Priceline Hotel: 3* San Juan Courtyard Miramar

[nutttbar]

First time looking to bid on a hotel and am appreciative of any help I can get. We're looking for hotel rooms (2) pre and post cruise.

We're arriving in San Juan late at night on February 27th (day before the cruise) so we don't need anything special. Possibly a 3 star either near the airport or the Pan Am pier (this is where our cruise will leave from).

After the cruise we'll have a full day to relax so we're looking for something a little bit nicer, either a 4 star or resort property. Budget is an issue of course but since I've never done this before I really have no clue where to start with pricing. If I had to put a price on things I'd say $75 for the first night and $100 for the last but I'm really guessing at what things might cost.

Again, any help is greatly appreciated.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please use separate threads for each leg of your stay. We'll use this thread for your pre-cruise stay of 2/27... please start a NEW TOPIC for your post-cruise stay.

To begin, if you go to PRICELINE and look at the San Juan zone on the map, are you comfortable staying anywhere within the shaded boundaries of the zone?

Also, i'm guessing at the moment you're budget will fall a little short for a 3* hotel in this zone... what is the best rate you're currently able to find thru conventional booking channels?

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

[nutttbar]

Ok, we've revisited and we're ok with a 2 star in that region. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only two 2 stars I see are the Miramar and the Hampton Inn. Given the time we're arriving, the better option for us would be the Miramar as that is closer to the Pan Am Pier where our ship leaves the next day, but if it's a tossup given our criteria, we can live with the Hampton. Can you suggest the best way to go about doing this bid? I'll start the 2nd thread once we get thru this one.

Thanks again.

[thereuare]

Before bidding, note the comments at the top of the Priceline Hotel List. While the Miramar and Hampton Inn may be the only 2* hotels reported to the board, there may be others (and i would say that this is likely... we don't see too much bidding in this zone at the 2* level so naturally we see fewer reported wins at this level)

Are you willing to accept any hotel that PRICELINE rates 2 star in this zone?

[nutttbar]

When I do a search on PRICELINE for 2 star hotels in this area (San Juan airport SJU), only 3 show up, the two mentioned above and the Best Western. Does this mean these are the only 3 possibilities once we win a bid or could there be other hotels that aren't listed?

Of these, I'd prefer to stay at the Miramar since it's the closest to the cruise pier. The Hampton would be ok but I'd prefer not to stay in the Best Western but would if it's a possibility and there's no way to weed it out when bidding.

[thereuare]

When I do a search on PRICELINE for 2 star hotels in this area (San Juan airport SJU), only 3 show up, the two mentioned above and the Best Western. Does this mean these are the only 3 possibilities once we win a bid or could there be other hotels that aren't listed?

There are other possibilities, as the "retail" and "bidding" sides of PRICELINE each use a different universe of hotels. See the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ for additional info on this subject.

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

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

[nutttbar]

I've read thru the FAQs and understand that the two sides of Priceline use different hotels. I'm wondering though, how is it that folks claim to be able to narrow down the choice to the point of claiming to know which hotel they're bidding on when they don't even know the full list of hotels in Priceline's bidding universe?

Is there a way to narrow these things down? We're pretty much ready to bid but want to understand this as much as possible prior to doing so.

[AaronJB]

Betterbidding offers lists in each section (state or - in some cases - country) of the board that provide what hotels have been reported to the board. One can refer to these lists to get an idea of what hotels may be possible, but there is no way to bid with a specific property in mind - if one makes a 4* bid for a certain area, one has to be willing to accept any of the 4*'s in that area.

[nutttbar]

I'm seeing a retail price point of about $120 for these properties. Where would you suggest we start bidding for the 2 star in the San Juan area?

[thereuare]

With no re-bid zones, but time on your side, i would start at $45 and increase your bid by $5 every 24 hours.

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck! Keep us updated as to your progress and let us know if we can be of further help along the way.

[nutttbar]

Ok, now I'm really confused. I've gone to Priceline to enter the bid but I need 2 rooms. How do I go about doing that?

[thereuare]

Click the following link to go to PRICELINE

Enter your city and dates, and under the box to enter your city you can select the number of rooms you want to bid for.

[Romelle]

The three hotels you mention - Miramar, Hampton and BW - do indeed show up on the retail side of PRICELINE.

However, from the list on the first post in this section, the only hotels people have reported to this board as winning via PL bidding there is (I copied it from the post):

San Juan

Resort Caribe Hilton REVIEW / tripadvisor review

Resort El San Juan

Resort Inter-Continental San Juan REVIEW / tripadvisor review

Resort Marriott San Juan Resort REVIEW / tripadvisor review

4* Conrad Condado Plaza Hotel 3* Wyndham Condado Plaza-- (previously Resort) tripadvisor review

4* La Concha Renaissance

3.5* Embassy Suites REVIEW / tripadvisor review

3.5* Sheraton Old San Juan Wyndham Old San Juan Hotel and Casino

3.5* Water and Beach Club-- tripadvisor review

3* Courtyard Isla Verde

3* Courtyard Miramar

3* Holiday Inn

3* Radisson Amassador tripadvisor review

3* Sheraton Convention Center

2.5* Normandie San Juan Park Plaza REVIEW / tripadvisor review

2* San Juan Beach Resort (previously 2.5*)

2* Holiday Inn Express--

Of course the list above, the three hotels you mention, and some altogether new hotel are all possible.

And one more point - you can put in your $45 bid at the 3* level, then when it does not work, you can add the 2 1/2* level and bid again. Furthermore, when that does not work, you can add the 2* level and submit your bid again. At the $45 level, it undoubtedly is wasting one's time on the first two bids, but as you move higher, it insures that you get the best possible hotel for your money.

Good luck to you. And if you get some hotel not yet reported, I hope you will be kind enough to report it here and maybe even review it for other members.

Romelle

[nutttbar]

Awesome suggestions Romelle, thanks!

Lucky for us we followed the instructions and wasted our time. What we ended up with was the 3 star, Courtyard San Juan Miramar, for $45 night. Thanks for your help! I'll start another thread for help with our night after the cruise if we need it.

[Romelle]

I'm happy for you. For the record, you got a REALLY good rate. Hotel prices in San Juan are so driven by the cruise ship business. It seems rates for 3*s are more in the $70 to $100 range.

Romelle

[thereuare]

I think $45 for a 3* hotel in San Juan is a great deal even if there were no cruise ships in town :)

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay and upcoming cruise.