Priceline Hotel: 4* NYC (MTW) Warwick

[gobucks77]

My fiancee and I are taking our honeymoon in NYC Nov 7-12 and do not want to pay a gazillion dollars for a hotel. I found this site after doing some searching and it looks fantastic. I want to give bidding a shot but I have never done it before and don't want to mess it up.

Ideally we are looking for a 3.5 or 4 star for up to 250 or so a night. We would prefer Midtown West (near Rockefeller Center) but would be ok with some other options (Central Park south or Midtown East or TS, etc.). Am I being realistic on the prices? And what would be a good bidding strategy to get the lowest rate possible under these parameters?

Thanks so much for any help!!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

HOTWIRE has a 4* hotel in the MTE zone for $235/nite (best guess is the W New York for $235/nite)... so a 4* hotel is possible for these dates. The W New York gets mixed reviews... used to be more negative but have been greatly improved of late. The most common complaint is that many of the rooms are quite small (even by NYC standards).

Thoughts on this option.. or would you prefer to try bidding on PRICELINE? If the latter, are you willing to pay more for a 4* vs. a 3.5* OR is the least expensive 3.5* or better what you're seeking for this stay? Note that if you choose to bid 3.5* there are some hotels in the MTE zone which can be up to a 15 minute walk to the subway and in the CPS zone there is the Hudson hotel which has notoriously small rooms as well.

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly.

PS- congratulations on your upcoming nuptials :)

[gobucks77]

Thanks!

I would prefer a 4*. Would you be comfortable in a 4* in any of MTW, MTE, CPS, TS, or ESB? If so, and any 4* in those areas will generally be ok, I guess I am not THAT picky as to where it is. We just want to be somewhat centrally located so that we can walk(or hop on subway) to most places in those areas. Given that, maybe MTE is not for us.

I'd really prefer not to go over $250/night but if you are telling me that will be a stretch I can try and revisit the budget. Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Does not matter to me what site I use to bid. Wherever you tell me to go is where I will go.

[thereuare]

Would you be comfortable in a 4* in any of MTW, MTE, CPS, TS, or ESB?

At the 4* level i would be fine with any of these zones.

We just want to be somewhat centrally located so that we can walk(or hop on subway) to most places in those areas. Given that, maybe MTE is not for us.

At the 4* level i think MTE work well for most users... it's only when lowering to 3.5* that location of some of the 'known' hotels becomes an issue.

I think the real question above is how you feel about a small room and/or the 'boutique-y' style of a W hotel.

If you're as flexible as you are, i would probably suggest trying for a 4* hotel up to $235/nite (the price of this offering) to see if you can get a 4* for less... if not, then take this HOTWIRE offer (assuming you're ok with a small room and the style provided by the W... personally i like it, but i'ts not for everyone)

If you want to try bidding on PRICELINE as your next step let us know if we should include the MTE zone (and the others previously mentioned) and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

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

[gobucks77]

Decided to try for CSP. Bid up to $220 before I ran out of re-bids, though I am not sure I did it correctly (started with just CSP, then added one zone for each successive bid). Am going to try again tonight, and will structure the bids so that I go up to 250. If that's unsuccessful, I guess the following night I will start adding other zones like MTW.

[gobucks77]

Decided to try for CSP. Bid up to $220 before I ran out of re-bids, though I am not sure I did it correctly (started with just CSP, then added one zone for each successive bid). Am going to try again tonight, and will structure the bids so that I go up to 250. If that's unsuccessful, I guess the following night I will start adding other zones like MTW.

EDIT: We would be ok with either CPS or Midtown West. I think shooting just for CPS between 200 and 250 for those dates is, based on everything else i have read, a real stretch. Thanks!

[thereuare]

Decided to try for CSP. Bid up to $220 before I ran out of re-bids, though I am not sure I did it correctly (started with just CSP, then added one zone for each successive bid).

Which zone(s) did you add for each successive bid?

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

[gobucks77]

I'm pleased to report that we landed the Warwick at $270/night. A little higher than I wanted to go, but very, very happy with the location and with everything else.

I bid in both CPS and MTW, with bidding starting at $180. Yes, I used your PRICELINE links.

Thanks to the forum in general, and to thereuare in particular, for all of the assistance.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Although more than you originally wanted to pay, glad you received a hotel in your desired location.

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

Enjoy your stay.