learningtheropes

The Affinia looks ok, I think I could fit our blow up single in their rooms? Not so the yotel though. The cabins are too small. Do you think I should try my luck with bidding instead? I know it's hard to say, but from experience am I likely to get a better price/hotel?

We are happy as long as the area is safe. We don't mind walking a mile or so and we are comfortable catching the subway. I don't know if this is reasonable but I was hoping for 125-150 per night USD. ( our Canadian dollar is still taking a beating so I am factoring in exchange rates) My main requests in order are : Safe area Clean hotel, preferably three star or higher Central location (Times Square or Central Park or Hell's Kitchen ideally) Thanks for the help!

Hoping for some help in finding a good clean hotel in a central location in New York. I will be travelling solo with my 17-year-old teenage son and I know that PRICELINE and HOTWIRE don't guarantee two beds but I'm wondering if anyone knows of a greater chance of two beds in certain areas? (Worst case, we have a blow up single bed.) We wanted to hit the main tourist spots, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, and Time Square. We don't mind catching the subway if it's not too far and we don't mind walking. We might try taking in some discounted shows as well. We used betterbidding a few years ago and got a hotel just off of Time Square. I don't remember the name of it but it had "micro rooms "which we were OK with. Unfortunately, there's no way that they would fit two beds. Thanks!

Thank you for your help, I used all the links and I won the New Yorker at 100 per night! Works for me!! I was a bit worried that I would miss out on the hotwire deal with the new yorker at 107/night but I think this works out to be the same and satisfied my curiosity to boot. Thanks again for all your help

If you could give me a bidding strategy for the following locations that you had suggested and seem to fit our criteria really well: MTW TS MSG ESB CHELSEA Thanks and much appreciated!

I found it, thank you for the link! But one quick question, do I enter total people per room or the total occupants for both rooms? And I can still do a quick Priceline bid attempt if you think I might be able to get the same rate with a higher star level? If it is the Wyndham it looks pretty good, I did read the reviews and they thought the 3.5 rating was a touch inflated and there were a few room repair issues. My only concern is that with hotwire I have heard that sometimes you get delegated the "hotwire" rooms. With a four and a half star or even four star hotel then the hotwire rooms would still be pretty good rooms. I think. :) I realize I can't have my cake and eat it too, (darn it) and that I would have to pay more for a higher star room but I think maybe I would try taking my chance on Priceline first. Thanks

I tried the link for Hotwire and did the search but I think I missed the boat. The hotel you mentioned doesn't seem to be available anymore.

Ok, I'll do exactly that. I'll try bidding then do Hotwire. I like the historic older style hotels, too, so no concern there. Let's skip hk and fin district and stick with the other zones downtown, Chelsea incl but not Mte. Thanks!

Yes, that was a typo. Only two rooms and three nights. I think I will cap at 150 then, to buff for "resort fees" etc. I think your advice on the taxi is a good idea. Once I win a bid maybe someone could give me an idea on the fare based on the hotel distance? And suggested tip percentage/amount? I don"t want to shortchange the driver. I really like the sound of the Chelsea area, actually, so that walk to the subway would be more than acceptable if it is through a trendy/eclectic area. We are in the food industry so that is right up our "alley". :) Perhaps MTE would be a bit too far of a walk if there isn't anything happening there, so let's leave that out of the bidding zones. And, just curious, why do you not recommend Hell's Kitchen? And just to completely shake things up....how hard would it be to commute from the LGA area to downtown New York for the sightseeing/theatre for thurs and fri? I was thinking that the rooms are substantially cheaper and then getting to LGA on Saturday morning would be easier, perhaps even with a hotel shuttle? Wed night we would just chill at the hotel and we would zip into downtown all day thurs and then all day fri. If it is too hectic to do the extra commute into NYC, though, then we would rather stay right in the middle of it all. Thanks for all the details included and I look forward to bidding!

Thank you very much for the speedy response! I think I would like to get 2 rooms and could live with bidding up to 150 "ish" per room per night. That would probably work out to approx 1200 usd for the three rooms all in for the three nights? If I am not successful then I will take your advice and look at hotwire at that point and get only one room. I'm glad you liked avenue Q, I have read great reviews. I did read the content disclaimers about the mature subject matter and I think I might be pushing the envelope a bit but I think my teens are ok to attend. But I'm also open to other show suggestions! I would say they lean towards comedy, not so much musicals. Thank you for the viator link I briefly checked it out and I will visit it again to have a better look. In Orlando we will not be needing a hotel, we are lying in on embarkation day and out on the last cruise day. We may need a layover hotel on the route home to Vancouver (I havent booked that leg yet) and I will start a new thread with that as I do not want to be stuck 10 miles out from the airport. We will be arriving at EWR at approx 3:30pm on Wednesday March 18 and will be flying out of LGA at 7:00am on Sat the 21. Any suggestions of airport to hotel transportation? And then hotel to LGA transportation? We would probably feel less anxious if it was a shuttle of some sort that went straight to and from our hotel, especially as we'll have luggage. And finally, would you recommend I start my hotel bidding now or wait until closer to our arrival date of Mar 18? Thanks again!

Hello there, I have been trying to research as much as possible before starting my bid for two rooms in NYC or March 18 to March 21 2015. I will provide you with as many details as possible about what I am hoping to get and do. Any advice on ANY aspect of our trip is greatly appreciated. :) Family of four, two teens age 14 and 16 and myself and husband. My husband is a bit skeptical about using priceline bidding for New York as we aren't New York, or even very travel, "savvy". We are doing a three night stay in New York before heading to Orlando for our first cruise. We were hoping to catch all the usual tourist attractions, (I'm pretty sure I am going to purchase a new york city pass) and I'm hoping to use public transit (?) to save money so we would need to be central. We also hope to catch a broadway show (I'm thinking Avenue Q, my teens are pretty mature) so I am looking into discounted tix. I have read your comments on the Hudson Hotel having smaller rooms so I would want to avoid it, (I realize NY hotel rooms are generally smaller than most cities so that is why we are spending more of our budget on two rooms). We generally stay in 4 or 4.5 star hotels like the Hyatt, higher end Marriotts, Westin, etc. because they are more affordable here in Vancouver than New York. We would be okay with a Best Western or similar as long as it is safe, clean, convenient location and well managed. Ideally, I was hoping to pay a total 750.00 US, for both rooms, "all in" as that equals approx 1000.00 CAD for the booking. (Our dollar has been taking a beating) But having said that, we will pay more rather than lowering our star level as we probably wont be going back to New York again for a very long time, if ever and I want the family to enjoy themselves. As far as bidding areas, we would like to be walking distance to attractions or close to transit and in safe neighborhood. (I am not at all familiar with New York) Thank you for your time.