Priceline Hotel: Bidding help for NYC May 2012

[jcalkins17]

Hi, I could use some advice! My Mom and I are heading to NY for the first time 5/15 - 5/20. Over the last week, we have tried bidding several times on priceline for:

3*

CPS, TS, MTW, MTE

Starting $130 and going to $170

We might be willing to add more areas - however we have concerns regarding doing that:

-- Being close to good transportation to get around the city (would prefer no more than 10 min walk to subway)

-- Getting stuck in a dirty hotel, unsafe area, or shared bath/teeny room type of situation.

Should we consider adding the Financial district, Chelsea, ESB, Hell's Kitchen and MSG? We would like to be close to restaurants and bars, but don't need to be right in the middle of TS or anything. Our max bid is about $200/night with taxes and fees. I am afraid to include 2.5*, but it's not out of the question.

We keep getting those emails saying other people got rooms in our areas for under $200... I am wondering if it's because the weekend we are staying is more expensive?

Any help would be appreciated!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

We might be willing to add more areas - however we have concerns regarding doing that:

-- Being close to good transportation to get around the city (would prefer no more than 10 min walk to subway)

-- Getting stuck in a dirty hotel, unsafe area, or shared bath/teeny room type of situation. Should we consider adding the Financial district, Chelsea, ESB, Hell's Kitchen and MSG? We would like to be close to restaurants and bars, but don't need to be right in the middle of TS or anything. Our max bid is about $200/night with taxes and fees.

Two out of the four zones you're bidding already meet the criteria of the above 'concerns'. The other zones should be fine, but you'll need to decide upon Downtown at it will get a bit quiet on the weekends and at nite. However, as you can see your bids are not currently enough for this expensive time of year in NYC, so you're going to have to 'give' on something... either star rating, budget, location, room size, etc. Unfortunately at the moment even adding these other zones may not be enough for a win at under $200 all-in.

I am afraid to include 2.5*, but it's not out of the question.

Again, it comes down to decisions between budget, convenience, what you expect from your hotel, etc. There are likely some 2.5* properties which you'll find perfectly acceptable, but others less so, and with PRICELINE / HOTWIRE you can't choose which type it is you will get.

We keep getting those emails saying other people got rooms in our areas for under $200... I am wondering if it's because the weekend we are staying is more expensive?

The alerts you're receiving are not date specific, and are likely for summer months which is low season, vs. your dates above which are during peak season.

You may not want to make this decision now, but i'd at least being to think about SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID and/or staying outside of the city for part of your stay. At the moment a 4* hotel in Jersey City can be had for less than $150/nite for the last 3 nites of your stay and easy access to Manhattan via PATH train... then you could use some of the savings from these 3 nites in order to increase your budget for the first 2 nites in Manhattan. However, do note that you lose some convenience and 'buzz' factor of staying directly in the city.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. (and not the links in any emails you receive from either service)

Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

[jcalkins17]

So, we ended up booking on Expedia. I found the Quality Inn Long Island City for average $110 per night. This is much cheaper than anything I have seen, and is literally one block from the train with 2 stops into the city. This was enough to sway us, after many frustrating, unsuccessful bids on PRICELINE. It seems that for this time of the year, it was impossible to get under $200 in any of the zones we were trying.

Thanks for your help!

[AaronJB]

Thank you for closing the thread, and glad you are pleased with the result.

Please use the site's Expedia link to start your purchases and searches.

Enjoy your stay.