Hotwire Hotel: South Beach 12/8-10

[thefool75]

I traditionally come down to South Beach about once a month during the winter for a weekend. This will be my first trip of this winter. I've never had much luck with Priceline but have always gotten a decent deal on Hotwire (from around $100 for the Best Western or the like to $150 for the Clinton).

The thing is, I have a friend who lives in Fort Lauderdale who I always hang out with for the weekend. So, we don't have to get a hotel, but it's obviously much more convenient to have a place to crash on the beach at 5:00 a.m. rather than driving back to Fort Lauderdale. So, I'm not really interested in places in downtown Miami, Coconut Grove or even North Miami Beach (as soon as were talking about out of walking distance we might as well drive back to Fort Lauderdale)....it has to be below 20th on South Beach.

Unusually, this year I'm not seeing anything at a decent rate on Hotwire for South Beach proper for that weekend. As an experiment, I checked this weekend and there were some ok prices (would definitely like to keep it down to $125 with taxes a night (otherwise driving back to Fort Lauderdale makes too much sense)....unless we can get the Loewes or something for a bargain).

So, should I wait until the week of? Are all the best hotwire deals in an in-demand area the week of your intended reservation?

TIA.

[thereuare]

Part of Priceline's (and HOTWIRE's) South Beach zone extends beyond 20th Street... are you able to accept a hotel anywhere within the given boundaries?

If so, what is the minimum star rating you're willing to accept and your maximum bid (if you want to try priceline) before taxes and fees?

Have you also tried EasyClickTravel and/or Quikbook?