Priceline Hotel: Looking for San Diego Coastal - 7/7 - 7/14

[SpongeOpp]

First time poster here. I am looking to book a family vacation in San Diego. I have looked at the Carlsbad Inn and Hilton San Diego Resort. In this economy, I just can't justify paying $359 per night for a hotel room. So here I am, trying to figure out how to get a great deal on Priceline for a nice family resort hotel. Our main interest would be very close to a beach, a great pool area and walking distance to restaurants. We will drive to Legoland and Sea World so that is not a big deal.

Questions:

Can anyone recommend a 4* hotel in the San Diego Coastal section or Carlsbad Area? or other.

When should I start bidding for our vacation planned on July 7th?

What kind of nightly rates should I expect?

Does anyone have any information on how San Diego, or other vacation destination hotels are doing this year? Do you think we can expect good deals this summer?

Thanks for all of your help and thanks for running such a great site. I will make sure to book through your link.

[Colfax]

Welcome to BetterBidding, SpongeOpp.

How many people in your family? How many beds do you require? PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy, which could be one double bed. Because San Diego is a popular family resort destination the hotels there tend to have a lot of two-bed rooms. Still you're not guaranteed two beds with Priceline and depending what hotel you win you might be charged a fee for a second bed.

If you definitely need two beds then HOTWIRE may be a better option for you than Priceline, as you can stipulate a party of 3 or 4 on Hotwire and only be offered two bed accomodation (although usually at a higher price than on Priceline).

When you go to Hotwire and enter the number of people in your party do you see any appealing options there that are within your budget? If you'll post the icons here someone will try and identify the hotels.

Also a seven day stay at one hotel can be difficult to win on PRICELINE or HOTWIRE. Ultimately you might have to break your bid in two to get accepted. Some families will stay in Coastal zone for part of their trip and use that as headquarters for the Zoo/SeaWorld part of their vacation; then move to one of the more northern zones for visiting Legoland and Wild Animal Kingdom. No harm in trying for 7 nights at one hotel though if you prefer that.

[SpongeOpp]

Thanks for info, Colfax. We have a family of 4 and will need two beds. I will check and see what HOTWIRE has going on.

[SpongeOpp]

FYI: I just bid $125 per night on PRICELINE and was rejected. Will probably keep trying to see if the Sheraton in Carlsbad has established a decent price point. Not too hopeful on this one. As of now, the retail rate for July 7 - July 14th is $250 per night.

[thereuare]

How will you handle the situation of you win on PRICELINE and can only get a room with one bed?

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