Who's Used Hotwire or Priceline 'Hidden Hotel' For Pre-Cruise Hotel?

[Colorado Buffalo]

If you do a quick 7-10 online research, you can easily figure out the hotel you will get.

Who has done this? What's your experience? I assume the hotel will know you are staying at a discount.

I know we most likely will not get the best view in the hotel but hope we wouldn't get a sub-par room.

 

I found the Intercontinental Miami Downtown at a really good price in comparison to what's available the night we need a room.

I love the location and it gets positive reviews so I can't see a downside or is there?

[Noxequifans]

We always stay at the Intercontinental…. Great location and options for dinning.

[LadyBerard]

I use Hotwire, not just for my precruise hotels, but also if I am going to FLL on vacation.  We know which one is the Sonesta on FLL beach, and that is what we usually book.  When my friend and I went last year, we were actually upgraded to a very nice room (more spacious).  So, I don't think it matters if you book directly or through a third party.  We'll be cruising in 28 more days on the Rotterdam and this time hotels for the 19th were so expensive, even on Hotwire, so I book the Ramada Wyndam FLL/Cruiseport area on Hotwire; although I had a pretty good idea which hotel it was before booking.  We'll see if they give us the noisiest room location.  My expectations are not high for this property as the reviews are all over the place on Tripadvisor for it.

[LadyBerard]

I meant to type we'll be cruising in 18 more days!!!!  

 

[redsox1584]

I have been looking at Priceline and the deal for what I’m pretty sure is the Intercontinental is great…considering booking it as well 

[cuterlmt]

How can you figure out which hotel you're going to get? I found some really great deals on Hotwire for 4 star hotels, but looking at better bidding is not helping me. Any good hints?

[iancal]

In the past we have used Priceline bidding and Hotwire extensively to get hotels in FLL and MIA.  

 

It has been a while since we have even considered Florida.  In the past we have snagged Westin, Hilton Marina, Embassy Suites, Hyatt Place, Renaissance, Courtyard (at the beach) at very attractive rates.

 

There are several sites that can assist in bidding as well as indicate what they property will may be with a fairly high degree of certainty.

[Flipchild32]

On 3/1/2022 at 6:28 PM, Colorado Buffalo said:

If you do a quick 7-10 online research, you can easily figure out the hotel you will get.

Who has done this? What's your experience? I assume the hotel will know you are staying at a discount.

I know we most likely will not get the best view in the hotel but hope we wouldn't get a sub-par room.

 

I found the Intercontinental Miami Downtown at a really good price in comparison to what's available the night we need a room.

I love the location and it gets positive reviews so I can't see a downside or is there?

 

 I use betterbidding.com to do my research

[white93mr2]

On 3/4/2022 at 6:05 PM, cuterlmt said:

How can you figure out which hotel you're going to get? I found some really great deals on Hotwire for 4 star hotels, but looking at better bidding is not helping me. Any good hints?

Hotwire usually shows an actual picture from the property. Right Click the picture and select “copy”. Go to google images and paste the picture in the search bar. Click search and the results will show you which hotel the picture is from. 

[LadyBerard]

4 hours ago, white93mr2 said:

Hotwire usually shows an actual picture from the property. Right Click the picture and select “copy”. Go to google images and paste the picture in the search bar. Click search and the results will show you which hotel the picture is from. 

WOW.........I just learned something today.  Thank you.  I always stay at the Sonesta, and I know what their rooms look like, so it's easy for me on Hotwire.  However, for our stay this upcoming Sat. night, even on Hotwire, rooms were priced ridiculously, so I cheaped out and did not get a 4*, but chose something with less stars, and much more attractive price than the 4* properties had for my date.  I ended up with the Ramada Wyndham FLL/Cruiseport.  I've never stayed here.  I'm a bit nervous because reviews are all over the place.  So, I wish I had known your trick about Google Images before.  Thanks again!

[cuterlmt]

Thanks for all your help. I decided to go ahead and reserve my room since we did our online check in today  for our cruise, and  I don't have a lot of free time. We picked a 4 star, Miami downtown-port of Miami, for $209, about $260 with taxes and fees. Got the Hilton Miami Downtown. Looks decent. Considering, we were originally going to stay by the airport, I think this is a fantastic rate. Hopefully all goes smoothly. I will report back in about 4 weeks! Thanks for the idea of the google images. I will try that next time.

Thank you for helping make this an easier process! It's been a long time since I used hotwire, but I'm hopeful I'll be happy with it!

 

[redsox1584]

On 3/1/2022 at 6:28 PM, Colorado Buffalo said:

If you do a quick 7-10 online research, you can easily figure out the hotel you will get.

Who has done this? What's your experience? I assume the hotel will know you are staying at a discount.

I know we most likely will not get the best view in the hotel but hope we wouldn't get a sub-par room.

 

I found the Intercontinental Miami Downtown at a really good price in comparison to what's available the night we need a room.

I love the location and it gets positive reviews so I can't see a downside or is there?

I used Priceline last week for the Intercontinental. We got a city view room which was great and the hotel is in a fantastic location. Lots of things within walking distance and so close to the port.