Priceline Hotel: Help with Aruba resort 4/17-4/23/08

[jcmelly]

Hi,

I am ready to finally try priceline through savingsbarn of course. This will be my first time trying so I am hoping someone may be able to assist me.

I was wondering if there is a way to tell what the choices you may end up with if you bid for resorts in Aruba. I am pretty sure that the Marriott, Westin are a couple of the choices, but is the holiday inn one as well or is that considered a 3 star hotel? I would like to end up with either the Marriott resort, Hyatt, or Raddison, but would be ok with the marriott renaissance or even the Westin if a good price . I do not want to get the Holiday inn though.

Should i try starting with selecting resort option and starting at maybe $80 and then bidding up in $5 increments up to my max? Do I only get one try per 72 hours or this there a way to try again sooner sticking with the resort option. Do I choose 4 star or would that make me possibly get Westin or Holioday inn?

Thanks for any help :)

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Start by looking at the hotels which have already been reported in this area in the Priceline Hotel List. As per the comments at the top of hte hotel list, there are no guarantees that you will receive a hotel in that list or that the star rating of property hasn't changed since previously reported, but that list is the basis of where you should start.

From there if you choose to bid we can suggest a strategy for you to follow.

However, since you there are properties you're looking to target and/or avoid, you may also want to search HOTWIRE where you can often take an educated guess as to the property being offered before your purchase (by matching what is offered to the hotels reported in the Hotwire Hotel List).

I would first search HOTWIRE to see if anything is offered within your budget and see if you can ID the property (post the star ratings and amenities in this thread and we'll try to help and/or confirm what you think it may be). From there you can choose to either take that offer (if it's one of your prefered hotels and the price is right) or try to beat that price for a Resort hotel by bidding on priceline.

Let us know what you find and how you'd like to proceed, or if the above raises any additional questions.

[jcmelly]

I tried hotwire, but rates were too high. I put a bid of $80 in for resort for Aruba and got rejected, waited 24 hours and put in a bid for $90 for resorts and got rejected again. Do I stick with resorts and put in a bid for $95 or do I go for resort one more time at $95 and then bid again immediately for a 4 star. It looks like people have gotten Marriott resort this way, although it is listed as a resort. Has anyone gotten Marriott resort or hyatt with 4 star bid? My max is probably around $120. Am I bidding too low? I have seen people get Marriott resort for $60 - $99, some of the dates being high season as the Marriott is under construction. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks :)

[thereuare]

Do I stick with resorts and put in a bid for $95 or do I go for resort one more time at $95 and then bid again immediately for a 4 star.

It depends how important a Resort property is for your stay vs. a 4 star property... of course keeping your budget in mind as well.

When you select a star rating on Priceline it is the minimum that you are willing to accept... so when you select 4* you're actually looking for 4* or Resorts... if you select 3* you'd actually be looking for 3* or 4* or Resort, etc, etc.

I do think you have a decent chance at a Resort quality hotel at $125 or less... but currently you're bidding is likely too low for these dates.