Priceline Hotel: first time traveller

[namiko720]

I'm planning on travelling to nyc at the end of aug/beginning of sept. I've never booked a hotel before and I'm not sure what kind of deal I can get. Is it realistic to book a room for under $100? What's the cheapest I can get for a 3 star room? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[blindman]

Well you've come to the right place to get the best advice :)

A few more details would be helpful :)

Arrival\departure dates and airport

Maximum budget for the hotel room per night.

Where you'd like to stay? Midtown Manhattan or possible New Jersey.

How many in you party?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

As blindman suggests, you'll need to provide a bit more info for us to help... the actual date(s) of your travel to be able to help. Rates fluctuate from date-to-date so that would be the beginning of us trying to check availability.

[namiko720]

Thanks for your responses. I could travel bewteen the dates of 8/27-9/5. I'm travleing from Seattle and will fly to Philadelphia before heading to NY for a couple of days, I'm flexible. As for a budget, I wouldn't know how much things cost on the east coast. I would say the cheaper, the better. I just don't want to be staying in a place that stinks. I would like to pay under $75, but I don't know if that's realistic. I don't know how far New Jersey is from NY. I was just planning to take a bus or train around to do some sight seeing. I've started doing research on the area, but at this point I just feel overwhelmed because I've never been to the east coast. Any travelling tips would be much appreciated! :)

[thereuare]

A few things to give you some direction...

You can travel between NYC and Philadelphia very cheap... $20/RT if you take the Chinatown Busses.

$75 is not likely realistic for a NYC hotel room. You might be able to get something in Jersey City (like the Candlewood Suites) for ~$100 which would put you at a PATH train (subway that goes under the Hudson River) ride away from NYC (10 minutes to downtown, 15 minutes to midtown, $1.50 fare each way).

Use the newly launched PRICELINE MAPS for New York City to get a 'lay of the land'... you should be able to see Jersey City on the SW corner of the map. You can then drag that area to the center and zoom in on the area to see the hotels in that area (there are 4 of them on the map)

Once you confirm your schedule between when you will be in NYC, when in Philadelphia (which is usually a great priceline city) we will be in a better position to help you with specifics for your bidding. Generally speaking a 'one nite Sunday stay' is usually the cheapest in NYC.

Let us know if you have any questions and how we can further help.

[namiko720]

I will be in PHL 8/27-9/4. I'm planning on spending one night in NY Tues 8/30. I'm trying to find hotels for both cities. Any suggestions on how much to bid and strategies for bidding would be greatly appreciated.

[thereuare]

We'll use this thread for your 8/30/05 NYC stay and please start NEW TOPICS for each of your other stays in the Pennsylvania forum (two separate threads, one for each of your stays)

In those new threads, as well as this one, you'll need to let us know your desired star level and your maximum bid amount... then we'll be able to best advise you for each leg of your stay.

[namiko720]

I'd like to stay in a 2.5* or 3* hotel but I'd like to spend under $80. That's probably not realistic huh? I guess a better question would be: what kind of hotel can I get for under $80? I'm not too picky as long as it's in a safe place.

[thereuare]

Take a look at EasyClickTravel.