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A subset of this stay 5/1-5/3: 1) Found a "customer favorite" 3* in MTE for $198; rest. +Fitness+ bus.ctr. Hotel Identity? 2) Also, 3* in MTC for $149; rest. + Fitness. Hotel Identity? 3) Finally, 3.5* in MTC for $178, cust. favorite; rest. +pool+fit.+H-S inter.+bus.. Hotel Identity ?

I would like to try again to get a PL hotel for our trip described above. Our situation is still the same as originally started on this thread. We have 2 rooms booked at the Beekman for the 6 nites; 4/27-5/2, as our backup (and likely) plan. We can split our nites to 2/2, 4/2, or 2/4. We want a 4* in MTE, MTW or UM/CPS for top bid of $190. Would appreciate any guidance and bidding strategy at this time. Thanks much for a very useful forum.

Thanks for your comments on our situation. We would like to be in the UM/CPS and a 4* and can split dates. I'm tempted to try for something like the 4*Hilton-NY (MTW) after seeing PL-wins at $110 or so. Is there something about our dates (4/27-5/3) or 2-rooms, that's so different than the Hilton-NY wins of 4/22-26 (or is it me? :) ). I assume that the Beekman will honor any part of our reservation, in case we got a PL-win for part of our stay. I welcome any suggested strategy.

With our backup , our PL max bid now is $175. We're keen on staying in Manhatten for our entire stay; 6-nites (2 rooms) starting Wed. 4/27. We can break up the stay into 2 parts or even 3 parts; 2/4, 4/2, 2/2/2 nites, if it's worthwhile. I would like to re-bid again soon and would like your strategy; starting either for the 6-nites at one place or for a 2 nigt, or 4-nite., whatever you think will be best, to start. Thanks again for you help.

I started this topic on 2/18/05 : " Need guidance for our 6-nite 2-room 4* search in UM/CPS, MTW, and MTE area. My max price for 4* is $185, and we can split dates like 2/4 or 4/2 but not 3/3/. Using your great bid list (slightly modified,see below), I tried PL yesterday (2/16/05) and got rejected for 3 sets of dates, as follows: 1. All 6-nites, starting at $110 and finishing at $155. 2. Last 4-nites; starting at $120 and finishing at $165. 3. 1st 2-nites; starting $110 and finishing at $165." Thanks for your comments regarding my current efforts, about future bidding and having a backup . We now have a backup at the Beekman Tower for all 6 nites, 2 rooms, at $170. Your suggestion was to wait a week to bid again on PL. Will await your current bidding strategy. Thanks again.

I have been here before; last fall. Great help here in PL bidding, and we were satisfied with the results.. Now I need guidance for our 6-nite 2-room 4* search in UM/CPS, MTW, and MTE area. My max price for 4* is $185, and we can split dates like 2/4 or 4/2 but not 3/3/. We don't have a backup yet. We got 1 recommendation for the Melrose (63/Lex); any comments on that 3*? Using your great bid list (slightly modified,see below), I tried PL yesterday (2/16/05) and got rejected for 3 sets of dates, as follows: 1. All 6-nites, starting at $110 and finishing at $155. 2. Last 4-nites; starting at $120 and finishing at $165. 3. 1st 2-nites; starting $110 and finishing at $165. I see a success on 2/17 for the 4* NY Hilton for 4/21-24, 3 rooms at $110. I don't see how that could happen with my reject experience, all the way to $165. Any help is greatly appreciated. ---------------------------------------------------------- Bid listing used: Select 4* MTW... Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and. bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone2 and...Bid $120, if rejected, close that browser and re-access Priceline however you did previously. Select 4* MTE... Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and. Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone2 and...Bid $120, if rejected, close that browser and re-access Priceline however you did previously. Select 4* UM/CPS... Bid $120, if rejected add MTW and...Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and...Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone2 and..Bid $135, if rejected, close that browser and re-access Priceline however you did previously. Select 4* UM/CPS and MTE...Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and...Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone2 and..Bid $135, if rejected, close that browser and re-access Priceline however you did previously. Select 4* UM/CPS and MTE and MTW.. Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and..Bid $145, if rejected ,close that browser and re-access Priceline however you did previously. Select 4* UM/CPS and MTE and MTW and re-bid zone2..Bid $150, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and..Bid $155.

PL bid (finally) accepted on 9/21/04 for 2 rooms for 10/18/04 for 2 nites stay; $160. We have returned from our NYC trip and enjoyed it all. We especially enjoyed the Marriot NY Marquis hotel. The hotel is located very near Broadway and Times Square, a very busy area. But this is a huge building, the lobby is on the 8th floor, so the guests are somewhat insulated from the busy street scene. We asked for non-smoking rooms as high as possible and they put us on the 35th floor, with an outstanding view. Beds and all were very comfortable.

We returned from our NYC trip and enjoyed it all. Here is a little description of the Drake. It is an attractive and comfortable older hotel, located on 56th st and not on Park Ave (despite the address). We were given comfortable rooms on the 12th floor. But a few things indicate that the hotel is in need of fixing up. Our inside llock on the entrance door was broken and it took 2 days to get it repaired. The furnishings were nice but the beds not the most comfortable. Having room 1212 means that the room phone rings often. Lots of hotel guests wrongly call out on their phones by dialing "1-212...". Otherwise, we enjoyed our stay. :)

We have returned from our NYC trip and enjoyed it all. We especially enjoyed the Marriott Marquis hotel. The hotel is located very near Broadway and Times Square, a very busy area. But this is a huge building, the lobby is on the 8th floor, so the guests are somewhat insulated from the busy street scene. We asked for non-smoking rooms as high as possible and they put us on the 35th floor, with an outstanding view. Beds and all were very comfortable. I got curious about the Priceline charges for "Taxes and Fees". This was a combined item and amounted to 15.6%. I have asked (e-mail) PL to breakout the taxes collected but they won't do that. I have to assume that the PL "service fee" is 2.3%. BTW, despite the PL claim that they collect all the taxes, the hotel collected an additional $2/night for occupancy tax.

We wanted a 4* near Union Square for 2 nites starting Sat. 12/4, and figured we had a shot at the St.Francis or Hilton in USW. I had the re-bid zones all figured but I probably started bidding too high. My 1st bid at $75 was accepted by Stanford Court. Location is part-way up Nob Hill, which was a surprise. Looks like a class act but they might have some "less-superior" rooms for priceline. Anyone have any info on staying at the Stanford Court? Thanks again for this forum. Helps a lot.

With a lot of help from Thereuare, I found this "lo-price" standing out from the current HW quotes for our choice of zones (MTW, MTE,MTS,TS). Odd that for just 3-nites (10/14-17), the 4*-MTE quote was $227. Also, this was lowest quote in MTE for 3* thru 4*, by quite a bit. Finally, it was the lowest quote for ANY 3*-4* in ALL 4 of our zones, except for $179 for a 3* in MTC Go figure . :) Thanks to the moderator for all his help. :)

Finally! We did it (you mostly). We nailed the HW 4* MTE at $201 for 10/14-18, and it did turn out to be the Drake (good for you). Then, I went to PL and did your plan exactly for 10/18-10/20, EXCEPT I got chicken, having 4 rejects in a row, and for the last bid went to $160. Would you believe; accepted at Marriott Marquis. Thanks much and have a good night. :)

Thanks again for info. I did check the HW for the 3-nite and 4-nite dates as you suggested. None of the 3-nite quotes look good to me. What stands out is the 4* in MTE for 4-nites at $201. It lists a spa. Any idea as to the hotel? Also, HW shows $179 for 3* in MTC for 4-nites. It lists Rest.+fit.ctr.; any idea for this hotel? Pending your answers, I'm ready to try PL for the 4* for last 2 nites?. Assuming success (???) with 4* PL, should I wait on the HW buys for the 1 4-nites? That could change against me fast; right? I'm standing by. :) :)

Your info is really helpful. The thing about the Marriott bid that bothers me is that my big bid sequence of 9/14 included a 4* MTE subset for 10/17-20, starting at $160 and ending at $190 with a reject. Maybe that was then and not now? I think we'll be happy to get 4* Marriott for 10/17-20 for $150 and then go for 4* or 3* on PL for the 1st 3 days. Failing that, go for 4* or 3* on HW. Appreciate any strategy you can provide.

Keeping you up-to-date. I started over on 9/20 with my bid sequence (all thru SB.com) as follows: 6-nites for 4* starting at $160 and adding $10 each re-bid for these zones; MTE, then added, MTW, then UM/CPS, then UES, then UWS (ending at $200, our max.). All rejects. I repeated this for 5-nites, starting 10/14 (to see if availability was a factor); still all rejects. I threw in 1 bid for 4* in MTS for $190; reject. Then I repeated my bid sequence for 6-nites for 3* starting at $150 and $10 adds , except I left out UES rebid,(ending at $180). All rejects. Repeated this for 5-nites. All rejects. I feel rejected. I'm encouraged by JSiegelman post of 9/20 that he got 4* Marriott-MTW for $150 for within our dates on the same day as I was bidding.. How did that happen? 2 days instead of our 6 (and our 2 rooms)? I have been tracking HW prices and I see 4* in MTE for $236 (your Grand Hyatt at $218?). I see 3* in MTS for 227, today 239 (your Murray Hill at $209). BTW, Orbitz shows it at $199 now. Finally, we're curious about todays HW for 3* in MTC at $195. Do you know what hotel this is? Thanks again for all the help, and any new ideas for us. Again, we'll be happy with a 4* in UM/CPS for under $200. Is our problem 6-nites and 2 rooms?

Thanks much for your very clear strategy/bidding plan. I followed thru with your bidding plan as follows: on 9/14, 10pm PDT: I went thru the entire 4* set, exactly as shown except I used $180 & $190 for last 2 bids for each date subset. Then I repeated the plan again for 3* using the $180 as max., except I didn't do the last 3 date subsets. Reason was that I didn't want to get stuck with 3 nites for maybe-hi-priced rooms. today, 9/19, around 4 pm: I started over with 4* for the full 6 nites, and then the 1st 5 nites. I started the bids at $160 and ended at $200 (5 bids, including 2 re-bid zones). I then tried the MTS at $190 (just to try that zone out). I repeated for the 3* set for the 6-nite and 5-nite subsets, starting at $150 and ending at $180. So, on both efforts (9/14 & 9/19), I got rejected for all the combos we desire: 4* in UM/CPS, MTW, and MTE for max. of $200 for 6-nites and 5-nites ending 10/20 (checkout), and same for 3* for max. of $180 . I was encouraged by the recent post for $145 for the 3* Park Central for 7-nites, although that was in mid-Nov. Are we getting too late for mid-Oct. ? Did I miss any bid techniques? I did all this bidding starting with the SavingsBarn.com. Thanks again for all you help.

Our last bids were on 9/7 at 10pm, when I bid in the 2 3-nite blocks. OK; our plan is to try for 3* properties for a limit of $180, for UM/CPS preferable, but MTW and MTE are OK. We know NYC areas and don't really want to stay in other than these 3 areas. We are 2 couples and need 2 rooms (2 persons each room). We are willing to change hotels once, as in 3 nites in one and then 3 nites in another. Our dates can be changed if need be, as our Jetblue Tix cost $25 each to change , if space available , of course. So that means $100/total-room equivalent. I hope this is enough to let you provide a 3* strategy. Thanks much.

Thanks again for the comments on our search: on 9/8 I wrote "We're looking for 2 rooms in Manhatten for 10/14-10/19 (6 nites). We want a 4* in MTW , UM/CPS, or MTE. " At $180. with no luck, it's discouraging." on 9/12, I wrote "We'll try it again with our budget limit at $175 for a 3 *". I did mention we might switch dates to Nov. if that helps but it means switching airline tix too. So, first, I would like to take another shot now at the 3* for our limit of $175, preferably in UMT/CPS or MTW or MTE. Appreciate any strategy you can suggest. I see that there is only one "re-bid" zone for 3*, and that is UWS for 2.5*. We still don't have any back-up reserved. Thanks, ed

I want to thank all of you who added replies to my inquiry: "We're looking for 2 rooms in Manhatten for 10/14-10/19 (6 nites). We want a 4* in MTW , UM/CPS, or MTE. " At $180. with no luck, it's discouraging.. Your replies were helpful to my problem. We'll try it again with our budget limit at $175 for a 3 *. We split the dates in order to add to our number of bids. Would appreciate any more ideas on bidding strategy. I do understand the re-bid deal. Oh; We might be able to shift our trip to Nov. Would that help our bids and lower the prices ?

I'm new to the board and I'm impressed by the helpful info . I have followed the very interesting bidding info and so far, no acceptances my hotel bids. We're looking for 2 rooms in Manhatten for 10/14-10/19 (6 nites). We want a 4* in MTW , UM/CPS, or MTE. I just finished bidding for the 1st 3 niites using the "add zone" bit, starting at $152, adding $10 with every added zone. Then I added the 2 rebid zones, with +$4 at a time. Total of 5 bids with max of $180. No go. I repeated the same bid sequence for last 3 nites, starting with same $, but used $5 boost for last 2 bids, final bid=$182. Still no go. Kind of discouraging. Maybe I missed something? Appreciate any help.