Priceline Hotel: 4* NYC (Downtown-Soho-Financial District) Soho Grand

[monkeysee]

Hi,

Just got this result from HOowire, but I can't find this particular hotel rated 3.5* in the Hotwire NYC hotel list. Can you identify?

Times Square - Theatre District area hotel

Amenities:

Boutique Hotel

Complimentary Breakfast

Restaurant(s)

High-speed Internet Access

Thanks.

[thereuare]

Unfortunately this property has not yet been reported to the board. I thought that the Hilton Club might be a possibility, but the current TA rating for that property is 3.5/5.0 whereas the HOTWIRE offer above indicates a 3.5/5.0 rating so i don't think that is what you're seeing. Found a few others with these amenities but not matching the TA info, so don't really have too much insight into this one.

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.

[monkeysee]

I used Betterbidding's PRICELINE link. Thanks for the good work.

After several days of trying Priceline to get a 4* hotel in NYC at short notice (bidding w/i 2-6 days of arrival in NYC) w/o any luck despite bidding multiple times from $125 up to $205 in countless rebid permutations -- and opting instead to get my first two nights locked up, at a 3* rated hotel through Hotwire for $139 (or $173 including taxes), I decided to try one more time on Priceline to get the last 2 nights of my stay through Priceline, especially since prices on Hotwire for 3* hotels have increased to the $170+ range.

My initial bid of $170 (I included all the NYC bidding zones that have a 4* hotel - Midtown East, Midtown West, Central Park South, Upper East Side, Downtown, Chelsea, EMpire State Building, and even Times Square zones) was accepted.

Drats. I should've started my bidding at $150 or lower! But I thought my nights, which includes the relatively busy Thursday and Friday nights, would go for more, based on my frustrating experience iover the past week. Next time, more patience!

THis used to be a pretty good hotel, or at least it was a trendy hotel about 10 years ago. But the recent reviews on various websites suggest that the standards have declined considerably, or maybe it was always so-so but folks overlooked it because it was new and cool. Well, I guess I'll see for myself in a couple of days.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you got this settled and, for these dates, not a bad deal by any means.

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

Enjoy your stay and have a great time in NYC!

[monkeysee]

Having stayed at Soho Grand 11/18-11/20 (2 nights) in a standard room w/ queen bed, I can say that the hotel still deserves a 4* despite being fairly old by now (15+ years?).

Check in time at 3pm, checkout at noon - a bit inconvenient, but I checked in earlier than 3 (around 2:30) w/o any problems, and I was able to delay my checkout several times (noon to 1:30, then to 2:30, and I finally checked out 2:45 or so).

I got a relatively high floor (9th floor), so my room faced north unobstructed by any buildings for several blocks, and the room was close to the northeast corner of the hotel building to give a nice view of the busy West Broadway corner north of the hotel.

I made use of the free DVD service to get some nice films to watch (the selections are ample and somewhat tilted towards excellent independent and foreign choices).

If you want to read the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal and/or the Financial Times, free copies are in the lobby. Better yet, pick up the free issue of Time Out New York or talk to the helpful concierge desk for great ideas on food, shop, etc.

Or just walk out the hotel, a few minutes south to Tribeca, a few minutes east to Chinatown and Little Italy, or a few minutes north to Soho and Nolita. I brunched in Tribeca, Soho and did all my necessary shopping for toys for kids and books for grownups in Soho/Nolita shops.

[AaronJB]

Nice deal, and glad to hear you had a good stay.