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Hotwire Hotel: Looking for Disney Deluxe (4*) July 20-24, 2019


jer291114family
By jer291114family,
in

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I'm hoping to find a deluxe Disney property hotel for 7/20-24 for 2 adults with rates of $250 or less/night.  Since there seems to be a slump in Disney travel prior the big August release, I was hoping to start seeing availability pop up.  So far, the only thing I'm seeing on Hotwire or Priceline is Animal Kingdom for $260/night.  I've been using the tools on biddinghelper.com- Priceline express and Hotwire easy view.  Any thoughts on when additional options might show up on Priceline or Hotwire? Is there any method to when new hotels are added to the listings?  Thanks for your help!

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Welcome to BetterBidding!

 

I'll answer each question individually (if not really interested in the inner workings of hotel revenue then feel free to jump to point #2 which is more specific to your upcoming needs):

ONE:

When do hotels release inventory to Priceline and Hotwire?

There is no set time when a hotel will release inventory to PRICELINE / HOTWIRE, as there are a LOT of things that are considered behind the scenes than 'x weeks/months until arrival date'... ultimately it all comes down to supply vs. demand.  Hotels have tons of historical data that they can use in order to estimate occupancy levels well into the future.  So if a hotel knows that they will have very low occupancy for a date 10+ months from now... they could release deeply discounted inventory to PRICELINE/HOTWIRE in hopes of getting those numbers higher... likewise if they have dates very far into the future where they know they will likely have high demand, then rates for these dates will be higher than usual (even long before the check-in date) and it's possible that no inventory is going to be released to the 'opaque' providers (and what inventory is released may not be discounted very much)

 

To take this a step further.... for any given date let's assume that a hotel expects to have a 75% occupancy rate.  Three months before this date the hotel expects to have 60% of their rooms booked (with the expectation that they will get the remaining 15% over the course of the next 3 months).  So now it's 3 months before the dates and the hotel is only 50% booked (so they are 10% behind their expectations)... in this scenario they would release inventory to the discount hotel suppliers in order to get closer to their 60% occupancy level; once this 60% occupancy level is achieved, they may pull all remaining inventory and see how bookings come in over the next few weeks.  The opposite is also true... if a hotel currently expects to be at 60% occupancy for dates into the future but is currently at 70% occupancy, then they may not release any inventory at a deeply discounted rate.

 

Lastly, it's a common belief (although wrong, imo) that it's best to wait until the last minute because they hotels are 'desperate' and will offer their rooms at the lowest prices just to fill them.  This is typically not the case for a variety of reasons:

-while guests think in terms of their own benefit and that hotels are desperate to get any revenue for a room, hotels have their own view point that the guest is desperate since they are arriving in just a few days and don't yet have a place to stay

-if only a few rooms left, hotels would rather keep those rooms empty and available for any last minute 'walk-in' customers who they can charge the most to.  Although with the internet there are probably less walk-in bookings than 10-20+ years ago, it still happens, and these guests are more likely to pay whatever the hotel is asking rather than pack the family back into the car (with disappointed family members) and move onto the next hotel down the road to see if a better price is offered there

-hotels need to plan staffing requirements based upon occupancy levels.  The front desk, housekeeping, bellman, restaurants, etc, etc, all have different staffing levels based upon occupancy, so if a hotel is currently 70% booked they couldn't jump to 95% occupancy at the last minute (even if they wanted to) as the hotel would then be understaffed for the occupancy levels and it could result in a poor guest experience (which then leads to poor reviews and the hotel then has a whole host of other issues on its hands)

 

TWO:

Back to your upcoming stay above...

So to confirm, you're about $15 away from the Animal Kingdom being the 'right' price which you would act upon? 

Would this be a desirable/acceptable property for this trip?

 

Would the Swan or Dolphin be acceptable for this trip, as i'm seeing The Walt Disney World Dolphin for $175/nite and The Swan for $187/nite should either of these be of 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 the information above (re: Animal Kingdom at under $250/nite and/or if the Swan or Dolphin are acceptable) and we'll take it from there.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Thank you, that's super helpful!  It seems that most disney travel bloggers think that rates will drop in the 2-4 weeks leading up to a specific date if the hotel is not at capacity.  You're perspective makes a lot of sense.  I think I was kind of holding out to see what might be the best deal I could get, but I feel like reading your info helps me make a better choice, or have a more balanced view of the way things work.  

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