Priceline Hotel: Newby Questions for Orlando Hotels

[lookalive]

I'm new to bidding, but a seasoned budget traveler. I'm looking for a hotel room near the Orange County Convention Center (Int'l Dr) in Orlando Fl, Sept 1-3rd 2004 and am interested in a 4 or 5 star hotel in that vicinity. How close to does Priceline and Hotwire come to a specific location? (Is the distance determined by the number of miles or just general area.) And what price do I start my bidding at? What hotels would I most like get? If I'm interested in the Peabody, Renaissance or Rosen Center, how can I come closer to one of my preferred hotel choices? Any advise is appreciated.

[seningen]

Basically for both they are defined by area. Using www.betterbidding.com you can sometimes identify

which hotel they are offering but YMMV. Neither guarantees you the hotel of your choice.

If interested in the Peabody -- try www.easyclicktravel.com for your specific dates.

Peabody has been offering some really low rates from there for Aug and Sept.

see also my post about Double the Difference "DD for Peabody" post in the hotewire section

for Florida if you are feeling adventurous :-)

m.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

The areas are defined by priceline and hotwire zones. To begin, go to Priceline and input Orlando, FL in the hotel search box and click NEXT. On the next page you will see a map of the Orlando with shaded areas that define the boundaries of each priceline zone. You can click on a shaded region (or the 'area details' link next to the zone name in the list) to get a close-up view of the region.

Repeat the same process above for Hotwire.

To see hotels that have already been reported you can see our PRICLINE ORLANDO and our HOTWIRE ORLANDO hotel lists. You can also use the Hotwire list to match amenity icons to help identify the hotel (be sure to read beyond the first post in the Hotwire thread as there are additional hotels identified further down the thread).

I did a search on Hotwire for your dates and didn't see any of your prefered hotels offered. With Priceline there is no way to target a specific hotel, but i will say that none of your preferred hotels are the most common to come up in the zone (the most common hotel seen at the resort level is the Wyndham Palace... although this doesn't necessarily mean that's the hotel you'll get).

The site mentioned above shows the Peabody for your date for only $79/nite and that may be your best bet.

If for some reason you choose to move forward with Priceline or Hotwire, or have any questions regarding the above, please let us know.

[lookalive]

Because I was nervous about booking with an unknown tour company, I called the Peabody to see if they would honor the $79.00 rate, but they said I would have to book thru easyclicktravel. I asked if they were a reputable tour company and the Peabody representative assured me they were. I went ahead and booked the room and will let you know how I make out. Thanks for your advice.

[seningen]

That sounds great -- you have to wonder why they wouldn't honor it though?

Save themselves some commissions if nothing else.

At least with the hotel itself giving a thumbs up -- you have someone to complain

to if it doesn't work out.

enjoy your trip!

m.