Hotwire Hotel: 4* NYC Times Square Westin

[chasman]

23 June

2 rooms

3 nights (10th-13th of July 2003)

1. 5* bid $99 in MTE (thought i might get lucky getting the Waldorf at a bargain) - rejected

2. 4* bid $75 in MTE - rejected

3. 4* bid $90 in MTE + UWS - (used the UWS knowing the highest there is 2.5*) - rejected

4. 4* bid $95 in MTE + UWS + Lower - rejected

I stopped after that. I was tempted to include MTS as a region, but I have not seen any 4* hotels in that region so did not want to take the risk on getting a hotel i knew nothing about. Was trying to get the Grand Hyatt or Millenium UN Plaza in MTE. Would love to bid on the Westin in PL, but don't want to get the NY Hilton & Towers because of mixed reviews. They both appear to be in MTW on PL.

I will now either try to get the Waldorf in 72 hours on PL or try to get the Westin Times Square off HW for $139 (Appears to be the hotel with 4.5* in Times Square with the Spa). I have checked out some reviews at www.tripadvisor.com and some folks seem to prefer the Westin over the Astoria for service.

I love this site!!! Keep up the good work. Hopefully PL, HW, SavingsBarn and BB will all be around for awhile.

[thereuare]

You are correct that the Hilton Towers and Westin are both in MTW. There is no way to increase your chances of one hotel over the other or exclude the possibility of getting one of them. (i think you know this already, but i add if for others that may be reading)

I don't remember if i posted this on the board or sent to somebody in a PM, but my wife was recently in the Westin to meet a co-worker and she said it was very nice inside (as well, her co-worker said the rooms were nice too, although my wife didn't see them).

On the other hand, my cousin recently stayed at the Hilton and Towers (via Priceline) and she said she had a great one nite stay. I'm not doubting or questioning the experience of others at this hotel, but i guess it seems to be 'luck of the draw' as to what impression you will walk away with.

Thanks for posting and for the compliments and good wishes.

Oh yeah.... WELCOME to BetterBidding! :)

PS- i just pulled up a Hotwire search for your dates and don't know if we got the same results, but the 4.5* hotel in my search did NOT show the hi-speed internet icon (which was reported to be associated with the Westin when a user reported it), so there is a chance this is not the Westin (of course it's possible that the icon was temporarily removed for some reason or it was mis-reported, but i woudn't think that these are 'safe' assumptions).

[chasman]

Thanks for the info!

Per your P.S. -

I just did a HW search and I see a 4 1/2* in Times Square with the following amenities icons in left to right order:

Restaurant(s)

Fitness Center

High-Speed Internet Access

Business Center

Spa

Ref No. 6395122891 (does this # mean anything?)

I will let you know if this is the Westin in a few days. I would think that the Spa amenity would be a differentiator as I have not seen too many hotels with that amenity.

It is now avail. for $135.

A bit weird that you are not seeing it and that the price has come down $4 from last night. Will report my findings soon.

PS I was a bit surprised that my $95 bid was not accepted last night. Perhaps rates are up for the summer. I had seen that someone once got the Grand Hyatt in MTE for $75, but I don't recall the month or days of the week. I am trying to book Thurs-Sat and I bet Thurs is not the cheapest.

[thereuare]

I see the same hotel and amenities now. In my haste, I may have checked the wrong box earlier or something like that. (btw, $136/nite now as i'm looking)

The reference number is an internal number that Hotwire uses to keep track of your search in case there is an error during purchase or in case you need to reference it after purchase. (they probably also use it for some internal tracking as well, perhaps to show hotels how often their property was offered and things of that nature)

[chasman]

CONFIRMED ON HOTWIRE -

The 4.5* New York Times Square Hotel with the "Spa" amenity is the Westin Times Square!

Check-in:

Thu, Jul 10, 2003 at 3:00 PM

Check-out:

Sun, Jul 13, 2003 at 12:00 PM

No. of Rooms:

1

No. of Nights:

3

Price Per Night:

$141.00

Subtotal:

$423.00

Taxes / Booking Fees:

$66.95

Total Price:

$489.95

ps Feel free to copy and paste this info on the HW Bulletin Board. Thanks for all your help!

[thereuare]

Thanks for following up.

I'm glad you were able to get the hotel you really wanted.

Just an FYI, i notice your first post was for 2 rooms and your purchase was only for 1 room. Don't know if one was a typo or if your plans changed, but i didn't want you to arrive expecting 2 rooms and only having one reserved.

[chasman]

Good eye! Yes, my plans changed. Only one room now.

FYI - At the Westin web site they currently have an internet only price of $175. When you add in the taxes and do the math the savings are about $118 over 3 nights - not a ton, but that's enough for a few extra beers. I'm happy. Just thought I would mention that for folks that could use the frequent visitor points instead of going through HW to figure out the trade off themselves.