Priceline/Hotwire FLL question please

[IrishRoamers]

Hi, I am organizing a family cruise reunion for 5 families. We are all staying in Fort Lauderdale prior to the cruise. I would like to use priceline or hotwire but we are all arriving on different days. The first two families are coming from Ireland (I am booking the hotels for all) on Wednesday (Saturday cruise). Myself and my family will arrive Thursday. The other two families will arrive Friday. Is it possible to use either of these sites and be guaranteed the same hotel? I've been checking prices at some of the hotels and I just can't seem to want to pay $159 or so when I have used Priceline pre-cruise before. If there are too many rooms involved, can someone recommend a hotel? Thanks. Sue

[dosi]

I can't recommend a specific hotel, but depending on how many rooms total you will need I would recommend that you contact several and ask about getting a group rate. These are often well discounted and can include breakfast or other things depending on what your needs are. When this cruise is taking place could also have a huge impact on how flexible the hotels will be with their rates. You may want to look at the on line reviews at tripadvisor.com. I have found a lot of great info there. Have a great time. Have a great visit. Slainte!!

[tortoni]

We stayed at the Marriott Harbor Beach for 88 per night pre-cruise in AUgust and thought this was great for the price. It is the only resort in FLL Beach on priceline (unless this recently changed), so you should be able to get everybody there if you only choose resort in FLL Beach. It was a great hotel for the money--I'd recommend it.

[IrishRoamers]

Thank you! Dosi, I did try calling several hotels with no luck for our group. They gave me the highest rates when calling direct. The cruise is not until July, but I like to have everything planned.

Tortoni, thanks for the info on the Mariott Harbour Beach. How far in advance did you book?

Cheers, Sue

[dosi]

July should be cheap!!! I would go with resort in beach area for FLL for everyone.....I have seen pics of the Marriott Resort there and it is gorgeous. I doubt you would have a problem getting rooms for everyone there because that is really not a popular time to go to Florida. Good luck!!!

[IrishRoamers]

Dosi,

What do you think of this? I can bid on three rooms for three nights even though we will only need one for two night. That way we would be GUARANTEED the same hotel and we could check in early since we paid for the room. For the priceline price that might be worth it?

[thereuare]

If you did the above you still have the problem of only being able to book up to 4 rooms at once. As well, booking an unused nite seems like a waste of money and would likely eliminate a great amount of the savings that Priceline/Hotwire offer. There is also a rare chance, as it's happened before (although rarely) that a hotel has cancelled an entire reservation when the party didn't show up for the first nite of the stay... yes, this happened on a pre-paid Priceline reservation (but there are ways around this too)

 

There's a risk involved, but one in which i would probably be willing to accept, of doing a Hotwire search for all of the dates i was looking for. If a hotel showed for all of the dates with the same star rating and amenities, i would then look further to see the likelihood of it being the same hotel (you can do this by seeing if other hotels have been identified with the same exact star ratings and amenities, and knowing how common/uncommon the amenities listed are to the area).

 

If i felt confident that they were all the same hotel, i would begin booking them. There is also always a chance that the hotel you book in the first reservation no longer appears for the subsequent searches, but at that point you could always wait to see if it re-appears on future days or book the remaining nites direct with the hotel.

 

Let me know if i can be of further help.

[tortoni]

Hi Sue, we stayed at the Harbor Beach in August and I booked it thru priceline about 3-4 weeks in advance. I started bidding in the 70s and then ultimately got it for $88.

[awatt]

Try valuetrips.com.

 

Prices are not quite as low as Priceline,but still a significant savings,and you can pick the same hotel for everybody.