Priceline Hotel: NYC Visit - 3-7 Nov and 11-18 Nov 2014

[Reggie78]

Hi Everyone,

 

This is a great board for research and investigating possible accommodation choices - kudos to the Admins and greater community.

 

We are travelling from Australia and are looking for the best possible price and location combinations to stay on Manhattan Island. Currently have a booking in Long Island City at the Fairfield Inn Manhattan View for USD$111 per night + taxes, but I would be willing to pay a little more to stay on Manhattan. We are looking to see a bunch of different things that are mainly focussed on the lower parts of Manhattan (WTC Monument, Statue of Liberty, USS Intrepid to name a few) and see parts of Hoboken (Carlo's Bakery, Katz Deli), and as I have been informed, nothing is too far away by Subway.

 

Looking at the times we are visiting - 3-7 Nov (broken with a side trip to D.C.) and 11-18 Nov, the prices seem to be going up. Is there some big event during this time I am not aware of?

 

I guess I'd be happy with a 3-4* hotel max $150 ex-taxes. Some suggestions on areas would be handy too.

 

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any possible help.

 

Reg.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding! (and thanks for the compliments on the board :) )

Please use separate threads for each leg of your trip so that we can use the topic title of each to reflect what you ultimately do for each part of your trip (which also enables us to have a link to each win in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins)

We will use this thread for the first part of your trip (Nov 3-7)... please start a NEW TOPIC for the back-end of your trip.

Few point to clarify (for while you are planning your itinerary):

...mainly focussed on the lower parts of Manhattan (WTC Monument, Statue of Liberty, USS Intrepid to name a few) and see parts of Hoboken (Carlo's Bakery, Katz Deli)

Katz Deli is located in Manhattan in the Lower East Side (i'd also suggest a visit to Economy Candy (108 Rivington while in this area) and not in Hoboken... although we do have some great delis in Hoboken as well (i can suggest a few as you get closer to your dates of travel an itinerary). However, the two types of delis will be totally different from each other... Katz is more of a jewish-style deli (known for their pastrami, corned beef, etc. and should be eaten on rye bread)... Hoboken is more an Italian deli town and should be eaten on a long roll with 'mutz' (mutz --> home made mozzarella cheese which most delis here make themselves on premises and is what each deli prides themselves on)

Also, the Intrepid is located in Midtown (about 48th St on the West Side)

 

Is there some big event during this time I am not aware of?

There is always some event going on in NYC, but most are not big enough on their own to effect hotel rates very much... more likely you're just experiencing 'high season' NYC rates.

 

I guess I'd be happy with a 3-4* hotel max $150 ex-taxes. Some suggestions on areas would be handy too.

Regardless of zone, unfortunately for these dates $150 in Manhattan may be a little difficult, although you are likely not too far off. However, while most typically focus on the midtown area, it seems your plans will have you mostly downtown for this leg of your trip (perhaps look at midtown for the second leg of your stay??) and the Downtown location may help you a bit in terms of budget.

For mos the following zones are considered to be centrally located:

MTE, MTW, TS, CPS, MSG, ESB, Chelsea

but note:

MTE - some hotels can be a 10-15 minute walk to the subway

CPS - centrally located but contains the Hudson Hotel which has notoriously small rooms

Chelsea - hotels can be a 10 minute walk to the subway, but a 'hot' area right now with lots of bars, clubs, restaurants, cafes, etc. so still a very desirable area for most

--> given the 'issues' above you'll need to determine if these zones are acceptable to you as well

Given your needs with many attractions 'downtown' these may work best for your individual needs:

Lower East Side

Soho-Tribeca

Downtown Financial

Given your budget may be a little light (i'm guessing at the moment you're more likely looking in the $150-$175 range), you would want to include all zones which you think would be acceptable in order to give the greatest number of hotels the opportunity to accept your bid price, which should help translate to the best deal possible.

Let us know your thoughts (or additional questions) and we'll take it from there.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[Reggie78]

Thanks for the detailed response thereuare. I have noted a lot of your detailed reponses, thank you for having such patience to assist as many people as you do.

 

I will discuss this with SWMBO and see if the budget can cope with the slight increase.

 

I do note that you are very familiar with the area/s, can you comment on Long Island City and Jersey City as viable cheaper alternatives? And any suggestions on the better/best areas to stay outside of Manhattan proper?

 

Thanks,

Reg,

[thereuare]

... can you comment on Long Island City and Jersey City as viable cheaper alternatives? And any suggestions on the better/best areas to stay outside of Manhattan proper?

Both are viable, but you don't get the 'true' NYC experience if staying outside of Manhattan. Part of what makes NYC so special (imo) is that you can walk out of your door (or hotel) and have everything at your disposal (at almost any time of day)... when you stay outside of the city you lose most of the 'buzz' and 24/7 feel that the city provides.

With the above noted, it does come down to price/convenience vs. budget and sometimes it's a worthwhile trade-off... other times it is not.

JERSEY CITY - you need/want to stay along the waterfront to be a viable option to commute to NYC... not stay 'inland' in this zone. On HOTWIRE this zone includes the area along Route 1&9 (also named Tonnelle Avenue) and this is NOT the area you want to stay in. Currently there are no 'known' 4* hotels in this area so a 4 star hotel on HOTWIRE should be OK and land you along the waterfront, but of course ideally would want to be able to guess/identify any listing before you moved forward. On PRICELINE this zone only includes the waterfront area, but it also extends north to include Weehawken where you could land the Sheraton Lincoln Harbor... not a bad hotel, but it's a 'lesser' location than the 4* hotels in the zone so you would want to stick with 4* bidding here if looking to avoid this Sheraton (which is currently 3.5* rated by PRICELINE). The 4* hotels should land you near a PATH train so you can commute via rail under the Hudson River... the Sheraton you would commute by bus. This area used to be a much better value, and still is for some dates, but frequently has been priced just as high as Manhattan, and you need to see some savings to make staying outside of the city worthwhile, imo.

LONG ISLAND CITY - the area is going thru a transformation and is on the upswing, and while it has been a good/popular choice among many who are looking for a Manhattan alternative, i'm still not a big fan of this zone. The area is still industrial with scrap metal shops, graffiti walled buildings, and just an overall 'dirty' feel to it. In a few years i will likely feel differently as the transformation continues and the area gets cleaned up a bit more, but for now i'm not as much of a fan as others (but admittedly some find the area perfectly acceptable).

If your budget is tight i'd suggest staying directly in Manhattan for at least one leg of your NYC dates, but you don't want to travel all the way from Australia and 'miss out' on the full NYC experience in order to save a few dollars per nite.

Your thoughts/questions and how you'd like to proceed?

[Reggie78]

Thanks again for your detailed answers.

 

At this point, I am leaning toward staying on Manhattan, and trying for that $150-$175 price like you suggested - why come all the way there an not experience what we came for - and look at staying on the Jersey City side on the Waterfront.

 

For now, we are on hold, as we might have another party come with us, which will require an extra room be booked. Or, you may know, is there a better apartment alternative than 2 hotel rooms?

 

Reg.

[thereuare]

Let us know once your plans are firm and how many rooms you will need and we will see what is available at that time.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[Reggie78]

OK, so our plans are set - Arriving into JFK on 3rd Nov (evening) and then a side trip to Washington DC via Amtrak on the 7th Nov returning to NY 11th Nov, where we will likely stay over in Jersey City (i'll post a win article when I get one, hopefully <$130).

 

Looking at the maps, I would think that the zones i want are Empire State, Chelsea and Madison Square Garden.

 

Thoughts on getting 3*+ in these areas for $150-$180? Other suggestions most welcome too :)

 

Reg.

[thereuare]

Yes, i think you should be able to 'squeak' by within budget for the 11/3-11/7 leg of your trip. You can try the following:

Select 3* ESB...

Bid $165, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE...

Select 3* Chelsea...

Bid $165, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE...

Select 3* MSG...

Bid $165, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE...

Select 3* ESB and Chelsea...

Bid $170, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE...

Select 3* ESB and MSG...

Bid $170, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE...

Select 3* ESB, Chelsea, MSG...

Bid $175

If the above is rejected, PRICELINE EXPRESS has a 3* hotel in the ESB zone for $175/nite with:

Pet Friendly

... best guess for this property would be the Jolly Madison

Any questions feel free to ask.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Reggie78]

Thanks for that thereuare. I might start down at $150 and try my luck in $5 increments over the next couple days. Will let you know how I get on.

[thereuare]

Keep us updated on your progress and let us know if we can be of further help along the way.

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board. (and please don't use the links in any emails that priceline may send letting you know that you're eligible to bid again)

Good luck!

[Reggie78]

No deal....

 

Tried up to $170 in ESB, Chelsea and MSG 3* and up.

 

Oh well, looks like i'll need to look elsewhere for a good deal then  :)

[AaronJB]

I'm seeing what appears to the Salisbury and Edison Hotels for $179 (you may see a slightly different price) on Hot.wire, as well as an unidentified 3* in MSG for $172. Would any of these be of interest?

 

Thank you for using the board's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[Reggie78]

Just found a thoroughly frustrating feature of Hotwire - I do a search, it lists certain properties, then when you click on it, it tells you "sorry, that poprerty has gone. You have to be quicker than that..."

 

Yet, when you search again, it shows up again, and fails again.....

 

GRRRRRR!!!! 

 

I'm not overly familiar with searching on Hotwire - is there anything special that I should be doing??

[AaronJB]

Under the secret rate section on Hot.wire, when searching for your dates (again, you may see slightly different rates), I'm seeing:

 

3* Midtown Central: Smoke Free, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Kitchenette, Deaf Accessible, Travel Accessible, Room Accessible, Bathroom Accessible, Roll-in Shower $179. Likely Salisbury.

3* TS - Restaurant, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Laundry. $179. Likely Edison.

3* Madison Square Garden - Restaurant, Pool, Indoor Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Room Accessible, Wheelchair Accessible, Pet Friendly. $172 (? - Not yet ID'd/reported to the board.)

3* Empire State Building - Smoke Free, Hi-Speed Internet, Laundry, Blind Accessible, Deaf Accessible, Room Accessible, Bathroom Accessible, Wheelchair Accessible, Roll-in Shower, Pet Friendly $168. Likely Jolly Hotel Madison Towers.

 

Out of the bunch, the Salisbury is - I'd say - probably the best option, as while not super modern by any means, that's been a popular and pretty well-reviewed value hotel in NYC for many, many years. Great location, as well.

 

Thank you for using the board's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[thereuare]

There is also the previously referenced 3* PRICELINE EXPRESS property in the ESB zone... it was $175/nite (when first mentioned above) but is now $180/nite.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[Reggie78]

Thanks everyone for your help and assistance with all of my queries, but I think we have decided to maintain our original booking in Long Island City. We are getting a room rate of $111, and it's just too big of a difference for us budget wise.

 

Once again, this community is very patient and helpful with every visitor to this board, you should all be very proud of what you have built here. Kudos to all, particularly AaronJB and thereuare.

 

Thanks,

 

Reg.

[AaronJB]

Thank you for closing the thread and glad you were able to find something that works well for needs.

 

Please use the site's Support Page links to start regular rate purchases and searches. Additionally, please start a new thread for the 11th-18th stay and we would be happy to offer our thoughts.

 

Enjoy your stay.