Recent offers for upscale and high-end hotel bids on SkyAuction.com indicate the hotel industry is reaching out in a big way to third-party sites to offload rooms.  SkyAuction.com has always been a great place to find one week timeshare condos for last minute arrivals at incredible bargains. 

The rate for a 7-night condo stay has only changed from $195 per week to $295 per week since I successfully bid for a one week condo at Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine through SkyAuction back in 2000.  Many of the condo offers are successful auction wins at a bid of less than $10 and after the service fee and tax of $295 in many cases, the timeshare condo is yours for less than $325 for a week at resorts where the nightly rate would run $200+ to book directly. 

Loyalty Traveler Trip Tip:  Check reviews for hotels and condos if you have never heard of the place.  Some hotel advertisements look great and the cost might be really low.  A quick check to TripAdvisor may have you reconsidering your bid options.

SkyAuction.com Hotel Offers that Caught My Eye This Week

Some properties have minimum bids, but most of the hotels shown here did not have that restriction.  Generally, hotel auctions on Skyauction.com have per night service fee and taxes of either $32 or $49 per night in addition to your successful bid price for the hotel.

Most of the hotels listed below had average daily rates at $200+ for a good portion this past year.

San Diego Starwood Hotels Luxury Collection U.S. Grant Hotel $99 per night. The fine print says tax can be as high as $75 taking most of the good value out of this deal.  Looks like tax may be on standard rack rate of $600? 

The U.S. Grant made the Forbes Top 400 Hotels of the World list.

Palm Springs/Palm Desert area, JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort, with a bid of $22 and a daily service fee of $49.  This hotel is one of the nicest properties in the Palm Springs area and quite a bargain at under $100 per night.

 JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort, Palm Desert, California has lagoon gondola boat rides from lobby

Westin San Diego is currently bid too high at $140 per night to be a deal, but the property is pushing rooms on SkyAuction and future offers may have lower bids.

The Lodge at Sonoma, a Renaissance Resort is currently sitting at $6 per night and after the service fee and tax of $49 per night is a northern California wine country getaway budget vacation for $55 per night.

The Huntington Hotel, Nob Hill, San Francisco is across from the Fairmont San Francisco and the InterContinental Mark Hopkins.  Current bid of $50 would make this hotel a steal at $99 per night.  Sample rate check on the Huntington Hotel website for July 10-15, 2009 shows $275 per night + 14% city tax.  The auction allows reservations through August 31 for up to a 7-night stay.  Bidding ends at 4:00pm EST Friday, December 5. 

Omni San Francisco is another upscale hotel property near the Ritz Carlton San Francisco and currently sitting at less than $70 per night.

 Omni Hotel San Francisco

Mexico City, Marquis Reforma Hotel & Spa, a Leading Hotels of the World member is as low as $125 night at the current bid.

Vancouver, British Columbia – Marriott Pinnacle looks like it could win with a $21/night bid.  After taxes the daily rate is $53 for a top rated hotel in downtown Vancouver.  The winning bidder can choose a stay up to 10 nights and hotel reservations for summer 2009 are allowed.  Rates may continue to drop in Vancouver, but you will be unlikely to get anything as good as $53 per night for a Vancouver upscale hotel in summer 2009.  Marriott Vancouver http://www.skyauction.com/action/offer/1468407

Marriott Pinnacle, Vancouver, British Columbia

Delta is printing miles as fast as the US Government is printing money. 

One of the often touted features of Hilton HHonors is the ability to earn both hotel points and airline miles for your hotel stays.  All other major hotel loyalty programs give either points or miles.  And choosing miles is generally a lower value proposition as a hotel loyalty program reward.

Hilton HHonors and Delta Airlines turn that notion around.  Hilton hotel brand stays will earn six times the Delta Airline Skymiles normally awarded for hotel stays through February 2009. Stays must be 2 nights or more to earn the 6x Delta miles bonus.

Register for this promotion here at HiltonHHonors.com/sixtimesthemiles

Not all Hilton brand properties are participating.  Check the Six Times the Miles participating hotels list.

Hilton HHonors My Way Double Dip Earning Style

Hilton HHonors members can select from three HHonors earning preferences for hotel stays:

1.    Points & Points

2.    Points and Fixed Miles*

3.    Points and Variable Miles*

*HHonors member must designate a preferred airline frequent flyer program among the HHonors partner airlines for mileage deposits.

HHonors Points and Points earners receive 15 HHonors points per $1US in hotel spending.  (Earn 10 points per dollar regular earning and an additional 5 points per dollar bonus.)  

HHonors members with a Points and Points preference will not qualify for the Delta promotion.  You can change your HHonors profile online to select one of the two Points & Miles Double Dip earning options to earn the Delta miles bonus.

HHonors Points and Fixed Miles (57 fixed miles partners)

Fixed Miles Earned Per Hotel Stay, normally = 500 miles awarded per hotel stay, except for Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites earn only 100 miles per hotel stay.

Delta 6x Bonus Miles Promotion = 3,000 miles per Hilton brand hotel stay, except Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites earn only 600 miles per hotel stay.

Don’t waste this promotion on Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites stays for only 600 miles. 

3,000 miles is quite an incentive to pay a little more to stay in another Hilton brand like Hilton Garden Inn, Doubletree, Conrad, or Hilton.  The miles can have $50 in future value on tickets using miles, however, the recent adoption of a three tier redemption rate for Delta Airline tickets using miles may prove to give Delta miles a lower than 2 cents/mile future value in many cases.

HHonors Points and Variable Miles (43 variable miles partners)

Delta 6x Bonus Miles Promotion = 6 miles earned per $1US in hotel spending.

Variable Miles Earned per Hotel Stay, normally = 1 mile earned per $1US in hotel spending.

For a Homewood Suites or Hampton Inn hotel stay with a total projected spending in excess of $100 you will earn more with a Variable Miles preference rather than Fixed Miles, (remember taxes and fees do not count for base hotel spending).  For all other brands you would need to spend more than $500 for your hotel stay to earn more with the Variable Miles earning option.

You have the option of changing your miles earning preference between hotel stays.

Hilton HHonors Check-In Desk, Hilton Singapore (2006)