Priceline Hotel: 35* NYC (ESB) Affinia Shelburne

[lukeluke]

Hi,

me and my friend we are looking for a place to stay in NYC for the 5 nights. The thing is that I really dont know about the rates during christmas. Is it worth bidding for 5 nights in a row or should I maybe consider booking 3 nights and then the next 2 nights?

We want to stay in Manhattan and have a subway in walking distance. The more central, the better for us, but it's not that important.

I'm really confused about the daily rates being the same for five days. Is this normal?

The rates are starting at like 130usd.. that's too much for me. I want to bid on PRICELINE, but what can I expect? Otherwise I have to go for a vacation rental which is surprisingly only about 80-100usd a night :)

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

A few notes:

Are there particular zones you are interested in (or not interested in?)

What is the vacation rental deal? While the vacation rental may be $100, it may not offer the same amenities as a hotel, or especially an upscale property.

I would recommend bidding to your max, and then if that does not work, splitting your stay is an alternative. However, I wouldn't jump to that first.

In terms of rates being the same for 5 days, do you mean regular rates or PRICELINE rates? Both often vary from day-to-day, although it can vary from hotel-to-hotel.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[lukeluke]

Since I dont really know the properties of certain zones, I dont have preferences. I have been to NYC for 1week two years ago, but I stayed at a friend's place on Staten Island and took the ferry to Manhattan every day. I just dont want to stay in Brooklyn or NJ.

I did a lot of bidding in Vegas, Florida and California, but here it seems to be kind of confusing.

Just in case you think that I can get something for less than $100 a day, let me know. I'm also fine with booking 2 hotels, if the bidding rates should be changing a lot during christmas and it makes sense to do that.

[thereuare]

I think you have a good chance of getting a 3* hotel in midtown for ~$100... maybe even a 3.5* property.

Would you want to try for a 3.5* property first up to your limit OR is the goal the least expensive 3* or better for this stay?

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

[lukeluke]

Would you want to try for a 3.5* property first up to your limit OR is the goal the least expensive 3* or better for this stay?

I would like to have a 3,5* or a 4* hotel. Where should I start? Which area is the most expensive or the most difficult one to get a good rate? So in which order should i put my rebidding zones?

[lukeluke]

Is there any chance to get breakfast included in the rate? I ve seen embassy suites and club quartes wtc having breakfast included in their rates. Does this also count for the bidding rates?

[Romelle]

Is there any chance to get breakfast included in the rate? I ve seen embassy suites and club quartes wtc having breakfast included in their rates. Does this also count for the bidding rates?

With Priceline, no chance to make sure breakfast is included. While I can't speak for NYC specifically, generally it seems breakfast is more likely included at the LOWER star levels. And especially for the lower star level airport hotels. If the hotel only includes breakfast in some packages, it most likely will NOT be included in a Priceline bid.

With Hotwire, you can look for the little breakfast symbol in the amenities list.

Romelle

[AaronJB]

A limited amount of properties include breakfast - a few boutique hotels do, some of the 2.5*-3* properties do (the Holiday Inn Express, the BW and others) and the ES does.

As noted above, PRICELINE does not allow one to select a particular hotel or particular amenity - you are selecting a star rating and a zone, and have to be willing to accept any hotel at that star rating in that zone (and in some cases, you may be upgraded to the next star level higher.)

HOTWIRE does show particular amenity icons (such as breakfast), but is generally somewhat-to-moderately more expensive than PRICELINE. Personally, in the case of NYC and trying to get a hotel with breakfast, I do not think it's worth paying moderately more per night for breakfast, because it's a lot of fun in NYC to discover great "hidden gem" places to eat.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[lukeluke]

Thank you. I'm already a frequent priceline bidding user, but I really don't know any details about the NYC bidding zones. So I would appreciate if you could help me with a bidding strategy for at least a 3,5star or 4star hotel. I dont want to spend more than 100usd a night and I'm okay with switching hotels after 2-3days if it does change anything.

In which zone do I find the most decent hotels? I was thinking about starting there and then go with my rebidding zones?

I have also read the topic with the hotels that i might get in certain zones. So I started reading reviews on priceline, but it wasn't really helpful..

Forget about the breakfast thing, it was just a general question :)

[thereuare]

You're really not being specific as to what you'd like in terms of zone and if star rating or price is most important, so i'll just provide what i feel is best for our typical user and we can take it from there.

At the 4* level you have FIVE re-bid zones. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

Select 4* MTE, MTW, CPS, TS and ESB...

Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $93, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $95, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $98, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $100, if that is rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

At the 3.5* level you have THREE re-bid zones...

Select 3.5* Chelsea, ESB, MSG...

Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $83, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $85, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3.5* MTW, TS...

Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $83, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $85, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3.5* MTW, TS, ESB, MSG...

Bid $88, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $90, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3.5* MTW, TS, Chelsea...

Bid $88, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $90, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3.5* Chelsea, ESB, MSG, MTW, TS...

Bid $93, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $95, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $98, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $100

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[lukeluke]

So the re-bid zones are Brooklyn, Coney Island, Long Island City, MSG and UES. Right?

Is there anything I should know about MTE, MTW, CPS, TS and ESB? Is any zone known for something specific? Like bigger rooms, better 4* standard? Is there any zone that is worth bidding first maybe?

[thereuare]

Yes, those are your re-bid zones at the 4* level. (but not at the 3.5* level so if you're rejected at the 4* level you'll need to check/use different zones)

I would bid as posted above as any 4* hotel at $100 or less would be a very good deal, imo.

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

[lukeluke]

I just started the bidding. I know I should have done this earlier :)

can you maybe tell me somethin about Downtown SoHo? Is it cheaper, the same or even more expensive than the other areas in midtown?

I was thinking about adding it in my bids right now, because I think that it is not that far since the subway can take me within 12min to TS or somethin..

any suggestions?

[lukeluke]

Selected 3.5* Chelsea, ESB, MSG, MTW, MTE, TS, Hell's Kitchen, SoHo

Bid $80 rejected

Bid $82 added CPS - rejected

Bid $84 added UES - rejected

Bid $86 added UWS - rejected

Bid $89 added Coney Island - rejected

Bid $92 added Long Island City - accepted

I have the 10$ off reward per night, so it's actually $82 for me. It's $312,18 (incl. 66,18 tax).

Thank you for helping me with this bid! I hope the hotel will be nice and there will be any interesting spots around it :)

And yes, I used the PRICELINE link :)

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

A every nice deal on a NYC hotel. If you are still needing a room for 12/23-12/25 feel free to start a NEW TOPIC.

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

Enjoy your stay.