowering the number of rooms, but would carry the risk of being able to succeed trying to get the same hotel with the same bid again?

Usually the number of rooms is a non-factor, but when it is a factor it is a detriment (not a help). For your stay i don't think the issue is the number of rooms, i think you're simply seeing high rates for this weekend. However, if you're willing to take the risk of landing different hotels for your group you could certainly try bidding for two rooms at the same rates you have already bid, but i still believe that at this point in time you're looking at approximately the $210-$230 area to be successful for a 5* hotel in the Strip North zone.

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

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

[tehnoir]

5* North Strip, Strip Vicinity South - $170 not accepted
5* North Strip, Strip Vicinity South, Boulder Strip - $180 not accepted
5* North Strip, Strip Vicinity South, Boulder Strip, Fremont St. Vicinity - $190 not accepted
5* North Strip, Strip Vicinity South, Boulder Strip, Fremont St. Vicinity, Henderson - $200 not accepted

 

4.5* or 5* North Strip, Strip Vicinity South, Boulder Strip, Fremont St. Vicinity, Henderson - $170 Accepted - Elara

 

Wishing I had lowered my bid when moving to the 4.5*. I probably shouldn't ask, but any guesses how much cheaper I may have been able to go? Looks like a junior suite at Elara is $219 when booking through Hilton, or $197 if you pay full in advance.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Hope you're pleased with the results and looking forward to your trip... no way to know how much lower (if any) you could have been successful at the 4.5* level.

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 good luck in Vegas!

[tehnoir]

Thank you for all of the help and this great site. Very much appreciated.

[thereuare]

Thanks for the compliments on the site :)

Glad to hear you found the information here useful and we were able to assist with your trip.

[JonathanK]

While looking at hotels myself, I know I saw Elara at about $152 a night for the exact same dates. This was probably about a week or so ago. I cannot answer whether or not it was a fully prepaid in advance rate, as I don't remember. It was booked directly through them for that rate however. I'm sure it's gone up since then, thus why they accepted your $170. You have to remember, when it comes to Vegas, prices are quite volatile.