Hotwire Hotel: 4* NYC (ESB) Roger Williams

[sdishman]

I'm working on booking hotel stays for our upcoming vacation starting next week.

The full dates are 05/26-05/31, but I already booked a place (via this board's HOTWIRE link) at Millennium Broadway for $135 a night.

I have a backup reservation at Club Quarters for 05/26-05/29 for $223/night (taxes/fees included), but I think I can do better.

I've been bidding using this board's PRICELINE link, and I've been bidding somewhat low (up to $170 for 4*, up to $160 for 3.5*) for weeks now with no luck. I've been using the 3 rebid zones per your directions.

I guess my question is less about proper approach and more about what reasonable expectations should be. Am I likely even close with my bids? Is there a likely chance that a small bump would get me a reservation? Or, if I continue to bid as I get closer to the date, does the likelihood of something falling to me in my price range increase or decrease?

Obviously my max bid would be somewhere short of my current backup reservation. Currently, my highest bid of $170 works out to about $200 a night after fees, so there's really not much margin there as it is.

[thereuare]

I've been bidding using this board's PRICELINE link, and I've been bidding somewhat low (up to $170 for 4*, up to $160 for 3.5*) for weeks now with no luck. I've been using the 3 rebid zones per your directions.

Which zones have you been bidding? At the 4* level you have SIX re-bid zones and at the 3.5* level you have FOUR re-bid zones.

Which Club Quarters location is your back-up reservation at?

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

[sdishman]

Right, I forgot about Queensborough Bridge. Honestly, I left it out because I'm already making over 30 bids a day (bidding TS, MW, CI, LI, UE for 4* and 3.5* separately) and I'm not sure I have more time to incorporate more bids.

The CQ reservation is on 45th St. This has the benefit of being extremely close to my HOTWIRE reservation for Millennium Broadway, so if I do end up keeping the back-up reservation and switching hotels mid-stream, it will be really easy to move from one to the other.

[thereuare]

I think the issue is that you're only bidding the TS and MTW zones. I think you could certainly do better then your back-up at the Club Quarters (in some instances similar quality for a little less price in other instances the same price but higher quality), but you'll need to expand the zone(s) you're willing to accept.

For example HOTWIRE has a 4* hotel in Chelsea for $168/nite for the three remaining nites... with the $50+ savings per day you could easily take a cab (or subway) to/from the Millennium to meet your friends (or perhaps on some days your hotel will be on the way to whevever you're heading and you'll meet at your hotel). As well, when most people go out in the city, the 'rendezvous' point is someplace on the way to wherever you're going or at the first location, not necessarily at one person's hotel or the other.

Have you tried the 'extend your stay' option thru HOTWIRE? You'll only be able to try this once (i believe) and it can only be up to the same number of nites as your original purchase (so you'll only be able to add one or two nites, not all three that you need)

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

[sdishman]

Booked!

Used HOTWIRE to score the remaining 3 nights of our stay.

Hotel Roger Williams

Location: Empire State Building area

Star Rating: 4*

Rate: $163

Amenities: Boutique, Fitness, Smoke Free, Business Center

I found this site's Hotwire Hotel List to be extremely helpful in locating the actual hotel I was considering, thereby instilling confidence in my purchase.

I'm assuming it makes sense to move this thread to the Hotwire forum.

Thanks for your help!

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you expanded your geographic location a bit and are happy with the results. We've moved this thread to the HOTWIRE section of the board and have edited the topic title to reflect your win.

Thank you for sharing your results and using the HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your purchase.

Enjoy your stay.

[MikeCole]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you expanded your geographic location a bit and are happy with the results. We've moved this thread to the HOTWIRE section of the board and have edited the topic title to reflect your win.

Thank you for sharing your results and using the HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your purchase.

Enjoy your stay.

[MikeCole]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you expanded your geographic location a bit and are happy with the results. We've moved this thread to the HOTWIRE section of the board and have edited the topic title to reflect your win.

Thank you for sharing your results and using the HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your purchase.

Enjoy your stay.

[MikeCole]

Make note that the Roger Williams charges a resort fee of $18 to those who book through HOTWIRE. They really should not do this as this is not a resort, but beware of this additional fee when you check in.

[thereuare]

Make note that the Roger Williams charges a resort fee of $18 to those who book through HOTWIRE.

To clairfy, this hotel charges all guests a resort fee, regardless of how they book.. this is not just a fee imposed on HOTWIRE guests.

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