Priceline Hotel: bidding help big island 4/15 - 4/22

[lou987]

Hi All,

I'm new to the board and am grateful for the dozens of helpful posts. Although I've learned a great deal, I'd appreciate some guidance as I've never done any online bidding. My wife and I plan to spend 8 nights on the big island from 4/15-4/22, breaking up the time with the first 2-3 nights in the kailua-kona area, 2 nights in volcano, and then back to kailua-kona for the remainder of the trip. Accomodations for the following week is already booked in Kauai (Poipu, didn't use PL or HW, will elaborate if interested). Options in Volcano on hotwire/priceline were limited, so we plan to do a B&B and already know about availability for the 4/15 - 4/22 period. With that preface, my question is can we bid for hotels/condos in the Kailua-Kona area on PL using discontinuous dates (i.e., check-in 4/15 and check-out 4/18 + check-in 4/20 and check-out 4/23)? Also, would you recommend that we try to bid on hotel+car combinations or do them separately? We are looking for clean, simple accomodations that are within walking distance to the ocean and are not in need of a resort per se.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[thereuare]

...can we bid for hotels/condos in the Kailua-Kona area on PL using discontinuous dates (i.e., check-in 4/15 and check-out 4/18 + check-in 4/20 and check-out 4/23)?

Not in one bid. You can make two separate bids for each set of dates, but you can't make one bid for two discontinous stays. Of course, in doing so, you may get two different properties for each leg of your stay.

would you recommend that we try to bid on hotel+car combinations or do them separately?

Usually cheaper to book separately since there is no bidding on a package... but the other side of the coin is that it's not an opaque purchase (which is another reason why it's usually more expensive to book that way)

accomodations that are within walking distance to the ocean

You can't guarantee this with Priceline... your hotel can be anywhere within the boundary of the zone you select. In some areas the zones are small enough that anywhere within it would get you close enough to the beach/ocean, but best to check the zones you're considering and see if you'd be comfortable anywhere within the shaded boundary. If the zone is too large, you can consider HOTWIRE where you'll know, based upon the "Beachfront" or "Near Beach" icon that may be associated with their offerings... if you go that route we may be able to assist in identifying the property beforehand as well.

I think the above answers your questions, so now you have some homework to do :)

To keep things organized, once you have your dates set, please use separate threads for each section of your trip. We'll use this thread for the first leg of your stay... please start NEW TOPICS for each of the other legs of your trip.

[lou987]

thanks for the speedy reply, i decided to opt for hotwire to guarantee that we are near a beach. our dates changed a little but here goes:

4* hotel in kailua-kona

Price $159

Date 4/17 - 4/19

Amenities resort, oceanfront, near beach, pool, fitness center, restaurant, business center, internet, golf, tennis

Bidding Strategy - avoiding priceline as above.

i think this is the sheraton keahuhou bay, but i'm not certain. if so, reservations thru their site ask for $179 for non-ocean view (which is fine with us). $20 seems like a small discount for the opaque-ness, whaddya think?

3.5* hotel in kailua-kona

Price $134

Date 4/17 - 4/19

Amenities oceanfront, pool, fitness center, restaurant, golf, tennis

Bidding Strategy - avoiding priceline as above.

not sure what this one is.

3* condol in kailua-kona

Price $109

Date 4/17 - 4/19

Amenities oceanfront, 1-br suite, kitchen, parking, AC, laundry, pool, front desk, Bidding Strategy - avoiding priceline as above.

not sure what this one is either.

[thereuare]

The 4* is a match for the Sheraton Keauhou, the 3.5* matches the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort, and the condo matches the Castle Kona Reef so those would be our best guesses for each.

Since board member Lonestar hasn't replied <yet>, he would suggest you also check for Entertainment Card rates to make sure the above are good deals (as well as applaud you for resisting the "we must have a Resort in Hawaii" temptation).

Please use this HOTWIRE link to begin any purchases you make.

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[LoneStar]

I'll add just a couple of points. First, if you want to see all of the Big Island, it's definitely a good idea to split your stay between east and west. You can make a loop around the island, but I sometimes recommend folks fly into Kona and out of Hilo to avoid the extra driving. That's not always possible, however, and it sometimes results in a slightly higher car rental price (not everyone offers free drops between the two cities).

I would never buy a Hawaii package from priceline or hotwire. There are countless ways to get car rental discounts in Hawaii, and I think you will pay more if bundled. As a general rule of thumb, try not to pay more than $30/day (before tax) for a midsize car in Hawaii. You can often pay less, especially on a weekly rate.

I like staying in Volcano, but the only real reason to do so is to be close to nighttime viewing of the lava. If there's no lava these days or you're not interested in that, it's probably better to stay in Hilo IF you can get a good priceline/hotwire deal. It's about a half-hour drive up the mountain from Hilo to Volcano. I do find many of the b&b's in Volcano to be soemwhat atmospheric (and the town is cute in a rustic Hawaiian way), but they're significantly overpriced compared to a hotwire/priceline deal in Hilo!

There's no reason to avoid priceline if you're worried about beachfront. As I said in another post, there are practically no hotels in Hawaii that participate in priceline that are not within walking distance of a beach. Other than the airport hotels in Honolulu, I can't name a single one! At the 4-star and above level on the Big Island, there would be exactly ZERO chance of getting non-beachfront on the Big Island. And you will generally save money on priceline over hotwire. The only real reason to use hotwire in Hawaii is if there is a specific property you want to stay in that can be identified, and there is a real risk of getting a less desirable property if you bid on priceline (or you want a condo-type property not offered on priceline). Otherwise, use hotwire prices as a guide for what to bid -- of course start WAY lower, since you've got many days to rebid. You will generally get hit $10 to $20/night lower on priceline. As thereuare noted, also check out the Entertainment rates to get an idea of what a good price is for your days.

As far as "avoiding" resorts go, I generally offer that advice to people who insist on paying $250+ for a Hawaiian resort when the good priceline deals are unavailable. I don't think the hotels are worth that, and that's when it's worth seriously considering a 3-star place, an Entertainment-listed hotel, or a b&b. Unless you were really trying to save a buck, however, I would highly recommend a place like the Sheraton Keauhou in the $150 and below range, unless you are resort-a-phobic (in which case you should research and book a b&b or house rental from a non-opaque source).

[lou987]

thank you for the excellent and detailed advice!