NicoCel Posted January 3, 2011 Report Posted January 3, 2011 Hi everyone!I have some questions on how to use Priceline to get a nice deal for our trip (me and my wife, 1 room, 25/04/2011 to 05/05/2011).One possible difficulty is that we intend to stay in NY for 10 days, and I've read that long stays can be a problem or may need to be split.Our priorities would be: 1) Zone (Times Square, Midtown E-W, South Central Park, or other recommended zone we might not be aware of) 2) Price (would LOVE to stay in the $90 - $120 range, we might stretch if it's necessary, but prefer to lower star rating than raising budget) 3) Star rating (no problem from 4 star to 3 star, or 2 1/2 stars if there are nice hotels)What rates should we expect to get (realistic)?What would be a good bidding strategy? I've tried a couple times up to $120 and had no luck, should I try to divide the stay? (we have no problem switching hotels)Am I trying to book too much in advance? When should I start worrying and try harder to book a place (raise budget)?Is Airbnb a good alternative?Please feel free to recommend changes since we don't know the city!Thanks you and a happy new year!
thereuare Posted January 3, 2011 Report Posted January 3, 2011 Welcome to BetterBidding!Some general observations...We don't typically recommend the lower rated (less than 3* hotels) in NYC. While there might be some 2.5* properties which meet your needs, there are likely others which do not, and with PRICELINE / HOTWIRE you don't get to choose which type you will get :) .This is an expensive time of year in NYC and based upon current rates i'm guessing a more realistic budget would something in the ~$140 area.Exactly what bids have you already made?Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
NicoCel Posted January 3, 2011 Author Report Posted January 3, 2011 Hi, I've bid starting from $90 up to $120, and tried from 4 star to 3 star, in the following areas (and using the corresponding rebid zones) Times Square, Central Park South, Midtown East and Midtown West.Do you think the 10 night length of my stay is a problem or is it just a matter of raising the offer?Thanks for the promptly reply.Edit: We can stretch to $140, do you recommend us to wait and keep trying on a lower budget and only raise it later or just go ahead and try to book it at $140 now?
thereuare Posted January 3, 2011 Report Posted January 3, 2011 I'd guess that your failed bids are likely 70% due to $120 not likely being enough for these dates and 30% the length of your stay.... meaning that if you increase your bid it would certainly increase your chances, but you may still be rejected due to the length of your stay.I think the next step is to increase your bid to ~$140 or so... then if that is rejected we can start talking about your other options like SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID, adding other zones, lowering the star rating further, etc, etc.However, first i have some questions regarding your zone selections...At the 4* level is there a reason you're not including ESB in your bidding?At the 3.5* and 3* levels are you OK if you land a hotel in the MTE zone which may be up to a 15 minute walk to the subway? How about the Hudson Hotel in the CPS zone... gets decent reviews but notoriously small rooms; would you be ok with a tiny room for a one week stay? Also at the 3.5* and 3* level any reason you're not bidding MSG, Chelsea, and/or ESB?Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. (please click this PRICELINE link before replying) Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
NicoCel Posted January 4, 2011 Author Report Posted January 4, 2011 Yeah, we wouldn't have a problem with a 15 min walk to the subway, not the best scenario but we wouldn't mind.We certainly don't mind a small room, since we don't plan on spending any more than the minimum time in it and we don't travel heavy on luggage (we backpack often, so even if its not the case here, we are used to low quality or little room and can tolerate it)There's no particular reason why I haven't included those areas in the bidding, the ones I included seemed more comfortable (but I don't know the city, so I may be totally wrong) If you say they are comfortable for a first time tourist, I'll take them, lol.Just in case, we live in Buenos Aires, so we are used to subways, buses, huge cities and everything that comes with it, so no "big city panic"Thanks, cheersEdit: If it means something to you, I never got a counteroffer from PRICELINE in my previous tries.
thereuare Posted January 4, 2011 Report Posted January 4, 2011 If you want to start for your complete stay i would try the following: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, TS, CPS and ESB...Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $140, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINEAssuming you're fine with the following 3.5* zones (MTE, MTW, TS, CPS, ESB and MSG)...At the 3.5* level you have THREE re-bid zones.Select 3.5* MTE, MTW, TS...Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $110, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3.5* CPS, ESB, MSG...Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $110, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3.5* CPS, MTW, TS...Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $125, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3.5* MTE, ESB, MSG...Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $125, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3.5* CPS, MTW, TS, MTE, ESB, MSG...Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $138, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $140We'll start with the above and take it from there... 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. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
NicoCel Posted January 4, 2011 Author Report Posted January 4, 2011 Uff, took a while, but I did my homework!No luck with any of these (the only change I did was bid the $115-$125 part with the six zones together as the final part)How long should I keep trying? I mean, based on previous experiences is there reason to believe in a month from now I'll get better offers? Is there some date where I should start worrying about not finding hotel at all? A month before, a week before?Thanks for your help
AaronJB Posted January 5, 2011 Report Posted January 5, 2011 There is still a fair amount of time between now and your stay; you can keep trying up to this level once a week for a few weeks, and if nothing is accepted, then we can suggest alternative options. There's no way to know a "best time", but I do suggest at least continuing to try to see if inventory opens up.Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.
thereuare Posted January 5, 2011 Report Posted January 5, 2011 Edit: We can stretch to $140......the only change I did was bid the $115-$125 part with the six zones together as the final partYou're not really giving yourself much of a chance at $125 for these dates in NYC.What is the best deal you're currently able to find for these dates thru conventional booking channels?Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
NicoCel Posted January 5, 2011 Author Report Posted January 5, 2011 Sorry, I guess my post wasn't clear. Not a native english speaker :) I placed bids up to $140, what I was trying to say is I did both parts between 110-125 together instead of splitting them like you proposed, but I surely did the last part and bid up to $140.Are prices much higher than last year or should I be able to get something similar to what's booked in the 2010 calendar?I'll try to see if there are any abrupt price changes in those dates
thereuare Posted January 5, 2011 Report Posted January 5, 2011 Rates are higher than last year as the NYC hotel market has rebounded a bit better than the overall economy (and economic conditions were still not looking that good last year around this time frame so hotels were willing to 'take what they could' in the form of a confirmed and non-refundable reservation)The other issue, as discussed above, is the length of your stay... we also mentioned that you still had a decent chance of not being successful when increasing your bid to $140... unfortunately it's just not that high of a bid for this time of year. While rates last year were lower than usual, take a look at the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins for this same period in 2008 and you'll see the type of prices this time of year can fetch. I don't think we're near those levels again, but it at least will show how prices last year were unusually low.Do you want to wait it out and hope for lower prices for your complete stay or try SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID (which if successful would likely involve needing to change hotels during your stay)Let us know your thoughts and we'll take it from there.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
NicoCel Posted January 5, 2011 Author Report Posted January 5, 2011 We have no problem at all with switching hotels, so I'd try splitting the bid. I will keep on trying to get it anyway, did not want to bid much more than $140 because I have budgets for apartments at that rate and I saw even lower rates on Airbnb for apartments as well (since I don't know that system I keep it as a backup plan for now, any comments on Airbnb are welcome)Edit: Some prices I found online are:$142 for the Latham Hotel (2 stars)$146 for the Seton Hotel (2 stars)$202 for the New Yorker Hotel (3 1/2 stars)$203 for the Comfort Inn Theatre District (2 stars)$204 for the Jolly Hotel Madison Towers (3 star)Plenty of 3 1/2 stars for around $240-250, and 4 stars starting at $270 (Chandler Hotel) but more around $300I couldn't get a night by night price, just the average one, could you recommend me a site that provides each individual night's price?I want to see if there are more expensive nights so I can split my bid the best way.Once more, thank you very much for your help
NicoCel Posted January 5, 2011 Author Report Posted January 5, 2011 To provide extra info on us, we'd prefer having a two and a half or even two star hotel for $100 or $110 than a 3 star at $160 or a 4 star at $180.What are the main reasons for not recommending to bid on lower quality hotels (maybe being more restrictive in zones)? I don't doubt there are good ones, but I'm asking in the hope that maybe we can work them out since we aren't very demanding, we stayed in shared bathroom, 90 sqft bedroom in Paris 4 nights and enjoyed it a lot (would love to pass on the shared bathroom this time tough :) )We will be out all day long and just return to the hotel to sleep anyway...Thanks everybody, hope we get to make good use of Priceline
thereuare Posted January 6, 2011 Report Posted January 6, 2011 To provide extra info on us, we'd prefer having a two and a half or even two star hotel for $100 or $110 than a 3 star at $160 or a 4 star at $180.What are the main reasons for not recommending to bid on lower quality hotels (maybe being more restrictive in zones)?As per my reply above:We don't typically recommend the lower rated (less than 3* hotels) in NYC. While there might be some 2.5* properties which meet your needs, there are likely others which do not, and with PRICELINE / HOTWIRE you don't get to choose which type you will get :) .If you look at the two hotels you mention which are within your budget (Seton Hotel and Latham Hotel) they generally have fairly poor reviews. Yes there are some who found the hotel satisfactory, but when reading reviews you have to get an overall feel, and these are subpar, imo. As well, the higher rated hotels may cost a few dollars more than the budget properties, but typically provide a better value. There are fixed costs in operating a hotel, which for the most part are similar regardless of the star rating of the property (electricity, water, etc all cost the same) which puts a floor on how low a hotel can price a room and still be profitable... it's may be easier for a 4* hotel to discount a $200 room by 50% than for a 2* hotel to discount a $100 room by 25%.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
NicoCel Posted January 18, 2011 Author Report Posted January 18, 2011 I've been trying again from time to time but still didn't get a deal.I've reserved for $114 night the Country Inn & Suite by Carlson in Long Island from their webpage, some people I know recommended it and it's supposed to be a 10 min subway ride to Midtown, do you have any opinion on that hotel?I've tried to up it to $130 to see if I could get the Alqonqin deal, but didn't work (and I noticed that was for short stays and weekends mostly).Anyway I'm now trying to see if there is a way to get something better than what I have booked for aprox the same price ($120), I don't mind having to take a short subway to get to Midtown (I take one 35 minutes everyday here to work).Any suggestions or advice?Thanks
thereuare Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 I assume you're referring to the Country Inn and Suites in Long Island City... which is different than Long Island.I know it's cheaper than staying directly in the city, but i'm not such a fan of this area... not really the best of areas nor an area i'd want to come home to each nite, as well there isn't too much in the immediate area.If you're going to stay outside of Manhattan i'd sooner stay at a 4* hotel in Jersey City for ~$135/nite where there is at least some things to do in the immediate area, nicer hotels, and a safer area. However, while nicer and higher rated, the hotels here don't include breakfast or internet, as your Country Inn and Suites does.Whether LIC or Hoboken, you do lose quite a bit of the 'buzz' by not staying in Manhattan, and if you do decide to stay outside of the city to save money, i would consider splitting your stay and spending at least some time staying directly in Manhattan.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
NicoCel Posted January 19, 2011 Author Report Posted January 19, 2011 The idea of splitting the 10 day stay and spending some time in Manhattan sounds nice...Do you have any recommendation on which days should I be able to get the lowest rates in Manhattan? So I can try to split it the best possible way.We're arriving Mon April 25th and staying until Thu May 5thThanks!
thereuare Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Would you be willing to bid as high as $160 for a room in Manhattan? If you were able to get a room for ~$160 how many nites could you budget to spend in Manhattan?Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
NicoCel Posted January 19, 2011 Author Report Posted January 19, 2011 Mmm, I don't think I'm willing to pay $160, we just don't enjoy or hate that much a room to pay that amount of money for it.It's not a matter of budget really, it's just that those extra $200 we would be spending (if we stay 3-4 nights in Manhattan) can have a lot of other uses that will be much more enjoyed by us than a beautiful room or saving a subway ride... I will take a look at Jersey City hotels, and keep trying PRICELINE from time to time to see if I get a really good deal, worst case scenario, I'm pretty ok with the Long Island City Country Inn & SuiteThanks a lot for your help!
thereuare Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Mmm, I don't think I'm willing to pay $160, we just don't enjoy or hate that much a room to pay that amount of money for it.You're not paying for the room per se... you're paying for the location; which is NYC is a pretty big deal, imo.We're seeing some 4* wins for dates around, and including, your range above... i think you might be successful at $150 or under, but if it stretches your budget too much that you won't be able to enjoy other things, then it becomes a trade-off between what it is that you're looking for from this stay and trip.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
NicoCel Posted January 20, 2011 Author Report Posted January 20, 2011 Well, today I woke up and thought I'd give the Alqonqin another try.... so I did, and got it from Mon 25/4 to Sun 1/5 for $150!!The hotel had rooms for $329 (advanced booking) on those dates, so it's 55% off, not bad.We're then going to Long Island City for the last 4 nights, at $114 for the king room with city view. I guess I'll consider extending the stay for the extra $150 aprox, but I didn't decide on in yet (and I don't know if I will be able to anyway, I saw in a lot of hotels a rate change for May)So, thanks a lot for the advice and time, we hope to enjoy staying in Manhattan in a nice hotel and location!PD: Do I have to log the win somehow or do you take care of that?
AaronJB Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 Congrats on your success. :)Fantastic deal for this property, which has a very neat history and recently became associated with Marriott for their new "Autograph Collection".Please let us know what you decide and if you need assistance with your remaining dates. We'll edit the topic title to reflect your win so you're all set in that regard.Thank you for sharing your win and please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.Enjoy your stay.
NicoCel Posted January 21, 2011 Author Report Posted January 21, 2011 Ok, finally I decided to book the hole stay, so I did another bid (already had the credit card used for the first bid near the limit, so used the other one instead of adding nights to my won bid) and won the Algonquin once again, at $147 this time, from Sun 5/1 to Thu 5/5.Thank you once again, certainly will be using the forums again next time I travel!
thereuare Posted January 21, 2011 Report Posted January 21, 2011 Congratulations on your success!I'm glad you decided to spend the entire stay in Manhattan, i think you'll be much happier here and is worth the extra money vs. a hotel in Long Island City, and this is an excellent deal for the Algonquin this time of year.Thank you for sharing your win and using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your bidding.Enjoy your stay. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
NicoCel Posted February 9, 2011 Author Report Posted February 9, 2011 An extra tip for HSBC customers that won the Algonquin or any other Marriot propertyHere is a link to the promotion.
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