Priceline Hotel: 3.5* Newark (Airport EWR) Renaissance

[tirnie]

First time bidding - need advice on how to bid for a 3.5* at EWR for the night of Oct 12 departing Oct 13 Parking not required. Thank you! (And yes, I will bid through the PRICELINE link!)

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

We wouldn't want to suggest a strategy which went higher then you were willing to pay... what is your maximum bid for this stay?

Let us know and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

Thanks in advance for using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your bidding.

[tirnie]

Thank you. I looked at the prices for the apparent Priceline 3.5* hotels at EWR on their individual websites and the least expensive room for the Marriott and Hilton Penn Station was well over $200 for the night with the Renaissance at $159 and Hilton at $170. At the same time Priceline said someone had got a 3.5* at EWR for $85 recently tho I have no idea of what date(s) that related to. The broad range of the quality of these supposed 3.5* hotels and their published prices is making it harder for me to know what a good bidding strategy is. I suppose that if I got a room for something south of 140 I would be satisfied, but that seems higher than the experience of some other bidders, though I didn't find a lot of history to draw on. Bottom line, I am new to this and don't want to make a foolish bid, but also don't want to overpay.

[taliategan]

There is a 3.5* listed on Hotwire for your date at $ 99, and you should be able to beat that price on Priceline; you have two re-bid zones at the 3.5* level (Elizabeth and West Orange zones do not have 3.5* hotels); by scanning back a few pages on search for Newark in the Airport zone there has been accepted bids as low as $ 50 for 3.5* in the Airport zone; depending on how long you want to take to be successful, I would start to bid a little below $ 50, and by using the two re-bid zones, make three bids each day until your successful - if you make small increments to each bid, it could take a while. If you raise each bid, by say $ 5.00, you will be up to around $ 75 by the last bid on your second day of bidding. If you have not won by the second day, you should win on third day where you would be at $ 90 with your last bid.

[tirnie]

Much appreciated. I did try as follows:

Bid 50 - Newark

Bid 55 - Newark + Elizabeth

Logged out - Closed browser

Opened browser - Logged in

Bid 60 - Newark + West Orange

Bid 65 - Newark + West Orange + Elizabeth

not accepted - will try again tomorrow with another set. Found it interesting that I was able to get an extra bid in by dumping Elizabeth and adding West Orange, then bidding the trio (not sure that the logging in and out had anything to do with it). I saw the 99 offer on Hotwire but I think that hotwire has a bigger geographical imprint for EWR than Priceline and that this is perhaps not a property that I am so keen on, but I do appreciate the suggestion. Did use the link. Cheers!

[thereuare]

Your right that the quality of hotels in the EWR area, even within the same star level, varies greatly. As a result, some choose to bid the Elizabeth zone.

The 'known' 2.5* and 3* properties all generally get good reviews and (not sure if you need it) offer shuttle service.

Thoughts on bidding 2.5* or 3* in the Elizabeth zone?

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your bidding.

[tirnie]

Tried again today using PRICELINE link and the same strategy, starting at $70 and going up by $5 increments. Last bid of $85 was accepted at the Renaissance. Thank you again for your help!

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Hope you're happy with the results and this property will work well for your needs.

Thank you for sharing your win and using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.