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KatiesMom

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Everything posted by KatiesMom

  1. Here are a few dining possibilities in your neighborhood. I'll be staying at the Sofitel too, in July. Can't wait. Check these places out further on menupages.com Breakfast: Evergreen Diner, 145 W. 47th St, between 6th and 7th Ave. The Red Flame, 67 W. 44th St, between 5th and 6th Ave. Financier, Exceptional coffee, pastries, croissants, macarons, 1211 6th Ave at 48th St. Raspberry macaron is my favorite. Dinner: Brazilian Steakhouse: Churrascaria Plataformia, 316 W.49th St between 8th and 9th Ave. Chinese: Grand Sichuan, 368 W. 46th St, at 9th Ave. French (casual,not fancy): Marseille, 630 9th Ave at 44th St French/American (UPSCALE, Jackets required for men) The Modern at the Museum of Modern Art, 9 W. 53rd St, between 5th and 6th American (UPSCALE, Jackets for men) Upstairs at '21', 21 W. 52nd St, between 5th and 6th Ave. A New York landmark restaurant. Italian but NOT really Italian. ViceVersa, 325 W. 51st St, between 8th and 9th. This is one of my theater district FAVORITES! I don't like many spots in the theater district, too many touristy ripoffs, but ViceVersa has terrific food and ambiance. My kind of place. Snack: La Maison du Chocolat: 30 Rockefeller Plaza at 49th. Jaw dropping good chocolates. Expensive but amazing. If you order coffee or tea it comes with a chocolate.
  2. Thanks Thereuare! Couldn't resist the Sofitel deal on Hotwire, so got it by clicking HOTWIRE link on BetterBidding. Details: $208 for 7/13 - 7/14 one night. 4.5* Midtown Central Amenities: Free Internet Pet friendly Fitness Center Business Center Restaurant High-Speed Internet Access The Sofitel is a lovely hotel, never stayed there before, so looking forward to it.
  3. The Sofitel would indeed interest me. Thanks for pointing that listing out to me.
  4. Shopping around for one night under $200, 7/13-7/14, 4*. I love Kimpton Hotels so right now I'm targeting Ink48, 4*, in Hell's Kitchen, which according to BetterBidding's pinned priceline list is the only identified hotel (4* or otherwise) in the Hell's Kitchen zone. I initially bid $145, rejected. Then added free rebid zone, bid $156, rejected. Added another free rebid zone, bid $162 rejected. I was just testing the waters. There are some deals floating around in the high $180's for other hotels on other sites so not rushing things. NOTE: When checking the free rebid zones... BetterBidding doesn't list any 4* hotels for Lower East Side or Upper East Side, but Priceline had 4* for both of them so they were not free rebid zones for me. That's why on BB you wisely advise people to double check before bidding. You never know what might pop up. SECOND NOTE: I just checked out the Express Deals for this date and there is a 4* Hell's Kitchen for $267. I think it is Ink48. Guest score 8 out of 10. GUEST FAVORITE. Amenities: Pets Allowed, Restaurant, and also Bed Choice offered. So I'm guessing I won't likely find a really good deal under $200 for this one.
  5. Hi all, My daughter and I and are coming to NYC to see a midnight show with Jinkx Monsoon (Laurie Beechman Theater near theater district). One night stay. We'll arrive early, enjoy the day, then take a nap to prepare for a late night. Looking for something quiet enough for us to nap and reasonably close to the theater — midtown west, times square, midtown east preferred. Hotwire has the following. It doesn't exactly match any BB's descriptions. Do you think it is the Doubletree Metropolitan? If so, I'll keep looking. On last minute travel there is what I believe is Morgan's for $213 but that is before calling. When you call they usually offer a nice discount. I'd like to keep the base under $200. 7/13/13, one night, $186, 4*, Midtown East Amenities: PetFriendly Fitness Restaurant Business Hi Speed Internet Accessible path of travel In room accessibility Accessible bathroom Roll-in shower EDIT: I guess I misread at first, this does appear to be a match for the Doubletree Metropolitan. I'll still leave this post up because I am still hunting an welcome suggestions. Thanks!
  6. Decided $189 was too much. So will make it a day trip by train.
  7. A representative from Le Parker Meridien insists it was not their problem, it was booking.com's fault. In fact, she said, because of this experience they have suspended service at this time with booking.com. However, she offered me the rate of $189 a night for the room. Now I have to decide if I want it. I'm leaning towards taking it. Considering how rates are for next week, it seems worthwhile.
  8. Very interesting! Thanks Dahammer, I'm on it!
  9. Was on the phone with a booking.com rep for an hour. She called Le Parker Meridien and said it was the hotel's fault. She said the hotel decided not to honor the $99 rate, not booking.com. She said she asked the hotel if they were willing to go down to around $169 for the night in light of the inconvenience caused to the customer, but she said they said no. She apologized, and said booking.com couldn't do anything more because in this case it was the hotel's fault. So, no room for us. Someone's not telling the truth. I don't know enough about either entity to know which it is. Any thoughts?
  10. Thanks for the advice. No response from a second email. Calling them now.
  11. Here it is 6:30 p.m., and still no other word from Booking.com. I responded in an email that the credit card issue was because Le Parker Meridien told me they were not going to charge my credit card because the deal was off. No $99 rooms. Not a WORD from booking.com. Nothing. What if I hadn't contacted Le Parker Meridien and thought my deal was valid?
  12. Just got the following email from booking card, claiming there was an issue with my credit card information. There isn't, and as of this moment, they are still advertising the $99 deal. Guess what travel company I will no longer deal with? Dear XXXXX XXXXX, We have been contacted by Le Parker Meridien New York. It seems that the credit card details you supplied are invalid. What to do: Click here to update your credit card details: MyBooking You can also contact Le Parker Meridien New York for further assistance. Important: Please do this within 24 hours to ensure the hotel does not attempt to charge your card or cancel your reservation. You still have a reservation at this hotel unless you receive a cancellation email. You could possibly still be charged by the hotel: For a no-show For late cancellation For prepayment All payments are processed by the hotel. We are also available 24 hours a day to answer your questions. Kind regards, Booking.com
  13. Well, I just answered my own question. Passing this info along to help others who may confront the same thing. I called Le Parker Meridien's "In House" reservations, and they said Booking.com had made a mistake and due to a "system error" advertised rooms for $99. They are not honoring those reservations. (I have yet to hear anything from booking.com.) As a gesture, the hotel offered me a discounted rate. They'll give me a room that is regularly $659 for $489. No thanks, we'll take the train back. So, caveat emptor. Always check out a "deal."
  14. I just got what seems like a deal that is way too good to be true. My husband and I decided to stay one night in NYC following an evening at a Broadway show. We live in Connecticut, a train ride away, so if I couldn't get a good hotel deal, it was no biggie, we'd skip it. Our travel date is: May 22 to May 23, one night. Rack rates are very high at this time. I called The Benjamin where I have stayed before and gotten good deals, and the best they could do was $415 a night. I went to Priceline, via the link on BetterBidding, and bid up to $175 for 4*, various Manhattan zones, no dice. On Hotwire, the cheapest acceptable I could find was $266 for a 3.5* in Hell's Kitchen. I scoured kayak.com and they had a link to a listing on booking.com for $99 a night for Le Parker Meridien, a very nice 4* hotel. Superior King Room. So, I booked it. WHAT? How on earth could they offer that price? The hotel's cheapest price on that date - for a superior room with 2 single beds is $569. (Online they aren't offering a Superior King for that travel date.) I never used booking.com before, so I read up on it online and there were some complaints made, mostly about European bookings, and mostly about cancellation policies. I plan on calling Le Parker Meridien directly and confirming our reservation. Should I be nervous?
  15. Just a quick follow up. The Enterprise place was right next door to our hotel, The Palomar, very convenient. They honored their rate which allowed us to pick up downtown and return the car at O'Hare at no additional cost. Good experience overall.
  16. Thanks jg! We did use the El quite a bit. We took it from O'Hare to the hotel, and back and forth to Wrigley. Because there was such a long line after the games to get back on the El, we went to Goose Neck Brewery for a drink. Better than standing in line for an hour.
  17. I just wanted to report back about our trip. I loved every minute in Chicago and definitely will go back. The Palomar was excellent! First rate all the way. They are a 4* hotel that wants to be a 5* and it shows in their customer service. If you get a Kimpton hotel such as the Palomar or Monaco, join Kimpton's loyalty program, it's free. Perks you may get: $10 minibar credit, fresh fruit and water, daily newspaper, late check out if requested and available, room upgrade if available. Checking in they noted I had "prepaid" for our room but said nothing about hotwire and did not treat us like second class guests. That apparently is the Kimpton way - excellent customer service for all guests. Other notes about our trip: We went to see the Red Sox play the Cubs in three games. Lo and behold members of the Red Sox were staying at the Palomar! Oh yeah, I got pictures!! For one game we needed handicapped seats and they were right behind home plate. Excellent! The ushers at Wrigley were kind and helpful. Jesse Jackson was sitting a few rows in front of us and I asked him if he would pose for a picture with my mom and he was very nice and agreed to do so. It thrilled her incredibly that a celebrity would do that. Made her day. We had some great food. If you like Italian, make a reservation at La Scarola for grandma style, old-school, Frank Sinatra, red sauce dishes. It was out of this world and the owner Armando Vasquez is a major character worth talking to. Sable at The Palomar has great after dinner snacks (prime rib sliders) and drinks. Girl & The Goat was great as was The Aviary for wildly inventive cocktails. Architectural Boat Tour and Food and Cultural Walking Tour (River North) were great ways to get to know the city.
  18. What are the amenities? Does it also say recommended by a certain % of hotwire customers? If you click "Show Me" and scroll down is there a Trip Advisor rating?
  19. I no longer will purchase anything on hotwire without those ratings.
  20. I'd call the hotel now, confirm your reservation, and give them your rewards number. Also tell the clerk (in the nicest possible way) your room desires. I do this all the time, even with PRICELINE / HOTWIRE wins and find that even though I don't earn loyalty points I get treated very well for being a member.
  21. Thanks for the advice. I booked it with Enterprise, It is cancellable, they didn't take my credit card information. My only concern is I asked if they could email me confirmation and they said they aren't set up for that. (Huh?) So I don't have this in writing. Hopefully will be fine.
  22. Gas prices are rising and going through the roof. I rarely rent cars, but will be doing so in June in Chicago. I wonder if there is any chance rental prices will rise as gas prices rise, or are the two unrelated? Also, if I make a reservation now does that price stick or can the rental agency up it if prices go up? I'm pretty sure I will be renting the car through Enterprise directly and not via Priceline or Hotwire because I have special circumstances. We're getting the car at the end of our Chicago stay to take it to Wisconsin for the rest of our trip. We want to pick the car up in downtown Chicago and return it to O'Hare airport. Enterprise will pick us up at our hotel and bring us to their nearby office at no charge for the pick up. This saves time and money so we don't have to schlep to the airport (45 minutes away) to pick up the car. We can return the car to O'Hare. The price quoted was $201.04. The cheapest price I have found so far for rental cars is with Thrifty for $197.83 but that would be airport pick up/drop off. I have a verbal noncommittal reservation with Enterprise. Just wondering if there would be any advantage to firming it up now.
  23. Check out my Hotwire hotel thread a couple below yours, I got the Palomar. The Felix and the Sax do not get as good Hotwire or TA ratings as the Palomar, that's the chief clue for Id'ing this one.
  24. Thanks Dahammer, I tried to get my friend to do so but she won't. She will have nothing to do with Hotwire again. I read some reviews on Trip Advisor about the Royal Sonesta and this wasn't the first time they treated Hotwire prepaid customers badly as far as beds was concerned.
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