Priceline Hotel: New York, 26/2 - 05/03

[Rafael Pinto]

Hi folks,

My wife and I are trying to escape Rio de Janeiro's carnival, and go to a shopping spree in NYC.

After a quick search at Trip Advisor, we ended up with a small list of hotels:

- Distrikt

- Fashion 26

- The MAve

- Hilton Garden Inn

- Thirty thirty

- Paramount

Most of them are in MTW/Chelsea/TS, and I can get them for ~US$200 at a local travel agency.

Since I saw a friend of mine stay at the Nikko (SFO) for US$70, I kept thinking on trying Priceline to lower my daily stay to, say, US$ 130 - 150.

Do you think I can get this? Mostly, I would expect a 3.5* or better, avoiding traps like the Hudson...

When should I start bidding? Right now?!? :) Any suggested strategy?

Thank you all!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please start by reading your messages.

Here is the issue/difference...

Your friend landed a great deal but was willing to accept any hotel in the zone that he had bid... you're coming up with a list of hotels which you would like to stay in and would like to receive one of them.

Rates are not high for this time frame and i do think you can get a great deal... but not necessarily at one of the hotels above.

I would start by reviewing the Priceline Hotel List of the 'known' hotels and see if there are any zones which contain hotels at the 3.5* or higher level which you want to avoid... you can then decide not to bid these areas (such as CPS which contains the Hudson you mentioned above that you wish to avoid). You could always receive a new hotel in the zone which has not yet been reported, but at least this gives you a basis to avoid any 'known' hotels which you may have issue with.

From there you can choose to bid on PRICELINE for the zones where the known hotels are acceptable OR if that is too much risk you can try HOTWIRE where you can often take an educated guess as to the property begin offered before your purchase. A quick search for your dates shows a 3.5* hotel in the MTE zone for just $122/nite (i'm guessing the Doubletree Metropolitan, Roosevelt or Hilton East) There is a also a 3.5* in Chelsea for $145/nite which i'm guessing is the New Yorker Ramada Plaza... this should give you an idea if you're interested in trying to target one of these or some other HOTWIRE offering.

Let us know your thoughts on the above 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.

[Rafael Pinto]

Thanks for the tips!!

The list we made was for booking on Expedia or a local travel agency. Pretty much any hotel with a good price and nice rooms (not necessarily large, but not tuna cans) would fit our requirements.

NYC is a bit traumatic for me. I have been there a only one time, back in 1996, and the my travel agent booked the Wollcot at W 31st St. The location was good, but, by the time, the hotel was awfully old and the room was really cramped.

My only requirement is to avoid these "traps", even if it costs a few bucks more.

BTW, should I start the bidding now?

Thanks again!

[thereuare]

As far as when to bid, if your plans are firm i'd begin bidding now, but only lowballing to see if you can pick up any low hanging fruit. For example, say bid up to $125/nite, which i think would be a 'pretty good' deal... if you were successful could the price later drop to $105, sure... but it could also just to $160 or more; i would think that anytime you could get $125 for a 3.5* hotel in midtown Manhattan it would be tough to later have too many regrets. For additional info see the 'bid early or close to check-in' link in our PRICELINE FAQ

What are your thoughts of the HOTWIRE offers mentioned above? How about if the hotel you recieve is a 15 minute walk to the subway... would this be acceptable?

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