Hotel -decent and affordable

Has anyone used priceline? if so about what are the rates you got/offered and at what hotels. Been checking for Thanksgiving Thurs and Friday prior to our cruise on Saturday. Don't need anything spectacular..but will a/c and bug free. Can't imagine bad hotels in hawaii..but what people want/find could be subjective

Just looked at the priceline to see what areas they list for Honolulu. First, I would only bid in areas 1,7,8, and 9. Lots of dicey hotels downtown ("Executive Center") and out at the airport.

Second, if you want to see what hotels people get when doing Priceline and Hotwire bidding, there is a website where people "bidding for travel" (;)) can check out potential hotels and successful bid prices.

The last two times I've used Priceline and Hotwire, I have not been happy with the hotel choices. I put in 3 *** and feel the hotels I was given were only 2 **, so I won't be using either of these websites again. It is tempting to try and get the best rates, but not worth the hassle when you feel you've been ripped off.

And you can't make changes to your reservation once they are booked with Priceline. I had a hotel in San Francisco booked, called to make sure I would have two beds and the guy said I'd have to pay double the cost I had paid, so no savings there. There was only 1 bed for the 3 of us to share. So I wasted the money I had paid on Priceline and booked directly with a different hotel.

BE VERY CAREFUL!

They only guarantee that the room will have at least one bed that will sleep two.

If you need anything then a place to sleep for two in the same bed don't use a bidding site like Priceline.

agabbymama - that is where that website that I mentioned comes in play. It has a list of hotels by location and * rating that people have "won" bids to stay. If you are uncomfortable with any of the hotels listed, either bump up your rating to hotels you are all OK with, or change the location.

This is one of the prime reasons I don't use Priceline or Hotwire. If I truly don't care about the hotel (like for a quickie one-night stay), I'll do it. Otherwise, I go for the known quantity.