Priceline Hotel: Rookie Bidder - NYC

[brianchui]

Hi all,

First of all, thank you to all users and admins of this forum for posting such great info about your wins, bidding progress, and other hotel information which makes research on travel that much easier!

We are making a trip down to NYC for August 6 - 12, but are having a hard time in bidding for a decent hotel in the city. There are two families in the group:

family 1 = two adults + a toddler (3 yrs old)

family 2 = two adults + a toddler (3 yrs old) and an infant (just under 1)

We figure with the kids, it's probably easier to stay in the city rather than in NJ / Hoboken, for emergency intra-day trips back to hotel. We've tried different zones (CPS, MTE, MSG, Chelsea, etc) for up to $140, down to 3*, and still haven't landed a hotel offering two rooms.

Is our offer price too low for what we're looking for? It would be really great to stay within $150 per night, and have a decently clean hotel within 5 minute walk to subway stations. Any advice would be greatly welcomed!

Thanks in advance!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding and thank you for your compliments on the site. :)

Would you need more than one bed per room? NYC is difficult in that most rooms (even at higher end properties) are smaller/small (and in some instances really small - a rollaway may not fit)? PRICELINE only guarantees 1 bed/double occupancy, and this is particularly true in NYC.

What other zones have you tried aside from CPS, MTE, MSG, Chelsea?

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

[brianchui]

I think we can get by with a queen bed in each room. One of the families MIGHT need some space for a crib.

These are the zones that we've tried for:

CPS

Chelsea

MSG

Midtown East

Midtown West

Time Squre

UES

UWS

Financial District

Soho

Up to $140, 3*. Still no luck :(

[thereuare]

If one of the families needs room for a crib i would NOT bid the CPS at less than 3.5* and under as you could land the Hudson Hotel which would be tight for 3 people and impossible to put a crib in the room.

It's up to you if you want to continue to bid MTE at 3.5* and below as some hotels can be up to a 15 minute walk to the subway. However, given your bid up to this point have been rejected, you'll have to weigh budget vs. convenience.

I'm assuming SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID isn't an option? (not that i would blame you for not wanting to do so... but in doing so you could likely get half of your stay at a 4* hotel in the city at ~$150 or so, then for the first 3 nites stay at a more expensive property, lower your star rating or stay outside of the city)

Let us know your thoughts on the above, especially MTE and CPS, and we'll take it from there.

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