Priceline Hotel: 4* New York City (Downtown - Financial District) Gild Hall- A Thompson Hotel

[Frankypoo]

Hi,

I tried to get two 4* rooms on Manhattan from Nov 30th to Dec 3rd but had no luck.

We are open to almost any zone south of Central Park except Financial District. We would like to pay less than 200$ for each rooms.

So far I've tried the following bidding strategy without success :

Always 4* +

CPS, MTE, MTW, TS - 125

+ ESP - 130

+ MSG - 135

+ Rebid 1 - 140

+ Rebid 2 - 145

+ Rebid 3 - 150

+ Rebid 4 - 155

+ Rebid 5 - 160

+ Rebid 6 - 165

+ Soho - 170

+ HK - 175

+ Chelsea - 180

Closed the browser and tried :

CPS + MTE + MTW + EBS - 190

+ TS - 190

+ MSG - 190

+ HK, Soho, Chelsea - 190

closed the browser and tired :

CPS + MTE + MTW + TS - 200

+ MSG + ESB + HK - 200

+ Chelsea - 200

No luck.

Anything I should do differently or is it only more expensive at that time?

[thereuare]

Seasonally this is a very expensive time of year in NYC as the city gets an increased number of visitors for the holiday season (shopping, storefront window displays, etc)

However, with this noted you're not too far from a win, imo... i think you may be able to win something in the zones above at less then $225/nite (which if you go to MAPS and HOTELS.com, search within 3 mils of 'Times Square NYC' and filter by 4* and higher hotels and sort by price still looks to be a very good price compared to current retails rates). Are you willing to bid a bit higher or do you prefer to lower your star rating or wait it out and hope for lower rates in the weeks ahead?

Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly (and no matter how you'd like to move forward i'd suggest waiting for a bidding strategy as your current bidding approach is risking an overbid in the zones you are adding later in the cycle)

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

[Frankypoo]

I'm willing to pay a bit more to keep the 4 stars. We also decided to leave on the Sunday the 2nd instead so with one less night we have a bit more budget for the remaining nights. I think up to 225$ (+ tax and fees) per room would be ok.

I did use the PRICELINE link, I just forgot to say so in the message.

Thanks for the help it is really appreciated.

[Frankypoo]

I wanted to try again so I made a new (less risky I think) strategy with the new dates (11-30 to 12-2)

Still 4 stars min.

CPS + MTE + MTW + ESB + HK - 140$

+ rebid 1 - 145$

+ rebid 2 - 150$

+ rebid 3 - 155$

+ rebid 4 - 160$

+ rebid 5 - 165$

+ rebid 6 - 170$ Got all rejected, closed

TS + MSG + Chelsea + Soho - 140$

+ rebid 1 - 145$

+ rebid 2 - 150$

+ rebid 3 - 155$

+ rebid 4 - 160$

+ rebid 5 - 165$

+ rebid 6 - 170$ Got all rejected, closed

CPS + MTE + MTW + ESB + TS - 175$

+ rebid 1 - 180$

+ rebid 2 - 185$

+ rebid 3 - 190$

+ rebid 4 - 195$

+ rebid 5 - 200$

+ rebid 6 - 205$ Got all rejected, closed

MSG + Chelsea + Soho + HK 175$

+ rebid 1 - 180$

+ rebid 2 - 185$

+ rebid 3 - 190$

+ rebid 4 - 195$

+ rebid 5 - 200$

+ rebid 6 - 205$ Got all rejected

I did so by clicking this link too PRICELINE

I'm now going to give a try to financial district and UWS. It's not exactly where I wanted to be but I don't want to spend too much.

[Frankypoo]

Still no luck up to 200$ with FD and UWS added.

I think I'll try changing my dates, maybe it will help.

[AaronJB]

The time period from around 11/25-12/15 is generally the busiest of the holiday season - rates do get noticeably cheaper around 12/12-12/15 and especially in the week before Christmas. The days right before Thanksgiving are also (usually) cheaper.

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

[Frankypoo]

Yeah, I tried pushing for the we before thanksgiving, but my mother wants to see the Christmas decorations.

I'll try for 12-14 to 12-16 and if still no chance I'll see if I can convince her to go before thanksgiving.

I also have to make sure my sister who's living in NY is available that weekend.

[AaronJB]

If you try for 12/14-16, I would definitely start back over again at $145 and work higher by $5's from there.

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

[Frankypoo]

Tried the same bidding strategy for the new dates and still no rooms...

I'll have to wait for my previous bids to be passed 24h for my next try since Priceline doesn't care about the number of rooms to accept bids "repeats".

This afternoon I'll try my first dates but only for one room and my sister will then try to win another one in the same zone...

[Frankypoo]

Still no luck with only one room for both possible dates up to 205$ + tax and fees for a 4 *

[Frankypoo]

Got the Gild Hall A Thompson Hotel in Financial District for 205$ plus tax and fees...

Not happy at all since I could have booked this hotel for 2$ (tax and fees included) less without having to bid by going through one of tripadvisor's sponsor...

Well live and learn I guess, at least I'll have a nice place to sleep while in NY.

I almost stop bidding at 200$...

[AaronJB]

Sorry to hear that the result is a disappointment from the deal side but hopefully the hotel will work well for your travel plans.

Thank you for sharing your win and please use the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches.

Enjoy your stay.