Priceline/hotwire - Trying For Miami!

[Froufie]

:rolleyes: Well I totally already screwed up and used up my 3 wishes with the Priceline genie!

 

I tried for a 3 or 4 star w/no luck! But did not change area from downtown - wondering if I should try for South Beach and/or Coral Gables which seem fairly close to port area or stick with something more reasonable near the airport?

 

I also tried Hotwire which has NOTHING listed for downtown area - and then lots of unknowns - I am a bit leery of South Beach as I think there are some good and bad hotels/areas and would hate to get stuck w/something nasty!

 

I have checked out the Homewood suites near the airport (Thanks Trent!) and it looks like the lowest rate there is $149 so that might be my final option if nothing else pans out.

 

So now I have to wait 72 hours??? hmmmm (guess I can book the homewood and then cancel if I get something else?)

 

Frouf:o

[emilyrose]

Well in my obsessive search for a cheap hotel room, i learned a trick with PL that you may already know. Go through each district one a time, click the bubble, then hit next, it will show you what star levels are available in that area. Hit your back button and do each one. Then, if you get a no-go on your area, you can add another area that DOES NOT have your star level, only lower. ie- if you are searching for 3*, add a zone that doesn't have any 3*'s. you get another shot, but you won't get one in that new zone, because there aren't any.

 

That being said, I won a room yesterday in Coral Gables for $65, it turned out to be a worn down Holiday Inn with tepid reviews. Kind of a bummer. Bidding for travel.com has a good list of all the hotels that you may get in your quest on PL and their star levels. There's also threads about how much ppl are bidding and how thier bids went.

 

Good Luck

[TrentS]

I would NEVER recommend you go with anything less than a 4-star as MANY of the 3-star and less Priceline/Hotwire hotels here are pretty nasty.

 

Coral Gables is generally a nice area and 15 minutes or so from the port, but if you go 3-star you'll get the old, ratty Holiday Inn.

 

If you want to keep trying Priceline just don't go below 4-stars if you don't want something on the nasty side.

 

Personally I'd go with one of the airport hotels in the "Blue Lagoon" area if booking directly in downtown Miami is too pricey for you. The Homewood Suites would be a very good choice!

[Bequia]

You can also increase your bidding ability by creating more then one Priceline account. ;)

[killintime]

We had a hard time with Priceline as well. I waited until today (the day before we leave) to attempt it again. I was unable to get anything in Ft Lauderdale with bids up to $110. I saw a post on these boards from someone who got the Renaissance dwntwn FLL for $58 for the same dates! I couldnt get the same deal, so it really is hit or miss with PL.

 

Today, I bid on downtown Miami, 4* and was rejected at $80 with an offer for a rebid if I added $22. Instead, I added 4* South Beach and my bid of $90 was accepted. We got the Hyatt downtown Miami. I repeated the process for next weekend's post cruise night and got the same deal. Since the rates are $315 for these nights, we are happy with the deal and we happily cancelled our backup hotel, the Amerisuites in FLL. Keep trying right up until you leave!

[Froufie]

Can you please clarify? You bid on South Beach and got the Hyatt in downtown? Or is the downtown Hyatt considered and found in the "South Beach" area hotel list?

 

I will continue trying - I think $90 is probably a good price for the Hyatt! (and I am assuming it is very close to the port?)

 

Thanks,

 

Froufie:cool:

[killintime]

No, the Hyatt is in downtown. The reason I bid that way was to try to get the DT 4* without adding the full $22 they wanted me to add to my rebid. I had a feeling that I could get it for less. To rebid, I had to add the South Beach zone. I didnt want to change to 3*...too risky. So I added South Beach and rebid with $10 more on my original bid. It gave me the DT hotel. You do risk getting a 4* in South Beach by doing this. SoBe is close to the cruise port, so we were willing to risk it on a 4*, but NOT for 3*.