Priceline Hotel: 3* Phoenix (Scottsdale) Millenium McCormick Ranch

[sgibson]

Hi, I'd appreciate any help in identifying these hotels.

Scottsdale 3.5, $57

3/25/10 - 3/31/10

Resort

Smoke Free Rooms

Pool

Restaurant

Business Center

High Speed Internet Access

Golf Nearby

Tennis Nearby

Also..

Tempe/ASU, 3.5*, $58

3/25/10 - 3/31/10

Smoke Free

Airport Shuttle

Fitness Centr

Pool

Restauarnt

High Speed Internet Access

Thank you!!!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

The 3.5* Scottsdale property matches the Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort and Suites so that would be my best guess for that one.

Best guess for the ASU proerty would be the Sheraton Tempe Airport, with the addition of a new Smoke Free icon since previously reported.

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

Let us know what you decide and how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[sgibson]

Thank you!

Neither property interests me (Cottonwoods becomes pricy with with resort fees and bad reviews, though good location and the Sheraton is tempting but this is our first trip to the Arizona and it seems a little dull out there).

I think I'm going to try my luck with Priceline for something in Scottsdale. I'm hoping for the Doubletree Paradise Valley or Mondrain, both of which have been acquired for cheaper than what Hotwire is offering.

This is my plan for right now. I will update the site with any Priceline info and of course use your links when I purchase.

Any further advice or direction is appreciated.

[sgibson]

Please forgive me if this isn't the appropriate location for this question (be kind, it's only my second post):

I'm looking to book through Priceline for my trip to the Scottsdale 3/25 - 3/31. And yes I will use the PRICELINE link on this site to do so. :)

I'm noticing that most the the wins for Scottsdale are for Resort properties. And from looking at the reviews on Trip Advisor, it appears that if you book through Priceline, they are not upfront with what the resort fees are, and a lot of people get upset when they go to check in and are slammed with these additional fees.

When I go to Priceline's site, along with picking that star rating of the hotel, there is another button to select RESORT. So, am I safe to assume, if I don't select Resort, I won't get a Resort property? And if I just select a 4* hotel in Scottsdale, I will get a 4* non-resort fee property?

The Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort has "resort" in it's title, but seems to not have any resort fees. Would this be obtained by clicking Resort or not?

This is all very confusing! How can almost every hotel in Scottsdale be a resort? lol

Anyway, to summarize, does anyone know with any degree of certainty if Priceline's designation of a Resort means "resort fees" or just that the hotel meets the amenities requirement to be a resort? Thanks!

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread. If you ultimatley use PRICELINE we'll move this entire thread to that section of the board.

To answer your question above:

1) when you select a star level with PRICELINE it is the minimum that you are willing to accept. Even if you bid for a 4* hotel you could be upgraded to a resort class property... so bidding on something less than Resort won't necessarily keep you out of a resort class property.

2) it's not just "resort class" properties which have been charnging resort fees... you could get hit with them at any star level. If you decide to use PRICELINE it's just something you have to take into consideration when you choose your maximum bid. As a side note, HOTWIRE now does indicate the resort fees for most hotels that charge them... after you click the CONTINUE button next to an offering, on the lower right corner of the subsequent page under "know before your go" any resort fee will often be listed.

Thanks for using our PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links.

[sgibson]

Lol, ok.

Well, here's another Priceline question:

Is there any significance to Priceline's designation of "best deal"? The Scottsdale area is the "best deal" for the Phoenix area and the 4* hotels are the "best deal" star ranking. I wonder if this indicates I can go really low on a price for that category or just indicates Priceline is saving my searches. ;-)

Thanks for all your help so far!

[AaronJB]

I'm doubtful that the "best deal" designation is significant. Additionally, with resort fees and PRICELINE, those who pay regular rate still have to pay the same resort fee.

Thank you for using the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links.

[sgibson]

Another Hotwire ID question please? Thank you!

Scottsdale, 3.5*, $85

3/25/10- 3/31/10

Fitness Center

Pool

Restaurant

Business Center

High Speed Internet Access

[AaronJB]

That property has not yet been ID'd/reported to the board, although it may be the Indigo hiding the previously seen "smoke-free" amenity (but that would be just a guess.)

[thereuare]

If you change your search to 2adults/2children a new 3.5* appears in this zone for $89/nite with Resort, Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Golf, Tennis icons. This is a match for the Millennium Resort so that would be my best guess for this one. This property does have a ~$10/nite resort fee, but perhpas $99/nite is still within your budget if you're interested in this property?

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

[sgibson]

Hotwire is driving me crazy. This looks like the same place as my initial query, but now the star level has dropped from 3.5* to 3*. Is this a different property from Cottonwoods? Thank you.

Scottsdale 3*, $56

3/25/10 - 3/31/10

Resort

Smoke Free Rooms

Pool

Restaurant

Business Center

High Speed Internet Access

Golf Nearby

Tennis Nearby

[thereuare]

Given the nearly same price point, and that the 3.5* now offered has different amenities and is priced much higher, i'm going to speculate that this is still the Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort and Suites and that this property may have been downgraded... can't say for certain, but that would be my best guess.

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

[sgibson]

Nevermind Hotwire.

Tried my luck with PRICELINE (through your links) and booked a hotel!

So agonizing (I'm not sure I'm cut out for this!) but totally worth it.

Bid $29 on 3* Scottsdale, rejected.

Bid $33 and added Apache Junction, rejected.

(started sweating because I only had one more zone to play with, got nervous because I really wanted this to be over with and...)

Bid $41 and added Happy Valley, ACCEPTED!

Woo hoo!

Millennium Resort Scottsdale McCormick Ranch

Room Cost (avg. per room, per night):$41.00 (USD)

Number of Rooms:1

Number of Nights:6

Room Subtotal:$246.00 (USD)

Taxes and Fees:$41.40 (USD)

Total Room Cost:$287.40 (USD)

I am THRILLED. This would have cost me $603 on HOTWIRE @ $89 per night and $1192 on Expedia @ $170.

Thank you Better Bidding. You've made this trip possible for me. :)

[AaronJB]

Congratulations on your success!

Fantastic discount for this property, and glad you were successful with bidding. :)

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using the site's PRICELINE link to start your purchase.

Enjoy your stay.

[sgibson]

I think it's important to note that I used SCOTTSDALE and not SCOTTSDALE NORTH to obtain this property.

It's also a little confusing because it seems sometimes the winning bid is posted in the subject ($41) and sometimes the initial (losing) bid ($29). Makes more sense to me to post the winning bid, but I've seen it the other way as well.

[AaronJB]

Thank you for the note regarding the zone. The correct/intended price for the thread titles should be the final pre-tax bid price. If the initial bid was listed in a thread title, that would need to be fixed and can be easily corrected.