Priceline Hotel: what 4 star

[Ty Nigup]

4 star

Orlando /Disney Springs

June 12th to the 15th

$86 per night

Free Internet,  Business Center,   Fitness Center, Non Smoking,  Restaurant,   Swimming Pool

 

[Ty Nigup]

sorry made a mistake - the area is Lake Buena Vista so I am not interested.  

[Ty Nigup]

Is this the Dolphin Hotel?

4 star

Orlando/ Bonnet creek

6/12 to 6/15

119 per night

Business Center   Fitness Center   Non Smoking   Pets Allowed   RestaurantSwimming Pool

 

additional fees to paid to the hotel total 94.50 so am fairly sure it is the Dolphin (not swan because that is a 4.5 star hotel, correct)

 

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

 

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread. Once you win a hotel, use the 'ADD REPLY and REPORT WIN' button on the upper right corner of the page to edit the topic title to reflect your win and to provide the details of your purchase. This helps keep the board better organized by reducing the number of unresolved threads that don't have any follow-up or conclusion.

 

For this PRICELINE EXPRESS offer:

 

4* Walt Disney World - Bonnet Creek (<-- CLICK HERE and confirm your dates on the landing page) for $119/nite with:
Pets Allowed
Business Center
Restaurant
Indoor or Outdoor Pool
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> best guess would be the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek (in the Priceline Express Hotel List this description also matches previous reports for the Wyndham and does not match and previous reports for the Dolphin)

 

Are you specifically only looking for the Dolphin and/or Swan for this trip?  What is your maximum budget (per nite before fees/taxes) for this stay?

 

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

 

 

[Ty Nigup]

Thank you for your input.    The additional fees that they listed were $94.50 for the 3 nights which would be 31.50 a night.  I know the Swan and Dolphin have a 31.50 resort fee that is why I thought it would be one of those.  The Wyndam has a 25.00 a night fee so I am not sure how that could be the one.   I need a hotel with extra magic hours whch some Disney Springs hotels have and of course the Disney hotels and Swan/Dolphin have.  I am not interested in the Wynham Grand since the reviews on trip advisor are fraudulent.   119 for the Dolphin would be a great deal for a delux hotel near Epcot.    My budget is between 100 and 150 a nght including fees for a hotel with Disney perks including extra magic hours.

[Ty Nigup]

I see that the Dolphin doesn't allow pets and the Wyndam does so I can see why the amenities point to the Wydham.  Yet the additional fees indicate the Dolphin - I checked again to make sure that I had that right and priceline lists 94.50 in additional fees.    I won't go for this deal since I need a hotel with extra magic perks and the Wydham doesn't have those nor do I like the fact that there are fake reviews on trip advisor of the hotel.   I have the B resort booked for 111 a night with no resort fee through a 3rd party specializing in Disney vacations, but thought I dig around for even a better deal and the Dolphin at 119 would be awesome since it is so close to Epcot.

[thereuare]

With The Swan selling for $300+ for your dates above i don't think it's likely that you're are going to find this for the $100-$150 range all-in.

 

You could book Disney's All-Star Sports Resort for $131/nite if this would be of any interest.

 

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

 

Let us know what you ultimately decide to do for this trip or how we can be of further help.

[Ty Nigup]

 Recently someone posted in the Disboards that they have the Dolphin for 70 a night through Hotwire but it is listed for 181 (cheapest rate that can be cancelled, 171 for prepaid uncancellable rate) for the same nights on the Swan/Dolphin website.   

 

Also, someone in also in the disboards wrote this: 

"WDW Swan and Dolphin shows up on both Priceline and Hotwire. On Hotwire, it is in the WDW - Bonnet Creek area as a 4 star with the following amenities: resort, free internet, no smoking, fitness center, pool, restaurants, business center and pet friendly. It has 4 of 5 TripAdvisor bubbles. I'm trying to snag this but it hasn't come up for my travel dates yet."   

 

I have had a All Star Music reserved for months at a 116 a night rate which  will cancel since  I would much rather stay at the B Resort and Spa for about the same rate.  Mousesavers had a 25% off deal plus no resort fee which makes the rate very competititve with the All Stars plus for 2018 the B resort offers 60 advance fastpass reservation and Extra Magic Hours - same as the Disney resorts.   It is supposed to be a much nicer hotel (4 star versus 3 and updated, walkable to Disney Springs...)

 

I read the Disboards alot and that is where I get most of my info on Disney vacations but want more feedback when opaque booking.  Thanks again for your input.

 

 

[thereuare]

You may want to recommend BetterBidding to users of Disney boards as hotel descriptions are always changing and we have the most up-to-date information regarding PRICELINE / HOTWIRE.

 

Ultimately you have to decide what factors are the most important to you... the extra disney hours or a nice hotel.

 

Keep us updated on your progress and let us know whatever you ultimately decide or how we can be of further help.

[Ty Nigup]

The B resort and Spa is a nice resort, is it not?  And it has extra Disney hours all at the same rate as an All Star - at least the deal I have booked.  Again I have the B resort booked for 111 a night and I don't have to pay a resort fee - that is a better rate than the All star I have booked for the same dates..  If I add a car, parking would put it above but not much..

 

Unless I find a great express deal or hotwire hot rate for a nicer Disney hotel or for a even better Disney Springs that have extra hours like the B resort, I will stick with the B resort.  If I find another express deal/hot rate that I have a question about, I will be back.

[thereuare]

I'm not a disney expert (my expertise lies with PRICELINE and HOTWIRE) so i was not aware that the B Resort now offers the extra disney hours (looks like a new perk added this year)... thanks for the info.

 

I do see what i believe to be the B Resort on Priceline Express for $88/nite... but the all-in rate would be more (even after our Priceline Coupon) than your current reservation since your current deal waives the resort fee.r current deal

 

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

[Ty Nigup]

Could you clarify this for me:  I found this written here
"Regarding the Resort Fees when bidding on PRICELINE...

The resort fee shown (if any) is the hotel in the zone of the star rating you're bidding with the highest resort fee, so PRICELINE is basically showing you a 'worst case scenario'... the hotel you ultimately win may charge no resort fee at all (at which point there would be no resort fee to directly pay the hotel), the resort fee could be less (in which case you pay the lesser amount directly to the hotel), or it could be the amount shown (but never more)."

 

So this applies only to Bidding and not express deals or hot rates, correct?  If correct are the mandatory fees at all useful for figuring out hotels for express deals or hot rates.  If not, why?

[thereuare]

The quote above applies to bidding (NYOP - Name Your Own Price) hotels, not to PRICELINE EXPRESS.

 

I think you answered your own question as to whether the fees can be used to accurately identify hotels... you previously tried to use this information above thinking you were about to purchase the Dolphin but now agree this guess was incorrect.

 

The resort fee information shown by PRICELINE EXPRESS / HOTWIRE is often not up-to-date, so while you may be able to use this information if you're trying to determine between one hotel that charges a resort fee vs. one that does not (or one that charges a $5 resort fee vs. one that charges a $35 resort fee)... it's risky to rely on this information to choose between a hotel that charges a $28 resort fee vs. one that charges a $31 resort fee since the amount is often not current, sometimes the amount shown is before taxes, sometimes the amount shown is after taxes, etc, etc.

 

A good example would be for the 5 star hotels in Las Vegas where almost all charge a resort fee anywhere between $35-$44 but as per above sometimes the fee shown includes taxes, sometimes not, and sometimes is a few months old.

 

Don't make it harder than it needs to be... we have lots of proprietary tools that we use when researching hotels so ask the board for help with any properties that you're seriously considering and we will offer our thoughts.

[Ty Nigup]

I don't think I have stated that the hotel is definitely not the Dolphin (I still kind of think that it could be) though  have concluded that it is too risky for me. As  I wrote above i've seen posts that state that opaque listing for the Dolphin include pet friendly in the amenites.   I understand the not updating thing but if Wydham right now charges 25.00 resort fee a night, even with taxes added on to the resort fee, that wouldn't add up to 31.50.    Taxes on the resort itself were also listed in a different line.  Just trying to get more savvy about all this and trying to figure out how things get listed, etc..

[Ty Nigup]

I thought I had been on an official Wyndham resort website when I read it was 25.00 - the resort fee is 31.50!.  That clears up a lot for me and makes me feel better about the info listed about the priceline express deals.   Sorry or being a pain - I am tenacious about details sometimes and I couldn't make sense out of the mandatory fees.  THANK YOU for your help!