Priceline Hotel: Please Help me!! NYC 2 Nov - 9 Nov

[Looter]

Hello to everybody!!

First of all I would like to say that I feel really lucky that I found your site.

This is second visit in New York city but the bugdet is much smaller this time.

I am looking a hotel somewhere in Manhattan expect downtown.

I tried 185$ per night for a 4* hotel in the areas hereunder areas using Priceline without any luck.

Is this normal? What else should i try?

The selected areas are : Central Park South ,Chelsea Area , Downtown - SoHo - Financial District , Empire State Building Area , Madison Square Garden - Convention Area , Midtown East , Midtown West , Times Square - Theatre District

[Looter]

My max bids will be 190$ for 4* , 140 for 3,5* and 100$ for 3*.

Mostly interested for 4* and 3,5*

Most prefered areas are Chealsea , ESB , MTE , MTW , MSQ

Can you suggest me a strategy please?

[Looter]

I raised my max bids but I had no luck

200$ for 4*

Midtown West, Midtown East, Times Square - Theatre District, Empire State Building Area, Chelsea Area , Madison Square Garden - Convention Area

150$ for 3,5*

Empire State Building Area, Madison Square Garden - Convention Area, Midtown East, Midtown West, Chelsea Area

I have read so many success stories with much lower prices!!!

Am I doing something wrong???

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

This is a very busy time in NYC and you're looking for a full one week stay... if a hotel is very busy (or sold-out) for even just one nite of your date range, and doesn't offer availability to the opaque suppliers for that nite, then that property is not a possibility to accept your bid. While i think this is part of the problem, the other issue is that these are very busy, and therefore expensive, nites in Manhattan (the NYC Marathon is on Nov 6th).

What is the best rate you're able to find for this stay thru conventional booking channels?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[Looter]

Can you please suggest me a strategy based on the areas I have mentioned?

The travel dates cannot be changed.

[dahammer]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

What is the best rate you're able to find for this stay thru conventional booking channels?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

x2

[Looter]

The best offers that I have for the moment is for Yotel located in Times Square West for 260$ and the Best Western president 3,5* Times Square for 233$.

The 4* ACE is also listed for 272$.

Yotel is listed 3,5* or 4*.

[Looter]

UPDATE

I went till 185$ for 3,5* or 4* in the following areas :

Chelsea Area, Empire State Building Area , Hell's Kitchen , Madison Square Garden - Convention Area , Midtown East , Midtown West , Times Square - Theatre District

The result is that my bid is rejected.

I really start to wonder whats so special with this service.

185$ is 80% of the 233$

When I can get a 3,5* Hotel like Best Western President for 233$ why do I have to risk for a discnount less than 20% ?

I have read so many success stories and I still wonder if I make somethine wrong...

[thereuare]

When I can get a 3,5* Hotel like Best Western President for 233$ why do I have to risk for a discnount less than 20%?

Few issues...

You're not comparing apples-to-apples... your using the rate at the Best Western as your comparison, but that property is only 3* rated by PRICELINE, so that's not a fair comparison. This property may be acceptable for your needs, but it's not in the running for your 3.5* bidding, so shouldn't be used in your question to "why can't i win?"

As well, as noted above, your stay takes place during the NYC Marathon, a time in which many hotels will sell-out on their own. As a result, hotels may not be willing to discount too deeply, or may not give inventory to the opaque suppliers at all, if they feel they can sell all their rooms on their own at full price. Any hotels which haven't made inventory available to PRICELINE for just one nite of this stay will not be in the running to accept your bid (even if your bid is enough for each of the other nites of the date range)

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[Looter]

I bid till 160$ for just a 3* hotel without any luck.

The areas searched were : Midtown West, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Midtown East, Central Park South, Hell's Kitchen, Times Square - Theatre District, Madison Square Garden - Convention Area, Empire State Building Area, Chelsea Area, Downtown - SoHo - Financial District

160$ for an UNKNONW 3* hotel is preetty fair , don't you think?

How much do i have to increase my offer?

[Looter]

I bid 220$ for 3,5* for the following areas and still rejected...

Central Park South

Chelsea Area

Coney Island

Downtown - SoHo - Financial District

Empire State Building Area

Hell's Kitchen

Long Island City

Madison Square Garden - Convention Area

Midtown East

Midtown West

Queensborough Bridge

Times Square - Theatre District

Upper East Side

Upper West Side

I really don't know what else to do!

I will wait for one more day and then I will book the Best Western Plus President for 233$.

There is no reason to risk for just a few bucks...

[Romelle]

Have you considered splitting your bid into a couple different blocks of nights? While your stay doesn't have a clear problem day or couple of days, it still could help.

If you are arriving by air very late, or departing very early, perhaps the first or last night could be spent in a less expensive airport hotel? That could free up a little $$ for the other nights (although even the airport hotels are pretty expensive for your dates).

And then there are the less expensive outer areas that are well-served by train. Maybe for part of your stay?

Romelle

[Looter]

Thanks for your reply!

I bid for 220$ for 4* and 3,5* in almost any area in Manhattan.

Few minutes ago I bid for 190$ for 3* for the same areas and still rejected.

Best Western President is located in Times Square and has 3 subway stations around.

You can get this 3,5* hotel according to tripadvisor for just 233$.

Why should I have to risk more with priceline?

Splitting my trip will give me no warranty that I will get a much greater price compared to 233$...

190$ is less than 20% off 233$.

User thereuare said that is unfair to compare Best Western President cause it is listed as 3* at priceline.

My last bid for a 3* hotel were 190$.

I think it is also unfair to get an UNKNOWN hotel with less than 20% discount compared to a hotel that I know that fits my needs...

[AaronJB]

The Best Western President is a 3* on PRICELINE and Orbitz - ratings for hotels do vary from service-to-service. I don't believe the Best Western President has ever been reported as a win, but it would not be a possibility (if it participates with the bidding side of the service) at 3.5*.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure if splitting your stay will work for these dates; NYC is very busy in the November period with holiday shopping and festivities and rates for these dates (with the exception of some properties) are high across the board.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[Looter]

Anyway , I reserved a room at Best Western President for 233$

For me the priceline service was a time waster.

I spent lot of hours reading and biding with no result...

They advertise a profit up to 60% but in my case i couldn't achieve even a 20% profit for a 3* UNKNOWN hotel...

Thank you for trying to help

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear the bidding didn't work out for you this time around, but besides the apples-to-apples comparison above (which is now not an issue since you did bid 3*) you can't ignore the other point made that many hotels will sell-out or be near capacity for these nites, given the NY Marathon. While i understand your perspective that you'd like at least a 20% discount to book an 'opaque' hotel, you have to consider the hotel's perspective as well... if they believe they can sell all of their rooms on their own at full price, why offer a discounted rate thru third party suppliers?

PRICELINE doesn't always work out for every situation, and this is one of them given the extremely busy date(s) due to the Marathon, so i'd suggest you still consider their service for a future booking in this or any other city, if it is during a more 'normal' demand period.

Enjoy your stay... and do get out and watch the marathon, it's an inspiring event, even for those of us who don't run.