Priceline Hotel: Bidding help for 3.5* hotel in NYC

[fyanga]

Hi All!

I've been eyeing this forum for a while to obtain some ideas for bidding strategies, but I still haven't been able to pull a win. So, I decided to sign up and ask for some advice!

My gf and I are flying out to NYC and would like to book a hotel from 5/31-6/4. We're hoping to keep within $130 a night with the following areas in order of preference:

1. Chelsea Area

2. Empire State Building

3. Madison Square Garden

4. Times Square

5. Midtown East

We just want to stay in a nice area that's close to good cheap eats and fairly close to a subway station. I've tried the PRICELINE links to get my search started for a few days now, but no luck. I've started at $110 and incremented all the way up to $130 while also going down to 3* with no luck either.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance :)

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

Unfortunately, this still falls within the busy Spring season and rates are high. Rates do start to fall off later in the Summer, but the Spring/early Summer is one of the busier times of the year. Unfortunately if your bids are being denied at the $130 level these dates are going to require a higher bid, although I don't think you're that far off. Given rates that I'm seeing, my guess is that a 3* in these zones is possibly going to require $135-150, and possibly a tad higher.

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

[thereuare]

Are you able to increase your budget at all? If not, is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID and/or staying outside of Manhattan and commuting in via train (15 minute) ride an option?

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

[fyanga]

Yeah we're thinking of increasing our budget to 150. Any suggestions on the different strategies we could use? Is it worth even trying 3.5* then dropping down to 3* with another round of bids?

We're also willing to split up dates and even open up our areas as well. As long as we're fairly close to a subway station and in a nice area that's not too grungy, we're open to the area.

Any bidding strategy would be greatly appreciated! Thanks everyone :)

[thereuare]

Few questions regarding zones:

MTE - at 3.5* and under some hotels here can be up to a 15 minute walk to the subway, is this acceptable?

CPS - has the Hudson Hotel, which while well located has notoriously small rooms (~140 sq. ft.) would this be acceptable

MSG - has the Affinia Manhattan for which the reviews are usually pretty good, but they're have been reports of PRICELINE / HOTWIRE / 3rd party booked guests receiving the smallest rooms at the property, which are somewhat below the 'standard' rooms of the rest of the hotel

MTW - any reason you're not including this zone in your bidding?

With the information above, let us know if the zones above should be included/excludes from your bidding and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

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