Priceline Hotel: Research question when considering options for NYC

[WillTravel]

I'm considering taking my daughter to NYC in late June. Say for simplicity that it would be June 17-27, leaving from SEA. But I'm also considering other options, as well as postponing a trip until later, and much depends on our schedules. So please don't spend too much time on this question :). I'm just looking for a quick opinion from anyone who might have something to add. I want to figure out my best options before deciding on anything.

The Priceline package for these dates shows $1727 total for 1 adult, 1 child for 9 nights at the Murray Hill East Suites, and American Airlines flights, including a redeye.

Playing around with the dates a bit, and knowing what airfares are going for, this seems to work out to the hotel costing about $130 per night, which is approximately equivalent to a Priceline bid of $110.

I wouldn't want to stay in New Jersey.

If I stay at the Murray Hill East Suites, we could get two beds, from what I understand, without problem. And it seems to be a reasonable place in a reasonable neighborhood. (But willing to hear if this isn't the case.)

If I bid for a 4* in Midtown East and get the Grand Hyatt, there's also no problem with two beds.

But everywhere else it seems there might be problems with a Priceline hotel room.

Hotwire packages are more expensive than Priceline.

If I buy the airfare first, and try to get a hotel on Priceline later, I may or may not be successful.

Is the package deal as good as we can hope to get, or is there some other combination of options that would work well?

[KatiesMom]

Thereuare is the expert, so I can just put my thoughts in, for what they're worth. It seems like the price on the Murray Hill East Suites is pretty good at $130. Unlike a regular hotel, it's more like an apartment, and has a kitchenette. The Grand Hyatt is a very nice hotel, first rate.

10 days in NYC might be too much. Like eating ice cream, how much can you eat before you get sick of it? Sure you can do it, if you like, but there are other places in the northeast that might be fun for half your stay...like Boston, Cape Cod, Philly, Poconos, Washington, D.C.

Just want to add one more thing. NYC is definitely bizarro when it comes to hotel rooms. You would think a world class city has world class hotel rooms... But sometimes things are almost beyond belief.

Case in point--on travelzoo right now there is a special for The Roosevelt Hotel, I think it's about $139/night. Not bad for a 3.5* hotel, in fact it's an excellent sounding deal.

But when you read the offer through, near the end it says that the rate is good for a room with ONE twin bed. A room with a double bed costs "just" $49 more. Not such a good deal now is it?

Hard to believe that hotels rated 3* or greater have these tiny rooms, but they do. Any little closet will do sometime. That's the nasty little NYC quirk. 90% of a hotel's rooms might be just fine...but there could be a stinker in the bunch.

[thereuare]

The one bed vs. two bed could be an issue (but one that i would think/hope you could resolve after the first nite if rooms with 2 bed rooms are unavailable at check-in).

Pending any 'special events' to drive up demand, I think if you look a few weeks later (mid-late July) you'll see fairly inexpensive summertime rates... although i don't think you'll necessarily be able to see any great rates now for a stay in July.

Is this the information you were looking for or am i missing something more you wanted to know?

[WillTravel]

Thanks for your answers, even if my questions weren't clear.

I guess my main concern is buying airfare now (or soon), but not having a hotel locked up, and then finding I had to pay astronomical prices or go for really substandard accommodation or possibly move around every few days. I'm trying to figure out how much risk is involved. So my hidden questions ;-) :

If I want to be sure of reasonable-quality accommodation, is it safe to hold off on getting a hotel if I get the airfare now (or soon)? Obviously Priceline might have a different inventory situation as time progresses. But I would be nervous that I might get a few nights at a reasonable price and find the rest impossible, or something like that.

Is there any zone where I can bid with reasonable safety for less than a 4* hotel? So far as I can see, I could definitely end up with something substandard and almost impossible in terms of a small room, if I bid for a 2*, 2.5*, or 3*. The 4* situation with two beds sounds fairly hopeful, but not 100%.

If I bid on Priceline for a 4* hotel for late June, would it be reasonable to expect to beat a bid of $110/night? (My guess is no.)

Also, how about staying and/or bidding on the Upper West Side (which only goes up to 2.5*)?

Is Murray Hill East Suites in a good neighborhood for a week-long stay or so?

Katiesmom, I could consider dividing it into two cities, but we have a whole bunch of things we're interested in, and I can't see it being too much in our case (given we are rather slow tourists sometimes and don't necessarily accomplish much per day). I've had longish trips before, but not to NYC. But as I said, it's possible another city will win out over NYC, or that we will postpone the trip.

[thereuare]

If I want to be sure of reasonable-quality accommodation, is it safe to hold off on getting a hotel if I get the airfare now (or soon)?

I would think it would be ok, but there could always be one nite (or more) within the timeframe of your stay which throws a monkey wrench into the entire gameplan.

Is there any zone where I can bid with reasonable safety for less than a 4* hotel? Many would say yet, but personally if i were bidding i'd stick with Priceline at the 4* level but look towards Hotwire at the under 4* level since it would offer me a bit more control over the hotel.

If I bid on Priceline for a 4* hotel for late June, would it be reasonable to expect to beat a bid of $110/night? (My guess is no.)

Not likely for a 7-10 day stay.

Also, how about staying and/or bidding on the Upper West Side (which only goes up to 2.5*)?

I'm not very familiar with the hotels in this zone, but there are so many marginal hotels in NYC, i'd stick with the higher quality hotels (but that's what i generally do anyway)

Is Murray Hill East Suites in a good neighborhood for a week-long stay or so?

It's fine for getting around the city.

I understand you have a lot to do in the city, but i would reconsider spending part of your stay in NJ. Knowing a bit about you from your posts, i would think that Jersey City would be great for you for part of your stay... not for the complete stay, but for a few nites it's right up your ally (i would think).

[WillTravel]

Thanks thereuare. I am going to have to think about this some more. One other strategy I was thinking of was trying to bid for the hotel first, because airfares on this route aren't terribly volatile. But I'd have to get a sizeable block of days at once to feel comfortable with this approach.

Re New Jersey, this is what I am worried about. My daughter likes to sleep in later when we're on vacation, and I can get a couple hours of sightseeing in before she's ready to go. If we were staying in New Jersey, I'd want us to go into the city together. If we were in the city, I was thinking it would be easier for me to head back and pick her up when she's ready to go out at 10 or so. But for sufficient savings, and consequent shopping opportunities, maybe I could incentivize her to want to leave earlier :).

The cheaper I can get this all to work for, the more likely I am to take the trip.

[thereuare]

I would still recommend NJ for part of your stay... you can compromise, she wakes up early one day, you explore Jersey City/Hoboken early morning another. :)

There's enough to do in NYC, but you may also be interested (for your daughter) in the Liberty Science Center. I haven't been in many years so i can't say how it is currently, but something else to add to the list to consider.

[WillTravel]

The Jersey City Hyatt looks excellent and has a fridge in the room, which is a definite bonus.

I think you said somewhere that your wife would feel perfectly confident taking the PATH train to the Hyatt at night. I just wanted to get an idea what the stations would be like at that time - say around 11 PM or midnight. Would they be deserted? I assume there'd be good security?

I noticed that the Hyatt can be obtained for week-long periods in late June for approximately $80/night, so that gives me a good baseline.

And as hard as it is for me, being somewhat impatient, I'm going to put off making a decision about this for another month most likely.

[thereuare]

The stations won't be deserted at that hour, but not packed either. There are cameras in the stations, but no visible security except for random checks (sometimes the police ride the train as well).

[WillTravel]

Here's my update, a little sooner than expected. I came across some excellent SEA-MAD fare prices for late August, so that's the trip we're going to do this summer (Madrid, London, Amsterdam, Madrid, Seattle leading into the Bumbershoot festival for which we already bought hotel accommodation last year). I bought the tickets. We still want to do NYC, and we will eventually!