Hi,
I have seen several posts about using Priceline to book hotel rooms in Ft. Lauderdale. Just wondered what hotels people have ended up at (and what the price ranges were, if willing to share), and what area to request. We are planning to be there in February. Is this the high season?
Thank you in advance,
Gem

February is an extremely popular time for visiting Ft. Lauderdale. You can probably get the Hyatt Pier 66 on Priceline for $100-$120/nt. This is a great hotel. It is listed as 4* Beach with Priceline, but it's not as close to the beach as the Marriott Harbor Beach (Resort Beach) or the 3* Beach listings (and one of those isn't right on the beach, either.) If the hotel is between the intracoastal waterway and the beach, it's considered "Beach" according to Priceline. The Marriott Harbor Beach is sometimes difficult to get during the high season, so you would be better off trying for the Hyatt Pier 66. The Hyatt is directly on the Water Taxi Route, which can be used to get to all the good parts of Ft. Lauderdale.

If you want something a little cheaper, I'd opt for the 3* Downtown listing, which would get you either the Marina Mariott (on the Water Taxi route across the intracoastal from Pier 66) or the Embassy Suite on S.E. 17th Street.

Last November (NOT a busy time of year) I got the Marina Marriott for $49 through priceline. Keep in mind, this was the off-season and for one night during the middle of the week.

For tips on bidding, go to BiddingForTravel.com and this will give you an idea of winning bids through priceline. You can also research the past to see what the hotels went for during the time you are planning to visit next year.

If you decide to place a bid, don't hesitate using BFT to assist you. It's important that you read all the info first and do what they say, they are the experts and are very helpful in people getting successful bids.

Good Luck!

www.biddingfortravel.com will answer all your questions. it's a great website and it's free!
good luck.

Last year in November we got the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort off of priceline for $105 a night. (Beautiful hotel).They are the only beach "resort" hotel listed for Ft.Lauderdale. Another popular one is Hyatt Pier. I seen this hotel and it looks nice. I suggest you check out www.biddingfortravel.com
This site provides lots of good advice for bidding on hotels.
Good Luck!

We got the Renaissance Plantation Ft. Lauderdale a 4* on Priceline for $50 during low season of July. This hotel is about 15 minutes from the beach, but for the price for a newer hotel I think it will be worth it.

Thank you all, for the great tips! I am going to check out bidding for travel right now.
Thanks Again,
Gem

Sparklegem,Please let us know if you bid on Priceline and how you did.Like what hotel you got and how much your accteted bid was for!
It's worth it to get the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort.It's a great place to stay!! It's one of the BEST places to stay on the beach in Ft Lauderdale..
You will be very happy with this hotel!!
Good Luck,Debbie

I have not had good luck with priceline, but this time, got the Marriott Fort Lauderdale Marina for $75 at the peak time in January 2005. Felt it was a good rate. Normal rates start at $239.

I've gotten the Marriott Harbor Beach thru Priceline twice for $55 but both times it was during the summer. You won't touch that rate in February. If being on the ocean is important, it's just a wonderful place to stay.

Hello,
I just booked our hotel on Priceline. I bid $90 for a 4 star and it replied if I bumped my price up another $22 I could have it. I added the $22 and ended up with Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six for a total cost of $133.42. The hotels website looks nice. Did I get a good deal for February?
Best Regards,
Gem

sparklegem, if you had read biddingfortravel.com you would have realized you didn't need to add the $22 to get the hotel.

With that same offer of upping my bid to $22 to get a hotel in NYC, I added $1 and it accepted my bid. So for 4 nights instead of paying $123 per night for the NYC Hilton, I paid $102 per night.

There's so many little tricks on biddingfortravel.com, it's easy to miss a few of them.
Just for the future, you should always decline their offer and raise your bid by half of their offer and you'll get the room (meaning $11 in your case).
And yes as GoTravel has mentioned, some people have gotten their rooms by even less.

I booked several months ago for Feb 2005 on Priceline for Ft. Lauderdale. It's for two nights on a weekend and I got the Renaissance in Ft Lauderdale near the water taxi for $105 per night. I think it was a 5 star bid. Actually I probably could have gotten it for less, but I tried days earlier for this level and ended up getting rejected for under $90- so I just wanted to lock it in. If you try around $95 to $99 right now, you might get that hotel if bidding on that level- and you hit possible open dates.

OK, my bubble has burst. I should have checked in here before... Thank you for the advice. I will deffinately use it next time.

Nah, don't let it burst. You still got one heck of a good deal.

Well, I'm amazed to hear that anyone is getting anything from Priceline right now. I have used them over the past two years with great success--$79 for JW Marriott Mexico City, $45 for Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, $53 for The Watergate in Washington, DC, etc.--but have been unable to get ANYTHING for Miami or Mexico City in February, or Miami for next May. And I have been bidding considerably higher than in the past, darn close to the web rates for some of the properties that MAY come up. In fact, I think that Priceline's business model can only be successful if the discounts are really huge, especially in zones and locations where you MIGHT get a less desirable property. I notice that I am being asked if I want to pick my own hotel "right now" at lowestfares.com, which I don't recall happening in the past--of course, I used to always get something from Priceline!

Okay, thank you!

marilyn, you will still get good deals on priceline just not at the prices you've seen in the past. Hotel occupancy is way up from September 11th, the war in Afghanistan and the War in Iraq. Hotel prices dictate hotel demand.

The days of cheap hotel rooms are gone.

I don't doubt that Priceline will still offer good deals, but I wonder whether they will be good enough! Frankly, the advantage of Priceline was that you could stay at a higher quality property for much less--not only than the higher quality property was usually available for, but even less than the price of lesser properties. However, if the prices available through Priceline rise TOO much, to where they reach the level of a lesser property that one is able to choose WITHOUT prepayment, inflexibility, etc.--all the things that people sometimes don't like about Priceline--I'm not sure I will continue to use the service, mainly because you are always at risk of getting a property that you would not choose.

To use the example of where I most use the service, the Coral Gables area of Miami, if I could be sure of getting the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, I would gladly pay double the $45 to $65 I have been paying to get this property from Priceline, much less than the rates available at Hyatt.com. However, once you get up to $115-$135, the rate at which I can usually get the Holiday Inn University of Miami, I'm not sure I want to gamble with Priceline, because I COULD get the Omni Colonnade rather than the Hyatt Regency, which is a better property than the Holiday Inn, admittedly, but not one I particularly want to stay at. For my $115-$135, I could be comfortable enough at the Holiday Inn, enjoy free parking, and reserve usually without prepayment or penalty if my plans change.