Hotwire Hotel: Need a little advice for Universal- Thanks

[pomcoach]

We need a room that is a Universal Studios Property for 12/24 & 25, 2004. I realize this is Christmas Eve and Christmas, so it's probably not going to be easy.

On Hotwire, those dates show the highest star value offered is a 4.5* for $150.

The ammenities listed are:

Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Fitness Ctr., Business Ctr., Golf Nearby, Tennis Nearby.

There's no Children's Activities listed.

I have been reading here, and if it doesn't have the child activities, then it's not Hard Rock or Royal Pacific? At least that's what I seem to gather so far from reading.

We must stay on Universal Property. That's our number 1 priority. I was sure hoping that a 5* would show up, because that's almost for sure to be Portofino. Am I correct there?

But so far, nothing is showing up with the likelyhood of being a Universal property.

With it being a Holiday, do you think it will never show up? Or do you think, since it's only Feb., and my bid dates are 10 months away in December, I should wait and see if a "Children's activities" shows up.

Sorry to be so long. I am a newby at Hotwire.

Pomcoach :)

[thereuare]

Most of your assumptions are correct.

First, if you need a room on Universal's property, then i would recommend booking direclty with the hotel, Orbitz, Expedia, etc.. or some other non-opaque service. If what you really mean is you'd really like a hotel on Universal's property but in exchange for the savings the opaque services offer you're willing to take the chance of an educated guess, then you're proceeding appropriately.

The 4.5* hotel you're seeing is likely the Peabody.

Hotwire and Priceline typically get a hotel's excess inventory, and prices are based upon supply and demand factors. So if this is typically a busy time in the area and the hotels anticipate being at full occupancy, then Hotwire inventory will likely be slim pickings (and what is available will likely be higher than usual).

I'm guessing that since there is so much time between now and your stay, the hotel offerings will likely change a few times between now and then. However, there is no telling if the speicifc hotels you're looking for will appear or not.

Hope this sheds some light and insight to your situation.

[pomcoach]

Thank you so much for your quick and knowledgeable reply!! I really appreciate it. At Christmas time, it's bound to be super busy in the parks, so we feel we must stay on property at Universal, in order to get the front of the line access. So I think you are right that we should book directly or with Hotel Kingdom or the like. You have a great site here, and I'm enjoying reading about everyone's great bargains, and learning a bit in the process.

Thank you so much!

Pomcoach :)

[epicureangirl]

I agree with you pomcoach, the Universal 'front of the line' perks make it worth it. My family stayed on-site Universal & Disney properties in May. Next time we go back we won't even bother with the Disney properties -- The Universal ones are beautiful and the location is terrific. I also agree with thereuare -- don't risk booking through an opaque site and being disappointed by getting an off-property hotel. The front-of-the-line privileges are worth the extra $$.

You may not be able to get the special rate on your stat holiday nights, but when I booked last year I did it through the Entertainment Book and got an excellent rate.

The most useful information I found for saving money at Universal and Orlando in general were at:

http://www.mousesavers.com/universalorlando.html

This site will list all the ways to get a deal at the on-site hotels and much, much more.

And more importantly,

http://www.usoinfo.com/forums.html

Is a chat discussion group for all things Universal Orlando -- there's a special forum just for the resorts where people list how they're getting the best deals. This site is a MUST for anyone planning a trip to the area.

Between those two web sites alone, I was able to plan my whole trip and save hundreds of dollars.

Have a great trip!

[Kaytie]

Pomcoach - Universal now sells something called Express Pass Plus. It costs (or did last weekend) $21.54 per person including tax and allows you front of the line access to each attraction once in the park in which you purchased it.

Please note that whether you stay onsite or purchase the EPP or take advantage of the regular Express Pass, this does not necessarily mean you get to cut in front of everybody waiting in the standby/normal line. It DOES mean you will get on/in the attraction within fifteen minutes of entering the Express line. Greeters at each attraction will direct you.

[pomcoach]

Thank you Epicureangirl for the cool websites. I have been to one of them, but not the other, so thanks a bunch! They will really help. I did go ahead and book the Hard Rock for Christmas Eve and Christmas. The cheapest rate I could get was $269 a night. (OUCH)There were no other rates, not even for an Annual Pass, AAA, or Entertainment, Expedia, Hotelkingdom, etc. Maybe as the time gets nearer, some better rates will appear. I sure hope so. But I do think the hours it will save us from waiting in line will be worth the money.

Thank you Kaytie for the Express Pass info. I had read about that, but decided that since it's the biggest Holiday of the year, we wanted to go with staying on Property. Oh, and if we can only wait 15 minutes, that sounds great, especially on Christmas!

A big thanks to everyone for sharing information!

Pomcoach :)

[MJ79]

Last month I was told there were no AAA rates for a trip I am taking this coming May. I called again today and they offered me a AAA rate of $167 @ Royal Pacific. May help to wait it out. Good Luck.

[pomcoach]

Thanks for the tip, MJ79!! I will keep my eyes open. :)

Pomcoach :)