Priceline Hotel: NYC 12/9-12/13 strategy

[Geezer]

I'm looking for a bidding strategy for NYC 12/9-12/13.

Need 2 rooms, would like MTW or UM-CPS, 4 or 3 star, would be willing change hotels. $200 or less per night. Is that unreasonable?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

For your complete stay i think $200 may be a tough call based upon current rates... the city is extremely busy and crowded from Thanksgiving thru Christmas and hotel rates soar.

We can suggest a strategy to try, but i think $200 may currently fall a bit shy.

[Geezer]

Thanks, I was afraid you were going to say that. From looking at Hotwire, I can see that Fri and Sat night rates are sky high. Its the holiday season, so that makes sense. We want to be sure to get a hotel that is centrally located. 3 of the 4 of us have never been to NY and we want to cover a lot of ground while we are there. We won't be spending much time in the hotel. We just want it to be clean, safe and in a good location. Switching hotels would not be a problem if it would save us some money. Airfare is booked already so we will need to come up with something. Any suggestions? Suite type rooms aren't really an option in NYC are they?

[thereuare]

There are not many suite properties in NYC.

How flexible is the budget? You could consider staying in NJ where you could commute to NYC... 15 minutes by PATH train which runs 24/7. You'll lose a lot of the feel and buzz of staying in Manhattan, but it will certainly save you some money.

If your budget is not that flexible, maybe split the stay between NJ and NYC... saving a few dollars on the NJ side in order to spend more on the NYC side? Or if possible just increase your budget.

[thereuare]

I did just find the Grand Union hotel thru QB for only $132/nite (for a double bed room)

Considering the price, the REVIEWS aren't too bad (maybe everyone gets their own room if you don't want to sleep two to a double bed?... not sure the relationship between those traveling). It's a pre-pay rate which comes with a $10 cancellation fee, so maybe even use it as a back-up in order to secure 'something' and then continue to look to improve upon it.

... maybe two nites here and two nites someplace nicer? (and more expensive)

[Geezer]

I really appreciate your input.

We are two couples. We are now considering staying Fri and Sat in NJ and then in the city Sun and Mon. Do you think our $200 rate is possible for Sun and Mon? It seems like that might work based on whats on hotwire for those nights? What would be a good bidding stategy for Sun and Mon, if we were willing to go up to say $210?

I'll look into the other hotel. We are also considering trying to get a backup, cancelable reservation for all 4 nights. Any ideas for that?

[haes75]

If you have AAA card, you can get hyatt in Jersey city, NJ for Friday and saturday for $157.50 per nite not including tax which is 13%. There is a link on this website that thereuare can show it to you. I'm travelling to New York at the same time as you too. I have 3 nights in Hyatt reserve and one night in Timesquare with my reward point. I hope this information will help u.

[thereuare]

I'll look into the other hotel. We are also considering trying to get a backup, cancelable reservation for all 4 nights. Any ideas for that?

For which dates? If the "new" set of dates would you intend on splitting the dates so that you actually need two separate back-up reservations?

[Geezer]

As you can imagine, it can get complicated when a person is trying to make reservations for 4 people. I'm getting lots of great information from this site--then I have to relay this info to the others. Our plans are sort of changing all the time. I get an idea of what I want to do then I have to modify it based on the input from the others.

We looked at the Grand Union last night. Based on the reviews it looks like it would be ok, better than nothing. One of the others in our party is looking into getting all four nights there as a backup, thru the hotel directly. We sent an email request for a reservation but no response. He is planning on placing a call to the hotel today. Then we could cancel two of the nights, or any combination really, if we find something better.

We still want to try to get into a nicer hotel, via priceline for the nights of 12/11 and 12/12. I am ready to try that now, with $210 as our max. MTW or UM-CPS, 4 or 3 star.

There is still some discussion for the other two nights. Some of the party would like to try, via priceline, at up to $250 for the other two nights, 12/9 and 12/10, but I am thinking that is unrealistic. If we end up staying in NJ, one of the others knows where we can stay and we will book thru the hotel directly.

Oh, the joys of planning a vacation!

[thereuare]

If we end up staying in NJ, one of the others knows where we can stay and we will book thru the hotel directly

And where would that be?

While you pass all of the information onto your friends, please also make them aware that this board is affiliate with most of the major hotel chains (as found in our SUPPORT PAGE) and they can help support this board by making their purchases thru those links.

[Geezer]

Ok, I will do that.

[Geezer]

I believe the hotel in NJ is a Hampton Inn. We will be booking thru their site if we end up staying there.

[thereuare]

I think you're making a mistake (on a few levels)... but apparently your friend knows best.

[Geezer]

I'd welcome your opinion.

[thereuare]

1) If staying in NJ, the area around the Hampton Inn should not be your first choice

2) If you have to stay in this area (because other areas are sold-out or too expensive), there are better ways to book... you can most likely get a much better value for your money than booking direct with the Hampton Inn

...but i suspect your friend can learn all of this by calling all the hotels directly :)

[Geezer]

I think he wanted to stay there as it is an area he is familiar with and he knows how to get into the city from there. We aren't set on that yet.

I'm sure we'll end up using one of the internet booking services such as the ones that suppost this board, what I meant was that

for those days we will be much more interested in getting a specific hotel--we don't want to take the risk with Priceline.

Back to the possible Priceline nights--Do you think we will be able to get a room in the city with $210 as our max? 12/11 and 12/12 dates, MTW or UM-CPS, 4 or 3 star?