Priceline Hotel: Looking for 4* NYC in Oct for 10 day stay

[ilifebet]

Hi,

A friend recommended using Priceline so stumbled across this forum - what a great resource!

 

My partner and I will be in NYC 8 - 18th October. I already have hotels booked with free cancellation.

I've done some searching using biddinghelper but the Priceline Express / Hotwire results are similar in price to what I've already booked so I thought I'd try my luck with Priceline bidding to save some money.

Current plan is to split our stay between lower and upper Manhattan for a bit of variety.

 

First time to the USA so looking for some advice on our plan and best way to bid. Target budget and locations below. Thanks!

 

8 - 12th 

4* Soho, Tribeca, West Village, (Lower East?)

~$150

 

12 - 18th (6 nights)

4* Midtown

~$250

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

 

I'm very familiar with NYC, to get started... what are the dates, rates, and hotels that you currently have as a back-up? (to make sure we're comparing apples-to-apples in regards to quality of hotels)

 

Also, is there a specific reason you have used Oct 12 as the 'switch' day?  For example, if we found better pricing for 10/8-10/13 and then 10/13-10/18 would that 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 the above and we'll take it from there.

[ilifebet]

Thanks thereuare!

 

No particular reason for the switch day. We have more activities planned around and north of midtown so a 40/60% split sounded about right.

Also gave us the opportunity to stay at cheaper location for a few days since the hotels in lower Manhattan were cheaper on average.

But open to changing the switch day or even just staying in one place for the whole duration provided it's conveniently located.

 

Bookings at the moment:

8 - 12th 

The Ridge Hotel

 

12 - 18th

Club Quarters Midtown

 

(note the target budget I originally quoted is ~$100/night less than my current booking - my reasoning for this budget is that there's a +10% premium for free cancellation bookings and I'd also want a reasonable discount to justify the uncertainty of booking through Priceline)

[thereuare]

Some thoughts on the second leg of your trip first (just to get a feel for ideas/pricing as i think it will be easy to get something within your target budget...for the first few nites i think $150 may be targeting a bit low (but probably easy to beat your $250 back-up at the Ridge)...

 

4* Grand Central Terminal - UN for $201 $190/nite using the link and code in my signature or in our Priceline Coupon page)
Business Center
Restaurant
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> best guess would be the Hotel Boutique At Grand Central or the Club Quarters Grand Central

 

4.5* Midtown East for $249 or $238 with our exclusive coupon
Business Center
Restaurant
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> The Benjamin (well reviewed but the one above is probably a better value if you're trying to keep an eye on costs)

 

If changing your split to 10/13-10/18 i'm also seeing:

4.5* Grand Central Terminal - UN for $235
Pets Allowed
Business Center
Restaurant
Free Internet
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> likely the Even Hotel New York - Midtown East which is a little far east (although certainly do-able) but has been getting excellent reviews

 

For your complete stay you could do The Kimpton Muse Hotel for about $305/nite... yes, more than your budgeting above, but i'm assuming close to your current back-up reservations and this would be very nice for this well reviewed and centrally located property.

 

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

[ilifebet]

We probably won't go for the Kimpton Muse Hotel, but I like your other suggestions - leaning towards the 4* $190.

However I tried to replicate your results but got different prices. Any ideas?

 

2 hours ago, thereuare said:

4* Grand Central Terminal - UN for $201 $190/nite using the link and code in my signature or in our Priceline Coupon page)

$244 $232
Business Center
Restaurant
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities

 

4.5* Midtown East for $249 or $238 with our exclusive coupon

$299 $284
Business Center
Restaurant
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities

 

If changing your split to 10/13-10/18 i'm also seeing:

4.5* Grand Central Terminal - UN for $235

$285 $271
Pets Allowed
Business Center
Restaurant
Free Internet
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities

[AaronJB]

You don't need to redo the search... what happens if you click the links above?  If the pricing is different what prices are you seeing?  Are you perhaps being shown a different currency?

 

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.

[ilifebet]

Didn't think to click on the links. It appears the original per night prices quoted aren't correct but then change when you apply the coupon... Confusing. 

 

Anyway thanks for clearing that up. The 4* Grand Central UN looks like a winner.

 

Any recommendations for the first leg?

[thereuare]

When i previously posted i tried to show the 'regular' PRICELINE EXPRESS rates with a crossout and then showed the rate when using our PRICELINE EXPRESS link and coupon... sorry if that was confusing.

 

For about $197/nite you could stay at the same 4* Grand Central Terminal - UN property for the first nites of your stay (10/8-10/12) and then not have to change properties mid-trip. (although a chance that one purchase lands you the Hotel Boutique At Grand Central while the other lands you the Club Quarters Grand Central)

 

... or consider (confirm your dates on the landing page of any links provided below):

4.5* Chelsea Area for $229 $217 with the BB discount
Business Center
Restaurant
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> INNSIDE New York Nomad my beset guess here... another new chain to come to NYC that is getting excellent reviews and this location has very good subway access

 

Would this work for your first few nites in the city (and pair well with the 4* Grand Central Terminal - UN)?

 

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.

[ilifebet]

Posting a winning bid. Saw this on another thread so took the plunge. Thanks for all the help!

 

4.5* Madison Square Garden - Convention Area
Pets Allowed
Business Center
Free Internet
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> CONFIRMED Crowne Plaza HY36 Midtown Manhattan

 

$241 (incl. tax and after 5% code discount)

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success.

 

Really nice win for a new property! Glad you pleased with the win and are looking forward to your stay.

 

Can you please add a reply to this thread indicating for which nite(s) you were able to book this property as well as let us know the room rate per nite before taxes/fees... we can then edit the topic title accordingly and have this thread appear in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins and our Priceline Maps.

 

Thank you for using the site's PRICELINE link to start your purchases and searches, as well as for letting us know about this new PRICELINE EXPRESS property so that we can update the site's Priceline Hotel List

 

Enjoy your stay.