Has Anyone Booked a Hotel in DL Area with Priceline?

[shaycamp21]

Just wondering if anyone has ever used Priceline to book a hotel that was close to the DLR? I would love to hear about your experience. Thanks.

 

[stacielee]

Just wondering if anyone has ever used Priceline to book a hotel that was close to the DLR? I would love to hear about your experience. Thanks.

Yes, ABSOLUTELY!! I've gotten many of the close 3 star hotels for $40-45/night. If you go to www.betterbidding.com, you can get a really good strategy to do it. You HAVE to use the strategy they recommend, it always works, if there is something available. This is the way I do it:

$35 first bid in the Disneyland area - rejected
$38 second bid, add the Anaheim Hills area - if rejected, continue
$41 third bid, add the Laguna Beach area - if rejected, continue
$44 fourth bid, add the Laguna Beach Hills area - if rejected, continue
$47 fifth (final) bid, add the Seal Beach area - if rejected, wait a couple of days and try again.

The reason this works is that only the Disneyland area has 3 star hotels, all of the areas I added do not go higher than 2 1/2 stars so you will never get a hotel there. Never lower your star value. You can start your bidding a little higher if you want, I just increase $3 every time.

 

[jencav5]

Yes, we always use Priceline. Depending on the time of year you are going it can be anywhere from $40-$65 per night for a 3* hotel. We've stayed at just about all of them-Hilton, Marriott, Doubletree, Crowne Plaza, etc......

For the most part, none of the hotels you get on Priceline are in walking distance, since they are bigger hotels and not the motels on Harbor that are in walking distance. Secondly, most of these hotels also charge parking fees in addition to the rate you pay on Priceline. It is still way worth the savings, though, once you add on these fees.

You have to remember that on Priceline you are bidding for a room for 2 people. Bed requests, etc... are at the discretion of the hotel. This said, we have had a lot of good experience in the DLR area with getting rooms that are non-smoking and 2 beds for our family. I usually call the hotel as soon as I win a bid and put in the request, then ask on check-in. There has been occasion, however, when there was only a King bed available (due to hotel full) and we had to make do.

We have AP's and travel to the DLR often, so we use Priceline to save money. We've also got to try just about every hotel in the area this way! We have gotten spoiled by certain hotels that we like better than others! There is a hotel that has recently been changed from a 2.5* to a 3* by Priceline called the Holiday Inn Resort. We won that hotel the last 2 times we went and used Priceline. The place was not the same 3* quality that we have come to enjoy and expect from Priceline. We got a great price, so I could maybe live with it, except, the place was just not nice. The beds were so uncomfortable, that we couldn't wait to get home (which never happens to us! We don't want to leave DLR!) There were also other issues like noise, thermostat, etc... I have actually booked the Hilton directly for our upcoming trip for Easter because I am afraid to get the Holiday Inn again! I can live with the motel style hotel, but the beds just kill me!

I like to use biddingfortravel.com to check hotels and what prices people are getting on Priceline. They have a very detailed FAQ that tells you how to bid and what everything means. They will also help you with a strategy. If you decide to do Priceline, don't use a strategy that someone else gave you without checking for yourself the free rebids, etc... Things can change on Priceline at any time and you need to be informed. I re-check everything before I bid every time. You don't want to end up with a hotel in a place that you didn't want to be!

You can also try to go for 2* or 2.5*, but Priceline can decide to upgrade you to 3* anyway, so that may or may not pan out. We stayed at some decent 2* hotels thru Priceline, but we also had 1 that wasn't as good. We've been doing 3*, now, though, for many years, so we haven't had one in awhile.

If you have any other specific questions to Priceline or DLR area hotels, just let me know!

 

[Gemfyre]

We always ALWAYS use Priceline for Disneyland Area Hotels.

We've gotten similar to previous posters.. Marriott, Marriott Suites, Crowne Plaza, Hilton, Hilton Suites, Doubletree. Most of these hotels do offer their own shuttle server back and forth to the parks.. with the exception of Hilton Suites.

I will make similar suggestions other than the first responder. DO NOT go out of Disneyland area, unless you plan on renting a car.

I've stayed at all times thru the year, being a California Native (transplanted in AZ) I've never paid more than $55 a night for a Disney Area 3* or above hotel. What I suggest instead of expanding your area, is to simply wait 24 hours to rebid in $2 incriments.

Also, Biddingfortravel.com is the best messages boards telling you the trends in the US for Priceline bids.. I love it.

Feel free to PM me with any questions, be happy to help.

 

[jaakna]

We've used a few times. So far worked out great. This last summer, We got the Hyatt for 68.00 a night July 1 thru the 8th, also got the Crowne plaza this last December 14th for 4 nights at 52.00 a night. We leave next friday the 21st for four nights at the Hilton at 67.00 a night. The Hotels have been very accomodating, as we always request two beds!

 

[mAlien13]

I am not very familiar with Priceline, having only used them once for a solo trip to the Oregon coast. Can you specify that you need to have a hotel that can accomidate 5 people?

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

I am not very familiar with Priceline, having only used them once for a solo trip to the Oregon coast. Can you specify that you need to have a hotel that can accomidate 5 people?

NO! Priceline will only guarantee room for two people. They will not even guarantee non-smoking. That being said the times I have used it I have bid, won the bid and then called the hotel directly to request two beds and non-smoking. The only time I was not accomodated was a one or two stay Extended Stay America motel that was about 3 miles from DL. My fault as I decided to go down in stars rather than stick to three. That motel was just barely OK. Long drive, no extras of anything but there was a kitchenette so we saved on breakfasts..

My other 3 * hotels have been the Crown Plaza, Hyatt and Hilton. All were very nice, did charge for parking though. Overall I would bid again but stick to 3* only.


And I second biddingfortravel too. I have used them many times for research.

 

[mAlien13]

I might try this technique for sister trip in September. We normally travel with large groups, so it will be the first time we have less than 5!

DH and I are going in January 09 for our anniversary, but we want to splurge and stay in a really nice room for that, we will hand pick that one.

 

[shaycamp21]

Wow everyone. Thanks for all the great tips. I haven't been on in a while as there was an unexpected death in my husband's family (his uncle who was basically the only dad he's ever known--raised him from the age of nine--passed away earlier this week). We now have to fly to Jamaica tomorrow which sounds exciting but given the circumstances and the accommodations (quite, how shall I put it--"rustic"--staying with Dh's family) it's not. It's an unexpected expense we weren't planning on so I will definitely have to use priceline to made this Disneyland portion of our trip doable. I was planning to stay at the Candy Cane Inn (which was $124 with the CAA rate) but if I can get a better or similar hotel for less why not.

Can anyone tell me what a reasonable bid would be for August? Also we were planning not to have the rental car for the 3 days at DLR, if staying at one of the 3* hotels with a shuttle (though what if we get the Hilton?) would we need a car?

Thanks again.

 

[mAlien13]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss, shaycamp21.

I don't think you are going to know if you need to rent a car until you know exactly which hotel you are at. Then you can decide if they have a shuttle and whether or not it is a convenient one.

Let us know once you've booked the hotel. Usually, someone here on DIS has experince with the hotels.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

So is the "catch" with bidding not knowing what hotel you get until after you book? I did it with $35/night in the Disneyland area, and I got a hotel, but it's not telling me which one..

 

[stacielee]

So is the "catch" with bidding not knowing what hotel you get until after you book? I did it with $35/night in the Disneyland area, and I got a hotel, but it's not telling me which one..

If you got a hotel, it will tell you the name and address, phone, all the information you need.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

If you got a hotel, it will tell you the name and address, phone, all the information you need.

But it tells you after you have paid with your credit card, right?

 

[eduk8r26]

That's true, once you have decided which one you want, they tell you they've accepted your bid and then let you know which one, then your credit card is charged.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

That's true, once you have decided which one you want, they tell you they've accepted your bid and then let you know which one, then your credit card is charged.

Got it. Thanks!

I think I'll use it for our May trip. I found a 3 star for $35 a night. Which is fantastic. What hotels do they usually give out for 3 star? Are they really close, the ones on Harbor?

 

[dizneygirlz3]

We have used Priceline for the Disneyland area quite a bit. We are leaving today and got the Anaheim Hilton for $50.00/night for 3/17 - 3/19 for two rooms. In Feb. on a Sat and Sun. we got the Crowne Plaza for $45.00/night. We always bid for a 3 star. I don't mind driving from the hotels into the park because the money we save is huge since we go at least 4 times a year. The hotels we have gotten for 45 - 60 are as follows, Hilton, Hilton Suites, Crowne PLaza, Marriott, and Hyatt. IMO it is worth it....

 

[50sjayne]

I am not very familiar with Priceline, having only used them once for a solo trip to the Oregon coast. Can you specify that you need to have a hotel that can accomidate 5 people?

You actually won something on the coast? Where and how much. I'm guessing Lincoln City.

 

[dizneygirlz3]

Another quick note we are a family of 5 and they have always accomodated us in the Disneyland area upon check in.

 

[50sjayne]

I'm still playing with the idea of Priceline, I was happy with the idea of low bidding for a 2 1/2 star ($40) as I have a year to do it but the Holiday Inn on Walnut has been showing up for that star rating and it has no fridge, although I'm wondering if they would just charge us extra for one. I'm going to have to re-research the 3 stars and see what they offer as far as a fridge goes, but the Holiday Inn the other poster mentioned has indeed been showing up for the 3 star category, and I'd be happy with that.

 

[mAlien13]

You actually won something on the coast? Where and how much. I'm guessing Lincoln City.

Astoria, actually. Red Lion, and it wasn't great, I can tell you! It was $55 a night for a single Q room.