Priceline Hotel: 4.5* New York City (Lower East Side) Hotel Indigo Lower East Side New York

[adam.r]

Could you help me identify this hotel?

 

My travel dates are March 10-17, and Hotwire are asking for USD 126 for a 4* hotel in city zone Lower East Side - East Village area.

 

Hotel features are:

Complimentary

Free Internet

Amenities

Business centerFitness center

 

 

I am also trying to figure out if PRICELINE is generally cheaper? If I bid on a hotel - is my bid ex. taxes and fees? It seems like taxes and fees are a lot higher that the ones at HOTWIRE - so I should probably make an even lower bid to get a better price that at Hotwire, right?

 

Thanks in advance - I'm so glad I found this side - and I'm using the links from your side when going on HOTWIRE and PRICELINE :)

 

Best regards,

Adam

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

 

I believe there are more amenities then what you have posted above as HOTWIRE has a new interface that does not show the complete set of amenities unless you search using the EASY VIEW TAB of our BiddingHelper.com tool.

If you repeat your search using our BiddingHelper.com tool... use the HOTWIRE EASY VIEW tab and then click the GREEN BUTTON next to this listing, do you see more amenities (including any accessible amenities) then what you have listed above? Using this method, below is the full list of amenities i'm seeing for the 4 star hotel in this zone when searching for your dates:

Free Internet

Fitness

Business

Hi-Speed Internet

.. if this is what you're seeing the Holiday Inn NYC - Lower East Side would be my best guess for this one.

 

PRICELINE is usually a little cheaper than HOTWIRE, but you have to be careful in the assumptions you make, since each service uses their own criteria to rate hotels.  For example, you can see in the following link that PRICELINE rates the Holiday Inn Lower East Side at 3.5 stars... so if you were to use the HOTWIRE price above to determine your PRICELINE bidding amount, you'd be off the mark, since you're not comparing apples-to-apples.

 

The main difference between bidding on PRICELINE vs. going with HOTWIRE (or PRICELINE EXPRESS) is that the former usually gives you the lowest price... but the last two give you the ability to take a guess as to the hotel you may receive and/or know a little bit more about the hotel you are about to purchase (review ratings, amenities, etc).  So it comes down what is more important to you, having a little more information known about the hotel you are about to purchase OR the lowest price.

 

I'm very familiar with NYC (as well as with PRICELINE and HOTWIRE)... if you let us know your criteria for this trip (desired star rating, maximum budget, acceptable zones, etc) we will try to advise you of your best options.

 

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

[adam.r]

Thank you for feedback,

 

I think I understand both service a little better now. 

 

And I'm glad to see that you're very familiar with NYC, since I could use some guidance and have never myself booked a hotel through Hotwire, nor Priceline.

 

Basically my criteria for this trip are:

 

1) Location - East Village/Lower East Side (I have friends in Williamsburg as well as in Dumbo - and I personally like areas like East Village, Chelsea, Soho, and Greenwich Village - so it seems like a convenient location in regards to my plans.

 

2) Quality - I would be the most comfortable staying at a 4+ * hotel, if I'm not sure, what my hotel would be. From looking at your Priceline and Hotwire lists for NYC, it seems that the hotels vary a lot in quality for the same category.

 

3) Price - I would be comfortable paying US$ 115/night (is this even realistic?) I was also thinking of making a bid around US$ 140/night on a 4.5* hotel in Lower East Side (but that seems low to me, when Priceline list the median retail price at US$226 for this area. What do you think?) 

 

Please let me know if you have any alternatives or good ideas.

 

Thank you so much in advance - I'm so grateful for your help!

 

Best regards, Adam

[thereuare]

You're right on the cusp of when rates in NYC begin to rise, but it looks like your budget is probably in the right ballpark, but may need to be just a touch higher depending upon which zone(s) you decide to bid and whether you decide to bid on PRICELINE or go for a PRICELINE EXPRESS or HOTWIRE offer.

 

Some thoughts/comments:

 

You should include as many zones as are acceptable for your needs as this gives more hotels the opportunity to accept your bid price (which translates to a lower winning bid).  So for instance, why only bid the Lower East Side... why not also include Chelsea, Soho, and/or Greenwich Village in your bidding as well?

 

If you're concerned about quality within the 4* category then PRICELINE EXPRESS (or HOTWIRE) will let you choose from one of the 'better' hotels in the zones based upon the user reviews... if you're going for the least expensive hotel as possible by bidding, then you have to be willing to accept any hotel in the zone (at the star rating or higher than you select).

 

So i think your first decision is if you're willing to accept any hotel in the zone(s) that you choose OR if you'd like to know a bit more about the experience of others at the hotel before your purchase (with the understanding the former has a bit more risk so offers the best price... the latter a bit more expensive but you know a little more about the hotel)... from there you can begin to think more about if you only want to bid the LES zone or if others would be acceptable as well.

 

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

Let us know your thoughts on the above and we'll take it from there.

 

 

 

[adam.r]

Thanks so much for your input. 

 

I think I will try putting in a bid on priceline. And I will probably include SoHo and Greenwich Village to my desired zones. 

 

How long does it usually take before hearing back from Priceline if the bid was accepted or not?

 

I will let you know how it all turns out.

 

BR Adam

[thereuare]

You will hear back from PRICELINE in less than 60 seconds (usually closer to 10-15 seconds).

If you would like help with a suggested bidding strategy please let us know what star rating you'd like to try for, which zones, and your maximum bid per nite... we'll then suggest strategy for you to follow.

 

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

[adam.r]

Okay, that was fast! And I will know which hotel I got at right away as well?

 

I would love to be advised on a bidding strategy. 

 

I would like to try for:

 

Star rating: 4,5* 

Zones: Lower East Side, Greenwich Village, and SoHo - Tribeca

Max bid/night: US$ 145 (ex. taxes and fees)

[thereuare]

There are no 4.5* or higher hotels offered in the Greenwich Village zone so we will exclude that from your bidding strategy.

 

When bidding 4.5* in NYC you have ELEVEN re-bid zones.  If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

 

Select 4.5* Lower East Side and Soho...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $123, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $128, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $133, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $138, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $143, if rejected add re-bid zone...
Bid $145

 

Any questions feel free to ask.

 

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

 

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

 

 

[adam.r]

First of all - again thanks so much for your help. 

 

I bid today, knowing that rates probably have gone up since February 20. 

 

I bid in DKK and not in USD. I won at DKK 1,045/night which is approximately USD 152/night when looking at Google's live rate. 

 

I used the strategy you provided in your previous post, starting out with Lower East Side and SoHo, and added re-bid zones which didn't offer hotels with 4,5+*. I ended up getting Hotel Indigo in Lower East Side which I'm very happy about. 

 

I won in my 15th bid, which means I had at least 14 re-bids.

 

I will post this as a win and recommend your site to my entire network. -- Thanks so much - I'm even more excited about my trip now!

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you're satisfied with the hotel and deal you received and are looking forward to your arrival.

Thank you for sharing your win with the board... let us know if you have any questions about the city that we can help with.

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

Have a great trip!