Priceline Hotel: Looking for 4.5* (21/10/2013-31/10/2013)

[itikhvin]

I'm looking for a 4.5* in any areas (preferably not the Financial district though). my max preferred budget is $ 250 per night (not including taxes and fees). is this realistic or is my stay too long? I've tried bidding on midtown west and times square so far up to $230 with no success. i can see there have been wins for 4.5* at those rates before even in October, but not for such a long period of time.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

If you haven't yet please start by reading your messages.

If any zone is acceptable why only bid MTW and TS to begin? For example, HOTWIRE has a 4* hotel in the ESB zone for your complete stay at $228/nite, which is less then you have already bid.

Are you ready to include other zone(s) in your bidding or are you willing to pay more for one of the two zones that you have already bid? If you let us know all acceptable zones, by PRICELINE name, we will suggest a strategy for you to follow.

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

[itikhvin]

Other zones I would be willing to bid on would be central park south, midtown east, upper east side, upper west side, soho and Chelsea. By how much would I need to increase my bids to be successful in midtown west though?

The hotwire deal seems likely to be for king and grove in New York, which would not be my preferred choice.

[itikhvin]

Also the reason I am targeting midtown west because I see the sofitel and have both been won in this area. The royalton in particular has been won before with bids under 250 $. Obviously there is not a guarantee I would necessarily get it but it seemed likely from past wins it (or another hotel in midtown west) could be won within the 250 range.

[thereuare]

Rates are date specific, so i wouldn't choose a zone based upon rates that you think you could win when those wins are for dates other than your own. The time of year you're traveling is fairly high-season, and you have a longer then usual stay, both of which will work against you if trying to replicate wins of previous users.

PRICELINE EXPRESS has a 4* hotel in the Times Square zone for $242/nite and a guest rating of 9.0 (or better) which is pretty good... and just $10 more than you have already bid, would this work for your needs? Also, the discount code link in my signature would bring this down closer to $230/nite.

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

Your thoughts?

[itikhvin]

The wins for the royalton I was comparing against were from October but I guess they fluctuate from October I believe. Possibly the length of my stay works against me? I also don't see that deal for times square for those dates on PRICELINE in the express deals section? Not sure what I am doing wrong... it didn't show up when I searched for it.

[itikhvin]

Did the above PRICELINE EXPRESS deal for time square disappear?

[thereuare]

Yes, the PRICELINE EXPRESS property is no longer offered at this time, and this is one way how a longer stay can work against you... let's just for just one nite of your 10 nites stay a hotel has high occupancy, they may not offer any inventory to PRICELINE for that one nite, which then makes your entire stay ineligible at that hotel.

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

[itikhvin]

It sounds like I may be better off going for a PRICELINEvacation package. For example, for the 21/10-31/10 October dates, there is a $ 3689 package that includes airfare from Ottawa to New York (value of about $400) and a 10 night stay at the Morgans in new york (the hotel has very good reviews). That makes the cost of the hotel room at Morgans about $280 per night assuming part of the total cost is taxes and fees, which generally amount to about 20 percent of the total. Strangely enough, the total cost of the hotel for 10 nights alone is a little more expensive than that of the package with airfare. Unless i'm missing something, the room offered as part of the package is the same. In short, I am not sure if there is a benefit to bidding, when i would likely have to have a winning bid close to if not more than $280 per night for those dates. As well, I know what i'm getting with the vacation package.

[thereuare]

That would be a good deal for this trip... i think you could do a little better if you were flexible on zone, star rating, etc. and not know the name of the hotel, but for an extended stay it may be worth the few extra dollars to know what you're getting and know that you'll be happy there.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. (once at PRICELINE just click the VACATION PACKAGE tab to complete your purchase)

Let us know what you ultimately decide or if we can be of further help.

[itikhvin]

That would be a good deal for this trip... i think you could do a little better if you were flexible on zone, star rating, etc. and not know the name of the hotel, but for an extended stay it may be worth the few extra dollars to know what you're getting and know that you'll be happy there.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. (once at PRICELINE just click the VACATION PACKAGE tab to complete your purchase)

Let us know what you ultimately decide or if we can be of further help.

It doesn't seem like it's possible to get a 4.5* in any of the areas I listed without going over $300. Do prices fluctuate all the time and is there a possible benefit to waiting? I understand prices may go up as well, so i'm not going to wait until last minute

[AaronJB]

Prices do fluctuate, but you're looking at one of the busier/est times of the year and expecting prices to come down significantly - if these date/s are like prior years - is unfortunately not realistic.

It's best to be persistent and keep an eye on rates via HOTWIRE and regular rate. Waiting until closer to the stay can be a benefit, but that's been seen a bt less and less in the last few years as rate/s have gone up.

Please use the site's PRICELINE link if you do book the vacation package deal for Morgans. Additionally in terms of Morgans, hotel does offer free breakfast,so that's a further bonus.

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

[itikhvin]

Well, as I've seen previous winning bids for the royalton hotel or intercontinental times squarefor instance were under 300 for October, so it's a bit of a surprise that my bids are getting rejected. However, maybe it's just not possible to get similar rates with a 10 day day stay.

[thereuare]

Even if just one day of the ten nite stay has higher demand then the other nites, and therefore the hotel doesn't offer any discounted inventory for this one nite of the ten, then that hotel is out of the running to accept your bid.

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

[itikhvin]

plans/dates changed and with my parents also coming, I needed to get a room with 2 queen beds or a suite with a bed / sofa bed. I managed to get a really good deal on a 1 bedroom suite (with living room) at the algonquin hotel in times square - $ 314 for the week of the 25-31 October thanks to Marriott's Look no further price guarantee. don't think I could have gotten something as good at PRICELINE, though might use it to find something for the remaining 3 days of my stay in NYC.

[thereuare]

Glad to hear you found something that works for at least part of your stay.

Thanks for the update.

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