sdf123456 Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 I need help on bidding for a 4 * or Resort hotel in Orlando, FL. Here are the details.Place: Orlando, FLDates: 9 June - 14 June, 2006Require hotel with minimum rating: 4* or ResortArea: Universal Studios -Sea World or Walt Disney AreaWilling to pay at most: $65 - $90 per nightAdditional Comments: I am visiting Orlando for a conference being held in a 3* hotel on International Drive (also called I-drive), Orlando. The conference rates for the hotel is $125 per night. I would like to take the opportunity to use PL and stay in a better hotel at a lower price. In my case I am restricted by the area I can choose to stay. The conference hotel is located in the "Universal - Sea World" area. So, I would like to stay in this area. I have noticed that there are two resorts and one 4* hotel in the "Universal - Sea World" area. The "Peabody" 4* hotel would the ideal place for me to stay as it is closest to the conference hotel. The other two resorts (JW Marriott and Renaissance) are little far off and not located on I-drive (so, it would be hard for me to use the I-drive trolley).In essence, I would like to bid for the Peabody hotel (or a hotel that is conveniently located on I-drive). I have seen that the bid rates vary from $70 - $80 for this hotel. Resorts in the area come at a higher price (around $100). The Hilton resort in WDW comes at $60-70 but would be far off from my point of interest.Any help would be greatly appreciated.PS: My bid for the "Universal - Sea World" area for $67 and $73 for 4* were rejected. Link to comment
sdf123456 Posted December 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 Forgot to mention, I need 1 room for the stay. Link to comment
thereuare Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 Rates directly from the Peabody for these dates is $339/nite, so i'm doubtful you will have success within your budget.Given the low probabilty of the Peabody what is the best option? Would you consider a 3* hotel in the Universal zone which would likley cost yo much less than the conference rate? What is the conference hotel? Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
sdf123456 Posted December 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 The conference hotel is Sheraton World Resort. I am flexible upto $100 per night. I had checked that during June, 2005 people had stayed in Peabody for $72-$90. People are currently getting this hotel for $75.I checked some rates for other hotels/resort in the two areas:Universal StudiosRenaissance (Resort) - $189JW Marriott (Resort) - $559Walt Disney VicinityMarriott World Center - $229Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (Resort) - $219Hilton in the Walt Disney World Village (Resort) - $169Gaylord Palms - $239I would try my best to get the 4* or resort. However, in the worst case I can settle for a 3*. However, I have noticed that most of them are far off from the conference hotel. Also, I don't want to stay in a Holiday Inn etc. Link to comment
thereuare Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 People are currently getting this hotel for $75.For these dates?!?!So your preference order is:4* UniversalResort UnviversalResort WDW... and you're comfortable with ending up anywhere in the zone at the star level you bid?Is that the correct preference? What is more important, price or zone? Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
sdf123456 Posted December 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 Yes, the rates I provided were for the dates I wish to stay in Orlando.My preference order:1) 4* Universal2) Resort Universal3) Resort Walt DisneyMy strategy is to get the 4* or resort in Universal first. Since, there are only three such hotels in the area, if I fail to get any of those I can move to the Walt Disney area. Price and zone are equally important. For example, I can pay $100 to stay in a 4* or resort in Universal. However, I won't like to pay as much (or 3/4 of the amount) to stay in a 3* in the same area. So, if all option fail for $100 in Universal, I can switch to Walt Disney. I hope this clears everything. Link to comment
thereuare Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 The "For These Dates?" question was in reference to your comment:People are currently getting this hotel for $75.(which i don't believe to be the case)When bidding in Orlando you have 8 re-bids at the 4* level and 9 re-bids at the Resort level. Based upon your preferences, this is how i would bid:Select 4* Universal-Sea World...Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $70, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $75, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $94, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $97, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $100, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.Select Resort WDW area...Bid $60, if rejected add Universal zone...Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $70, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $75, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $87, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $94, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $97, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $100.I will add one additional comment regarding what you said above:...there are only three such hotels in the area...There are only three such hotels reported in this area. If you read the comments at the top of the hotel list, the lists should not be considered complete as new hotels can be added/removed at any time and you could be the first to report a new property in the area.Any questions regarding the above streategy feel free to ask.Good Luck and let us know how it goes. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
LoneStar Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 As difficult as it is, you probably need to step back and NOT bid the Orlando zone yet for June. If you read the recent threads, you'll see that Orlando inventory tends to be terrible unless you're bidding just a few weeks beforehand. Unless you get a report of some great deal being snagged by another traveller for that month (you never know) bid VERY low now and just wait. I think you are going early enough in "the summer" that you'll be able to snag a good deal. But you'll probably have to wait until May. Consider booking a cancellable reservation now (like at the Conference hotel rate?). There's plenty of hotels out there, even in that one area!As a bit of anecdotal advice, my wife was attending a conference in Orlando a year ago. I booked her about 5 weeks in advance on Priceline, and then booked some of her colleagues 2 weeks in advance. The colleagues got a better hotel for less money. Link to comment
homeschoolmom Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 I suspect the traffic on I-Drive during your dates may be quite congested. (It typically is busy, but this is at the start of summer vacation...yikes!) If it were me, I would not bid resort at this point due to the remote location of the JWMarriott. I didn't read whether or not you will have a car for this trip; that would also be a major factor if you ended up at JWM. I suggest bidding 4* only and perhaps checking to see if you can target your conference hotel on hotwire. Good luck to you. I think having a headstart on this will be to your advantage. Link to comment
sdf123456 Posted December 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 I tried to bid for Universal for a 4* for upto $85 with no luck. I think I will follow the advice of LoneStar. It does appear that I am bidding "too early" and might not be able to get a good price for the hotel.I will apply your strategy for bidding on the 4* sometime in Feb and then again in May (if the previous attempt fails). I hope to get better rates then.Thanks for all the help. I checked out the Priceline maps and they were very helpful in locating my potential hotels for the stay. Link to comment
thereuare Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 Glad the priceline maps were helpful to you.I will also add that although there has been some differing opinions on this one (lonestar suggests waiting, homeschoolmom suggests getting an early start), i will simply re-iterate that your 4* bids currently don't really have a shot. $85 is typically too low for a resort in this area, and for the sole known 4*, rates are much higher than when we typically see this property accept bids at all.It is early and still pleny of time before your stay, but i wouldn't be holding your breath until the last minute hoping for the Peabody to accept $100 bids... make sure you have an acceptable back-up reservation. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
sdf123456 Posted December 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 Got it. I will keep trying. I will definitely have some backup, as it would be too bad if I arrive there and don't get a good place to spend 5 nights. Do you have suggestions for prices on 3* hotels in Universal? I will like to try this option as well, since I got time.The retail rates for the 3* listed in Universal are:Crowne Plaza $149Holiday Inn I Drive $139Doubletree $99Sheraton Studio City $139Sheraton World resort "no rooms available for the dates"Wyndham resort $147I have observed that there's a higher chance of getting the Wyndham resort in the area, when bidding for 3*. Do these 3* resort-hotels charge some kind of resort fees? If yes, then that could spoil the savings for staying in a 3*. Once again thanks for the help from you and the forum members. This forum is an indispensable tool for getting close to a winning bid. Link to comment
thereuare Posted December 20, 2005 Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 Most 3* properties to not charge resort fees, but there may be a couple that do.You may want to read some of the reviews of the 3* hotels in the area (many reviews are linked in the hotel list) as i think some are much better than others... and you also commented earlier that "i don't want to stay in a Holiday Inn" and there is a HI in the Universal zone which is rated 3*. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
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