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Priceline Hotel: 1st Time in NY


Jaust
By Jaust,
in

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I'm thinking of going with Hotwire or Priceline for trip to N.Y. in early April but dont know which way to go. I'm willing to pay the 3.5-4* price but wonder what to expect. Thinking of Times Square since it may be my first and only trip to NY but have heard a lot of good things about Upper West Side. Will be with my 16 yr old son but think it may be fun to be right down in the action of Times Square. Any suggestions?

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Will be in NY April 10 -17 with my 16 yr old son. Our adventures will take us in many directions but thought it might be fun to be in Times square area, but am really open. My budget will allow up to around 200 a night if need be so what can I expect and what strategy or site would you suggest.. PS..........Awesome site here. :)

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Welcome to BetterBidding!

No need to post in both Priceline and Hotwire, keep all threads on the Priceline side of things and if Hotwire is ultimately used then we'll move the thread to the correct forum.

My opinion is to stay in Midtown as the location is more centralized and easier to get about to tour the city (although most places above 20th St but below 90th St or so will work out just fine). There are plenty of hotels that are centrally located and 'not in the center of the action'. I don't see being right in the heart of Times Square as a major advantage, as it's often difficult to walk around the area and have to deal with the crowded streets as soon as you walk outside your hotel door. Most choose the MTE, MTW, and UM/CPS zones and go for whichever they can get the best price.

However, as we dont' know your own needs, a good place to start would be this thread: NYC ZONE DESCRIPTIONS.

As far as what to expect, you can see:

PRICELINE HOTELS WON

HOTELS WON HOTWIRE

Once you decide up what zone(s) you're interested in, let us know your approximate budget and we'll help you figure out your best options.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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After more thought we have agreed that that the heart of Times Square is probably not what we need. Would be nice to get away from crowds if we want. Easy access to transportation is a key as we have a day at Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium and one day we'll be out of town. The rest of our trip will be doing more of the normal attractions,(St. of Lib., ESB, area around Rockefellar Ctr., Central Park, etc- no theatres or museums most likely. I don't think we can go wrong with the MTE, MTW or UM/UCP areas and don't see that one has an advantage over the other as we're expecting to cover a lot of ground in 6 1/2 days. As for cost I am flexible but definitely want a 4* and can go into the 175.+ range if necessary, of course would love to get away as cheap as possible. We do want to stay in a nice place, whether we spend much time in it or not. I want it to be a great time for my son. Thank you so much for your help. I've already spread the word of your site to friends and co-workers.

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As far as transportation goes I would purchase a 7-day metro pass for each person the trip ($21each). This allows for unlimited subway and bus travel. The subway is much faster than cabs, very comprehensive, and very safe. I never ride it after 11pm as a precaution but I have friends who do regularily without incident. Besides, $63 for a weeks worth of transportation throughout Manhattan for three people can't be beat.

As far as your zone selection, MTE, and MTW, and UM-CPS are all excellent 4 star zones. I would not attempt to bid less than 4 stars in these zones though because yo can get hit with hotels like that Paramount that offer insipid and tiny rooms for more than they are worth, even at priceline values.

Good luck with your bidding, thereuare will set you up with a good bidding strategy.

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You have two re-bid zones available at the 4* level, if you're not familiar with re-bidding please read RE-BIDDING EXPLAINED and ask any questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before bidding.

Select 4* MTW

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and...

Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone2 and...

Bid $130, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* MTE

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and...

Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone2 and...

Bid $130, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* UM/CPS

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and...

Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone2 and...

Bid $130, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* MTW and MTE...

Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and...

Bid $140, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select MTW and MTE and re-bid zone2...

Bid $145, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and...

Bid $150, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* MTW and UM/CPS...

Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and...

Bid $140, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select MTW and UM/CPS and re-bid zone2...

Bid $145, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and...

Bid $150, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* MTE and MTW and UM/CPS...

Bid $155, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $160, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* MTE and MTW and UM/CPS and re-bid zone2...

Bid $165, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and...

Bid $170.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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It's still early to get desperate, but here is all i'm seeing right now:

The Millenium UN is available for your entire stay or a portion thereof (if you decide to SPLIT YOUR PURCHASE) at $175/nite. This was a 4* rated hotel on Priceline up to about 2 weeks ago when it was downgraded to a 3*, here are some reviews. A good hotel as far as i know, only downside is it's quiet (a plus for some) and about a 10 minute walk to subways.

For the first two nites of your stay (besides the Millenium UN):.

The 3.5* Sheraton Manhattan is available for $168/nite. The reviews are not very good, but i was just there the other day and took pictures of the lobby which i have posted at RealHotelPhotos.com and it didn't seem too bad (but based upon what i've read so far, probably not what you're looking for)

The Sheraton Russell is available for $195/nite and gets pretty good reviews, but at that price we're probably starting to push the budget a bit.

For the middle two nites the Crowne Plaza in Times Square is available for $209, reviews are good but probably a bit pricey for this hotel. (if you wanted to start to get into this price range your better off with the Affinia 50 which you can get for your complete stay for about this nitely rate)

For the last two nites the Sheraton Russell comes into play again for $186/nite

I realize most of the above is in the 3*-4* range, but that's about what you're currently looking at at around the $170 mark... i've also included some others (like the Affinia 50) which are a bit more so that you can get a feel for what's available at the 'next level'.

I wouldn't be feeling 'desperation' at this point, but i would have a back-up hotel in mind (i don't recall if you do or not) and make a fully cancellable reservation.

One additional option is to spend the first 2 nites of your stay in Jersey City... it offers very convenient PATH (train) into Manhattan and would probably save you about $100/nite, which can then be applied to the latter part of your stay to get the type of room your currenlty looking for.

Let us know your thoughts.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Hey there, I actually do have a fully refundable room reserved at the Belvedere that just became available today at 160. Even though it's star rating is less than I was looking for, it has gotten great reviews and was in the range i was looking for when I started planning this trip weeks ago, but it had no rooms available for my dates on any site I checked.( And I checked numerous sites daily before I decided to try priceline.) So I guess my decision is whether I want to try to bid a 4* again even though I already struck out at 170, or just be satisfied with what I have since it sounds like it will work out for my son and I.

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