Priceline Hotel: 3* NYC (MTE) Tudor Hotel at the UN

[KreGg]

Hi, I'm going to New York and will be there for 10 days. I would like to be in the 50-80 dollars per night range. Midtown East, Midtown West, and Upper Midtown-Central Park South are the regions I would like to stay.

For this price range I might only get a 2* hotel, maybe 3*, but that is not really a problem.

I would prefer to bid for 10 days in the same hotel, but if that will drastically make it harder for me I could split the bids... but first I would like to bid for the 10 days I will be there and see if I can get something.

May someone help me build a bidding strategy? Thanks.

[thereuare]

I would like to be in the 50-80 dollars per night range.

My first thought was "no way... not going to happen" but i did search HOTWIRE and found a 2 star hotel in the Central Park area for just $66/nite.

HOWEVER, i will preface that:

-this is a HOTWIRE 2* hotel, i wouldn't expect much from it

-my fear is that this is a WooGo property, a company which has a notorious past, essentially (accused of) renting out apartment units in low quality buidings without a hotel license

-it has a 2.5* TripAdvisor rating, which is fairly low

-it is more than likely in the more northern section of this zone, which is further away than the prefered zones you mentioned

Before buying all 10 nites i would recommend doing a search for the first nite(s) of your stay (or the last) and then searching the balance of your stay to see if this same hotel appears on both searches. If so, purchase just a nite (or two or three) in order to 'look behind the curtain' and decide if you would like to stay there for the balance of your stay.

If you do split the purchase as described above, please use our HOTWIRE link for each purchase (ie- click our HOTWIRE link to make the first purchaes, if you're satisifed, return here and click the HOTWIRE link here again to begin your second purchase)

Other than the above, i'm going to guess that there isn't much within your price range. If you can stretch your budget, i would much sooner recommend a private bath room at The Pod for $115/nite (i don't recommend the shared bath situations, but if that works for your needs, you can save another $10/nite). This property gets very good reviews, good subway access, and is a good price for a clean room in NYC.

Let us know your thoughts and/or what you decide and we'll take it from there.

[KreGg]

Thanks for the help. I just realized that this budget would not get me any hotel in that area. I checked it better and (with a little help from my father hehe) I will be able to go up to the 120s price range (maybe even stretch it a little bit further).

I checked the rates for the Midtown area and the 4* are in the 300s and the 3* are in the 240-280 price range. While most of the 2* are less than U$200.00.

Maybe via Priceline.com I might get a hotel within my budget?

[thereuare]

What are your thoughts on the previously mentioned The Pod?

If you'd prefer to try Priceline for a 3 star, which zone(s) are you willing to accept? (is there a reason you omitted the Times Square zone above)

[KreGg]

I took a look and I'd rather stay in a hotel between Times Square and Central Park (I know I can't really get one like that using Priceline, but if I can get a better price than I would be willing to do that tradeoff). I'd say I would end up choosing it if I can't get anything on priceline within my budget, so I would like to try priceline first.

I forgot about Times Square. I am willing to use it also.

So it is 4 zones that I'm willing to accept a hotel there: Midtown East, Midtown West, Times Square and Upper Midtown - Central Park South.

I checked priceline and I have 2 zones without 4* and 3* hotels, so I can use as free rebid.

Again, anything (3* or 4*) within 120.00 USD would be great in those areas. If 3* or 4* are not a realistic thing for this price, I would have no problem trying for a 2 or 2.5 in those 4 areas. But since I still have 1 month to go, I can keep on trying to get the best deal.

Thanks.

[thereuare]

To be clear, The Pod is located in priceline's MTE zone, so you are bidding this area with the zones you've mentioned above.

If you're comfortable with that, you can bid as follows, using your two re-bid zones:

Select 3* MTE and MTW...

Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $95, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $100, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 3* Times Square and UM/CPS...

Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $95, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $100, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 3* MTE and UM/CPS...

Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $114, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 3* MTW and Times Square...

Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $114, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 3* MTE and MTW and UM/CPS and Times Square...

Bid $116, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $118, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $120, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[KreGg]

Thanks for helping me.

But I could not get a hotel within 120 dollars. I guess I will just keep on trying for a couple of weeks. If I cannot get any I might stretch my budget a little more and see if I can get one. If not I might just go with The Pod.

[thereuare]

Note that rates at The Pod are on a contract basis with the vendor... once they sell their alloted rooms they change the status to 'On Request' which means they need to contact the hotel to see if they can get additional rooms at their pre-negotiated rate.

You can wait as long as you feel comfortable doing so, but just keep in mind that the rate (or hotel) may not be there if you wait until too close to check-in (and you are looking for 10 consecutive nites).

I'm guessing you're within $10-$25 per nite of having your bid accepted.

[KreGg]

I tried it again today and went up to 135 USD, and guess what? I got a hotel!

It is the Tudor Hotel at United Nations. It is rated as 3* on Priceline. I checked your priceline hotel's list for New York and this hotel is not there. You might want to add it. It is on the Midtown East zone.

Something happened to me today also that has never happened. Priceline gave me a message saying that they could not get an answer for the price I asked and said they would probably have one within 15 minutes. This happened 2-3 times.

Maybe it is just traffic congestion on their site?

Again, thanks for the help.

The Tudor Hotel At The United Nations

Midtown East

304 East 42nd Street

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $135.00

Subtotal: $1,350.00

Taxes & Service Fees: $259.84

Total Charges*: $1,609.84

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win!

The 15 minute response message is delay on their site (could be back-log, problems contacting a vendor or communicating with the credit card authorization/processor, etc, etc)

This is the previous Crowne Plaza at the UN.

I've stayed in this porperty last August, they were running a special for Sunday nites in August so we booked a room in order to check it out. It seemed like a solid 3* property and while the rooms were not large, they were surprisling big by NYC standards.

Near this property is the breakfast place i always recommend on the board... try Ess-A-Bagel on Third Ave at 51st St for breakfast. They have one of the best bagels in the city and it makes for a good, and inexpensive, breakfast. You're also near Jackson Hole Wyoming (Third Ave at 35th St) for a great burger.

Enjoy your stay.

[KreGg]

Thanks for those tips. I'll make sure I go there. Thanks for hard work and this great forum!