Priceline Hotel: 3* Orlando (WDW) Sheraton Safari Hotel

[fenway132]

I am new to this on line buying a hotel room without knowing where it is.

I will be in the Orlando area on Dec 13th and need 3 post crusie rooms from 11pm (arrival time) to 11am (departure time)

I came accross a hotel on hotwire for $36 per room, 2 1/2 stars with Resort, Shuttle, Resturant, pool, fitness, comp. breakfast, business centre and laundry.

Any ideas what hotel this is and if it is a good deal.

Any suggestions on anywhere else to look

Thanks for any assistance

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

This hotel has not yet been identified, but some guesses are along the lines of Quality Inn, Country Inn, Holiday Inn Select, type of properties.

Hotwire ratings are typically either accurate or a half a star too high, so although the property being presented to you has a lot of amenities, i'd be hesistant to go for it without being able to identify it first... unless you're accustomed to 2* type of properties like those mentioed above (nothing wrong with that, but just want to make sure that if you go with this that you're not expecting too much).

I'd think you could get a 3* or 2.5* for the same or cheaper thru Priceline and if you (and the rest of your party) would like to try that route then i'd be happy to provide a bidding strategy for your to follow. You have lots of RE-BID opportinities in this area so i think you'd get able to get a room near cost.

The Hotwire offering may satisfy your needs given that you're arriving late and leaving early, but i still think i'd try to beat the rate thru Priceline in order to save some money. The only disadvantage to Priceline is that you may get a hotel without free breakfast, but there's a decent chance the 'free breakfast' is just a table with coffee and muffins, which you can buy yourself for a few dollars.

Feel free to ask any questions regarding the above and/or let me know if you'd like a bidding strategy to try Priceline.

[fenway132]

Thanks for gettig back to me so quickly

Based on what you said, I would be interested in trying to bid through priceline

Just to give you some more details, I will be comming into the Orlando area from the south along the turnpike. We will be arriving late and then spending the afternoon on the next day shopping in and around the premium outlet mall area (I believe east of WDW and west of turnpike). Ideally we would like to minimize our drive from the tunpike on Saturday night given the time we will be comming into the city.

As for the quality of the hotel, I think the people I am with are 3* hotel types but could survive with a clean 2 1/2 star hotel. As for your comments re: the breakfast, we would probably eat out anyway.

Any advice re: using priceline would be appreciated.

Thank you

One other thing - Are there any issue in using priceline if I am Canadian

[thereuare]

Is this the Orlando Premium Outlets you're refering to?

If so, i entered the address into MAPQUEST and it looks like the outlets sit right on top of the WDW area zone on Priceline's map (by Lake Buena Vista). I don't know the area well so i figured i'd have you (or another board member that knowns the WDW area better than i) confirm that this would be the best area before supplying a bidding strategy.

You can see Priceline's map of the area zones by simply entering Orlando and your dates into a Priceline Hotel screen and clicking next (but obviously don't make a bid just yet). On the next page you'll see a map and you can even click on the given zones for an expanded view. Let me know your zone thoughts and then we'll move forward. (if WDW is the right zone, i'll supply a strategy but let me know your preference assuming the following general guidelines: 3* for about $35-40, 4* ~$50, Resort ~$60)

[fenway132]

Thanks once again for getting back to me

Bason on the priceline map, the Disney world vacinity appears to be the best area. I would even accept Kissimmee or Florida Mall but I do not think they have 3* hotels.

A 3* hotel appears to be the level that works for me

What other costs should I expect other then the room cost (accepted bid price) and state / local taxes? Are these costs per room or per bid?

Thanks for any assistance

[thereuare]

Great, now that we're set on a zone you can start bidding!

There is no charge to bid, but once your bid is accepted you own it. The total cost will be the room, taxes, plus a priceline fee (i'd guess the fee for the 3 rooms in this case to be about $15 or so). Regardless of the amount, the total cost will be shown to you before you need to input your credit card information.

When bidding 3* in this area you have 5 RE-BID ZONES (which i think you sort of understand as you mentioned 2 of them above that DON"T offer 3* or higher hotels... but feel free to confirm the 5 re-bid zones if you want to make sure you got it right!). This means you have a total of 6 bids to try and i'd proceed as follows:

Select 3* WDW (don't forget to select 3 rooms if that's what you need)...

Bid $25, if rejected add re-bid zone and

Bid $28, if rejected add re-bid zone and

Bid $31, if rejected add re-bid zone and

Bid $35, if rejected add re-bid zone and

Bid $37, if rejected add re-bid zone and

Bid $40.

My guess is that you won't be successful until you get to the $35 area, but it doesn't hurt to try, so don't be discouraged if your earlier bids are rejected.

Good Luck, and let us know how it works out or if you have any additional questions before bidding.

[fenway132]

Thanks for all your help, but it appears I may have wasted your time. I don't think priceline is available to Canadian residents traveling to the US. I can not see why, money is money.

Any idea if Hotwire has the same policies

Thanks

[thereuare]

We've got it all covered: Bidding Tips for Canadians :)

If that doesn't work, Hotwire has no Canadian restriction, but the above should take care of your situation. Any problems, let us know.

[WillTravel]

fenway132, if you need any help with the Canadian issue after reading that thread, just post a question, because several of us Canadians here manage successful Priceline bids all the time.

[fenway132]

After a great deal of difficulty (had to find an old mastercard as Canadian vias would not work, I got 3 rooms at the Sheraton Safari Hotel Orlando for $37 each plus taxes and fees per room of $6.92 for a grand total of $131.76

I have no idea of the calibur of this hotel but I will look into it later.

Thank you very much for all your assistance - I would not have done this without your help

I will assume from your logo, that you are a Michigan sports fan (I visit Ann Arbor once a year and have found the town and its people to be extremely nice).

Thanks once again

[thereuare]

The reviews on a quick search i did seemed mostly favorable, with one or two complaints (which i think you'll find at most hotels) and i anticapate it will be fine for your needs (and at $37/room vs. the $95/room at the hotel's website i think you got a great deal)

Even though your reservation is confirmed for late check-in i would call them anyway a day or so before arrival to let them know you are arriving late. It's also a good idea to bring a print out of your winning bid screen, and call the hotel now if there are any special requests such as a king bed/2 beds or smoking/non-smoking.

Have a great stay and enjoy your cruise.

PS- yes, i'm a big Michigan fan and an alumnus as well.... LOVE Ann Arbor

[fenway132]

One more question - I called the hotel to find out what type of room we were assigend. We were given a room with 2 double beds and they would not say if it was smoking or non smoking. When I requested a king bed / non-smoking, I was told that as the room was booked through priceline I had no options and that maybe when I got there they would see if any rooms meeting my request were available.

Is this the norm or should I by communicating / complaining to somebody else before getting there.

Once again, thanks for all your assistance

[thereuare]

Can I request a specific bed type through priceline?

All hotel rooms purchased through priceline are guaranteed to accommodate two adults. That means each room could have 1 double bed, 1 king bed, 2 double beds, 2 twin beds or some other combination.

If you require a specific bed type, please call the hotel that accepts your request as soon as you can after your request is accepted, because bedding requests are based on availability.

Priceline Pointer: Priceline cannot guarantee that the combination of bedding you prefer will be available at the hotel that accepts your offer, and if it is, there may be an extra charge payable directly to the hotel. If you are traveling with more than two adults, we recommend that you book more than one room - hey, with the money you'll save with priceline Hotels, you can afford it!

The above is current as of this post from doing a search at Priceline's Help Section.

I would call the hotel again (ideally 8 hours after the previous phone call in hopes of getting an entirely different shift/staff). If you get the same answer, i would NICELY state that you understand that Priceline rooms are booked "run of house" and your preference is just a request, but Pricelne's terms indicate that you should call the hotel after booking to have your preferences known. If you could enter the preference into the system it would be greatly appreciate it. If the answer is no, i would consider talking a manger, depending on how 'well' i thought the conversation was going and if i wanted to press my luck.

Hopefully the above will go smoothly, but if not, you'll have to make a decision if you want to stand on ceremony and make a big deal out of this or not. I would probably choose not to make an ordeal out of this at this point because it's only a request and isn't going to guarantee that you what you want anyway. However, if your preferences are not honored at check-in, i would have no problem speaking to a supervisor and let it be known that you're upset because while you do realize a Priceline reservation is 'run of house', your preferences weren't even noted (as per Priceline's stated policy.... feel free to bring a printout of the above with you, but take it from Priceline's website and not this thread). Doing this may ultimately get you what you are looking for if available, but of course, if there are no rooms available at the time of check-in there's nothing that can be done.

You can choose to handle it differently, but the above is how i would handle the situation.

Here is another thread you may be interested in: Post Bidding Instructions

Please follow-up and let us know how your follow-up phone call goes and how it ultimately turns out.

PS- if your not familiar, "run of house" essentially means what's available at check-in

[WillTravel]

Interesting - I'm pretty sure that the next to last sentence is pretty new, like in the last week or two: "Priceline cannot guarantee that the combination of bedding you prefer will be available at the hotel that accepts your offer, and if it is, there may be an extra charge payable directly to the hotel."

As for the non-smoking rooms, most likely when you go to check in, there will be no problem with the non-smoking rooms, but the hotel just does not want to commit to it ahead of time.

[fenway132]

Just to update you on my experience - I was only checked into the hotel for 12 hours, of which I was out for diner for 3 hrs, and sleeping for 8. For the hour I was awake the hotel seemed fine. They never ended up giving us rooms with king size beds, saying that it was a higher rate room and that as priceline customers you get the bottom room. I was not in the mood to argue, so I took what they gave us.

Thanks again for all the help, well worth the $42 per room (fee included)

[thereuare]

Thanks for the follow-up!

When you have a minute, it would be great if you could add your 1 King/2 Queen bed experience to the HOTEL REVIEWS section.

At least even with the above situation, you still felt you got a good value.

Thanks again!