Priceline Hotel: 4* New York City (Midtown East) W New York Hotel

[hawaiirun]

I need to book 5 nights, Dec 14-19th, I am open to at least 8 areas on Priceline, 4* or 3.5* preferred, my question is what are the chances of winning a bid for 5 nights? I have been successful with 3 and 4 nights but have not stayed 5 before.And should I expect to be paying $250 or so per night? The prices seem to drop a bit closer to Christmas. Any advise is appreciated. Thanks!

[thereuare]

At the moment I don't think this stay is going to be too much of an issue... the price you're willing to pay will be more of an issue than the number of nites, imo. (somewhere in the $150-$200 range seems accessible depending upon if you're looking for a 4* or a 3.5* and if there are certain properties you're looking to target and/or avoid)

Are you willing to pay more for a 4* vs. a 3.5* OR is your goal the least expensive 3.5* or better for this stay? Exactly which zones, by PRICELINE name, are you willing to accept?

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

[hawaiirun]

$200 is max. $150 is preferred and may be more realistic for a 3.5*? I have bid on CPS, Empire, Madison, Mid East/West, Times Square, SOHO and Chelsea. I do use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links.

[thereuare]

Are you willing to pay more for a 4* vs. a 3.5* OR is your goal the least expensive 3.5* or better for this stay?

Do you want to bid:

1) 4* up to $150, then if rejected try for a 3.5* up to $150

2) 4* up to $200, then if rejected try for a 3.5* up to $200

3) the lease expensive 3.5* or better up to $200?

Please confirm the above and we will suggest a strategy for you to follow.

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

[hawaiirun]

Do you want to bid:

1) 4* up to $150, then if rejected try for a 3.5* up to $150

2) 4* up to $200, then if rejected try for a 3.5* up to $200

3) the lease expensive 3.5* or better up to $200?

Option 1 is preferred.If the rates are inching towards the $200 mark we will reduce our trip by 1 night but would like to try Option 1 first. Thanks! I have bid up to $150, no luck.

[hawaiirun]

Hello:

Any guesses as to which property this may be? Several people have posted wins for the W. Thanks!

4-star Hotel in Midtown East

This Hotel features the following amenities:

Fitness Center

Guests have access to exercise equipment; an additional charge may apply. Restaurant(s)

Property offers at least one restaurant on the premises; hours and days of operation may vary. Business Center

Guests have access to business equipment and services; an additional charge may apply. High-Speed Internet Access

Guestrooms are equipped with high-speed Internet access; an extra charge may apply. Accessible for the blind

Braille or raised signage Accessible for the deaf

TTY for telephone, visual or flashing fire alarm and vibrating alarm clock Accessible path of travel

<amenity names only please... not descriptions> In-room accessibility

Accessible path from the room entrance to the window, the bed and the bathroom; accessible hardware and minimal resistance to open the door; accessible temperature controls and window coverings Accessible bathroom

Raised toilet, hand-held shower and grab bars at the tub and toilet Roll-in shower

Bathroom has a roll-in shower Please note that Hotwire cannot guarantee the level of services offered at a property and/or if services are operational at the time of visit. Services may be closed due to seasonality reasons and/or may be closed for renovation.

[thereuare]

Option 1 is preferred.If the rates are inching towards the $200 mark we will reduce our trip by 1 night but would like to try Option I have bid up to $150, no luck.

Was this at both the 3.5* and 4* level OR only the 4* level?

As for the HOTWIRE hotel, please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread (if you ultimately use HOTWIRE we'll then move the entire thread to that section of the board once a hotel is won). As well, please only post the amenity names (and not the descriptions) as you can see how much easier it is to read and helps minimize the chance that we miss an amenity when researching stay:

4* Midtown East

Fitness

Restaurant

Business

Hi-Speed Internet

Blind Accessible

Deaf Accessible

Travel Accessible

Room Accessible

Bathroom Accessible

Roll-in Shower

My best guess for this property would be the Roosevelt, but i do see what i suspect is the W New York offered for your dates at $166/nite... is this of interest at that price?

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

[hawaiirun]

first answer is both 3.5* and 4*.

second, yes $166 is of interest to me, i will try bidding on PRICELINE again tonight and then will consider the HOTWIRE route. I will post about my progress thanks.

[thereuare]

If you bid for a 4* up to $165 and fail, i would consider the HOTWIRE property before lowering your PRICELINE star rating to 3.5*, as i think the W New York is worth the $5-$10 more per nite over the Roosevelt (imo). At the W Hotel you're almost assured of a small room, at the Roosevelt it's 50/50 chance as the rooms there vary in size to a greater degree, but i like the style of W Hotels and their beds alone are worth it to me.

If you need help with a detailed bidding strategy feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[hawaiirun]

My travelling partner has reduced our budget! Max of $140 per night so most likely I will reduce our stay to 4 nights to realize that savings. I will continue to bid on Priceline and keep you informed. Most likely a 3.5* at that price. And I have stayed at the W before, love it, wish I could win that for $140 a night, cheers.

[thereuare]

Keep us updated on your progress and let us know if we can be of further help along the way.

The closer to December 25th you can move your dates the cheaper this stay is likely to get (although you'll hit a floor somewhere within the date range where rates won't go any lower).

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

[hawaiirun]

My persistence paid off. I just won a bid for the W New York, 4* for the 5 nights, $158 per night. I am thrilled, I have stayed at this hotel and love it, the location and the Bliss products!!!!! I used the PRICELINE link from here. I will post this in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins.

[hawaiirun]

After 10 days of bidding on numerous options and re-bid zones I won a bid for the W New York Hotel for $158 per night for 5 nights, posted rate on PRICELINE is $251 per night. I am thrilled with this. I have stayed at this hotel before and love it . I almost paid the same amount for another hotel (3*) earlier today as I did not think I would be successful with my bids, glad I kept at it! Love PRICELINE and thanks to betterbidding.com for their resources.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you are pleased with the results and familiar with this property.

You're also near my often recommended Ess-A-Bagel (Third Ave at 51st St) which has one of the best bagels in the city, makes for a nice, and relatively inexpensive, breakfast among local NYers.

Thank you for sharing your win and using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.

[hawaiirun]

Thanks for the bagel tip! We will be stopping there for sure. Since you are so knowledgeable about the city I thought I would ask if you know of any good deals on parking. Our hotel is charging $65 plus tax a night to park, ouch! haha, there goes our budget. We were thinking of just parking our car at JFK and taking in the hotel bus. Cheers.

[thereuare]

You could park at JFK, but assuming you're two people, that's ~$17/pp each way, so another $68 round trip added to the expense of leaving your car at JFK (and JFK parking isn't that cheap either).

I would drive and find a garage along First or Second Avenue (the further east the better)... you can likely find something between 35th St and 55th St for $20-$30/day. From what direction are you driving from... the other option is to park at a train station en route and take the train directly into the city from there.

[hawaiirun]

Thank you for the info. We discovered that Newark is easiest, we are drving from Ottawa, Canada and Newark is not far off our path, parking is $18 a day plus the Airporter bus is $16/pp each way,total of $164, half the price of the hotel. But you raise a good point about the train option as well. Good thing I have some time to plan! Thanks again.

[thereuare]

...total of $164, half the price of the hotel.

If you're comfortable driving in the city i would do that... you can do better than $164 for 5 days of parking in NYC and avoid the hassle of the commute via mass transit. Even if you're not that comfortable driving in the city, drive anyway and park in the Port Authority right after you exit the Lincoln Tunnel as it's $33 per 24 hours, which over 5 days brings you to $165. Yes, you'll pay a ~$12 toll to go thru the Lincoln Tunnel which may put you over the commute from EWR option, but it's worth not having to make the commute both ways to/from the airport.

I'd be surprised if you couldn't find something along First or Second Ave (closer to your hotel) for $20-$30/day.