Priceline Hotel: HELP: San Juan Feb 27 3 Nights

[mtohio]

Hi,

Would like a bidding strategy for San Juan, Arriving Feb 27th for 3 Nights [departing March 1st].

Would only consider a hotel on the beach.

Would like to target the Condado Plaza hotel, if that is at all possible.

Thanks,

Michael

[thereuare]

As i'm sure you know, with Priceline you can't specify that the hotel will be on the beach.

With that caveat, and assuming you are still comfortable using Pricleine, here are a few suggestions:

I would first try bidding $75 for a Resort hotel.

If that is rejected, wait the required 72 hours and raise your bid by $10 each time, until you get to $115. If $115 is rejected as well, report back here.

As well, if your $75 bid is rejected and you're open to SPLITTING YOUR BID, i would then try again but bid for Feb 27-29 and then another bid for Feb 29-Mar 1 (obviously this involves the risk of having to change hotels during your stay)

Neither the Wyndham Condado or the Caribe Hilton show up on Hotwire for the entire length of your stay, but splitting the dates as mentioned above reveals what is believed to be the Wyndham for $145 for the first 2 nites and the Caribe Hilton for $102 the last nite. This is part of the reason i suggest trying to split the Priceline bid accordingly if at first you don't succeed for the entire stay. This Hotwire split may also be a good option for you if you are not willing to take the chance of a non-beach hotel via Priceline.

Feel free to ask any questions regarding the above strategy.

[mtohio]

Hi,

So far, the $75 bid on priceline has been rejected.

Regarding Hotwire --- are you "assuming" the $141 hotel that is 3-1/2 stars that is oceanfront, with beach access is the condado plaza ?

Also, I feel comfortable with any of the "resort" category hotels on priceline --- I assume they are ALL oceanfront, but some might have beach access very close by --- please correct me if I am wrong regarding this point. Do you know of any resort San Juan hotels that are "inland" or not on the beach ??

Also --- since Hotwire considers the Condado a 3-1/2 star hotel --- should I NOT be bidding resort on priceline ?

Thanks again for your help,

and I will use the SavingsBarn.com link for my bidding.

[thereuare]

I too would feel comfortable bidding the Resort hotels and being close to the beach, but as a new hotel can be added at anytime, we'd prefer to warn users of the potential rather than have them be disappointed. As well, as we all have different expectations, some people say 'we must be on the beach' when they really mean "we'd like to be near the beach."

Priceline and Hotwire use entirely different rating systems (well, there's a loose correlation), but since Hotwire doesn't use Resort as a hotel class it can't be directly compared to Priceline's resort hotels. The last known information is that the Wyndham Condado Plaza is a 3.5* on Hotwire and a Resort on Priceline.

Yes, i'm taking a 'leap of faith' (not a big leap in my opinion) that the 3.5* i'm seeing is indeed the Condado Plaza as it matches the amenties and star rating as seen in our HOTWIRE PUERTO RICO HOTELS (see the second post).

However, as inventory changes frequently, the Condado now appears to be available for the entire length of your stay at a rate of ~$140, and the Caribe seems to be available for the first nite of your stay but no longer for the last nite :)

Given Hotwire's rate, i would suspect the Condado would go for $115 or so on Priceline. However, bidding that right off the bat could result in an over-bid (if i'm wrong on the $115 figure), so you may want to stick with the previous Priceline bidding strategy of increasing your bid $10 each time. If you're more concerned about getting this 'done' than price, i would consider raising my bids by $15 or $20 instead of the previously recommended $10.

Hopefully all of the above makes sense, but if not, let me know and i'll clarify.

[mtohio]

Thank you again for your very complete information.

It all makes perfect sense --- and I am especially fond of your decoding of the hotwire hotels [and yes, I understand these are always "assumptions."]

Will probably bid again in the next few days, using your advice. Since I arrive very early in the morning on Saturday [around 3am] I was hoping to get a resort hotel for $75-85 per night for the 3 nights [fri/sat./sunday]. As stands, I currently am booked for the Condado Plaza on Sat. and Sun. nights at their casino rate, which nets out to approx. $125 per night after gambling time. I sort of figure that they will probably let me check in a little early [around 10am Saturday] and I will spend the late evening in the casino and then watch the sun rise. Since the casino rate assures me an oceanfront room on a high floor [and probably priority towards early check in, though NOT a guarantee] it is probably the way to go if you are willing to pay over $100 per night. Also, not sure if you have read much on the Condado Plaza, but there is a wide "range" of opinions on this property. Those who get the oceanfront rooms in the main building have great views, and seem to be happy w/ the accomodations --- others have been very disappointed [though, some of this disappointment stems from the fact that they spend $300 + per night, and expected a truely grand hotel]

If you wish, I can give reviews for the Condado, Caribe Hilton or Ritz Carlton in San Juan, I have stayed at all over the past 4 months.

Thanks again for all of your help in understanding the "potential" hotels at hotwire and priceline; I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have access to this info.

Also, I am using you link now for all my bids !

Michael

[thereuare]

Sounds great, let us know how it all works out.

If you can't get the first nite at the Condado, then perhaps a bid for just that one nite would be in the cards (pun intended :) ) thru Priceline @$75 or at ~$100 thru Hotwire.

I know the property gets very mixed reviews and i expect such from any hotels that charges $200+/nite. Anytime you get into that kind of money, people begin to expect a certain calibur and level of service, and all too often the hotels fail. This is part of the reason i'm so favorable towards Priceline/Hotwire... i rarely think the hotel is worth rack rate, but i always feel that i got a good deal.

Please do give reviews of the hotels you're familiar with in our HOTEL REVIEWS section.

Also, if you ever find yourself without a comped meal, you might be interested in this: Local Dining in San Juan

[mtohio]

Plans for this trip were cancelled.

Michael