Priceline Hotel: 4* New York City (Central Park South) Renaissance Hotel 57

[Moosefan]

I currently have a hotel booked with a friend/family rate of $322 per night (excl taxes etc.) It is in TS area...Hampton Inn TS-South.

But after learning about this site, I thought I may be able to do better, and deploy some of the savings into other areas of our trip.

Given the above information...and we want to be in TS, is there any opportunity to:

1) improve hotel rating (4* perhaps) for same price ($322)

2) remain at 3*, but at a lower rate

Thanks!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please click each of these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links, then reply to this thread and we'll have a look at your post above.

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

Thanks.

[Moosefan]

all done...and yes, I will use your links from now on for priceline reservations.

[AaronJB]

I think you could quite possibly do either - a better hotel for the money or mildly less for a lesser property. However, is TS the only acceptable area? You could most likely get a noticeably more reasonable rate in another nearby area (MTE, for example.)

aronthankyouthree

[Moosefan]

I am afraid TS is the area we want to be for several reasons.

For the 3* I would only be interested in the Hilton Garden Inn...but for 4* any of the following, Crown, Doubletree, Hilton, Mela

As a first time hotel bidder any help would be appreciated...

1) Can I zero in on one of the hotels above, if so, how?

2) Any idea on what an opening bid should be?

Tks.

[thereuare]

I'd suggest starting with this Hotels Near Times Square thread.

You can't bid on a specific hotel when using PRICELINE, you have to be able to accept any hotel in the zone at the star level (or higher) that you choose.

It appears that you can get a 4* hotel in the Times Square zone on PRICELINE for $342 or less... but it may not necessarily be one of the hotels you have listed above.

Just for comparison purposes on what you 'give up' by only considering the Times Square zone... you can get a 4.5* hotel in the MTW zone for $324/nite or less (that is a big jump in star rating for only $2 more per nite than your current back-up reservation)... or a 4* hotel in the CPS or MTE zones for $280/nite or less. I'll also add that your current back-up hotel is not even in PRICELINE's Times Square zone... it is in the MSG-Convention Center zone.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin all your your bidding, searches, and travel purchases.

If any of the above are good alternatives to your current 3* hotel let us know.

[Moosefan]

Some great advice you provided and it worked.

We started to concentrate on CPS, MTE and MTW. (vs TS exclusively)

for the 4*, we started low (too low really) and went as high as $290 WITHOUT any luck.

...but there was a PRICELINE EXPRESS deal for $318 for CPS 4*...but with your 10% discount, we ended up getting it for less than the $290...which is perfect.

Bottom line...we ended up with a higher quality hotel for LESS money than our friends and family rate.

Awesome site.

-Moosefan

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success and thank you so much for your compliments on Betterbidding. :)

Very nice deal and glad you are pleased with the win.

Can you confirm the hotel name and the amenities that were showing with the listing? Thanks.

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.

[Moosefan]

Express deal: Renaissance Hotel 57 CPS.

Free internet, 8/10 rating, "guest favorite", internet, restaurant, pets, bed choice available.

...but beware, the internet included is only in the lobby...I called the hotel and they confirmed...otherwise it is $17/day to have it in your room. This is deceiving if you ask me to say "includes free internet", but only in the lobby.

I may ask for a complimentary upgrade, but not holding my breath...

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you were able to upgrade your accommodations for even less than your back-up reservation. Unfortunately on the booking page (where you enter your name and credit card information the internet access is listed as 'Free Internet in public areas'

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... and good luck with the upgrade request.