Priceline Hotel: Need a room for next sat. - last minute deals?

[cunparis]

I need a room for next saturday for four nights. I've been trying priceline, I've bid up to $130 for 4* MTE, MTW, MTS and $110 for 3* same areas. I hesitate to go higher cause I'm really stretching my budget. I found two hotels on other sites, Grand Union for $120 via Quickbook and Wolcott for $132 via HotelConexion. The Wolcott isn't that great but it's in a great location and we don't plan on staying in the room at all. In fact when discussing our previous visits to NYC, we stayed in the lexington radisson and Pennsylvania and we don't even remember the rooms! I know the Penn. is really cheap at $118 now but I read the reviews and it sounds awful. One guy on tripadvisor (latest review) said he found a dead rat in his room! I don't remember the rooms being that bad but I don't think we always had our eyes shut when we were in the room cause we were sleeping! So I'm hesitating to bid $120 for a 3* with priceline. The hotels listed in the sticky look better than Wolcott, but then again the location could be further away I don't know I haven't verified them all and there is the chance of getting a hotel not listed. Should I take the chance?

The reason I'm posting this is I'm wondering if I wait a bit if I the hotels will lower their prices for priceline for last minute deals. My theory is if a hotel has 20 rooms empty they might as well put them on priceline or lower the price to fill them up. But obviously if I wait I may lose the two hotels I've found myself. It's a gamble with only 1 week to go! What do you all think?

Thanks a lot for this site I really learned a lot here about priceline, I've never used it before and now I'm bidding like a pro.

-Michael

[dahammer]

the problem is that the hotel may not have those 20 rooms available. The best advice is to always book a cancellable back up reservation, this may be done using some of the Travel Links to Help Support BetterBidding above. If you've never bid before, its in your best interest to ask for a bidding strategy. You need to furnish your exact dates of travel and your maximum budget per night. Also, how many are in your party, Priceline is only obligated to furnish a room for two; this could be one double bed in a tiny room. You will also need to let us know if you are willing to split your bid, which might entail changing hotels during your stay (at least once). This could save you significant $$ because your bid per room-night will be based on the minimum price the hotel is willing to accept for the any one day; that is, if Saturday night the hotel might be close to full occupancy and as such rooms might go for $200. However, on Sunday night, rooms may go for $125. (these are examples, not reality) If the above scenario were true, you would need to bid at least $200 for all 4 nights. By splitting your bid, you may get a part of your trip at a lower price, so the average bid for all 4 days will be within your budget. Again, this may require you to check out and take a cab to your new hotel, but again, you could achieve your budget and still stay in NYC.

Finally, is staying in Jersey City, NJ an option? This could save you big bucks and you will be but a 10 minute, $1.50 Path Train away. Answer the above and you will be provided a strategy that will really make you bid like a PRO :)

[cunparis]

I just discussed it with the wife, so we bid again for 3* MTE, MTW, MTS $130 then $135 and didn't work. I'm beginning to think there is one of these days that is full, probably Saturday. When I search rates with the online sites, they often say saturday is the most expensive. That could be messing everything up.

I wouldn't mind splitting the room but I think my wife would. She doesn't even care if we're in a 1 or 2 * she doesn't plan to be in the room. :) I'll discuss it with her. Here is some more information:

Dates: 07/09 - 07/13 (4 nights)

Areas: Midtown

2 people (double bed is fine)

I have thought about NJ but don't know how to take the trains. I live outside Paris and take trains to work every day so I'm quite used to it and can figure it out but I think it'd be much easier to have a hotel within walking distance of the shopping areas. That way we could return to the hotel to drop off purchases, rest up, etc. My wife is 4.5 months pregnant so that could come in handy although a month & a half ago we were in Venice and we were gone from morning to evening nonstop so we never know.

For NJ, is there really a big savings? If it's the same price but a nicer hotel, we'd prefer the lesser quality hotel in NYC. The hotel would have to be near the train station. I assume the 10 min ride is to the south manhattan and then one takes the subway up to midtown. Definitely something to consider. I looked at hotels on long island but they were the same price (about $130) so we figure better to have a not so nice hotel in midtown. My wife likes the "walking distance to Macy's" part. :)

Thanks for the advice,

Michael

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please note that this board is an affiliate of QUICKBOOK so please use our links if you go that route.

The PATH trains to NYC are very easy to navigate (only 6-7 stops per line and 3-4 lines), from Jersey City you're in midtown in 17 minutes and downtown in 8 minutes. However, with a pregnanat wife (congratulations) and looking towards returning to the hotel to drop off packages it probably is not the most ideal situation.

I don't think that you'll typically see a significant change in rates during the last week before your stay. The hotels know early enough of their occupancy levels and would have likley discounted their rates by now. You're viewpoint is "the room will be empty so the hotel should take whatever they can for the room", while the hotel's viewpoints may be "they dont' have a reservation yet and they have to stay somewhere, so let's get the most we can from them given that they still need a place".

I think your next step should be to discuss splitting the bid with your wife and let us know... we'll then suggest the best way to proceed (and i would hold off on bidding awaiting a reply).

[dahammer]

so, is your budget $130 per night?

Also, are you flying into the area? If so, what is arrival airport? Staying on Long Island is not really an alternative, check out the link above "We've got Priceline Maps" and you will see just how close Jersey City is to commute into the city. However, I've not had the thrill of being "with child" :) so show the maps and let your better half make the call, you have too much to lose if you make a bad call on your own.

I might avoid 1* and 2* properties as many have not been identified on this board and you are really taking a chance.

BTW, stop bidding or you will have to wait 72 hours to rebid and you might lose a bidding opportunity as your dates are fast approaching

[cunparis]

I just took a look at the PATH, I didn't realize this was a subway. I thought it was commuter trains, which here in Paris are a little more confusing and difficult. It looks very simple to get from Jersey to the 33rd St. station (midtown) which is where we were wanting to stay. So now I'm very interested.

What area should I be looking at? For the moment I am looking at Jersey City and I saw two 3* hotels. I read the tripadvisor reviews, they're both near the path and they sound great. Several people said they paid $48 for the Hyatt but that was in Jan-March. Wow, $48 for the Hyatt! How much could we get a 3* in Jersey city for? If we can get this about 1/2 the price of the hotels in Manhatten ($120 is our best deal so far) then we're ready to stay in Jersey. I'd say our maximum bid would be around $80 (this would save us $180 counting tax and give us an awesome hotel).

Thanks,

Michael

[cunparis]

I read through all the posts in the NJ forum and saw the price for Hyatt is between $71 and $100+. So I bid up to $80 and stopped. We backpack a lot so we're used to staying in cheap hotels when we have to and we really like the convenience of staying directly in midtown. Still debating on this but I have to make a decision today as I'm worried the hotels I've selected will be full soon. I don't have a cancelable refundable backup reservation (I know I should)..

[thereuare]

I don't think the Hyatt is going to be available for your complete stay at an affordable rate (based upon current prices).

The QUIKBOOK offer does appear to be your current best deal.

[cunparis]

I don't think the Hyatt is going to be available for your complete stay at an affordable rate (based upon current prices).

The QUIKBOOK offer does appear to be your current best deal.

I tried my luck with priceline again, it's like gambling, it's addictive. I wanted it to work for me but just couldn't win. We decided to stay a day less in NY so of course I redid all my bidding to see if that changed anything. I'm positive it's the saturday that posing the problem, cause for the hotels that price per day the saturday is the most expensive. Probably because this is a holiday weekend and people are staying over until saturday and going home the sunday??

I tried lowering my stars to 2.5 and bidding $100 but that didn't win. At that point I stopped because I like the grand union's location better and for us location is as important as the hotel. I also bidded $85 for 2.5* for Jersey City (there's only one hotel) but that didn't work. So I reserved the Grand Union hotel. I'm sure it will be fine for us. I used the link you gave me so you will get credit.

I never used priceline before and now I feel like an expert. All thanks to this site. Thank you very much for all the help.

-Michael

PS: I tried priceline for airline tickets (Boston to KY) and car rental but they were much more expensive. It seems the "name your price" only works for hotels..