Name your price hotel

[Jamericaneyes]

Does anyone have any experience doing the name your price for San Juan Hotel stays pre-cruise? Were you happy with the experience and would you do it again? We want to stay in Condado area in Feb. 2015 before our cruise on Adventure. I realize the resort fees are added and payable to the hotel at the time of your stay. It looks like the taxes are included after your price is determined. Is it better to wait until just a few months before check in? I'm hesitant to "take the plunge".

[monicajay]

Does anyone have any experience doing the name your price for San Juan Hotel stays pre-cruise? Were you happy with the experience and would you do it again? We want to stay in Condado area in Feb. 2015 before our cruise on Adventure. I realize the resort fees are added and payable to the hotel at the time of your stay. It looks like the taxes are included after your price is determined. Is it better to wait until just a few months before check in? I'm hesitant to "take the plunge".

 

Are you referring to Priceline? If so, it is impossible to bid and be sure to get the Condado area as it has been 'lumped' together with Old San Juan. We have used Hotwire, they still have all the districts separate so you know for sure you will get the Condado. Because with Hotwire they show some of the facilities you can often figure out which hotel it is. We were lucky and to the Hilton Condado Plaza for our 2 night pre-cruise stay (check out betterbidding dot com to help you figure it all out). We enjoyed it very much. In the past on another trip we used Hotwire for Isla Verde and got the InterContinental. That was another really good deal.

 

The trick is to stick with the 4 star hotels. Then, you really can't go wrong.

 

Good Luck!!

Edited April 26, 2014 by monicajay

[cra-z-2cruise]

We have used priceline all for pre an post cruise stays for all three visits to San Juan. We won Caribe Hilton twice, Marriott Stellaris once, and Sheraton OSJ once. We were extremely pleased all three times. The time frame ranged from only 2 weeks prior to six weeks prior.

[Jamericaneyes]

Thank you. Maybe I will look at Hotwire. We stayed in OSJ last time and wanted to spend some time on the beach in the Condado area this time.

[jimmyvinny]

When we did it, we got Sheraton OSJ.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app

[Dirkgun]

We have used Priceline for the last two trips to San Juan and have lucked out and gotten Caribe Hilton 2 times (one pre cruise and one post) and Sheraton OSJ once post cruise (if you only stay one night you will almost never get Sheraton they have a 2 night min) We also got Radisson Ambassador over in Condado precruise once. I would just have in mind what you want to pay- what you are willing to pay like another poster has said better bidding dot com is a good place to research what other wins for different time periods have been. My strategy is usually start lower than I really expect to get and then if they accept, great if not you can use some free rebids by changing what zones then just up your bid by a few $$ each time. If you have some time before you go you can be patient. If you carefully study the zones on priceline you can figure out which zones don't have certain star level hotels and then add in those zones as you need rebids each day. Sounds complicated but it really isn't... just look at it and research on better bidding. Good luck to you.

[travelingmomonthego]

What is the best timeframe to get good deals on priceline for the hotels?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Jamericaneyes]

We did an express deal through Priceline. Put in for 4 stars Condado/OSJ area and got La Concha for 2 nights pre-cruise. This was the hotel we were hoping for. Got it for $179 per night, minus 5% coupon. We leave Feb. 2015.

[buddylover]

We did Express Deal on Priceline as well, put in Condado/Old SJ, 4 Stars (there are no 4 stars in Old San Juan so will most likely only get a Condado Hotel)....we won Mariott Stellars for 1 nite, Conrad Condado Hilton for another nite before cruise this year, and La Concha (our hopeful and most favorite) for nite between cruises on B2B this Jan. We love Priceline!

[slidergirl]

Based on my experience working at several hotels…

 

Once you secure you hotel, call the hotel to verify that they did receive the reservation and it is for the correct room type and number of people! I've had guest show up, ready to check in for their vacation, only to find the booking never came through. I've had this with Priceline, Orbitz, Expedia and the biggest offender Booking.com. It's a major pain for both sides of the counter - we have to contact the agency, see where they screwed up, wait for them to re-send the booking… If the hotel is full, well, you will have to find you own alternative (if you had booked directly with the hotel, the hotel will find alternatives for you).

 

I just had an incident this weekend with Expedia. It was booked as a single room with a King bed. Up walks a family of four who had that reservation and says they asked for a room with 2 queen beds… oops. Couldn't add 2 rollaways because of fire hazard rules and there would be no room to move in the room. Had to find staff to clean a room with 2 queen beds, which takes a good hour. And, tack on an extra charge, since that room cost more money…

 

Now, this isn't a common occurrence and most of the time you will be fine. But, you should always follow up on any reservations made through a third-party booking engine, be it hotels or flights.

Edited May 27, 2014 by slidergirl

[NCTribeFan]

The very top "stuck" thread on this board is all about Priceline and Hotwire bidding for San Juan.

 

It used to be very, very active but isn't so much lately. Still, I used it (again) for the third time for my upcoming cruise. I've never used either Priceline or Hotwire for anywhere else, but there was so much useful, helpful info in that thread that I felt I could be brave and give it a shot for San Juan.

 

I suggest you do some reading back to the point where we were discussing the change in Priceline (no resort grouping any longer). That should give you the most current info.

 

People there will recommend that you use a couple of online sites that help you identify the hotels. I personally haven't found them to be as helpful as the folks in that thread who posted what they bid and their results.

[Platypus_72]

We did Express Deal on Priceline as well, put in Condado/Old SJ, 4 Stars (there are no 4 stars in Old San Juan so will most likely only get a Condado Hotel)....we won Mariott Stellars for 1 nite, Conrad Condado Hilton for another nite before cruise this year, and La Concha (our hopeful and most favorite) for nite between cruises on B2B this Jan. We love Priceline!

 

If you don't mind me asking, what price did you bid to win the Condado Hilton? I really want to stay there in January but don't want to pay the $250+/night.

[buddylover]

If you don't mind me asking, what price did you bid to win the Condado Hilton? I really want to stay there in January but don't want to pay the $250+/night.

 

So sorry, haven't been on this thread for a while. We bid $155 and won Condado Hilton which we were thrilled with as it is $100 less than the going price. I just kept bidding and bidding, upping my amount by $5, til I finally won at $155. Took many days of bidding and I started much lower. When I saw an Express Deal for $160 that I was pretty sure was going to be for Codadlo Hilton, I upped my bid to $155 thinking I would just do the express deal otherwise, but we won it at that price!!

[Platypus_72]

So sorry, haven't been on this thread for a while. We bid $155 and won Condado Hilton which we were thrilled with as it is $100 less than the going price. I just kept bidding and bidding, upping my amount by $5, til I finally won at $155. Took many days of bidding and I started much lower. When I saw an Express Deal for $160 that I was pretty sure was going to be for Codadlo Hilton, I upped my bid to $155 thinking I would just do the express deal otherwise, but we won it at that price!!

 

Lucky duck! I tried bidding in the low $200s and all of my bids got rejected. I guess I'll just have to keep trying....

[Dirkgun]

Lucky duck! I tried bidding in the low $200s and all of my bids got rejected. I guess I'll just have to keep trying....

 

Try bidding a little closer to your cruise, but have cancellable reservations somewhere you can live with. Sometimes it is a process. This far out the hotel is hoping it can fill up their rooms on their terms. Be patient and keep trying at your prices... you will find something.