Priceline wins for Ft. Lauderdale Renaissance for Feb. 2013?

[elycelynne]

I was just wondering if anyone has gotten anything yet and, if so, what was your winning bid? I'm looking at a Sunday night (2/17) and thought that it might be a bit cheaper than a Friday or Saturday night because Monday isn't a prime cruise day, but then again that might not be the case.

[Lou33]

ElyceLynne,

 

You're bidding WAY too early. Mid winter is a busy time in Fort Lauderdale. The hotel managers know the rooms will fill up at the regular price, so they don't have an incentive to offer cut-rate prices on priceline so far in advance. But that can change later if some rooms don't fill. You don't want to bid too much now, because you would get locked into a non-refundable reservation so far in advance.

 

The best stratagey is booking a good hotel at a reasonable price now as a backup that you can cancel, then try priceline in January. The Renaissance in the downtown FLL area can often be had for $70 or less on priceline, but I don't think that will work for February dates. I checked biddingfortravel.com for last Feb and I didn't see any wins. But in Jan 2011 and March 2011 it went for $100/night on priceline with bids about 1 month in advance.

 

One person posted here that they got it for $65 last Feb, but it appears that they bid one day before their stay:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=32278105&highlight=renaissance#post32278105

 

I can't emphasis enough that you need to read and understand the information on sites like biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com before you bid on priceline. No, I'm not associated with those websites in any way, but they have certainly helped me.

[elycelynne]

Thanks, Lou33. I actually have been lurking a bit on the betterbidding board, and I have used both priceline and hotwire in the past (once each), so I'm not totally unfamiliar with them. I just thought that someone might have already gotten a result so I could gauge my bid accordingly. I have no illusions about getting it for as cheap as $65 -- I think I paid $85 for early Decmeber back in 2009 and I do realize that February is peak time. Something in the low $100 area would be perfectly acceptable.

[Lou33]

OK, I think the bids for the last few winters will be a good measure for you, because I doubt that there are any bids accepted yet for Feb'13, and if they were, they were likely very high. I have always had good luck bidding in FLL. The Renaissance is a good hotel to try for since it's the only 4* in the downtown zone. So if you bid only 4* in that zone, and the free rebid zones, you can't get any other hotel. Good luck with your bidding.

[dmk]

Last year, I bid for the Renaissance for March. I bid right up until we left. I couldn't get it. I was bidding up to $125.

Good luck. I would like to try again for March But I will wait until next February to begin bidding. Otherwise, it just gets frustrating.

[KAWS]

We got it for $122 last March. I thought that was a pretty good price considering what it would cost to just book it directly. With the thousands and thousands of cruisers every weekend, for me paying say $20 extra is totally worth it to get the hotel I want for the night I want without worrying about where am I going to go if I can't get it.

 

PS We've already booked our hotel for December this year AND for next March with Hotwire (again my reasoning is the same). I'm looking for a good deal and when I feel I get it I take it. Super, super low deal..........would be nice but I'm happy with a good deal.

[santa24]

We got it on Hotwire a couple of weeks ago for Thurs. Jan 17, 2013 and paid $135.00 before taxes and fees, if that's any help to you.

[tip]

For what it is worth, we got it for $110 per night before taxes/fees for Sunday-Wednesday, January 13-16, 2013. Our bid was accepted on May 3rd of this year via Priceline.

[Putterdude]

I was just wondering if anyone has gotten anything yet and, if so, what was your winning bid? I'm looking at a Sunday night (2/17) and thought that it might be a bit cheaper than a Friday or Saturday night because Monday isn't a prime cruise day, but then again that might not be the case.

 

You may care to look at the 'Sticky" at the top of this forum, prices are certainly up for next season. We got the Hyatt Place North for $110 for early January on a bid we made in June.

[eandj]

I was just wondering if anyone has gotten anything yet and, if so, what was your winning bid? I'm looking at a Sunday night (2/17) and thought that it might be a bit cheaper than a Friday or Saturday night because Monday isn't a prime cruise day, but then again that might not be the case.

 

 

You are looking at the weekend attached to Presidents Day.. Monday, 18th. Not a "normal" Sunday night.

[BlueHerons]

You are looking at the weekend attached to Presidents Day.. Monday, 18th. Not a "normal" Sunday night.

 

Not only that, hotels know exactly how many hotel rooms they are going to sell and I'd be very doubtful that they have released any rooms to hotwire and priceline for more than a few dollars off rack rate.

 

At best, you'll be looking at around $150 for a priceline room and will probably only get it if you book last minute.

 

That said, I'd book something you are comfortable with that you can cancel and try a couple of days before.

 

No other bids are useful to you unless they are over Presidents Week or Easter Week from last year.

[whatcruiseisnext]

Just booked Feb 14, 2013 on Hotwire and got the Renaissance for $133.00.

[ragtiki2004]

Good job. Great deal for that time of the year. Bob:)

[Lois R]

Just booked Feb 14, 2013 on Hotwire and got the Renaissance for $133.00.

 

Was this before or after the fees/taxes? Does it say 4 star downtown?

[whatcruiseisnext]

It was before the fees.....Total came to $156.40 after the fees. It was 4 star Las Olas Downtown.

[lovey1103]

It was before the fees.....Total came to $156.40 after the fees. It was 4 star Las Olas Downtown.

Same here for January 31, 2013 on Hotwire bidding a few minutes ago. I'm happy enough.

[elycelynne]

Was it "85% recommended"? Just want to make sure that what I'm seeing is definitely the Renaissance.

[Lois R]

Was it "85% recommended"? Just want to make sure that what I'm seeing is definitely the Renaissance.

 

Hi:)there really are no "Definites" on Hotwire or Priceline....

"More likely" would be a better term.

[elycelynne]

The rest of the criteria seem to indicate that it's the Renaissance. The reason I'm asking about the 85% Hotwire approval rating is because that would be something that could be verified and therefore eliminate the last piece of guesswork. I think the only other hotel it could possibly be is the Hilton Marina, but I don't think that one is non-smoking (although I could be wrong).

[Lois R]

The rest of the criteria seem to indicate that it's the Renaissance. The reason I'm asking about the 85% Hotwire approval rating is because that would be something that could be verified and therefore eliminate the last piece of guesswork. I think the only other hotel it could possibly be is the Hilton Marina, but I don't think that one is non-smoking (although I could be wrong).

 

I believe you are correct:) from what I have been researching

the only 2 hotels that are 4 Stars in the Downtown/Las Olas areas

on Hotwire are Renassiance and Hilton Marina.

 

I was sort of making a general statement about the 2 websites

since you really don't know 100% what you will get until after the

fact;)

[elycelynne]

I got it for $124 plus taxes and fees for a total of $147.40. Yay! And I can pick up my pop at Walgreens and stuff my face with garlic rolls at Bravo and not have to walk more than a block! :D:p

[Lois R]

I got it for $124 plus taxes and fees for a total of $147.40. Yay! And I can pick up my pop at Walgreens and stuff my face with garlic rolls at Bravo and not have to walk more than a block! :D:p

 

Congratulations:)

[elycelynne]

Congratulations:)

 

Thanks, Lois -- Glad THAT'S out of the way! Now I have to deal with airfare. How I envy you Floridians for not having to deal with that for the Caribbean!

[Jayfo]

I feel your impending pain for the flights too...:(

Southwest opened up until next March just today and flights from Midway to FLL are terrible!!! Average of $185 and barely any nonstop flights!! I've been following your hotel booking journey for help and I look forward to seeing how the airfare goes too.

 

Congrats on getting the hotel settled so far :D one less thing to worry about!!

[elycelynne]

I feel your impending pain for the flights too...:(

Southwest opened up until next March just today and flights from Midway to FLL are terrible!!! Average of $185 and barely any nonstop flights!! I've been following your hotel booking journey for help and I look forward to seeing how the airfare goes too.

 

Congrats on getting the hotel settled so far :D one less thing to worry about!!

 

Yes, I noticed that, too! There are a couple of halfway decent nonstops on Southwest for me -- On my travel dates there's one that gets into FLL at around 4 p.m. and a return flight at 1:50 p.m. I might book the return flight fairly soon. There's an outbound nonstop United flight from O'Hare at 8:50 a.m., but right now they have a "deal" on their first-class fare (which I really don't need) that makes it cheaper than their coach fare (which they're selling at a ridiculously high $360 for one way), so I'm hoping that they'll stop the deal and lower their coach fare so that I can maybe book that one-way. Their only makeable return nonstop flight is a 4:55 p.m. Ask me if I want to hang around FLL for that length of time -- Don't think so! :p