Priceline Hotel: 3* Fort Lauderdale (Beach) Holiday Inn

[mspeg]

Looking for help on the timeline and price for a successful bid for a Friday night pre cruise stay. I tried priceline with my winning bid used last year however I was not successful although I increased the bid using the free rebids strategy. I checked out hotwire and found the 2.5 price was almost triple what I paid for my March 05 stay.

What would a good bid be for a 2.5 downtown FLL hotel be - Hotwire is listing their 'customer favorite' at $181 and I am hoping for the Amersuites as I have found it a good value and location.

Are hotel rates just extremely high in January or am I just looking to soon?

Do I need to triple my bid for a January stay or do I need to book the 'back up hotel' and wait till I'm closer to arrival date and hope for a good priceline bid?

Thanks for your help

[Mschnurr]

I had a lot of trouble booking pre and post hotels for FLL. (Jan14/06 and Jan 22/23/06

I was looking two weeks ago.

Frustrated, I finally bid 3* Beach area $110 and got the Holiday Inn Beach. (Priceline)

Probably paid too much but wanted to be near the beach.

I then managed to get Sheraton Yankee Trader for two nites post cruise and I'm paying $147 but it's refundable if I see any cheap prices on Priceline.

Everyone says that prices are going to be higher in January this year

Hope that this info helps.

Fish

[thereuare]

mspeg, please follow up your previous PRICELINE FT. LAUDERDALE thread with your results and then we'll have a look at the above.

[thereuare]

Many have seen much higher prices for the month of January... would you consider the Airport or Beach zone(s)?

You can wait and see if rates drop, but do book a cancellable back-up so that you don't make any rash decisions.

For a back-up i'd look at EasyClickTravel as well as QUIKBOOK (note some QB reservations have a $10 cancellation fee). Also check hotel-direct rates using the links in our SUPPORT PAGE.

[mspeg]

After several attempts and increased bids in the downtown area I expanded my search to the beach section and I was also able to get the Holiday Inn for $110. It does seem that January is a very busy (expensive) season.

Thanks for your help.

[thereuare]

Was this your first bid for the Beach zone or were you rejected at lower levels previously? (if so, what was your highest bid in this zone before your $110 acceptance?)

Thanks, and enjoy your stay.

[mspeg]

Sorry for the delayed reply - just stopped back to see if I should have waited it out for a for a better price.

No, $110 was my first bid in the Beach zone. This usually is my priceline mistake. I start my bid and keep increasing my bids in my desired area, using up my free rebids and then, getting a little frantic, add my second choice area without dropping my price and starting to raise from a lower level. I have made this mistake in the past. However, from the looks of the inventory and prices available in FLL this year I think I have done OK.

As always, thanks for all the help I've receive on this board!