Priceline Hotel: stick to my guns or keep going up?

[amacke]

I am attempting to get two rooms in a 3.5* (Marriott Frenchmans Reef) in St Thomas March 12-15. I noticed Matthew was able to get it at $150 a couple weeks ago so I was following his bidding but made my jumps a little bigger (im a little paranoid and want to get it all set as i am getting rooms for others and they are relying on me to get this set up too)

02/16 - $100 3.5* St Thomas

02/16 - $120 3.5* St Thomas and St John

02/17 - $140 3.5* St Thomas

02/17 - $150 3.5* St Thomas and St John

so, seeing that $150 won a few weeks ago and hearing that they buy rooms from the hotels every so often, should i assume they buy the rooms at the same price and some more will become available, or do they actually track how you are bidding like actual negotiations (bigger jumps might show someone is not near their limit where as little $5 increments show that they are about to stop bidding)....so i guess im just looking for a little guidance on wait and keep bidding 150 like previous winners or bite the bullet and keep going up

oh, and i am using the links from this website, you scratch my back i scratch yours :)

Thanks for the advice in advance!

Adam

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

If you look closely at Matthew's thread of the Marriott Frenchmans Reef:

Last bid of $125, regular rate of $314...

Search the Marriott's website for rates for your own stay and rates start at $600+... so you'll likely need to go higher to be successful for your own set of dates.

What is your maximum bid for this stay?

Also, so that you remain friends, i would make sure that the others you're bidding for completely understand what you're doing and how PRICELINE works... you don't want to promise them the Marriott and end up getting a different hotel. :)

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your searches and purchases.

[amacke]

I havent looked at the actual Marriot site in a few weeks...and i guess since then they have gone up from about 450 to now just over 600 :) and going by the current market value as opposed to what they "might have" bought them for makes sense they wouldnt be the same price. Im still hoping to shoot for the same margin/percentage which would put me around 225-235.

My max would probably be right around there too because of the taxes and hotel fees and surcharges and anything and everything else it will be close to 300 a night...and my friends im taking down there know it could be anything but from what priceline shows, that being one of the only 3.5* there, thats just my best guess as to where we would end up (but i guess i would be ok with them bumping us up to the ritz if they wanted to :) )

I will keep you informed as to my conquest and hopefully it goes well!

[thereuare]

One more question... would you be ok with a Resort on St John or do you want to make sure you're on St Thomas?

If you dont' want to be on St John then do not use it as a re-bid zone since the star rating you select is the minimum you're willing to accept, and PRICELINE can always upgrade you... so by adding St John as a re-bid zones when you're bidding 3.5*, you could end up at a Resort class property on St John.

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

Keep us udpated.