Priceline - Marriott Hotels Sydney

[SheilaNC]

Sharon,

Thanks from me, as well. As you know, I was booked at the Marriott Sydney Harbor - and thought I had a good price. Then I stumbled on this thread and, tonight, thought....maybe I can still get a better price. So...my very first Priceline purchase - got the $157 rate by trying $135 and agreeing to pay the $22 extra rather that hoping to save a few more dollars. Truthfully, I got nervous about now having 2 reservations. Had no problem just confirming the Priceline price and then cancelling my original reservation. Nice difference bet. $199 and $157 - enough to decide to upgrade, if possible, when we get there. However, I don't think I'd pay extra since we've been to Sydney before and would rather save the $$ to buy a few extra drinks onboard :)

[marilynfaye]

I'm a priceline newbie. Only used it once where I knew there was only one hotel that would fulfill my request (Amsterdam Airport - 5*), but I am seeing 2 hotels listed for regular reservations on Priceline for Sydney: the Marriot and a Stanford Plaza. How do you know when you place a bid that you are going to get the Marriot?

 

Thanks for the help.

Marilyn

[SheilaNC]

Marilyn,

You don't know...that's the way Priceline works. I went by the advice of the folks on this board and convinced myself that I'd be happy with a good deal even if it wasn't the Marriott. The others convinced me that the Marriott was the one that they were all getting. As I hear the Stanford Plaza is very nice just not in as good a location.

[marilynfaye]

Aftrer searching hotel maps and street maps, I finally realized that the Stamford Plaza Double Bay (in the "Village of Double Bay") is far enough away that it is not considered Sydney City Centre. Sooooooooo there really is only one hotel that qualifies for that designation. O.K., I'm going in.

 

Marilyn

[TenerifeSharon]

Aftrer searching hotel maps and street maps, I finally realized that the Stamford Plaza Double Bay (in the "Village of Double Bay") is far enough away that it is not considered Sydney City Centre. Sooooooooo there really is only one hotel that qualifies for that designation. O.K., I'm going in.

 

Marilyn

Hi Marilyn,

First of all, good luck with Priceline! It really is a great opportunity if you've done your homework!

Why would you think that the Stamford Plaza is an offering? (I don't think I've ever seen it reported as a win on either betterbidding or biddingfortravel.) Don't assume that the regularly priced Priceline hotels are the same as the "Name your own Price" ones. It's not very often true.

Hotwire is different. If you are checking amenity icons between the package deals and the hotel only possibility, the comparison usually will show which hotel-only you will get. Again, no guarantees!

[Globaliser]

... I am seeing 2 hotels listed for regular reservations on Priceline for Sydney: the Marriot and a Stanford Plaza. How do you know when you place a bid that you are going to get the Marriot?

Sooooooooo there really is only one hotel that qualifies for that designation.

As I understand it, the hotels that you might get if you bid are not limited to those which appear on the regular booking side of the Priceline site. So even if there are no other 5* city centre hotels on that side of the site, you could in theory end up with some hotel other than the Sydney Harbour Marriott if you bid. As always, you are not guaranteed the identity of the hotel until after you have paid for the room having been successful in your bid.

 

The confidence that most of us have in Sydney is simply because there are so few reports of any other hotel coming up on a successful 5* bid. You can see this for yourself on the bidding assistance websites out there.

[marilynfaye]

Thanks, everyone. This is fascinating. I DID think that the hotels listed at a fixed rate were the ones available for bidding. And, yes, from my limited browsing I have found mention of only the Marriot. I actually have had a reservation there for a couple of months - a senior rate or a weekend rate or a senior weekend rate (can't remember exactly) - but I am hoping to do better with Priceline. I put in a bid this morning, which was rejected. I was not offered a room with a fixed add on price, so I have to wait until tomorrow to try again.

 

Marilyn

[Globaliser]

I was not offered a room with a fixed add on price, so I have to wait until tomorrow to try again.

If you're bidding on Priceline, and your bid is rejected but you get a counter-offer, you can usually get a room for less than the counter-offer. But that's something that only works well if you're in a place where you can get a "free rebid" immediately instead of having to wait 24 hours (by manipulating the zones in the city). Unfortunately, I think Sydney is not such a place.

[marilynfaye]

Thanks to you all for adding to my education. I just got the Marriott for $150.

 

Marilyn

[burtshell]

hi all,

 

with each response and new question, the time is slowly but surely coming closer to your departure...yea!!!

 

burt and i flew from lax to syd on hawaiian air Because it is an ALL DAY FLIGHT.....we booked it with priceline.

 

this proved to be wonderful for both our body and our heads...

 

we left lax at 8:30 am and arrived in sydney at 7:00 p.m. so we didn't lose a night's sleep..

 

we unpacked went to sleep and felt refreshed and rarin' to get started discovering sydney the next morning.

 

i don't know how many of you already have your airline reservations, but if not, you might want to consider hawaiian air...the fare was $1232 for both of us.

 

hope this is helpful..

 

happy 4th to everyone!!!!!!!!

 

shelley

[notentirelynormal]

Has anyone tried to book a group of rooms this way? I need seven rooms. It would make me nervous to have to do one at a time and then not get all seven...... kind of defeat the purpose.

[Karynanne]

Has anyone tried to book a group of rooms this way? I need seven rooms. It would make me nervous to have to do one at a time and then not get all seven...... kind of defeat the purpose.

 

 

I think you can submit an offer for 4 rooms at a time. I would also email or call the hotel, and see what kind of group room package they might offer.

 

Karyn

[notentirelynormal]

That's probably what I'll do..... thanks

[SheilaNC]

If you don't get a rate that you like, try going to the Marriott.com.au site and book from there.

I had a $199 rate from there before I booked via Priceline and cancelled the first reservation. But I think Marriott site only lets you book 4 rooms at a time as well. Good luck!

[pinksuit]

Has anyone tried to book a group of rooms this way? I need seven rooms. It would make me nervous to have to do one at a time and then not get all seven...... kind of defeat the purpose.

 

Try using hotelplanner.com and also you can use Priceline. The only thing with Priceline is that you get stuck with the $$ responsibility if someone cannot go. That's the issue that I have with my group of 20. Good luck!

PinkSuit

[Coastaljen]

I tried to bid on a hotel room, and I have never used the site. I was trying to get the Marriott Sydney Harbour. Obviously I bid too low.

 

It said I HAD to change a criteria. If I don't want to, it will not accept a higher offer. Is that because I just wait 24 hrs. and try again?

 

Another stupid question. Could I go in with a different credit card, different e-mail address, and different name (the room could be in my mother's or my name) could I bid again now?

[TenerifeSharon]

I tried to bid on a hotel room, and I have never used the site. I was trying to get the Marriott Sydney Harbour. Obviously I bid too low.

Don't know how much you bid, but the winning bids seem to be around $150 per night. The lowest I've seen it in recent times was $137. If you have lots of time (since your cruise isn't until December), just keep bidding once every 24 hours.

 

It said I HAD to change a criteria. If I don't want to, it will not accept a higher offer. Is that because I just wait 24 hrs. and try again?

If you don't want to, or can't, change anything about your offer - excepting to raise the amount of your bid - you WILL have to wait at least 24 hours (not a minute less!).

 

Another stupid question. Could I go in with a different credit card, different e-mail address, and different name (the room could be in my mother's or my name) could I bid again now?

If you could do all the above (different credit card, e-Mail address and different name), you should be o.k. To be really safe though, try bidding from a different computer so that the IP address is also different.

 

GOOD LUCK!

[Coastaljen]

I got it earlier. I tried different credit card, etc. It knows my computer. I just went in and deleted the history and cleaned out the cookies on it, and then went in and put $155 and got it. I read the rules, and it didn't say you couldn't clean out the cookies on your computer, so I guess it is o.k.

[ShamrockFL]

Is anyone willing to share information on bids that have been accepted for mid-September 2007? I have just begun bidding and started off with $137 which was rejected.

 

I need four nights checking in Tuesday Sept.18 and checking out Saturday 22nd. After my rejection I rebid by using a checkout on Friday 21st, using the logic that it may have been the Friday night that was causing the rejection. But that didn't work either. Has anyone experienced the situation where one of their group of nights may usually sell for more than the others, and this is what causes the bid to reject?

 

Is it a valid strategy to break up your reservation into different groups of days?

[kehlx2]

Is anyone willing to share information on bids that have been accepted for mid-September 2007? I have just begun bidding and started off with $137 which was rejected.

 

I need four nights checking in Tuesday Sept.18 and checking out Saturday 22nd. After my rejection I rebid by using a checkout on Friday 21st, using the logic that it may have been the Friday night that was causing the rejection. But that didn't work either. Has anyone experienced the situation where one of their group of nights may usually sell for more than the others, and this is what causes the bid to reject?

 

Is it a valid strategy to break up your reservation into different groups of days?

 

I know nothing about Priceline--but I did bid 135 & it wasn't accepted--but it asked if I wanted to bid $22more--I did & it was accepted..so I got ours for $157 but our dates are in Jan 2008--but a Friday-Sat & checkout on Sunday.

[TenerifeSharon]

Is anyone willing to share information on bids that have been accepted for mid-September 2007? I have just begun bidding and started off with $137 which was rejected.

 

I need four nights checking in Tuesday Sept.18 and checking out Saturday 22nd. After my rejection I rebid by using a checkout on Friday 21st, using the logic that it may have been the Friday night that was causing the rejection. But that didn't work either. Has anyone experienced the situation where one of their group of nights may usually sell for more than the others, and this is what causes the bid to reject?

 

Is it a valid strategy to break up your reservation into different groups of days?

I would check the Marriott website directly to confirm that it really is the Friday night that is causing the problem. Check each night individually to see if there is a rate change.

 

The $137 may just be too low to bid. As I mentioned, I usually see winning bids of $140 - $155. Only once in recent times have I seen an accepted bid of $137. (Have you checked through biddingfortravel and betterbidding for bidding histories?)

 

Unless there is something major going on in Sydney for your dates, I wouldn't think that September should be a problem but ... who knows??

[Globaliser]

Is it a valid strategy to break up your reservation into different groups of days?

It is, but you have to ask yourself if you're prepared to accept the consequences of this being only partially successful - the worst case scenario is that you have to move hotels halfway through your stay, which may be more hassle than it's worth in saved money.

Unless there is something major going on in Sydney for your dates, I wouldn't think that September should be a problem but ... who knows??

The only major event that I can see is that the Sydney Marathon (and associated events) are taking place on Sunday 23 September. It is possible that hotels will be busier than normal in the days leading up to it.

[lawra09]

Would love to get some pointers on what to see and do in Auckland. Will be there for 2 nights post cruse in January.

[ShamrockFL]

It is, but you have to ask yourself if you're prepared to accept the consequences of this being only partially successful - the worst case scenario is that you have to move hotels halfway through your stay, which may be more hassle than it's worth in saved money.

 

No I would never do that - I agree it just wouldn't be worth it. I figured that I would then bid separately for the odd night and if necessary pay a higher price for that night.

 

Also Sharon, I did check the hotel's website and all my nights are actually priced the same. I know I'm pretty low at $137, but I have time on my hands and I'll just keep working my way along and see where they bite. I'm not crazy about paying US$150 plus tax, but it is just so convenient there. Thanks all.

[Coastaljen]

Let us know how low you get the hotel? Then I can kick myself. ha ha

 

I jumped from $135 o $155 to make sure I could get it. Now I think it probably would have been pretty empty December 23 and 24. How crowded are hotels Christmas Eve? Oh well... :-)