Priceline Hotel: El San Juan bidding strategy help needed

[laurieny]

I need 2 nights in San Juan for March 4 and 5 and after researching the hotels on the island I have decided that we would most enjoy the Wyndham El San Juan. I have not used Priceline before, but I think between lurking here and on CruiseCritic I have the gist of it. Is there a way to *recognixe* this hotel so I only bid on this one? I believe I am way too early to do this and I am comfortable waiting as I have Condado booked through rccl and don't have to cancel it until beginning of January. What would a *good* price be- I am thinking of starting at $129-is that a good idea or should I go higher to start? Any help for a newbie would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Laurie

[gleff]

The idea of Priceline runs counter to choosing a specific hotel property.

Sometimes you're still able to do it -- such as when Priceline appears to work with only one property of a given quality level in a particular zone -- but alas this doesn't seem to be the case in your situation.

First, I haven't ever seen the Wyndham El San Juan come up on Priceline. The Wyndham OLD San Juan does come up (3*, San Juan zone) but that is a different hotel. If you must stay at the Wyndham El San Juan then Priceline probably isn't the way to do it.

Second, some pretty good properties can and do come up on Priceline in Puerto Rico. Currently Resort bids of $65 in San Juan have been frequently producing the Caribe Hilton. Not a guarantee, because such things are subject to availability of course, but a rough guide to what one can accomplish there. And you have so much time between now and your stay that if you bid too low you can always wait . . .

In the Rio Grande - Humacao zone I've seen the Wyndham El Conquistador come up for ~ $120. Personally I'm staying there at the end of January on a free stay arranged by Wyndham and I'm really looking forward to it. Rooms there run ~ $400/night. :) Careful in that zone, though, because I've seen the Westin Rio Mar come up (also a resort bid in Rio Grande) for $65. You run the risk of a significant overbid if you're offering up $120.

I guess my question for you would be where (location) do you want to stay in San Juan? And what kind of a property/experience are you looking for?

[thereuare]

I too have never seen the Wyndham El San Juan come up via Priceline. It has however been seen on Hotwire, and you can see the star rating and amenities associated with it here: Hotwire Puerto Rico Hotel List. I just did a quick search and it is not currently shown for your dates, but this can and does change, so check it every so often to see if it appears.

If i recall, it goes for somewhat more than you're expecting, probably closer to $200/nite. It's known to be a very nice hotel, but for my money i'd sooner try to get one of the Priceline resort properties that often go for $75 or less (typically the Caribe Hilton or Wyndham Condado Plaza). They may not necessarily be better, but they probably represent a better value.

Feel free to ask any additional questions you may given the above info that gleff and I have added.

[laurieny]

Gleff and Thereuare,

Thank you both for your quick replies! Let me try to clarify what I am looking for. First, we are flying in from Utah leaving Wednesday night at 10pm and we will get into San Juan about noon on Thursday, so it will be a long trip just to get there. We wanted as much time as possible to unwind and acclimate before our port intensive cruise leaving late on Saturday, although the "where" isn't too important and we won't mind a longish drive to get to the hotel if the destination is great.

We have done lots of "budget" travel in our younger days, but now that we are older--mid-forties ;-) we prefer quality over quantity. We are mostly fairly frugal homebodies during the year so that when we go on vacation we like to go top shelf as much as possible, and really appreciate elegant surroundings, fine food and great service. That said, and while I believe you get what you pay for, I like to feel that I have done my homework and got the best value for my money. Also, we have several years of experience in the hospitality and retail industries and know that paying full price or rack rates is just silly.

If it was just my husband and I, I would look for a small unique boutique experience, but as our 12 year old son (who is a water rat even though we live in a desert) is also coming with us, a resort environment will be much more fun for him. A great pool and nice beach are his requirements! I did look at El Conquistador and the only down sides there were the need to shuttle/ferry down to a beach and limited dining choices. I am a little concerned about the airport noise at El San Juan but otherwise it seemed to fit the bill. Given the rack rates for both places, I would be thrilled with either at anything near a $200/night rate. Then I could better justify an extra spa visit or one more really good bottle of wine at dinner with the savings ;-)

Reading so many Priceline postings, it seemed that people like burbunny and yourselves had this bidding thing pretty much down to a science :)

I do understand the consequences but I thought that if I could narrow the requirements sufficiently I had a good chance of getting a resort and saving some money. It won't ruin our trip if we don't stay at one of the two I mentioned, and if I got Caribe or Hilton that cheap I would still feel great. RCCL is charging us $279 (with transfers) per night at the Condado so the difference saved would buy ALOT of wine.

If either of you have any additional advice, I would really appreciate your time and effort. I will check out Hotwire as Theruare suggests. I don't even mind the Wolverine thing too much, even though I am a loyal Badger alumni. Beating the Spartans yesterday was very pleasant though.

Thanks for your help,

Laurie

[thereuare]

I don't even mind the Wolverine thing too much, even though I am a loyal Badger alumni.

It could be worse... you could be a Buckeye fan! :)

Actually there are a few OSU fans on the board and we all get along well, but of course we'll see what happens after next week's OSU vs. Michigan game! I frequently have chats with another board member about his team, KSU, and we all resepect each other and get along just fine. During my college days i wanted to make it to a halloween in Madison, but never did. Anyways, back to hotels....

If you're not already a member of Wynham By Request you should sign up on their website and request to receive promotional email from them. They have been running sales every so often at 50% off rack rate and if your dates are included in the sale this may give you the opportunity to book direct and get a great deal.

In the meantime, continue to check Hotwire to see if the El San Juan is offered (and at what price... if it's virutally rack rate don't be alarmed and write-off Hotwire, the rate may come down closer to your date).

If nothing is offered or a good deal isn't available by the beginning of February, then i would start to try Priceline for a chance at a dirt cheap rate at the Caribe Hilton or Condado Plaza. I know you said you have until sometime in January to cancel your reservations thru RCCL, but by that time we should have a better idea of prices and availability. You may want to book something in the meantime that would be cancellable up until 72 hours before arrival so that you'll have many opportunities with Priceline/Hotwire up until 3 days before departure?

Is your port-intensive cruise on AOS? If so, i wasn on her in August and the ship is simply amazing! Pre-cruise i won the Caribe Hilton and you can read my review, along with some tips/dining options in Puerto Rico, in the HOTEL REVIEWS section of the board.

[laurieny]

Thereuare,

Just the mention of Halloween in Madison makes me hugely nostalgic, although to be honest a large portion of those nights after midnight are forever lost to memory! What a place to party-I feel sorry that you were never able to to attend when you have some idea of what you missed.

I did already sign up for the Wyndham by Request and do hope to have that avenue work out, but I am afraid that I won't be able to wait til the last minute for the right dates to be available. Even though it does seem that they have a sale every couple of weeks, El San Juan hasn't been included very often.

We looked at the AOS, but decided on Serenade. We got 1602 (an aft junior suite) for a great price. I wish I was sitting on its balcony right now as it is cold and snowing here.

I did read the restaurant reviews (now I have to lurk on egullet too), but wasn't able to view your pictures of La Casita Blanca. It sounded great but I am torn as I thought we might go to Ajili Mojili (the sauce sounds awesome) and ParrotClub the 2 nights we are there. Was the neighborhood around La Casita Blanca "dicey" like the other poster mentioned?

I will keep watching Hotwire for now and will try to figure out what to book that has a 72 hour cancellation policy that I can still accept if nothing else works out.

Good luck against OSU,

Laurie

[thereuare]

It just so happens that i was on the Seranade at the end of October!! (NY->Halifax->NY) A magnificant ship as well! Very outdoorsy feel! I've been busy with other projects and haven't posted my pics online yet but i guess now i have reason to catch up.

I changed domain names on the site where the restaurant pics were posted... i'll either contact e-gullet admin to change the link paths or i'll just email the pics to you. The area wasn't dicey from the standpoint that i felt i would be dodging bullets at any minute, but i certainly wouldn't have wondered off and walked around or strolled thru the neighborhood on my own. We simply told the waiter to call us a cab when we were almost thru with dinner and we just waited in front of the restaurant... no problems. It was a toss up for me between La Casita Blanca and Ajilli Mojilli and chose the former because i knew my dad would be picking up the tab and i didn't want him to face a huge bill for the eight of us. I also enjoy more 'hidden' restaurants and those that the locals still go to... it seemed as if Ajilli Mojilli has already become 'known' to the tourist trade. As well, we were traveling with 3 children and didn't want them to have to order an expensive entree which they likely wouldn't finish anyway.

[laurieny]

Thereuare,

I would love to see your pics of both Serenade and the restaurant. If you have the time (and I don't see how given the extent of this site which I assume is a "hobby") please email or let me know when they are reposted.

When you did the Caribbean run (we are Southern and not sure which you were) were there any particular excursions you did that you would recommend? Places for lunch not to miss?

Thanks,

Laurie

[thereuare]

We did the St. Thomas/St. John, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Martaan route.

We mostly got off the ship each day and went to beaches, didn't eat locally as we would be back on the ship by 4pm or so and then went to Johnny Rockets or the Windjammer for a late lunch (this worked out well for us because late dinner seating was at 9pm).

The most memorable day was on St. Martaan we went to Maho Bay. Took the local bus there which was a great experience (if you couldn't tell already, i like to 'get local' while on vacation) and the beach was WONDERFUL. I'm not an aviation buff by any means, but i do enjoy watching planes take off and land, and this, as you can see, was a treat:

Water was great, friendly people, rented a beach umbrella at the resort for $5, and had a hard time leaving the water while watching the planes come in and take-off! Afterwards, we walked to the ohter end of the beach and had a few <great> Pina Coladas at the Sunset Beach Bar and continued to watch the planes come in.

If you're stopping at St. Martaan and the above sounds remotely interesting to your tastes, i HIGHLY recommend it!