Priceline Hotel: Bachelor Party 3/2-3/5 (8 guys)

[edub]

I noticed a post from thereuare saying that he doesn't like Priceline for Vegas. I looked at the list of hotels for 4* and 5* for the strip area, and would be happy with any of them. Because there are 8 people, and I don't know how likely we are to be able to request multiple beds, I was planning on bidding for 4 rooms. Recent winning bids for 4* average $80/night and have a range of $55-114 (actually someone just paid $145, but that seems like an aberration compared to most winning bids). If we won a bid at $80 then we would pay $156/person for the trip.

Another option is to rent a 4 bedroom house (vacation rental). Roughly $350 a night plus $150 cleaning fee and about 5-7 minutes from strip (according to them), plus two rental SUV's at $45 a day, comes to a total of around $233/person. I only went to one vacation rental site, I'm sure there are others.

We are ok with splitting 2 rooms if we can guarantee that we get 4 beds, but as far as I could see, there weren't many good deals. Sahara for $113 (I don't like the location), Tropicana for $128, and Bally's for $156. The Trop would run us $125 a person, and Bally's $153, but then we'd be pretty cramped with two rooms, compared to just paying a few bucks more per person and getting 4 rooms from Priceline (if we won an $80 bid).

Does anyone have any advice on an alternative method that is good for groups our size, or can help me decide which of the three options above are the best way to go?

Thanks!

Eric

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

I'd highly recommend not renting a house... you want to be on the strip in Vegas, not a few minutes away. As well, i'd imagine there will be some drinking involved on a bachelor party weekend, so you don't want to be driving yourselves around.

I don't think that $80 is a likely winning bid for these dates... rates skyrocket in Vegas on weekend nites (relative to the midweek days) and i'm guessing you didn't separate midweek winning bids from the weekend winning bids when doing your analysis.

[edub]

This is true, there may be a wee bit of drinking. Well 3/8 people already bailed on Thu night, putting the 3 day minimum on the vacation house out of reach. I checked HotWire earlier today and didn't see anything that seemed good to me. I'm not familar with the difference from weekend/weekday rates in Vegas, so no, I didn't take that into consideration at all.

So am I safe making a bid for two rooms and being able to request two queen beds, or is it too much risk that they will only provide a single king or dual twin regardless of what we ask for? At $80/night I would have been fine bidding for 4 rooms at the same time, but if we're looking at $145 like the other gentleman paid, then that may be more than we want to pay (for four rooms, $145/per is fine for 2 rooms).

[thereuare]

It's a risk anytime you want quad occupancy and the room is only guaranteed for double occupancy. You can request a room with two beds, but it is just a request and may or may not be honored, depending upon availability. In some areas it's a bigger risk than others, and in Vegas i would consider it a small risk, but a risk nonetheless. Another thing to consider is that many hotels in Vegas have begun to charge outrageous (imo) amounts for more than double occupancy, often $15-$$30/pp per nite, so if you 'declare' four people in the room it could cost up to an extra $60 per nite! :) (for example, when declaring four in a room, Ballys jumps from $156/nite to $205/nite)

So you (and your friends) have to decide if the cost involved is worth the risk.

There are some deals out there at some hotels which don't charge for kids, so if you're comfortable with it, you can book at one of these hotels and declare 2adults/2children, which should guarantee enough beds for four, yet still (at some hotels) not charge you extra. However, you have to be smart about it, and not have a big group of guys go to the check-in desk upon yoru arrival.

[edub]

I appreciate your help. We put it to a vote and decided to rent a house. Found a pretty decent deal that is within a mile of the strip and is a pretty big house with plenty of beds and big screen tv's, pool/spa etc. Just wanted to update the thread with what we are doing.

Actually 3 of us decided to come in a day early and stay at a casino on the strip, and we're planning on using Priceline for that night. It will be a Thursday night. Found the Venetian for $169 and Aladdin for $84 elsewhere, so I think we have a shot of getting a good deal for 5* or 4* through Priceline on that particular night. I'll post the winning bid when we make it.

[Travelling]

How about the Aladdin for $59 for your first night?

http://sdm3.com/viewmsg.cfm?n152s2980c7097732t2105e3261149

I'd only got for the Venetian for $99 (or a bit more) on Priceline because I believe there are generally better deals to be had elsewhere for Las Vegas.

[edub]

Thanks Travelling. That is a good deal, and I did book the Aladdin for $59. I couldn't figure out where to put the coupon code on their site, and it took awhile for the agent on the phone to figure out whether or not she could give me the room at that rate, in the end they did honor the deal. So thanks for the find!