Loading...

Priceline Hotel: Help with 3 Star Hotel in Santa Barbara; 6/21-6/26


tigers
By tigers,
in

Recommended Posts

Bids rejected for 3 Star Hotel in Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara Zone.

Check in: Sun., June 21, 2009: check out: Fri., June 26th.

Started bids at $105; rebid up to $120 .

Maximum willing to bid: $130

Number of rooms needed: 1

3 Star Hotel listed on this site: Hotel Oceana

Lowest rate for my dates: Hotel Oceana (hotel's web site), $178

Free rebid Zone for 3 Star: Goleta

Priceline would allow bid on 2 1/2 star in the Santa Barbara Zone. Does anyone know what hotel it might be? Might consider2 1/2 star .

Priceline would also allow bid on 2 star in the Santa Barbara Zone. Does anyone know what hotel it might be?

Would also bid on 2 Star but pool is needed.

Friday-Saturday are premium nights in SBA; I'm bidding Sun-Thurs. No special events known; July /August is the peak season.

I'm not interested in the Goleta or Solvang Zones. Only the Santa Barbara Zone.

Any advice? Thanks!

Link to comment

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Why not start by trying $125 and $130 o your next round of biddig. If that is rejected your choices come down to:

-wait it out and try again

-lower your star rating

-raise your budget.

-SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID

Is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID an option?

With this being just a week before what you say is the star of "peak season" for this area hotels may be reluctant to offer hotels at deep discounts at the moment in hopes of selling their rooms themselves (at much higher prices) and may not be willing to release inventory to the opaque suppliers until much closer to check-in, but the risk is that the hotels sell most of their rooms on their own and give little/no inventory to the opaque players.

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

Let us know your thoughts regarding the above and how it goes or if we can be of further help.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

Link to comment

Thanks for your help, thereuare. You offered some good ideas!

I tried rebidding at $125 and $130 without success. I rebid through the link on this site.

I would lower my star rating to 2 or 2 1/2, but I hesitate for a couple of reasons.

I have no clue what the 2 1/2 star property is in the Santa Barbara Zone. I've done some research and come up nearly empty. Maybe it is a new participant.

Is it possible that Priceline lets you bid at that level even if it has no 2 1/ star properties in the Santa Barbara Zone? Also, does anyone have an idea what the hotel/motel might be?

I also hesitate to bid at the two star level for one reason. Because I am traveling with children, I require a swimming pool. My understanding is that a there may be a 2 star in the Santa Barbara zone without a pool (Days Inn). Otherwise, I would include 2 stars in my bid.

BTW, this applies to the 'mystery' 2 1/2 star property. If I bid successfully on it, and it has no pool, the family would be very unhappy with me.

The need for a pool is the only reason I limited my bidding to 3 star properties.

I came up with two possibles for the 2 1/2 star. If the 2 1/2 star is the Ramada Limited, I'd gladly bid. It has a pool. It's location on the Priceline map would be in the Santa Barbara Zone even though it really is in Goleta.

thereuare, you mentioned this as a possibility in a post dated Aug 19 2008, 04:02 AM. Another site (which I won't mention) has this hotel as a possible 2 star.

If it is the Holiday Inn Express (formerly Hotel Virginia), there is no pool.

I consider my travel time to be the "shoulder" season. Weekends in SBA are busy year round with so many people visiting SBA form L.A. for the weekend. My midweek travel is AFTER graduation at UCSB (6/11-6/14) and before the annual Fiesta (8/5-8/9). Some properties may include June in their high season, but I'm pretty sure most consider it to be July and August.

I agree that the 3 stars may be holding out for now, hoping to sell the rooms on their own sites. But if I wait a few weeks, I may end up getting shut out. I guess that's the chance one takes.

Thanks again for your suggestions!!

Link to comment

Santa Barbara's always been a tough PRICELINE zone. We just don't see many winning Santa Barbara bids, even during offseason. Maybe with the economy being down it will be easier this summer. It helps that you're not bidding Friday/Saturday.

You're also bidding very early now (in Priceline terms) for late June dates. Some hotels will wait longer to see how conventional bookings are looking before they give rooms to Priceline.

Is it possible that Priceline lets you bid at that level even if it has no 2 1/ star properties in the Santa Barbara Zone? Also, does anyone have an idea what the hotel/motel might be?

PRICELINE commonly offers a bidding option when there are no participating hotels at that level. If they have 3* and 2* hotels but no 2.5* they'll still offer the 2.5* bidding option.

In Priceline's retail section the Pacifica Suites in Santa Barbara are rated 2.5*, so that's one possibility. Not every hotel that participates in the retail side participates in "Name Your Own Price" though.

Link to comment

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions. I tried re-bidding through the link on this site, but with no luck. I bid as high as $140. As I noted in my original posting, the lowest rate for my dates at the 3* level Hotel Oceana is $178, according to the hotel's web site. My failed bid was about 80% of their lowest available rate.

Colfax, you noted that in Priceline's retail section the Pacifica Suites in Santa Barbara are rated 2.5*.

Unfortunately, Pacifica Suites is located in the Goleta zone, not the Santa Barbara zone. Pacifica Suites would be great, but I am concerned that others who had winning bids reported in the Goleta zone at the 2.5* zone got the Holiday Inn. I have stayed at this H.I. property and I didn't care for it for a variety of reasons.

If anyone has won at the 2.5* level in the Santa Barbara zone, please share your results.

Link to comment
Colfax, you noted that in Priceline's retail section the Pacifica Suites in Santa Barbara are rated 2.5*.

Unfortunately, Pacifica Suites is located in the Goleta zone, not the Santa Barbara zone.

Priceline sometimes uses different zone definitions in their retail and Name-Your-Own-Price products. On their retail side Priceline says Pacifica Suites are in Santa Barbara. But in Name-Your-Own-Price the Pacifica Suites are in the Goleta zone, as you note. The lack of consistency makes things confusing.

On Orbitz I see Oceana's charging a lower rate for your first three nights than the last two. It's $149.79 for Sun, Mon, Tues; $174.89 on Weds; and $181.99 on Thurs. The $160 rate for five nights that AaronJB mentioned is an average of the various daily rates.

You might win your first three nights on Priceline at a lower rate than you've bid for the five nights together. If you're willing to split your bid you might try up to $100 or so for just Sun/Mon/Tues.

Link to comment

Thanks to everybody for all of the advice.

I ended up making a reservation with the Ramada Limited in Goleta. I tried bidding (through the link on this site) for fewer days (Sun, Mon, & Tues) with no luck. It appears that 3* hotels in SBA were not interested in Priceline at the time I was traveling.

It is a relatively difficult market to get a winning bid through Priceline (compared to other markets I have visited). I knew a weekend booking through Priceline would be tough, but I didn't realize midweek would also be difficult.

Hopefully, sharing my experience will help future travelers. Thanks again to everyone at Better Bidding. You guys are the best!

Link to comment
Need help with your own trip?

Register now, we have a huge community of travel enthusiasts to answer any questions you might have.

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account
Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
EXCLUSIVELY at BetterBidding:
10% OFF

PRICELINE COUPON


(click here) and use

promo code

: EASTEREGG

(Hotel and Car Express Deals max $60 discount... expires 03/31/2024)
QUICKQUOTE [X]
PRICELINE & HOTWIRE on one screen!
NOTE: Priceline searches for
DOUBLE OCCUPANCY ONLY
Room %roomN%:
Age of child:
FINDFAST[X]
×
×
  • Create New...