Priceline Hotel: 4* 12/31 NYC

[kme10]

Hi... I just had great success for my parents bidding on priceline through your forum (12/16-12/19 and got a great deal on Loews Regency).

I am now tempted to try to reserve a room for New Years' Eve. I would ideally LOVE a boutique hotel. I am open to all areas... what is the bidding strategy you'd suggest? I don't want to go above $250 for the night.

Thanks in advance.

[AaronJB]

Good evening. :)

NYE is an extremely busy night - many hotels are sold out or expensive, especially closer to Times Square. What zones were you interested in bidding for?

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

[kme10]

I'm probably in a unique position.. I live in the East Village, so unless I can grab a really great deal -- I won't take it. ;-)

I'd ideally love Soho or Tribeca... but would totally be fine going CPS/MTE.. even UWS.

Hmm.. am wondering maybe if I should start w/ UWS 4* (The Empire) ?? I'd be totally happy with that. I think we just want a boutique hotel, as opposed to a Hilton/Sheraton/etc.

[kme10]

Also, I should add... because I live in the city, I'm not opposed to waiting until 12/31 (day of) to make a reservation. Do you think this will help??

[thereuare]

I would ideally LOVE a boutique hotel.

There is no way to use PRICELINE to bid on only a Boutique hotel... are you willing to accept any hotel in the zone you choose at the minimum star rating you select?

I'd ideally love Soho or Tribeca... but would totally be fine going CPS/MTE.. even UWS.

Soho and Tribeca are part of PRICELINE (and HOTWIRE's) Downtown zone, and just like you can't bid on the type of hotel (other than star rating) you receive, you can bid or target a specific part of the zone. If you were to bid the Downtown zone, would you be willing to accept a hotel anywhere within the zone?

I think we just want a boutique hotel, as opposed to a Hilton/Sheraton/etc.

See my comments above. HOTWIRE may be a better option than PRICELINE as you could seek out a hotel showing the Boutique icon, or at the very least take an educated guess as to the hotel being offered and determine if it fits the bill for what you have in mind for this stay, but the trade-off is that HOTWIRE usually costs a little more than PRICELINE, and at the anything offered at the 4* level on HOTWIRE is beyond your budget.

Also, I should add... because I live in the city, I'm not opposed to waiting until 12/31 (day of) to make a reservation. Do you think this will help??

It could help... it could also hurt; it will all be based upon demand for hotel rooms and how occupancy levels fill up in the days/weeks ahead. HOWEVER, this is typically a very busy time for hotels in NYC (understandably) and even if a hotel currently has more vacancies then they would like, they may choose to hold onto the rooms themselves in hopes of selling it last minute at full price then offering it to the opaque suppliers at a deep discount. If you could secure a 4* hotel for $250 or less i would consider that to be a VERY GOOD win so i'd begin bidding now and hope for the best... but i think the bigger issue is your desire for a 'boutique' property and, as per above, there is no way to ensure this when using PRICELINE.

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

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

[kme10]

The rates were too high so we canceled. Thanks for the help!

[AaronJB]

Thank you for closing the thread.