Priceline Hotel: Another NYC question - Priceline v Hotwire

[wolverines1]

Been off the board for a while, but have used the Better Bidding PRICELINE link with success in the past ...thanks for all the tips. My bids have mostly been in smaller markets.

Now comes the Big Apple, which is a whole different world. Freedom looks like too many choices.

Family of 4, 2 adults, 2 teens, traveling to NYC Apr 21-24. I played around on PL a bit and I notice that the bid-your-own-price areas don't at all correspond with the discount reservations areas -- I don't see detail like Empire State Bldg, MSG etc on the discount site. You've posted a list of hotels in each "bid" area at the top of this string ...still reasonably current? I understand there are no guarantees and the star ratings move around without notice, although presumably the hotels don't. Do you have any advice about how to reconcile the locations of hotels on the discount site v the locations on the bid site?

We're inclined to stay in the ESB, MSG or MTE areas, not too far from ESB itself though maybe more east toward the Lex line. I'm happy to bid on 4* hotels on PL and see what happens. What's your judgment about what 3.5* means in NYC?

I haven't tried HW yet, which appears to give the buyer a little better insight into which hotel fits the description. True?

Another issue I'm wrestling with is whether to bid on 2 rooms separately, or 1 larger room for the 4 of us. Is there any way to pre-choose a 2-room suite, for example?

Any advice is welcome. Thanks for your help.

[AaronJB]

A few notes:

PRICELINE guarantees 1 bed/double occupancy. NYC offers (in)famously small rooms at most properties. Some properties do not have two bed rooms, or the majority are single bed. As a result, rooms with two beds often go for a premium (and sometimes a fairly sizable one) at regular rate. If you use PRICELINE in NYC for a party of more than two, you run the significant risk of getting only 1 bed. HOTWIRE does not guarantee 2 beds, but if you search for more than 2, you are guaranteed of some form of bedding (commonly 2 beds, but may be 1 + sofabed or other combo) for the entire party.

HOTWIRE is less opaque than PRICELINE, but also somewhat-to-moderately more expensive.

There are a number of nice 3.5*'s across the city, but quite a few properties (and this is at all star levels) may understandably appeal to someone and not another person.

The PRICELINE lists are current; when you use the name your own price section of PRICELINE there should a screen that lists the bidding zones in the city (including MTE, MTW, CPS, etc).

There is no way to ensure a suite via PRICELINE. A couple of all-suite properties in NYC have appeared in the past on HOTWIRE (such as the Doubletree in TS), but these properties do not appear that often. When they do appear, they show with an "S" (Suite) icon. There is no way to get an upgraded suite room at a regular (not "all-suite") property via either service.

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