Hotwire Hotel: 3.5* New York City (Midtown East) Helmsley New York

[sharples36]

Hi there

I'm looking for a bidding strategy for a holiday stay in NYC in October next year (2012).

We're arriving on Sunday 7th October and will be staying for 5 nights (fixed dates).

We'd like a double room in a 3.5* hotel below 180USD per night in one of the following areas; ESB, MTE, MTW or TS.

We'd prefer to stay in a single hotel but would be prepared to split our stay across two hotels (maximum) if needed.

Does this sound achievable? If so, a bidding strategy would be much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

In terms of a room with two beds, PRICELINE only guarantees one bed - and this is particular true in NYC, where rooms are small and a room with two beds is often a paid upgrade. How many are in your party?

PRICELINE and HOTWIRE do not allow bidding for 10/12 yet.

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

[sharples36]

Hi Aaron

Apologies if I was unclear in my post. There's only two of us in the party (my wife and me) so we'd be looking for one room with one bed. I understand that it might be difficult to get a room for the full 5 nights so we would be happy to stay in one hotel for 2-3 nights and then move to another but we wouldn't want to stay in more than 2 hotels during our stay.

Thanks for the heads up about bidding not being open yet. Any help with a bidding strategy for when bidding opens would be much appreciated. Help with timings would be useful too. I thought I might bid as soon as I can. If I'm unsuccessful now, I'll make a back-up reservation which I can cancel later. I'd then try again about 4 weeks before we're due to go. Does that sound sensible?

Thanks again for all your help in advance.

[thereuare]

Please start by reading your messages.

You can only bid up to 330 days in advance of the last nite of your stay. Once you're within that timeframe reply to this thread and we'll have a look at rates at that time.

Also, when you reply, let us know if you are willing to pay more for a higher rated hotel. If there was a 4* hotel available within your $180/nite budget would you prefer that... or is your goal the least expensive 3.5* or better for this stay?

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

[sharples36]

Hi there

Priceline is now accepting bids for the dates that we're looking at so I would appreciate a bidding strategy in line with the details previously posted.

In response to the post on the 3rd of November, we'd be happy to stay in a higher rated hotel if it was under the 180$/ nite rate.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[thereuare]

Before bidding up to $180 for a 4* hotel...

HOTWIRE has a 3.5* hotel in the MTE zone which is an 'outlier' in the sense that it is priced much less than equivalent properties, at $106/nite. While the amenities, Restaurant, Business, Internet, are common for NYC, both the Helmsley New York (3.5* rated on PRICELINE) and the Radisson (3* rated on PRICELINE) have been seen with this amenity set.

Not sure if either/both of these properties would be acceptble, but if so, you may want to consider lowering your $180/nite budget for a 4* if a 4* hotel would not be worth nearly twice as much as this 3.5* HOTWIRE offering.

Let us know your thoughts how high (if at all) you'd like to bid for a 4* before either trying PRICELINE for a 3.5* property or taking the 3.5* hotel above.

Also, do note that at the 3.5* level some of the PRICELINE hotels can be up to a 15 minute walk to the subway, so that's something which would need to be acceptable to you if you go for the HOTWIRE hotel above OR bid this zone on PRICELINE at the 3.5* level.

Let us know your thoughts and/or questions and we'll take it from there.

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

[sharples36]

The HOTWIRE deal looks really good to me. We're happy to walk up to 15 minutes for the subway and it looks like an excellent deal so I'm going to go ahead and book it. I'll report back with what the hotel is.

Thanks so much for your help!

[AaronJB]

While properties are generally not heavily discounted this far in advance, October is traditionally one of the worst (most expensive) months of the year, and if there's a 3.5* for $106, that is a deal that I'd recommend taking this far in advance, as it's very unlikely an October rate will be made available for much (if any) less than that (and if next year is like previous years, rates will be much higher by the time next October comes around.) Thanks for keeping us updated.

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

[sharples36]

Further to my previous posting, I made the booking via the HOTWIRE link above and have just received confirmation of a booking at The Helmsley for $106 per night. Really pleased with this deal as they're currently quoting $469 per night via their website!

Thanks for all your help. Looking forwards to the trip now!

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

Awesome, awesome deal for what is traditionally a very, very busy time of year in NYC. Glad you are pleased with the result and are looking forward to your stay.

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

Enjoy your stay.