Good Neighbor Hotel or Priceline?

[akaler2010]

Hello! We are looking at our first trip to Disneyland and are wondering if it's important to stay at a Good Neighbor hotel or if we can just stay anywhere nearby that's walking distance. What are the perks to staying at a Good Neighbor hotel?

 

[Imdboss]

No perks to a Good Neighbor hotel although a lot in the DL are. I'd just pick what works best for your family.

 

[luulu1999]

i don't really think there are any perks in it that I am aware of, from my understanding Disney doesn't check the properties out or anything, I think the properties pay Disney to be called a Good Neighbor Hotel, I don't know when your planning on going but starting Nov 30th the new Homewood Suites is opening and depending on how long you are staying they have great prices, I think just a few days is more exp then anything over 9 is cheaper and it is right next to the Toy Story Parking lot so you can take the free lot shuttle to Disneyland

 

[grnflash]

Hi. There are no perks to Good Neighbor. If being across the street is important, most of those hotels will be Good Neighbor. We just stayed at the Ramada Maingate at the Park and had an excellent experience. We've also tried Desert Inn and did not care or it. Experiences will vary depending on what is important to you so have your priority list and go from there.

As for Priceline, we do that alot. Only two 4-star hotels are on there - Hyatt and Marriott. If we can get one for under $100 we do that, especially if we think we will get Marriott - which is across the street from the Toy Story lot. It's also walkable if you're up to it. The Hyatt is further and not walkable but has its own shuttle. But even aside from that the Marriott is slightly nicer, has a better pool and the customer service is excellent.

We will also bid on 3.5 star if we think we will get the Wyndham. Very nice, nice pool, and usually get a great rate. Also not walkable but has its own shuttle. We have gotten the Red Lion too which while walkable and also near Toy Story, is not nearly as nice as Wyndham. So if you are thinking of doing a Priceline bid or express deal, be sure to do your research first. And even then there's no guarantee. If you are just looking at their hotels listings with rates, we have not found that they offer better deals than through the hotel directly.

 

[egritz]

Hi. There are no perks to Good Neighbor. If being across the street is important, most of those hotels will be Good Neighbor. We just stayed at the Ramada Maingate at the Park and had an excellent experience. We've also tried Desert Inn and did not care or it. Experiences will vary depending on what is important to you so have your priority list and go from there.

As for Priceline, we do that alot. Only two 4-star hotels are on there - Hyatt and Marriott. If we can get one for under $100 we do that, especially if we think we will get Marriott - which is across the street from the Toy Story lot. It's also walkable if you're up to it. The Hyatt is further and not walkable but has its own shuttle. But even aside from that the Marriott is slightly nicer, has a better pool and the customer service is excellent.

We will also bid on 3.5 star if we think we will get the Wyndham. Very nice, nice pool, and usually get a great rate. Also not walkable but has its own shuttle. We have gotten the Red Lion too which while walkable and also near Toy Story, is not nearly as nice as Wyndham. So if you are thinking of doing a Priceline bid or express deal, be sure to do your research first. And even then there's no guarantee. If you are just looking at their hotels listings with rates, we have not found that they offer better deals than through the hotel directly.

What indicators do you look for that make you *think* you'll get a specific hotel?

 

[luulu1999]

What indicators do you look for that make you *think* you'll get a specific hotel?

I would like to know this too because not knowing the hotel and not being able to look it up on trip advisor freaks me out lol

 

[grnflash]

What indicators do you look for that make you *think* you'll get a specific hotel?

Well first I check the listed rates to see who is offering a better rack rate, then I look at the express deals. Hotels with lower rates generally have more availability so chances are greater of them accepting a lower bid. For 4-star it's easy to know what hotel it is. The Hyatt allows pets, the Marriott does not. Sometimes both 4-star hotels have an express rate but usually there's just one. So if pets are/aren't listed in the amenity set you know which hotel it is. When bidding on 4-star with only a Marriott express rate offerred (no pet amenity), we have only gotten the Hyatt once. There's no guarantees naturally.

3.5 star takes more looking as well as consideration. There are many more possible hotels, some of which we would not want. I start with the same research as above - looking at rack rate and express deal prices. Wyndam does not allow pets so that's a good amenity to look for regarding that hotel. From there I look at the betterbidding website to see what hotels people have been winning through bids and at what price. They also have a forum where you can ask their mods what express rate hotel they think it will be based on the dates of travel and amentities listed. We have gotten the Wyndam many times by bidding (for as low as $52 last year, $63 this year), the Red Lion twice ($70 - $75) - and these are definitely the most common 3.5 stars to accept bids based on the betterbidding forums. That being said, we have also not bid at all if we feel it's too risky that we could end up with a hotel we do not want. We have done Express Deal twice when we thought we would get the Hilton - we did both times.

There are many other indicators you can look for too, especially in the 3 star and lower categories. Free parking, free breakfast, etc. are great indicators along with pets.

Betterbidding also has lists of which hotels fall into each star category for both Priceline and Hotwire as well as what the listed amentities are for each hotel. It's a great site to help with Priceline or Hotwire research.

 

[grnflash]

Yikes, double post. Sorry!

 

[Indiana Scott]

We've stayed at many of the local hotels and my favorites are not rated "Good neighbor" by Disney.
So I wouldn't worry too much about that part.

 

[Canuck16]

There are not any "Perks" staying at a Good Neighbor Hotel. Find a hotel that fits your needs and go for it.

 

[Astylla]

Hi. There are no perks to Good Neighbor. If being across the street is important, most of those hotels will be Good Neighbor. We just stayed at the Ramada Maingate at the Park and had an excellent experience. We've also tried Desert Inn and did not care or it. Experiences will vary depending on what is important to you so have your priority list and go from there.

As for Priceline, we do that alot. Only two 4-star hotels are on there - Hyatt and Marriott. If we can get one for under $100 we do that, especially if we think we will get Marriott - which is across the street from the Toy Story lot. It's also walkable if you're up to it. The Hyatt is further and not walkable but has its own shuttle. But even aside from that the Marriott is slightly nicer, has a better pool and the customer service is excellent.

We will also bid on 3.5 star if we think we will get the Wyndham. Very nice, nice pool, and usually get a great rate. Also not walkable but has its own shuttle. We have gotten the Red Lion too which while walkable and also near Toy Story, is not nearly as nice as Wyndham. So if you are thinking of doing a Priceline bid or express deal, be sure to do your research first. And even then there's no guarantee. If you are just looking at their hotels listings with rates, we have not found that they offer better deals than through the hotel directly.

We actually got the Hyatt Regency on Priceline by bidding for $85/night for Sept. 10th to 14th. Can you elaborate on their shuttle since we're flying in?

As for the OP, Since there are no extra perks I'd go with what's most important to you. Proximity can certainly be important but some people prefer an actual hotel with indoor walkways over that. As long as you do your research you should be able to find options.

 

[grnflash]

We actually got the Hyatt Regency on Priceline by bidding for $85/night for Sept. 10th to 14th. Can you elaborate on their shuttle since we're flying in?

Hi. That's a great price! They have a dedicated shuttle to the park that runs every half hour beginning one hour before the park opens. The last shuttle leaves DL one hour after park closing. It cost $5/day per adult, $2 for kids under 10. It's probably the nicest hotel shuttle we've taken to the parks. Have fun!

 

[tarheelalum]

I would like to know this too because not knowing the hotel and not being able to look it up on trip advisor freaks me out lol

Better bidding can pretty much tell you which hotel you are going to get from priceline bidding and hotwire. I have been using the forum for years and it is legit. http://www.betterbidding.com/

 

[Astylla]

Duplicate

 

[Astylla]

Better bidding is awesome and it's easy to browse too. I didn't know about it until after I put a bid in but know the hotels extremely well in the area so felt safe bidding on a 4 star for my first Priceline bidding experience.

Originally we were doing Candy Cane Inn which we love but I couldn't beat just over 400 for 4 nights versus almost 700.
Better bidding helps give details which hotels are in the category so if there are any you are absolutely opposed to you can avoid that category imo.

I actually just booked a 7 night stay at a new hotel opening on Harbor, Homewood suites convention center. They ate accepting reservations from Nov 30th onward and for 7 nights it's about $1k for a AAA rate and it has suites and kids suites. It also has breakfast and during the week a social hour and is about a 5 to 10 minute walk to toy story lot.

 

[Astylla]

So we checked into our Priceline bid hotel, which was $85/night at HYATT Regency Orange County in Garden Grove and were upgraded to a hospitality suite. Holy crap this thing is bigger than our apartment lol.

So one thing to remember with Priceline it's ONLY guaranteed for double occupancy, so if you have kids or don't want to share a bed Hotwire is usually better. The point of these sites is to fill empty rooms so you could get whatever is available. If it's a peak time or a certain room type is important I highly recommend trying direct.

For myself and DH though we can make anything work. I'm still in shock from our upgrade lol.

 

[grnflash]

So we checked into our Priceline bid hotel, which was $85/night at HYATT Regency Orange County in Garden Grove and were upgraded to a hospitality suite.

Wow, you are getting pixie dusted at your hotel!

I also wanted to add that people might be confused about betteringbidding from above. It is NOT going to be able to tell you what hotel you are bidding on. It will help identify Express Deal hotels (which offer discounted rates but have the name of the hotel hidden until after you purchase.)

 

[Plaid Princess]

Keep in mind that you get what you pay for. If you book on Priceline or any of the other third party discount sites, you are generally going to get the crummy rooms, and if the hotel is oversold you'll get moved elsewhere.

 

[grnflash]

Keep in mind that you get what you pay for. If you book on Priceline or any of the other third party discount sites, you are generally going to get the crummy rooms, and if the hotel is oversold you'll get moved elsewhere.

Is this from experience? Because we've used Priceline a lot. A lot a lot. And like Astylla above (who was upgraded to a suite at the Hyatt) we've been upgraded several times at both the Marriott and Wyndham and once at the Hilton. We've received free breakfast vouchers, light-up Mickey balloons and even a Disney gift bag with toys and goodies. And even when not upgraded, we are always given a park view room at the Marriott (we would never ask for an upgrade but will will ask if they have a park view room we could have.) As for moving somewhere else, that's never, ever happened.

 

[sheetz]

I think using Priceline/Hotwire is much less of a crapshoot when you stay at a newer hotel with "cookie-cutter" rooms. Older hotels typically have a wide range in room size/quality but in modern 3* hotels the majority of rooms are virtually identical.