Priceline Hotel: First Visit to NYC - Dec. 4 - 10/10

[Lemon_Cupid]

Hello,

I'm planning a trip with my adult daughter and teen son to New York the first full week in December. We are on a limited budget, and I'd like to bid on priceline for both my airfare from Seattle and hotel rooms in New York.

My son would like to stay in Times Square - though I'm not too fussy - I'd just like to enjoy the whole New York experience.

Now that I've found your site, I've a couple of questions?

1. What areas should I bid in (and how?).

2. Is it easy to get consecutive nights at a hotel?

My top budget for rooms is $200 per night - and we'll need somewhere that will allow us usage of a cot.

Please advise.

Kind Regards,

M...

[Lemon_Cupid]

Sorry - this is all new to me, and I've obviously posted in the wrong forum.

My apologies. :)

[Lemon_Cupid]

Hello,

I'm planning a trip with my adult daughter and teen son to New York the first full week in December. We are on a limited budget, and I'd like to bid on priceline for both my airfare from Seattle and hotel rooms in New York.

My son would like to stay in Times Square - though I'm not too fussy - I'd just like to enjoy the whole New York experience.

I'm really excited that I've found your site, and I've a few questions?

1. What areas should I bid in

From what I've read:

I should avoid CPS because of the chance of getting the Hudson Hotel (and we'll need a cot/roll away bed)?

I should avoid MTE because of it's distance from train stations.

I'm thinking in preference, TS, MTW, ESB - and would consider Chelsea, Downtown, MSG or Hell's Kitchen, Advice?

2. Is it easy to get consecutive nights at a hotel?

3. My top budget for rooms is $200 per night (hopefully that will include taxes), so should I bid 4* or 3.5* or 3*?

Thank you so much for any help and advise, it is very much appreciated!

Kind Regards,

M...

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

No problem on the post!

A few notes:

This is a very expensive time period in NYC - it's the prime period of shopping and holiday visiting before the prices fall off in the second half of the month. Additionally, a lengthier stay may be problematic in terms of securing a deal for the entire period. Unfortunately, $200 unfortunately may be not enough for these dates in Midtown NYC, as well.

In terms of three people, there is no guarantee of being able to fit a cot in a room, unfortunately. Many NYC rooms - even at many high-end properties - are very small (130-150 sq ft is not unheard of) and a cot may not fit. Additionally, PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy/1 bed, and this is especially true in NYC. Searching on HOTWIRE would be a better choice, as that would allow one to note 3 people (2 adults/1 child) - that would not ensure two beds, but that would at least ensure some form of bedding for the party. TS is the most expensive area of the city - I'd rather suggest surrounding areas (MTE, MTW, CPS, or even ESB, Madison Square Garden, Chelsea.)

If you're flexible on location, I'll also suggest Chicago, which would be significantly cheaper (and has quite nice holiday decorations downtown.)

Let us know your thoughts.

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

[Lemon_Cupid]

Thanks Aaron, but it has to be New York for this trip. My son is a huge Beatles fan - he was to go with his Dad, and they had planned it for a couple of years; but, unfortunately, his Dad died suddenly this past March. As you can imagine, it's been a really rough year, and I'd really like to do it for my son.

We're not very high maintenance people, so we don't need to have a 4* room. Will it be easier on our $200 budget if we bid 3.5* or 3*? I'm probably not going to bid until the end of the month; I'm just trying to learn how this all works and get as much tips as possible.

Kind Regards,

M...

[thereuare]

The 'problem' is that many standard NYC hotel rooms only have one bed and/or only accommodate double occupancy, which makes using PRICELINE in NYC for more than double occupancy a risk. You could call the hotel and request a room with two beds, but they may not be able to honor your request (more likely in NYC then in many other parts of the country) or rooms with two beds could be considered an upgrade and would involve an additional fee (if available, which given your dates, i would expect many hotels to be at or near capacity, which could make honoring your request a bit more difficult/unlikely)

HOTWIRE allows you to search for up to triple occupancy, but doing so nothing is within your budget (this is one of the busiest non-event driven weeks of the year in the city)

Could you delay this trip by a few seeks to say within the range of 12/13-12/23 or until anytime in January? Both would likely see a substantial drop in rates vs. the time frame your currently looking.

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