Hotwire Hotel: Please help me figure out which hotel this is

[ssentry]

Hi there,

I'm looking at hotels in the theatre district for Oct 26-30th and found a hotel that's a 3 star for 289. A big red flag (in a good way) is that you can preselect your bed type before proceeding which is key since I'm travelling with my mother. So it offers the option of paying 314 for two twins.

Now the amenities listed are: fitness, restaurant, and internet ... so according to the list of hotels this should mean that it's the Hilton Garden Inn. but if I go to the Hilton website I'm only seeing options of rooms with two queens, not two twins.

So do you think there's a new hotel that isn't on the list yet that has twin beds or do you think this is the hilton and we'd get two queens?

Thanks!

[AaronJB]

The Washington Jefferson also is a 3* in this zone with the same amenity set, and they do have double twin rooms, so that would be my guess.

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

[thereuare]

Another option i would consider is searching HOTWIRE for 2adults/1child (which should ensure separate beds... although the second 'bed' could be a pullout sofabed, rollaway, etc) and for $195/nite there is a well reviewed (95% recommended by HOTWIRE users and 4.0/5.0 from Tripadvisor) 3* hotel in the Chelsea-MSG zone with Breakfast, Fitness, Business and Internet icons (best guess would be the Holiday Inn Express Madison Square Garden)

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

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[ssentry]

2.5 or 3* in times square for 160?

Oct 27-30

Going to New York Oct 27th - 30 with a friend and though we have rooms booked already as a backup I'd like to see if we can get closer to Times Square in the same price range.

We'd be happy with the 2.5 or 3* hotels on the list (3 would be better obviously) and the base price priceline quotes for those hotels are 293 and 300 respectively.

Do you think there's a chance we could get rooms for 160 a piece?

BTW - I need to make sure that we get two rooms if a bid is successful, can you bid for two rooms at a time for the same price?

TIA!

[ssentry]

Also, can you please provide some bidding advice?

My understanding is that after my initial bid I need to add neighbourhoods that I don't want but that don't have a hotel with my search criteria so I can keep rebidding. Looking at the list most areas have 2.5 and 3 start hotels. Only exception I can see is UWS doesn't have a 3 and UES doesn't have a 2.5 so am I limited to 2 bids them for each star rating or is there another option I'm missing.

Also, should I even bother bidding on hotels higher than 3? Obviously we'd take it but I figure the chances are pretty low that they'd go for a price that low (even though Priceline says the median for a 3.5 is 311).

Thanks again

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

Where and how much is your back-up reservation? Do you need rooms with two beds each?

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

[ssentry]

I posted as a new topic since my original question was answered and now have a new one and since I was originally looking for one room with two beds and now am looking for two rooms with one bed so it seemed less confusing to seperate . Can you please advise on how to change the title of my post since the old title no longer applies and people who have thoughts on my second question may not enter the post with this title?

We only require one bed per room and need two rooms. Our back-up res is in midtown east at 159 per room (directly with the hotel, one twin bed per room).

Thanks

[thereuare]

I posted as a new topic since my original question was answered and now have a new one...

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread. It helps keep the board better organized as well as provides once place to see what has already been tried or considered for the stay.

I'd like to see if we can get closer to Times Square in the same price range.

Is the Times Square zone the only zone you're willing to bid at the moment? If not, which zone(s) are acceptable?

My understanding is that after my initial bid I need to add neighbourhoods that I don't want but that don't have a hotel with my search criteria so I can keep rebidding. Looking at the list most areas have 2.5 and 3 start hotels. Only exception I can see is UWS doesn't have a 3 and UES doesn't have a 2.5 so am I limited to 2 bids them for each star rating or is there another option I'm missing.

Right concept but wrong methodology. DON"T use the hotel lists to determine your re-bid zones (see the comments at the top of the Priceline Hotel List)... the correct (and only) method you should use is detailed here: Priceline Re-Bidding Explained

Feel free to confirm your re-bid zones before bidding (you have ONE re-bid zone at the 3* level and NONE at the 2.5* level)

Our back-up res is in midtown east

Which hotel?

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

[ssentry]

Yes times square is the only area we're interested in, otherwise we'll stick with our backup which is a short subway ride away.

Thanks for the link to the re-bidding strategy, I'll read that over and follow.

Our backup is The Pod Hotel.

Thanks :)

[thereuare]

Do you have a room with a private bath at The Pod or is it a shared bath?

[ssentry]

OK I've read the other document and think I get the re-bidding strategy. I think my only option is adding coney island since it has only 1 and 2 star hotels.

So if I'm looking at a 2.5 or 3 and my max is 160 please confirm I should do the following:

-bid for 3* in times square alone for $150, add Coney Island and increase to $160

-then bid for 2.5* in TS for $150, then add Coney Island and increase bid to $160

Is that right? You said above that I have one rebid at 3* but none at 2.5 so am I missing something?

BTW - our backup is with shared bath

[ssentry]

As I mentioned above my current reservation at The Pod is for a shared bath but that reservation wasn't obtained through priceline, just off of the hotel's website.

I have another question about the re-bidding - when I look at coney island alone as an area it only shows 1 and 2 * properties but when I add CI to Times Square the 'average median price of a 3* hotel' listed for the two areas is lower than the median price for TS alone. This makes me a bit nervous about adding CI to the bid. Why would the median price drop if there are no 3* properties in CI? What's pulling the price down vs the # shown for TS alone?

Thank!

[thereuare]

You are correct... currently Coney Island can be used as a re-bid zone at both the 3* and 2.5* zones. The suggested retail price shown by PRICELINE is often not accurate and i wouldn't read too much into the situation you described above. (just always double check your re-bid zones before any bidding cycle)

Since you have some time i would probably bid as follows:

Select 3* Times Square...

Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $140, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 2.5* Times Square...

Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $130

If/when the above is rejected, wait 24 hours and repeat, but increase each bid by $10 (so your 3* bidding is $145/$150... your 2.5* bidding is $135/$140)... continue to repeat every 24 hours and increase your bid by $10 over the previous bidding.

However, my personal thoughts i'll add the following...

You're going to spend much less time in Times Square then you think. There is no reason to restrict your bidding to just this zone as many of the other midtown zones should work just fine for your needs.

As your shared bath back-up hotel isn't currently in the Times Square zone i would think that a similarly rated hotel outside of Times Square (but still well located) with a private bath would be a better deal then what you current have. (my .02)

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

[ssentry]

wasn't able to find a hotel through HOTWIRE, booked through hotel website

[thereuare]

Please remember to follow-up with your wins/decision as you make them... and use the links in our Support Page for your hotel direct purchases when PRICELINE / HOTWIRE don't work for a given trip.

Hope you enjoyed your stay.