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Summary of Winning Bids on Priceline, Hotwire, etc.

sunlover5

By sunlover5,
in San Juan, PR

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ehough

ehough

Posted
Posted

Just used Priceline to book the Sheraton Old San Juan for $85 for the night of 9/12/10. Was rejected at $80 so I added the Dorado region (knowing there were no hotels above a 3 star) and upped my bid to $85, when it was accepted. Can't get a similar bid for our pre-cruise stay, however! Luckily we have plenty of time. :)

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Goldeneye

Goldeneye

Posted
Posted

I'm having terrible difficulty too with bidding on resort hotels for 25-27th Feb...

In the past I've bid on resort hotels in SJU area Pre Cruise at Christmas and had no difficulty getting a resort hotel for $85( Intercontinental) & $90 Post cruise My friends who are arriving a day after us and have never used priceline went ahead and kept upping their bid.. they went up in $5 increments bidding $155 before any 'resorts' accepted..

 

I've looked to see if there is something going on that week and can't see anything unusual..

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Greek Gal

Greek Gal

Posted
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What are people putting down exactly as their requirements to get the $88 price for Caribe Hilton? Is this a number of stars or resort and what locations in San Juan are people picking to get it? I don't think I've used Priceline in years and don't even recall how it worked then but think it's changed since then anyway.

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ehough

ehough

Posted
Posted

GreekGal, the Caribe Hilton is listed as a Resort. What I would do is check on here or betterbidding.com and see what others are paying for when you are going. Pick a bid you are comfortable with and bid on a resort in San Juan. If that fails, you have two free re-bids- there are no resorts in the Dorado-Levittown or Mayaguez-Isabela zones. So, if your first bid fails, add one of those zones and up your price. If that fails, add the other zone and up your price again. If that fails you will have to wait 24 hours before trying again (unless you'd like to go down to a 4 star). Of course, this does not guarantee you the Caribe Hilton, but that's how I'd go about getting a resort.

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ehough

ehough

Posted
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It appears that other resort possibilities are the Condado Lagoon Villas at Caribe Hilton, El San Juan, the Inter-Continental, and the Marriott San Juan Resort.

 

As long as you stick with the "San Juan-Airport" area, I would not be too concerned about the taxi expense. Taxis in San Juan are regulated by zone. The El San Juan and Inter-Continental are in Zone 2, which would be a $10 ride from the airport; the Caribe Hilton is in Zone 4, which is a $19 ride. But since the pier is also in Zone 4, your cab ride to the pier would be $10 from the Hilton, or $19 from the Zone 2 hotels. So you're at $29 either way.

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Goliath27

Goliath27

Posted
Posted
Thanks so much for the help, ehough. What other resorts are there that people can get "stuck" with doing this? We won't be renting a car so my concern is getting a place that is expensive to get to by taxi from the airport and/or to the Victory.

 

Do this..

 

Bid for San Juan - Resorts

if the Bid is Declined, raise the offer by 5 bucks or so and add Cabo Rojo on the cities for resorts, Cabo does not have any Resort Category properties so it will just add it and retry your bid.

 

I got it for 88 a night, try that.

 

ALi

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Greek Gal

Greek Gal

Posted
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Oh, another thing that just hit me - being that the Caribe Hilton has timeshares, are these low prices because the fine print says you have to attend a sales presentation? I am thinking Priceline doesn't get involved in such stuff, but am not sure and there is no way I want to spend our little time in San Juan listening to a sales pitch.

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Goliath27

Goliath27

Posted
Posted
Ali, was that $88 your first bid? Another I am wondering about is if it never accepts your first bid.

more like my 8th try lol, I started at 75, went up to 90, went back down again and finally got it for 88. Like I said, tyou just gotta try. I bid 90 just 4 days prior and got rejected.

 

Thanks again everyone for posting your rates, but another thing just hit me....is everyone here getting rooms for two people only? We have three in our party and I know many hotels charge more for a third adult in a room.

I'm getting a room for 2 people but I don't think anyone will say anything for having 10 people, because they really can't know unless they follow you. Know what I mean?

 

Oh, another thing that just hit me - being that the Caribe Hilton has timeshares, are these low prices because the fine print says you have to attend a sales presentation? I am thinking Priceline doesn't get involved in such stuff, but am not sure and there is no way I want to spend our little time in San Juan listening to a sales pitch.

 

Not a clue, but many people have stayed there before and no one has mentioned anything like this.

 

ALi

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joannanwb

joannanwb

Posted
Posted

$110 per night plus taxes = $254.04 very happy, this was on Priceline. Hotwire showed 4* as a Resort for $135.

 

I read everyone's advice and started off yesterday at $75 Resort only and went up in $5 increments adding the other areas that don't have resorts.

 

Thanks to everyone for your helpful advice which I have found invaluable, toonie especially :D

 

Just one thing when I went into the hotel reservation my name and dates are correct but under my name it says priceline.com and a strange telephone number and the credit card ending is not the one I supplied to priceline. When you give your credit card details does priceline take the payment or the hotel? only my credit card will not match with what the hotel has on the statement. Should I be concerned?

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joannanwb

joannanwb

Posted
Posted

one other thing, I rang the hotel to request two double beds and give marriott loyalty number.

 

I said we would have a third adult, (our DS) with us and would there be an additional charge, they said yes $25 per night and that they didn't have any rooms with 2 double beds left. I thought 10 months out this wouldn't be a problem, obviously I thought wrong.

 

They said if we ended up with a kingsize bed they could provide a rollaway, but that I could keep ringing back and checking. The reception staff seemed really pleasant. Anyone have experience with this? thanks to all you super folks

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toonjie

toonjie

Posted
Posted
$110 per night plus taxes = $254.04 very happy, this was on Priceline. Hotwire showed 4* as a Resort for $135.

 

I read everyone's advice and started off yesterday at $75 Resort only and went up in $5 increments adding the other areas that don't have resorts.

 

Thanks to everyone for your helpful advice which I have found invaluable, toonie especially :D

 

Just one thing when I went into the hotel reservation my name and dates are correct but under my name it says priceline.com and a strange telephone number and the credit card ending is not the one I supplied to priceline. When you give your credit card details does priceline take the payment or the hotel? only my credit card will not match with what the hotel has on the statement. Should I be concerned?

 

one other thing, I rang the hotel to request two double beds and give marriott loyalty number.

 

I said we would have a third adult, (our DS) with us and would there be an additional charge, they said yes $25 per night and that they didn't have any rooms with 2 double beds left. I thought 10 months out this wouldn't be a problem, obviously I thought wrong.

 

They said if we ended up with a kingsize bed they could provide a rollaway, but that I could keep ringing back and checking. The reception staff seemed really pleasant. Anyone have experience with this? thanks to all you super folks

 

Congrats on getting the Marriott! You should be able to get two double beds, but they always cover themselves since it is not guaranteed. You have a request in and as long as you check-in early in the day, you should be fine. Priceline is the one that takes the payment and then passes it along to the hotel, so if something looks wrong, then I would take it up with priceline. They charge you full in advance so you can always check with your CC company to see if it is correct and you have been charged in full.

 

I don't believe they do rollaways anymore. A lot of hotels have been getting rid of them lately and I know Marriott Residence Inns have. There are often fire regulations that make rollaways a problem.

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KATSEKIS

KATSEKIS

Posted
Posted
Not quite!

 

In order to NOT get a resort in another zone, you need to re-bid in a zone that DOES NOT HAVE RESORTS. This is called a free re-bid. So before you start bidding, select every zone individually. The ones that do not have resorts write the zones down so that if your first bid isn't accepted, you can add these zones as free rebids right away. Otherwise you'd need to wait 24 hours before bidding again. This also allows you to not overbid since you can start low and work your way up. Be sure to NOT change the star level. Keep it at RESORT just add the zones.

 

Here's a sample bidding strategy:



Select - San Juan - Resorts- bid xxx

add Cabo and rebid xxx

add Dorado and rebid xxx

add Maya and rebid xxx

add Ponce and rebid xxx

 

If you notice, each zone that I added has no resorts which ensures that the bidding goes back to my initial zone which is San Juan. I was able to snag the Intercontinental for $91 in January, so priceline is a good option if you know how to bid and want to save some money.

 

Hope this helps. I'm a priceline junkie!!!!:D I can bid and write up strategies in my sleep. There's even a way to squeeze more free rebids than the above strategy, but that's for the more experienced users. If you have more questions though, feel free to ask.

 

Happy Bidding! ;)

 

Hello lknight27,

 

Thanks for the bidding info for San Juan. Since you are a Priceline Junkie, I need some help. I just read a post from toonjie dated Jan. 23, 2010, she said that Betterbidding.com is listing the Hyatt in the Dorado area as a Resort. And Priceline is listing the Hilton in Ponce as a resort. Do you know if this is true?

 

I need a room in San Juan on April 16 for 2 nights and April 25 for 1 night. I'm scared to add Dorado and Ponce for a re-bid if they both have Resorts.

 

Thanks,

katsekis

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Greek Gal

Greek Gal

Posted
Posted

We got the Caribe Hilton (seems like the tower and not the villas) with two beds and a balcony (we were told that's what all the rooms there are, and the contact there didn't mention an extra charge for a third person when my husband called to let them know we had a third person) for $88 on our first try for the one night after the cruise, but after two nights of trying for up to $92 for the two nights before the cruise, are still striking out. Will try again tomorrow night. Also need to book for South Beach later that week and wonder how high we'll have to go there to be beachfront and where the action is (we stayed there in January 2006 after a Panana Canal cruise and felt we really ought to return another time as our one night there wasn't enough).

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