San Diego on a budget

[conradd]

My son graduates from Marine boot camp on December 13 - his girlfriend and I will drive down from Oregon, arriving on December 11. Usually, we stay in Motel 6 type accomodations but I want to upgrade this time - we're driving, not flying, so travel costs are less.

Shane will have spent the last 13 weeks sleeping in barracks with 59 other guys, except for the nights he spent sleeping in a tent. I'd like to pamper him just a little.

Any ideas on how to get the best room discounts? We need a room for 3 or 4 nights - 2 without him and Friday and Saturday nights with him. We'll leave on Sunday for the trip home (I have to teach back in Oregon on Monday night).

I am so looking forward to spending time with him again. I'd love to surprise him with a luxurious room.

Deb

[quasar]

There are a few options. If you don't need to be in a specific location in San Diego one option is to use Priceline. Priceline lets you bit a dollar amount and sees which hotels in the specified class and location are willing to let you stay for that price. If a hotel accepts you are contractually obligated to accept and to pay in advance. I've done fairly well with them in the past, particularly on last minute trips. For instance, I stayed in a nice hotel right in the center of Union Square in San Francisco for $50/night this past February. You tend to get better deals close to the time of travel, though, so using Priceline can be a little scary if you want to make sure you have reservations somewhere well ahead of time.

Another option is Hotwire.com - they're similar to Priceline but they present you with prices and a short amenity list for hotels and give you an hour to decide if you want the room. The exact hotel isn't revealed until after you book. I've not found their prices significantly better than decent hotels on Expedia or Travelocity.

There are a few other discount travel/hotel sites out there. They seem to vary in terms of pricing and availability. 1800hotels.com has decent selection and prices that vary from fair to good. Orbitz/Travelocity/Expedia often have decent deals on all ranges of hotels (some require advance payments, some don't). Most chains have reservation systems on their own websites and sometimes offer internet specials.

Good luck!

Janice

[pluckyduck]

In my travels as Internet Shopping Maven (as opposed to physical travels which I only do at gunpoint ), I've heard very good things about:

http://hotels.com/

Hotels.com

I threw your days in and came up with

http://hotels.com/property.jsp?page=...S1047303313365

Shelter Pointe Hotel & Marina

for about $100 a night. There were less expensive choices, of course, I just enjoy playing with the more expensive choices.

The pool:



The restaurant:




For kicks, I just looked up the rack rate on the hotel's website, and IT'S THE SAME. Um, maybe you should try Expedia.

Now, a place in San Diego I have stayed:

The Hotel Del Coronado

To die for.

http://hotels.com/property.jsp?page=...S1047303313365


Rob the piggy bank and come up with $250 a night. (you gotta click through the photos there, just for fun).

Good luck!

Andrea

[pluckyduck]

Deb!!

I might have just the thing for you. Insert advertising this came with my last Amazon box.

http://www.sixcontinentshotels.com/h.../fop/fnus.html

It's a "next night free" promotion from Holiday Inn. If you stay 4 nights, you'll end up getting two nights free. (That's off of non-discounted rack rates).

Holiday Inn has a bunch of properties in the San Diego Area:

http://www.sixcontinentshotels.com/h...questid=409894


Rates seem to go between $129 and $179, depending on the property.

Andrea
who always reads her promotional inserts, never know what you'll find!

[conradd]

Cool!! I'm a Priority Club member too. Thanks, I knew you guys would come through!

Deb
who is salivating over the Hotel del Coronado

[poseidon]

Hotwire.com is wonderful, the only problem is that you don't know exactly what you're going to get (unless you've got some experience and understand how the system works, then you have a better idea as to what you'll wind up with).

Priceline has always made me squirmish --- I've not been there in awhile to see if they've changed policy, but they add service charges to your price. Hotwire doesn't do that.

Another option is Hotwire.com - they're similar to Priceline but they present you with prices and a short amenity list for hotels and give you an hour to decide if you want the room. The exact hotel isn't revealed until after you book. I've not found their prices significantly better than decent hotels on Expedia or Travelocity.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree... and perhaps you're not using the system properly and that's why you're not getting the best possible price. Like Priceline, the later you book, the better your price (for example, if I price my stay a month in advance, I'll pay more than if I price my stay a week in advance).

Moreover, Expedia and Travelocity do not typically have the best web-based fares. Orbitz is a much better option. However, with these three you're also paying service charges, taxes, etc. on top of it -- with Hotwire, again, the price you're quoted is the price you pay, including all taxes and fees.

I've heard some good things about Hotels.com... never tried them, though.

[CurtisEdmonds]

I use Orbitz and hotels.com together. Orbitz has a lot better information on what hotels are actually like. Hotels.com then sets you up with a good discount.

[quasar]

I've found that Expedia and Travelocity do much better than Orbitz for hotel rates.

Almost all of my recent travel has been planned and/or purchased within 2 weeks of travel date. I've even done day before or same day a few times lately. Even with that, Expedia and/or Travelocity has almost always beaten Hotwire and with the advantage of knowing what you're getting in advance. Probably not for any specific hotel, but for any hotel in a specific range in a specific location. When I haven't gotten something viable from Priceline I've almost always ended up at either Expedia or Travelocity and even when I'm in a hurry I still check 9-10 sites every time I travel because I am absolutely convinced I will find the same thing cheaper as soon as I hit the buy button.

Janice

[conradd]

Update - I found a discount hotel link through (of all places) the New York Times. We're staying a mile from the Recruit Training Depot at the Holiday Inn - Mission Bay. It's not the Hotel del Coronado, but I'm paying $55/night instead of $250. And, Andrea you'll be proud of me. I actually made my reservations and paid for it over the internet.

I then found a one-way fare back to San Diego for Shane after his leave. $73 from Portland. I'm very happy tonight - and will be even happier next week at this time when we'll be there, too excited to sleep. Yippee!!

Deb
who can't find the instruction manual to her camcorder.

[pluckyduck]

This is so exciting, Deb!

And I'm very impressed by both the rates and the fact you accomplished it all online. You go! $55 a night! !wow

Andrea