Miami hotel/Priceline/2 Adults+2 kids/ OK?

[OHTOBECRUISIN]

Hi!

I have read where many of you have used Priceline for your pre-cruise hotel stay...

Question: Will there be a problem with any of the "downtown" hotels if there are 4 of us in the room (as versus the 2 people in a room that you are bidding on).

I would like to bid on a downtown Miami, 3* hotel for my family, but just want to make sure that it will be "OK" with four of us.

Thank you!

[Rdabadie]

Well, Priceline says specifically they only guarantee a room for 2 people, so they under no obligation to make sure your room has 2 beds. However, my experience has been that 1) The 2 queen bed rooms are less popular than king rooms so priceline guests are often assigned to them anyways 2) The 3* Miami hotels are very nice properties and they will try to accomondate you. However, you are taking a bit of a risk, a small one but a risk none the less.

 

Since you can usually get a room downtown Miami for $40, I'd book 2 rooms to avoid the risk.

[debandbill]

Priceline only guarantees accomodations for two. Lots of folks will bid successfully and then call the hotel with certain requests such as two double or queen beds instead of a king (or port view or non smoking, etc.) and these are many times given but there is no guarantee. I would suggest booking two rooms cause even at the Priceline price you are ahead. In Vancouver, we had to pay for an additional person in the room (our son was standing with us when we checked in :rolleyes: ) but that allowed us to get a rollaway so each of us had a bed. You can risk getting the correct setup with one room but be prepared to be disappointed if it's not what you need.

[cruiseky]

We sailed out of Miami last year and we used Priceline. We bid on a 3-star hotel and got the Hyatt Regency! It was a very nice hotel and we got it for under $50 a night. We booked two rooms at the same time because we had two families of four and we wanted to make sure that we would be at the same hotel. After I got my confirmation number from Priceline, I called the Hyatt Regency, direct, to confirm the reservation and to request 2-double beds and non-smoking rooms. They had no problem with my request. Everything was perfect!!

[arizonacruzr]

We just got the same hotel through priceline for our pre-cruise stay on 11/20 for $46/nt for 3 rooms. Do you remember if there are any grocery/convenience/liquor stores close to this hotel? Thanks in advance.

[cruiseky]

If you are refering to the Hyatt Regency, there wasn't anything right by the hotel, although there is a stop for the metro-mover, a free public transportation system, across the street that you can take to get to a store. We used it to get to the Bayside Marketplace. If you are looking for someplace to get a bite to each for breakfast, there is a restaurant just down the road called Don's ???????. I can't remember the exact name, but they had pasties and breakfast sandwiches that were much cheaper than the hotel restaurant.

[D4]

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency last summer. There is a Walgreens downtown that is within walking distance. Just ask directions at the hotel.

 

We also used PriceLine and called the Hyatt right after booking to request a room with 2 beds. They said that would not be a problem. In some cities, though, you might get hotels that won't agree to do that and they don't have to.

[JMG]

Arizona,

Across from Hyatt there is a Marriott Courtyard. Across the street from Courtyard there is a bakery type deli store that could be a breakfast destination. If you look at the top of the buildings, your should see a building with Sun Trust written across the top - on the ground floor of that building is a Walgreens. Close by there is a Starbucks coffee shop and up and down the street there are all sorts of retail stores. A little farther along you will come to Bayside. Walking downtown in the daylight is okay but after dark protect yourself and limit the walking - catch a cab.