Priceline Hotel: 4* San Jose (Sunnyvale-Santa Clara) Hyatt Regency

[elviswife]

Hi there - and thanks for having this forum so we can learn how to save and still have a good time!

My husband and I are planning a trip to the San Jose area for two reasons - visiting Raging Waters, and visiting Great America. No kids - just one big kid (my husband). :) In addition to these activities, we are looking forward to vacationing in a large city where we will have access to lots of restaurants, movie theatres, etc. (We live in a veeeerrrry small town in far north coast of Ca - stadium seating gets us excited :o ).

Since we don't get to vacation - ever - we really want to maximize our time and money. What we are hoping for is this:

4* hotel

check in Aug 1, check out Aug 8 (dates are flexible)

would be willing to split dates and have, for example, two nights in the Santa Clara area to be closer to the theme parks, and possibly better our chances of booking 4* hotels.

would like to stay under $100/night

Am I dreaming an impossible dream? :)

We do NOT know the area AT ALL, and as I said, are only coming for the theme parks and some day trips to Santa Cruz/Monterey. So when I look at a website like Hotels.com, I am a little confused about the different suburbs and towns that surround San Jose and which might be better or need to be avoided, etc. Prices are ranging from avg nightly rate of $173.29 for the Sheraton San Jose to $197.57 for the Hilton Santa Clara to $299 for the Vincci Garden Court in Palo Alto.

I am SCARED TO DEATH that we will be one of those Priceline horror stories, where you book a 3* and get there and find a flop house. That is why we are trying to stick to 4*, cause even if it's a little substandard for a 4*, you are still ahead of the game.

I understand bidding the different zones. Do you have any suggestions for us? I appreciate any help.

Thanks so much!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

We do NOT know the area AT ALL, and as I said, are only coming for the theme parks and some day trips to Santa Cruz/Monterey

I think you should start by going to priceline and entering the area you'd like to stay, then look at how they divide up the region. See which cities you think you're willing to accept and then research them a bit further. Once you decide which zone(s) you're willing to bid we'll be in a better situation to suggest a strategy to follow and if you're budget is realistic.

[elviswife]

since i posted this earlier today, I have tried to do some more research. Husband wants to look in San Jose only, although i have seen some people getting the cypress in cupertino/campbell area for under $100, and from what I understand, it is close to San Jose proper. I see on Priceline that there are three regions that do not list 4* properties, and so I know I can use those zones to get free rebids, right? I have not seen many 4* San Jose winning bids listed on the site - do you think that is because they just don't happen, or because people are willing to accept other outlying areas?

Thanks!

[Colfax]

A few thoughts...

Santa Clara zone has two 4* hotels---the Hyatt and Hilton---and both are active on Priceline. Those are business oriented hotels, so often cheaper on Friday/Saturday/Sunday nights (as low as $45) than weekdays, but sometimes good weekday deals on Priceline too.

As a general approach you might decide which nights you want to go to Great America and Raging Waters and bid for those nights in Santa Clara zone first. Then deal with the other nights.

As for the other nights...

It sounds like you want a "Downtown" type of experience...walking distance to stores and restaurants. Unfortunately Priceline's San Jose zone doesn't just include Downtown San Jose but also the airport area. Bidding 4* in the San Jose zone you're likely to get the Doubletree, which is a nice place but it's an "airport hotel", kind of a sterile area with not much to see or do for visitors. Not a walking area. The 4* Montgomery sounds more like what you're looking for---a restored classic hotel Downtown and walking distance from museums, restaurants, etc. But no guarantee you'd win the Montgomery on Priceline. I think the Doubletree comes up more often.

If you want to stay Downtown let us know the dates are and maybe we can identify a Downtown hotel for you on Hotwire.

Also if you don't mind the drive I think either the Cypress or Moorpark Hotels in the Cupertino/Campbell zone would work.

Or try for a 4* in Los Gatos. Hardly anyone bids there but the Priceline 4* hotel must be Hotel Los Gatos. It's a very upscale area, but still casual feeling with sidewalk cafes, galleries, boutiques all within strolling distance of the hotel. (Los Gatos doesn't appear as a zone on Priceline's San Jose page. You have to enter Los Gatos as your destination.)

[elviswife]

Thank you Colfax! You are absolutely right about the type of "experience" we are looking for - being able to walk out the front door of the hotel and stroll to a restaurant, shopping, etc (or short drive). We are not looking to spend all our time driving from place to place. I can appreciate that we "might" get the actual downtown locations, but with our luck, we will be out at the airport!

It looks like Los Gatos is about 15 miles from Santa Clara - any idea how far from Raging Waters?

Hotwire is listing a 4* Los Gatos property for $212 a night, and Hotels.com has it for avg $232/night. The JDV website lists a $189 rate with a note that "your rate may change during your stay". Any suggestions on where to start the bidding?

[Colfax]

San Jose is a very spread out city and to see it all you'll be doing some driving wherever you stay. San Jose has a good freeway system though and for a city of its size it's fairly easy to get around. According to Mapquest it's 16.6 miles from Los Gatos to Raging Waters (which is in East San Jose and not in any Priceline zone).

If you're looking for variety of experience and don't mind switching hotels I'd suggest splitting your week with a couple days in Santa Clara, a couple days in downtown San Jose, and a couple days in Los Gatos.

We can check Hotwire to look for a hotel that's Downtown and not at the Airport if you want. (It's often possible to identify Hotwire hotels in advance from their amenity icons). But I'd need to know specific dates that you want to be Downtown in order to do that.

I seriously don't know what the 4* Los Gatos will cost on Priceline since nobody has reported winning it yet. I wouldn't be surprised if it's in the $100-150 range. You'll stand a better chance of getting it on weekdays than weekends. And you've got two free rebid zones there, plus some time to try a couple lowball bids like $75 first.

Depending what dates you're in Santa Clara you might win a 4* there around $45-65. You could combine some cheaper nights in SC with some splurge nights in Los Gatos and still stay within your $100/night budget, all at 4*.

Also San Jose isn't a city that sells out. You could reserve your first several nights now and then after you get to town and see the various neighborhoods decide where you want to spend the last nights. All the 4* hotels have business centers where you can do your bidding, or there's Kinko's.

Whatever you want we'll try to help, but for concrete bidding advice you'll need to say what days in what zones and your bidding limit.

[elviswife]

I don't think we want to change hotels more than once. So with that in mind, we have decided that we are open to spending the first three nights in Santa Clara. So that would be an arrival date of either July 29, 30, 31, or Aug 1. Which would put checkout at Aug 1, 2, 3, or 4.

Then travel to Los Gatos (if we can get it) for check in on either Aug 1, 2, 3, or 4 (depending on what day we checkout from the Santa Clara hotel). Check out of Los Gatos on Aug 5, 6, 7, or 8 depending on when we check in.

I think if we try to get Los Gatos for $150 or less, and Santa Clara for $60 or less, we would not exceed our lodging max of $800 for 7 nights.

So I guess it breaks down like this:

Santa Clara Only

4*

Check in July 29, 30, 31 or Aug 1

3 nights

$60 max

Los Gatos

4*

check in Aug 1, 2, 3, or 4 (depending on check out from Santa Clara)

4 nights

$150 max

How does that sound?

[Colfax]

Sounds good, with a big qualification.

Santa Clara is probably cheaper on weekends and Los Gatos probably cheaper on weekdays. Los Gatos might not be on Priceline for weekends at all. It's a popular weekend getaway for locals. The way you've set your dates you're bidding both cities on the days when they're probably more expensive.

I would work on the Los Gatos part first since it's more difficult to win and will be a bigger part of your travel budget.

Check HOTWIRE in Los Gatos, one day at a time. If the HOTWIRE 4* is much less expensive on certain days those are probably the days you want to bid on Priceline first.

I'll be away from the board for the rest of the day.

[thereuare]

As per Colfax's comments... can you 'flip' the stays?

[elviswife]

we can flip the days around - but then in order to avoid the theme parks on a weekend day, we would need to check in to Los Gatos (if we can get it) on Sunday July 29, out on Aug 2. SO that would put us in Santa Clara on Aug 2 with check out on Aug 5.

Should these bids fail, are there good 3* in Santa Clara? Also, in Santa Clara are there restaurants in the area of the theme parks?

Thanks!

[thereuare]

I'd suggest waiting for Colfax to comment as i'm not as familiar with area... so can't really comment the best way to play it.

[elviswife]

I was bidding on my hotel room, and when the bid came back denied, it said "we are offering you this one time opportunity to increase your bid without changing any other aspects of your offer. If you are willing to increase your bid by $13, you can rebid right now." Is this the "counteroffer" people have spoken of? Does it indicate anything? Like you are only $13 away from winning the bid?

[elviswife]

Hooray, I finally won one part of my bid!!! Yay! Thank you for all your help.

I went to Hotwire and found what nights they had the "4* Santa Clara" listed and checked each day's listing to see how much it was going for. So I picked the three consecutive nights that had the lowest price ($73) and bid first $45 and got a priceline "increase your bid by $13 now and don't change anything else" opportunity, decided to just do a free re-bid adding a zone, bid the $50 and got it! Yay! :)

Hyatt Regency Santa Clara 4-star

Sunnyvale - Santa Clara

5101 Great America Parkway

Santa Clara, California 95054

408-986-0700

Check-In Date:

Thu, Aug 2, 2007 / After 03:00 PM

Check-Out Date:

Sun, Aug 5, 2007 / 12:00 PM

Amenities: Remote control TV w/ premium channels Telephone w/ voicemail Radio Alarm Clock Iron and ironing board Hairdryer Business services 24 hour front desk Restaurant Room service Bellman Concierge Fitness center access

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $50.00

Subtotal: $150.00

Taxes & Service Fees: $25.59

Total Charges*: $175.59

[bbbb]

Yes it is the talked about counter offer. If you have free rebids left you can usualy get the room for about half of the offer.

[elviswife]

Thanks for the info! Now I know what they look like and can take it into consideration when bidding. I ended up not accepting the offer to bid, used a free rebid and upped my bid $5 - and got the room! So I saved almost $10/night. :)

[Colfax]

Congratulations, elviswife.

These dates are a Thurs/Fri/Sat and Hyatt's best rates are $179/$109/$109.

It's great that you got accepted at $50 for the night that costs $179! Many times the higher priced night will have a higher Priceline rate too.

[Colfax]

From your other post I see you won the Hyatt Santa Clara for $50 on 8/2-8/5. Congrats!

If you want suggestions on Los Gatos now please start a new thread for that.

It will help if you'll post the Hotel Los Gatos rate , obtained from the hotel's website, checking each day individually.

Also the rate of the unknown Hotwire 4*, again each day singly plus the rate for the full stay.

[BHL]

Wow, great price! How was I only about to get the Hyatt for $80 on 7/26? Similar dates. And $60 for the Hilton 7/27-7/28.

[elviswife]

just added additional night to our stay at the Hyatt, now checking out Aug 6. Used Priceline's add a night feature, and got the additional night for $50 as well. :)

[Colfax]

Wow, great price! How was I only about to get the Hyatt for $80 on 7/26? Similar dates. And $60 for the Hilton 7/27-7/28.

BHL,

You bid for a Thursday night when the Hyatt was $219. elviswife bid for the following Thursday when the Hyatt was $179.

Also $80 was your first bid for 7/26 alone (after $120 was rejected for Weds and Thurs together). So it's possible that a lower bid than $80 might have been accepted.