Hotwire Hotel: Hotwire 4* San Juan

[moesky]

Hotwire lists 4* Hotel in San Juan

w/ the following amenities:

Boutiqe Hotel

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

High-speed Internet Access

Smoke free Rooms

Pool(s)

Business Center

Also says Customer Favorite!

Can you please identify?

Also there are 6 of us (4 adults (2-18 yr old) & 2 children (15 yrs)

On Hotwire I put in 2 rooms ,4 adults and 2 children and the rate is $180 x 5 =$1800.00 + $394.98 =$2194.98

If I put in 3 rooms it's $136 per room per night (136 x 5 = $2040 + $448.57 (Tax recovery chgs & fees) = $2488.57. It's worth it for the $290 total extra cost for the extra room

Am I doing this right. Also does the fees & charges cover resort fees, if any?

Dates are 4/21/08 - 4/26/08

Considering the Intercontinental. Seems like reviews are very good. Also want a good beach. From what I've heard food expensive in hotel. Probably will eat out . Also need to be near some entertainment/ restaurants off premises since I have to feed 6.

[thereuare]

The above is a match for the Hotel El Convento so that would be our best guess.

This property gets pretty good reviews (although a few disappointments, which is especially common in San Juan) but is located in Old San Juan, so not sure if it will meet your beach requirement.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know what you decide to do or if we can be of further help.

[moesky]

Thanks,

HOTWIRE lists:

Resort

casino

restaurant(s)

Laundry facilities

tennis nearby

beachfront

pool(s)

Business center

High-speed internet access

spa services

Could you please identify/

[thereuare]

The above is a match for the Inter-Continental so that would be our best guess.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Let us now what you decide and how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[moesky]

The above is a match for the Inter-Continental so that would be our best guess.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Let us now what you decide and how it goes or if we can be of further help.

I believe that I am close to booking. The Intercontinental Hotel reservations says that there is an 11% Gov. Tax and a 11% Resort fee. Hotwire includes the roomrate + Tax Recovery charges and fees which is approx. 22%. Am I safe to assume that I won't be charged any additional room fees? I am requesting 2 rooms w/ 3 adults and 3 children.

[moesky]

I am pretty much set on the Intercontinental. Hotwire has the rate of $179.00. Dates are 4/21/08-4/26/08. 2 rooms, 6 people.

1). Should I try Priceline in the resort category and bid or is it possible to get Caribe Hilton, El San Juan, Marriott,or Wyndham

2). What's your opinion on purchasing now vs. waiting?

I believe that I am close to booking. The Intercontinental Hotel reservations says that there is an 11% Gov. Tax and a 11% Resort fee. HOTWIRE includes the roomrate + Tax Recovery charges and fees which is approx. 22%. Am I safe to assume that I won't be charged any additional room fees? I am requesting 2 rooms w/ 3 adults and 3 children

[thereuare]

1). Should I try Priceline in the resort category and bid or is it possible to get Caribe Hilton, El San Juan, Marriott,or Wyndham

With PRICELINE you can't target any particular hotels... you should be willing to accept any Resort class hotel in the zone. As well, PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy, so you could potentially have a problem with the number of beds in each room.

2). What's your opinion on purchasing now vs. waiting?

See the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ. However, also keep in mind that while you wait to see the price go down, it could also go up, OR another hotel in the area could offer rooms to HOTWIRE for a lower price and replace this offering. Assuming the ID is correct, rates at the InterContinental start at $287/nite for these dates, so i think the savings are enough to warrant a purchase if this is the hotel you're trying to target.

I believe that I am close to booking. The Intercontinental Hotel reservations says that there is an 11% Gov. Tax and a 11% Resort fee. HOTWIRE includes the roomrate + Tax Recovery charges and fees which is approx. 22%. Am I safe to assume that I won't be charged any additional room fees? I am requesting 2 rooms w/ 3 adults and 3 children

Always difficult to stay, but i'd guess that you could be charged the 11% Resort fee, but i can't say for certain.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

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

[moesky]

Thanks for your patience with me. I have still not booked. My dates are 4/21/08-4/26/08 .; 2 rooms, party of 6 . I believe hotwire's rate at the Intercontinental (as identified) is $191.00. It has fluctuated from $180. $179, $175, $201, and now $191 in the past week. I prefer the Intercontinental for the beach and access to food, grocery etc. w/in walking distance. Also short cab ride to OSJ . Also favorable reviews. The availability of moderate restaurants closeby is a plus since the kids can walk there if my wife and I want to go for a nice dinner alone. Also we want to have availability to eat outside the hotel due to the high cost of Hotel food. I also realize that there might be a resort fee added on. The rate per nite on hotwire at the $191 works out to over $235.00 per room per night including tax recovery charge and fees (but not including possible add'l cost & fees the hotel adds on). Thats's a total of $2354.26. I would prefer to keep total room cost around $2000.00 and also prefer the Intercontinental.

What is your opinion as to booking Hotwire now @ $191?

What is your opinion about trying Priceline?

What is your opinion as to other means of booking?

What is your opinion as to the Approx. budget of $2000.00?

Thanks again for your help.

[thereuare]

It comes down to how badly you want the Inter-Continental.

Bidding on PRICELINE presents two problems:

1) you may get a different hotel, and if you do come in at your $2000 budget, but receive a hotel other than the Inter-Continental, would you be satisified with that purchase? :)

2) PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy, and you'll be triple occupancy in each room

For this property $191 is a good rate, but not sure how flexible your budget is. If you were to pay the $191 thru HOTWIRE, would you have to cut corners elsewhere on your trip?

One alternative if you're willing to split your stay:

1) HOTWIRE has what appears to be the InterContinental for $166/nite when searching for 4/21-4/25 (6adults/2rooms) which with taxes and fees comes to $1635 'all-in'

2) for 4/25 you could book a different hotel in the Isla Verde section or take a 3.5* on HOTWIRE for $147/nite (best guess is the Caribe Hilton) which adds another $328 'all-in' to the price above, coming in just under your total $2000 budget.

One thing to keep in mind however is that unless you have car (it doesn't sound like you will) you'll need to take a cab (likely two cabs with six people and luggage) to the Hilton which will eat into the savings of changing hotels during your stay. Add to this the fact that San Juan taxis charge the meter plus a fee per bag, packing all your things and changing hotels may not be worthwhile once you figure out the total cost. (NOTE: if you do split the stay like this, please use our HOTWIRE link for each purchase... click our HOTWIRE link to make the first purchase, then return here and click our link again to begin the second purchase).

The same 4* hotel as above also appears when searcihng for the one nite of 4/25, but at $266/nite, which would still bring your total to about $2305, a few dollars cheaper than booking the entire stay together above. $50 savings is $50 savings, but it does make things just a little bit 'messy'.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know what you decide and how it goes.

[moesky]

Thanks. Very valuable & informative information.

We do want the Intercontinental.

By you giving me the option of booking 4/21- 4/26 @ $166 is a great alternative. I also checked the AAA rate for the hotel directly & it is $306.00 /nt for the one night. I might be able to save doing it this way. I am also a Priority Club Rewards Member which I hear helps.

Which do you recommend?

A). I would book 4 nights w/ hotwire & 1night w/ the hotel directly.

:). 4 night w/ Hotwire @ $166 & 1 night @ $266

C). 5 nights w/ Hotwire @$191

D). What do you mean 4 nts+ 1 nt might be "just a little bit messy".Even if 4 nts Hotwire & 1 nt Hotel directly?

Also do you recomend renting a van ?

Thru Hotwire OR PRICELINE?

HOTWIRE RATE IS $205.07

We are 6 people w/luggage, 2 trips to airport (to & from) ; at least 1 day trip; restaurant travel to OSJ etc. Hotel parking is $16.00 per day. + parking in OSJ etc.

If I don't rent the whole time , I will definitely rent for 1 day.

What's your expert opinion on these matters.

Thanks again for your time . This site is extremely helpful and i really appreciate everything about it.

[thereuare]

If it were me i'd make two separate HOTWIRE purchases as that appears to be the least expensive of all the options (again, PLEASE use our HOTWIRE link for each purchase if you go this route... clicking our HOTWIRE link to begn the first purchase, then return here and click our link again to begin the second purchase)

I meant 'messy' just because you then have two transactions to make, two confirmations, have to let the hotel know at check-in and ask them to block the rooms for the last nite, and likely have to go to the desk on 'switch' day to officially check-out and check-in again.

As far as renting a van it depends upon where you want to go during your trip. Personally i don't like driving (it's not that i'm not good at it, i just don't enjoy it) so i try to avoid renting a car whenever possible. If i recall correctly the fare from the Inter-Continental to the Airport was about $14 on the meter plus bags (first 2 or 3 may be free... then it's $1 per bag or .50 per small bag, and it's driver discretion as to what constitutes a large/small bag... on trip from cruise port to IC the driver only charged us for 2/3 of our bags as many were small and we also had a small baby stroller which he didn't charge us for... fare from IC to Airport i think the guy would have charged us if we were carrying a brown paper lunch bag).

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.