Priceline Hotel: Bidding help for NYC hotels?

[Ballerina]

Going to be in NYC 7/28-8/3. I have researched areas, hotels, and past winning bids. I bid up to $135/nite in target areas. Also added the non target areas with no four star hotels. All were rejected. Am I out of my mind thinking I could get a hotel this cheap in NYC? I've seen what other people have paid and thought that this was thoroughly possible, now I'm starting to wonder. Prior to this trip I have a week in D.C. where I got a 4* for $90/nite on Hotwire. It's a long expensive trip so I'm hoping to get a nice room for me and the two kiddos for less than $150/nite. What should I do now?

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding.

This is *traditionally* a slower (not the slowest - that's Jan-Mar) period. Rates vary from day-to-day and seasonally. There's no way to know what rates may do between now and your stay, but I think (depending on which zones you are interested in) you're probably not far off. Again - depending on zone - I'm guessing a 4* will take between $145-155.

I will note this: PRICELINE only guarantees 1 bed/double occupancy, and nowhere is that more true than NYC. Is that acceptable?

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

[Ballerina]

Thank you Aaron. I am mainly interested in Central Park South, Midtown East, Midtown West, and Times Square. I am open to Upper West Side/Central Park West and other areas as well, but was trying the others first to stay more central and near the park. I hope that I am getting close. I don't think I will be able to try again until very late this evening.

As far as the double occupancy one bed thing I just don't know. I was hoping that after the hotel is booked I can call the hotel and request two beds and a high floor (light sleepers)? Is this possible? I've always done this in the past, but I've never actually booked through Priceline before.

[AaronJB]

The issue with PRICELINE is that the general rule is that it guarantees double occupancy/1 bed. In reality, you can request two beds with the hotel after booking - they may say that it's no problem at all, they may say no or in some cases they may charge more. It may depend on the hotel, the day or even who you talk to. The other huge variable is area - in Orlando, it's really no problem because it's an area geared towards parties of more than two (families, etc.) In NYC, where rooms are so small in many cases that you may not be able to fit a rollaway (there are examples of 3.5*/4* properties where rooms are 130-160 sq ft) or some hotels may not have rooms with two beds at all, using PRICELINE with the intent/hope of getting two beds is really a high risk.

HOTWIRE is a safer bet in terms of some form of bedding for the entire party, because you can indicate the amount of people in the party.

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

[Ballerina]

Ew sobering reality of the big city I guess. Hmmm not sure what I'm going to do now. I'll have to think about this.

[Ballerina]

Do 4 star NYC hotels not typically have a sofa bed available?

[yellowdog]

Ballerina

NYC is "famous" for small rooms. And there's no general answer to your question. And NYC is a place where we not recomend our members to gamble if they need more than one bed.

Like AaronJB said, have you thought about using HOTWIRE? HOTWIRE guarantees sleeping accommodations for everyone you include in your search... this often means two beds in the room, but the second 'bed' could be a pullout sofabed, rollaway brought into the room, etc.

You can try and search for 3 adults or 4 adults and see how the prices moves.

Let us know how we can help you further.

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

Yellowdog.

[Ballerina]

Yes, I have been looking at Hotwire prices for the past several days. I'm terribly excited by the prices, but what's even worse is that when I try to decode the hotel I will come up with more than one. One I won't want in the mix of one or two that I wouldn't mind. So naturally I can't make up my mind and keep going around in circles on it.

[Ballerina]

Ended up booking the Kitano through bookit.com for $179/night. I did have to pay an extra person fee of $150 though. Not sure if that is the norm or not, but there are 3 of us. I feel good about this hotel and it's nice quiet location. Very much looking forward to staying there. :)

[yellowdog]

Great to see that you found something that works for you.

Thanx for closing this thread.

Welcome back!

Yellowdog.

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