Priceline Hotel: Help picking area/ bidding strategy in San Jose Los Gatos area

[bradyasmin]

I need to go to Los Gatos in the beginning of October. Most of my commitments are in Los Gatos, but one is near Santa Cruz over 17. I have 3 small children so I prefer to do minimal driving. Please help me figure out areas and bids. I want at least a 3* hotel.

Thank you.

[BEAV]

Although Priceline has a Los Gatos zone, and offers up to 4 star bidding, there have yet to be any reported wins in this zone. I believe this is due to a variety of circumstances.

1. The Los Gatos zone is small, with only one real 4* candidate, that being the Hotel Los Gatos. (As info, Hotwire also sells the Hotel Los Gatos -- also rated 4 stars). This hotel isn't large (considered a boutique hotel on Hotwire) and doesn't have hundreds of rooms. So with that in mind, the amount of inventory the hotel releases to Priceline can be very limited, and certainly not on a daily basis.

2. I suspect the 3* property in the Los Gatos zone is most likely the Toll House (a Larkspur property). This is a larger hotel than the Hotel Los Gatos, but again this area has so few hotels, they probably don't have to resort to liquidating unsold rooms on Priceline very often. Probably the reason nobody has ever reported a "win" in this zone. Also, if/when they do allocate inventory to Priceline. it's possibly at a higher rate than people have been willing to bid.

Santa Cruz is much the same, with smaller more independent hotels compared to the greater San Jose/Silicon Valley area with thousands of rooms through major chains such as Marriott, Hyatt, Sheraton, etc.

I would definitely try bidding Los Gatos first, and if unsuccessful, then try the adjacent zone which would be Cupertino/Campbell within the San Jose metro area.

Lastly, what are your travel dates, and what are the retail (rack) rates at the Hotel Los Gatos & Toll House? Knowing the retail rates is helpful in determining a bid strategy.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[BEAV]

P.S.

I just checked some random dates on Hotwire and noticed the 4 star Hotel Los Gatos is still rated 4 stars. However I'm also seeing a 3.5 star (also a boutique hotel) which I suspect is the Toll House. I check/monitor this area fairly regularly, and it's the first time I've seen the 3.5 property listed. The dates I sampled were Sept 2 to Sept 4. The Hotel Los Gatos was coming in at a whopping $319, however the 3.5 hotel for $119. Following normal HOTWIRE / PRICELINE stategy, a hotel listed at $119 on Hotwire could possibly be won on Priceline for $90-$110 (give or take).

[bradyasmin]

Thank you. I will be there October 2 thru Oct 5. Also, when I looked on the websites for those specific hotels, it seems like they are not really equipt to hold 5 people. My kids are small so 2 can share a bed and one will be in a pack and play but even so, we have to sleep the kids somewhere.

Checking the Tollhouse website, they only show 1 queen bed available. They of course recommend hotels all over (even 1000 miles away) that are available though! So, with the issue of bed availability it seems that Los Gatos probably won't work out. So, the Cupertino Campbell area on priceline is the area you would suggest?

[BEAV]

Since PRICELINE only guarantees one bed accomodating two people, I think Hotwire might be the way to go in your situation. With Hotwire, you can enter the number of adults/children in your search. I did a Hotwire search for your dates entering 2 adults and 2 children (guaranteed two beds) and a 3.5 hotel in the Sunnyvale zone (a match for the Sunnyvale Sheraton) is coming up at $69 for all three nights of your stay. In my opinion, this is going to be your best bet in terms of price, guaranteed bedding and star level you're looking for.

As to location, beware HOTWIRE and PRICELINE zones are not identical in this region. On Hotwire, the Sunnyvale zone includes Sunnyvale & Cupertino. On Priceline, there is a separate Cupertino/Campbell zone as well as a Sunnyvale/Santa Clara zone. Cupertino/Campbell (Priceline) is the absolute closest to Los Gatos, however I doubt you'll be successful getting a 3 or 4 star hotel for equal or less than the $69 3. 5 star on Hotwire in the Sunnyvale (Cupertino) zone.

Good luck and let us know if we can assist further.

[thereuare]

bradyasmin,

You seem to be in good hands in this thread with BEAV knowing the area well, but can you please follow-up your previous Priceline Provo thread with whatever you ended up doing for that stay.

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

Thanks.

[bradyasmin]

Done- I ended up staying in a private residence so I did not update. Sorry.