Priceline Hotel: Bidding help for New York hotels

[limetree]

Hi, my wife and I will stay in New York for 6 nights. We're looking at following areas either *3 or *4 for a max of $170 per night. Can you please recommend some hotels?

We don't mind split our stay in 2 hotels if that can make it cheaper. Thank you.

 

Times Square
Midtown East
Grand Central Terminal 
Rockefeller Center
Madison Square Garden
Midtown west
Central Park South
Empire State building area
Chelsea area
Soho area

 

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

 

As i'm sure you're finding this is an expensive time of year in NYC.  Assuming your budget is before taxes/fees i think this is the best bang for your buck (confirm your dates on the landing pages of any links provided below):

 

4* SoHo - Tribeca for $182 (using the link in my signature brings this within a few dollars of your budget)
Restaurant
Free Internet
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> best guess for this one would be the Arlo Hudson Square, but note that this hotel is not in the center of it all, although it is near two different subway lines (the 1,2 red line and the A,C,E Blue line) which should be able to get you to most parts of the city that you'd like (it just won't be as convenient as staying in midtown, but you did mention Soho as one of your acceptable zones, so i'm assuming this is OK)

 

The following all are all bit cheaper but not as well reviewed:

 

3* Empire State Building Area for $163
Pets Allowed
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> likely NH Jolly Hotel Madison Towers which is well located but 'basic'

 

4* Central Park South for $172
Pets Allowed
Business Center
Restaurant
==> Hudson Hotel is my guess here... well located but notoriously small rooms (even by NYC standards... probably wouldn't want to stay here for a full week)

 

4* Madison Square Garden - Convention Area for $180
Pets Allowed
Business Center
Restaurant
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> another centrally located property but an older, historic property with mixed reviews

 

... and here are some HOTWIRE offerings:

 

4* HOTWIRE Empire State Building for $169.00
Pet Friendly
Smoke Free
Fitness
Restaurant
Business
Laundry
Hi-Speed Internet
==> matches previous reports for the Affinia Shelburne so would be my best guess for this one.  Very well reviewed and rooms are generally larger than most NYC hotel rooms, but there is also a $27 resort fee which may stretch your budget a bit, but one to consider if your budget is flexible. (slight chance this could also be the Affinia Dumont, but both would be good and get great reviews)

 

Do any of the above work for your needs?

 

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 what you decide and how it goes or how we can be of further help.

[limetree]

Thanks for your reply. I'm still not sure how this can save more money. Should I use the price you mentioned for bidding? 

 The *3 NH jolly you mentioned is $163 per night, when I check it on hotels.com, this hotel is only costing $100 more if I book 6 nights. i have thought the savings on Priceline is more than that. 

 

Is there a way to guess a hotel and work out how much bid I should offer? 

 

I wish PRICELINE can show the all inclusive price so that it's easier to compare it with other sites. 

[thereuare]

While i agree that $100 is not that much of a savings over a 6 nite stay, it's certainly enough to buy you a decent dinner one nite in NYC, and better in your pocket than in the hotels register.

 

However, some deals will have more savings and others less, it is all based upon supply vs. demand and how much the hotel is willing to discount in order to increase their occupancy levels.  As well, hotels also have certain fixed costs to fill a room, so it's often easier for a $300 hotel to discount their rates down to $150 vs. a $150 hotel to discount their rates down to $100 (as the $300 hotel has much more margin to work with, whereas the $150 may already be running closer to cost)

 

So in the example above, maybe the NH Jolly has 100 rooms and has 90 of them already sold over your dates... so why would they want to discount them deeply if they only have 10 rooms available?  Where as if you take the hotel i recommended as being the best value for your dates, you'll see that the 4* Soho-Tribeca Priceline Express Offer is about $500 savings vs. booking a regular retail rate (of course all of this discussion assumes that our guess of the hotel(s) in question is correct)

 

If you haven't seen it yet, searching with our BiddingHelper.com tool may make things easier for you to compare offers, as the HOTWIRE EASY VIEW and the PRICELINE EXPRESS tabs both include a button "IS THIS A GOOD PRICE" which will show you similar rated hotels in the immediate area for your specific dates so you can quickly and easily see if the price offered for a hotel of that star rating is good or not.

 

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 how you'd like to proceed and we will advise accordingly.

[limetree]

Thanks. I have tried to bid a 4 star hotel for $165 in Empire State Building area but failed. I found that the same 4 star hotel has a PRICELINE EXPRESS deal of $181 and it can drop to $171 if I use your discount code. 

 

However, after following your link and entered the code, I keep getting following msg:

Offer only valid through participating website. Please open new browser and click through the participating website where you found this offer.

[limetree]

Also, can I assume bidding price is always lower tha PRICELINE EXPRESS deal? If so, how much lower?

 

I've tested booking a few nights within this week and found some really good express deal. For example, 4 star in Empire State Building area for around $140.  Does this mean price may drop if I book it close to my arrival date?

 

[thereuare]

7 hours ago, limetree said:

Does this mean price may drop if I book it close to my arrival date?

Not necessarily... in NYC rates begin to tick higher at the beginning of Spring and then usually continue higher as we get more and more into the spring season (then we often see a drop at the beginning of the summer months).  Since rates are based upon supply/demand, it's possible that there is lower demand for next week (and therefore lower prices) vs. your stay at the beginning of May.

 

If you want to see an example of the above, try a search for Jan 1, 2018 (Winter is a slow season in NYC and Sundays are typically the slowest nite of the week) and you will find likely see rates cheaper than both next week and as well as your dates in May... based upon your theory this would imply that booking as far in advance as possible would render the best rates (when in reality rates are date specific based upon seasonality factors as well as events that affect supply/demand for particular dates)

 

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.

 

PS- i sent you a PM regarding the issue you were having with our exclusive PRICELINE EXPRESS promotion, reply to that PM letting us know if the issue is resolved or if you're still having a problem.