Margie

Plans are now firm and I'm ready to bid. We will be in NYC April 16-20th. I would like to bid for two 4* rooms Midtown East. Upper Midtown/Central Park South is also acceptable but I don't think my budget is enough. Since the trip is a few months away, I would like to bid with a $100 limit (of course less is better but probably not practical), if I need to bump it up later I will. MTE & CPS are the areas that will allow us to be close to the other people who are traveling with us but have made their own hotel reservations. I wanted to consider a 3* in the MTE area but I know that I would, without a doubt, win the dumpy Radisson because that's how my luck runs! Too bad as any of the other hotels listed as 3* would have been perfectly fine. Anyway, could you provide a strategy? Thanks!

Thank you, that is what I thought. Our room requirements have changed and are now final. The people that needed the quad room have booked something themselves, so I can now bid here for a Priceline hotel (if you are still speaking to me after all of my hotwire questions :) ) I'll post my criteria in the PL area and maybe you can suggest a strategy. Thank you for all of your time, I appreciate it.

If this is not the right place for this question please move it. Is the 3* Midtown South hotel that is pinned in the Hotwire Hotel list as having a kitchenette "The Murray Hill Suites" or the "Murray Hill East Suites"? I got confused when I read a post on another travel forum that said there was a Murray Hill Suites located on 31st between Lexington and Park and a Murray Hill EAST Suites on 39th. Can you verify name and address of the hotel hotwire uses? Also, if it is a "suite" hotel does that mean that each room USUALLY has 1 bed and a sofa bed, or additional bed? Thanks in advance for your comments.

Thanks for your response, I appreciate it! it was kind of weird that 1 room with 2 adults and 2 kids was cheaper than 1 room with 2 adults - the amenities/area were the same, so I think it was the same hotel. Anyway, I have been watching ECT too - last year we booked a one bedroom suite at the Beekman for $99 via ECT. Is Betterbidding affiliated with ECT and is there a way to book ECT and support Betterbidding at the same time? Our travel dates are set as theater tickets have been purchased, so when I see a price that everyone can live with I'll probably take it. Thanks again!

While playing with the hotwire site tonight I discovered that lower rates come up when you book 1 room at a time with 2 kids in the room. Same hotels seemed to some up with very different rates depending on how many rooms were booked with how many people. Interesting . . . .

Oopps - forgot to answer one of your questions. yes, we will have 2 kids in the group ages 6 and 8. It's their first time to NYC so I'll forgo the 2 star hotel so I don't gross them out on their first trip :)

I agree - I think I will stay away from the 2 stars as I don't think they are what we are looking for in this trip. Here's what going on: There are 8 of us going to NYC, we will actually need a total of 3 rooms, 2 doubles and 1 quad. From playing around with the Hotwire site I think I need to book the quad separate from the doubles or the room capacity is kind of screwed up. After figuring that out, I then saw the $30 Entertainment Book coupon mentioned here, so actually I would have to book 3 separate reservations, while attempting to match locations and amenities to (hopefully - no guarantees) get the same hotel - right? If we aren't all together it's not a disaster, but it would make things a lot easier! If I'm off here, please let me know. Also, if I want to use the Entertainment Coupon and at the same time support betterbidding, is the best way still to follow the steps you posted October 13? Thanks! We are looking forward to another great stay in NYC!

Sorry about that! I am looking (very early, I know) at April 16-18. Until today I didn't know that Hotwire offered quad rooms, so when I saw the option I plugged in our dates out of curiosity. As it gets closer to our travel time I think this might be the way to go as the conventional rate when booking a quad can be pricey.

I tried HW for a room for 2 adults 2 children and was given the option of Midtown South, 2 Star, with Breakfast. Price was $140. I looked at the pinned hotel list here, but I didn't see a match (sorry if it is there and I missed it). Any guesses as to what it could be? Thanks!

Had a great stay, thanks for all of your assistance! I have posted a detailed review in the hotel section but in short: check in was quick, and we were very lucky to be upgraded (at no additional cost) to a Junior Suite, without even asking! Suite was room #1402 and provided a nice view of downtown. Room was clean, staff was helpful and friendly. Location was fine and we really enjoyed the city. Looking forward to a return visit when we can spend more time enjoy all that Philadelphia has to offer.

Paid $38 on PL for a Sunday night stay. I joined the "By Request" program even though I didn't expect any perks because of our room being a PL bid. I also phoned the hotel to confirm our reservation and to request a high room with a view. Check in was quick, and we must have been very lucky for the friendly desk clerk upgraded (at no additional cost) our PL standard room to a Junior Suite, without us even asking! Too good to be true as we usually end up in standard rooms looking at alleys and air shafts. Suite was room #1402 with a sitting room (TV, mini bar, couch and huge window with view) and bedroom with king bed, large window, climate control, TV, desk, internet connection (for additional charge,) closet, coffee maker, bath with large vanity and Golden Door bath amenities. Room was very clean, lots of towels, and decor was fine. Elevators were fast, hallway carpet is a little worn, but we weren't sleeping in the hall so who cares? Found location to be fine, we walked all over as well as taking the hop on/hop off bus tour. All in all a very good stay.

Thanks everyone for sharing your comments. I joined the "ByRequest" Program - I don't expect the 'perks' with our PL bid, but thought it couldn't hurt. I also called the hotel to confirm our reservation (took almost 24 hrs. for the PL res. to show up in the system), and requested a high room with a view. The woman who answered my call was very helpful and friendly. Honestly, if our room overlooks an airshaft I can live with it, as long as it is clean! I will add my comments to the hotel review section when we return. Thanks again!

Bid up to $55 for 4* & was rejected. Decided to be a bit more realistic and try for the 2.5* Courtyard, I bid $38 and was "upgraded" to the Wyndham Franklin Park (why does PL have to do you these "favors"??) The reviews aren't so good, but the price is perfect and I'm sure it will be ok. Thanks for your help.

As of right now I have used all of my free rebids. I can bid again for a 4*Friday afternoon

So far no luck, but I noticed something and wanted to know if it was relevant; when I started bidding I typed in my bid and was told "Suggested retail price for a 4 star hotel in Philadelphia" was $174. When I finished bidding the "suggested retail price" was $191. Is this a ploy for PL to get you to bid higher? Or does it actually reflect PL inventory? I will bid again and will most likely up the bid limit for a 4*. If that doesn't work I'll probably drop to a 3 (although the reviews aren't that great for the properties). I'm not picky - just need clean & well located, I just thought it would be a treat to stay in a 4*. This is just a "side trip" for us and I don't want the hotel, lunch, dinner, museum tickets, etc to make bright idea of "hey let stop in Philly" to turn into an expensive 24 hours. From the reviews, the 2.5* Philadelphia downtown Courtyard by Marriott actually sounds better than some of the 3*s!

Thanks for the strategy, I appreciate it. When I first looked at PL for Philadelphia I thought that I was confused on the re-bid zones, I have NEVER had 7 "freebies" when bidding other cities - - this is a luxury! Thanks for confirming my thoughts. I'll keep you posted on my bidding progress.

Hello, while traveling through PA we will be in Philadelphia for 1 night (I know - not near enough time; but, better than none at all). Our date is May 23, 2004 a Sunday night., and we need 1 room. I would like to bid on a 4* Hotel in the Downtown Area. Since we have so little time to visit, I would like to bid just this area for now as I think it would be most convenient as far as doing a little sightseeing. I looked at previously won bids and they seemed surprisingly low (although I realize that rates change with seasons, events, etc.) Can I hope to get this for $40-50? Am I being too cheap? Please advise if you think this is too low and a strategy for bidding. I appreciate you help and opinion, and as always I am happy to bid through the SavingsBarn site. Thanks!

Won the hotel on PL (thanks to help given here :) ) for $110 for 4 nights, 2 rooms for a very busy November 2003 weekend. The hotel will undergo renovations in 2004, but we found our (pre-renovation) rooms more than acceptable. For those worried about being assigned to the "pet floor", don't give it another thought - they have discontinued it. Our rooms were on the police station side of the hotel, but we never heard a thing. Our clean room had a large TV cabinet with a mini fridge behind the bottom doors, a large desk area, 2 chairs with a small table, 2 night stands and a comfortable king-sized bed. There were plenty of hangers in the closet, the iron was in working order as was the hair dryer. The bath was VERY clean, good water pressure, plenty of towels, soap and the standard amenities. Card key worked fine, staff was very helpful and friendly. Check in took about 2 minutes, we had arrived very early and was told that our rooms would be ready at noon - we left our luggage in the locked storage area, headed out for breakfast/shopping and found everything as promised upon our return at noon. Very convenient location, close to bus and subway plus you can walk to many sights. There are several options within walking distance for affordable eating including Oxford Cafe, Cosi, Essa Bagel (good bagels, but lousy coffee!) and Pain Quotidien. We had a great experience at this hotel and I would certainly stay there again given the opportunity.

Yes, I did try for the 3* this morning after an unsuccessful try on the 4* last night. I will certainly try Ess-a-Bagel, nice to know of a good inexpensive place for breakfast near the hotel, this sounds perfect - thank you!

BINGO! After striking out last night with my 4* strategy, I successfully bid this morning for 2 rooms, MTE up to $110 (plus bonus) and received the Metropolitan at 51st & Lexington. I have heard that the hotel is under renovation (and to avoid the "pet floor" !) but the price is reasonable and the location is perfect. Thank you for all of your help and your patience, I appreciate it.

I have a question about bonus money. Tried the 4* strategy with the $10 bonus bidding through the affiliate's link) and the first round of new bidding showed the bonus money, the next round (when I added MTW and increased my bid) I got a message that said "We are sorry, but you will be unable to use this promotion for the following reason: There has already been one bound offer through this promotion." Is the bonus money only "good" for the initial round of bidding, or did I miss a step somewhere that would have allowed me to continue using it for my re-bids?

My back-up is the ever-so-glamorous Red Roof at 5th & 32nd. WAY further south than I wanted to be and certainly not on the level of the PL hotels I have been bidding on., but for $109 per night (no increase for the weekend) for a king room and coffee & bagels in the morning I booked it. Tripadvisor.com and Travelocity reviews claim that it is basic but very clean. I am going to keep bidding though and see what happens . . .

I added MTS and bid up to $120 at the 4* level, and I also tried the 3* up to $115; both were rejected. Because this seems to be a tough bid, I have booked a cancelable back-up so I won't have to worry about not getting our rooms, but I am going to keep pursuing PL in the meantime. I'll let you know what happens, thanks again for your help.

You're not pushing, you're right things looked high as I played around with some of the internet hotel sites tonight. Your recommendations for the 3* & 4* in your last post are doable for me, I'll give it a shot and let you know what happens.

Thanks for spending so much time on this, I appreciate it. Would including the Midtown South area (as you suggested a few days ago!) provide a better chance of getting something less expensive? If a 4* MIGHT be $640-800 plus taxes, I need to look at other options because I shouldn't be spending that much. If adding that zone makes sense, I can just add it to the 3* or 4* bid I made earlier tonight, . . . . right? Any chance (besides slim and none) of getting something for $110? . . .those 2.5 star properties are looking better and better LOL