Priceline Hotel: looking for manhattan new york

[Bgraham]

This is my first post on this site. It looks great, so be patient with my queries.

I am looking to take my wife and 2 boys (19, 23) to New York city Oct 08-11. I am looking specifically for uptown close to Central park and Times Square. We stayed at Park Central hotel in July and loved the location. I need advice on how to bid, specific to the area I am looking for and how do I know what Im getting. The star system seems a little off in New York compared to other cities??? so Im not sure what category I should ask for? Park Central calibre would be what (3 star)?

What tips do i need to get the best deal possible? How soon should I bid? closer to the date?

Any help is appreciated! Are there recent success bids for the area Im lokking for?

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding! :)

One note is that PRICELINE is not recommended in NYC for a party of four; the service only guarantees double occupancy/1 bed and this is especially true in NYC, where rooms are often quite small and rooms with two beds are quite limited. HOTWIRE is a better choice, as you can indicate a party of four - that does not ensure two beds, but ensures bedding for the party. While that is commonly two beds it can be 1 + sofabed or other combination.

There is no way to ensure a particular property when bidding. One can make an educated guess using HOTWIRE, but there is no way to ensure a particular property 100%. The list of PRICELINE hotels reported to the board in NYC can be found in the Priceline Hotel List, and the HOTWIRE listings can be found in the Hotwire Hotel List. Those are the HOTWIRE and PRICELINE participating properties that have been reported to the board. New listings can be reported to the board at any time. When making a purchase on either service, one has to be flexible and willing to accept any hotel at that star rating in that zone.

What would be your desired budget per night, and what zones/star rating would you like to try for?

There is no way to know a "best time" for bidding, as it varies on a case-by-case basis - prices can vary very significantly from day-to-day in NYC. Prices can drop closer to the date, and there have been many instances where, if there is something going on, prices can suddenly do just the opposite and ramp up. If you are ready to bid, start planning your bid - and then bidding - now.

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

[Bgraham]

Aaron

thanks for the reply. We will be looking for 2 rooms for 2 adults each. Unless I can get a suite for 4 (very few in nyc) we will go 2 rooms. I think if I can get a regular queen or King room for $175 per night I would be ggod, but location is key. Will I have better luck with Hotwire or Priceline and am I better to bid instead of taking the price posted?

[Bgraham]

Ok aaron...here are the specifics.

Oct 08-Oct 11 (3 nights)

New York City (uptown between Times Square & Central Park)

4 people = 2 rooms x 2 people

Park Central hotel stayed in before so same quality (3*??)

$160-$180/night budget

dont need any specific amenities just good location

thanks in advance

any recent bids that were accepted in the area I am looking for??

[thereuare]

Unfortunately these are expensive nites in NYC and i'm not sure if your budget is doing to be enough. However, a few things to cover and then we can at least give a try...

I'm assuming that "Times Square to Central Park" includes CPS, MTW and TS... does it also include MTE and/or Hells Kitchen? Note that at less then 4* the MTE zone contains some hotels which can be up to a 15 minute walk to the subway... would this be acceptable? The CPS zone also includes the Hudson Hotel which has notoriously small rooms... would this be acceptable?

As well, given what i believe to be the difficulty of your dates, i would also recommend including ESB, Chelsea and MSG... but it's your stay and ultimately it's up to you if you'd like to include these or not.

About a week ago there was a priceline win for the Four Points Chelsea but based upon rates i'm currently seeing i'm not sure (ie- a little doubtful) if this rate is still available... but i would at least give it a try as it would represent a tremendous value for these dates, imo.

Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

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