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

[KatiesMom]

I'm coming to NYC on 9/14 with my husband for a matinee show and dinner to celebrate our anniversary. Thinking of spending the night, but might not because we're just a train ride away home. But if I find a bargain, we'll stay. We're having dinner at The Four Seasons, so Midtown East near Grand Central is great. But will consider other nearby zones. 4* and up unless it's a very good 3.5*.

Right now I see a post on HOTWIRE that sounds interesting:

4* Midtown East, $156

4 out of 5 on Trip Advisor

Amenities:

Pet Friendly

Restaurant

Hi Speed Internet

Fitness

Business

Tennis Nearby

Accessibility Blind

Accessibility Deaf

Accessibility Path of Travel

Do you think this is the Intercontinental? Under no circumstances would I consider The Roosevelt, which is my fear. But with the 4 out of 5 on Trip Advisor, it doesn't appear to be The Roosevelt. See any other deals out there, other than HOTWIRE, for less than $156? Thanks!

[AaronJB]

Happy Anniversary! :)

I'd guess the Grand Hyatt or Intercontinental Barclay.

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

[thereuare]

I believe there are more amenities then what you have posted above as HOTWIRE has a new interface that does not show the complete set of amenities unless you click thru a few extra links.

If you repeat your search using our BiddingHelper.com tool, and then click the HOTWIRE EASY VIEW tab, do you see more amenities then what you have listed above? I'm currently seeing the following amenities associated with the 4* hotel in the MTE zone when searching HOTWIRE for your dates:

Pet Friendly

Fitness

Restaurant

Business

Hi-Speed Internet

Tennis

Blind Accessible

Deaf Accessible

Travel Accessible

Room Accessible

Bathroom Accessible

Handicapped Parking

Roll-in Shower

I'll also add that PRICELINE EXPRESS has a 4* hotel in the MTE zone for $156/nite and using the discount code link in my signature gives an extra 10% bringing the cost to just a little cheaper then the one above (and can rule out the Roosevelt since this PRICELINE EXPRESS deal shows a minimum user review rating of 8.0/10.0 whereas the current user review rating of the Roosevelt is 6.5/10.0.

Also, if you're willing to splurge just a little more than the original property, PRICELINE EXPRESS also has a 4.5* hotel in the Times Square zone (Pets Allowed, Restaurant, Business Center, Fitness Center) for $194 - 10% = $175/nite

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

Let us know whatever you decide and how it goes or if we can be of further help.

... and Happy Anniversary

[KatiesMom]

Thanks Thereuare. Yes there are those additional amenities. I don't like the new Hotwire interface. I'm going to let HOTWIRE know.

My husband thinks it would be great to spend the night, so it looks like this will be a go. From your pinned Priceline list it would appear the Intercontinental Times Square is likely the 4.5* on Priceline Express?

The 4* Midtown East on PRICELINE EXPRESS is now $165. I think I'll wait a day and see if the price goes down.

Looking forward to this celebration!

[thereuare]

I don't like the new Hotwire interface.

That is why we have created the EASY VIEW TAB in BiddingHelper.com. ;) HOTWIRE is constantly changing their interface so we created the EASY VIEW so that everything is viewable on the first page after a search (like their original interface years ago)

My guess for the 4* HOTWIRE property would be the InterContinental The Barclay and for the 4.5* PRICELINE EXPRESS property i would guess the InterContinental Times Square.

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

Let us know what you decide and how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[KatiesMom]

The BiddingHelper.com is VERY handy. I'm always going to use it when searching HOTWIRE from now on. I'm biding my time to see if prices go down. I'll let you know.

[thereuare]

Glad you like it. :)

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

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

[KatiesMom]

O.K. This is what I did and this is how I got there.

4*, Affinia Shelburne, $149, Hotels.com (Last minute deal, was $199 with 25% off.)

I clicked BetterBidding's Support Page to make the purchase on Hotels.com, but for some reason the site wouldn't take my credit card information, so I had to make the actual reservation by telephone. I hope BB can still get some kind of credit. I tried.

Since we are going to be in the Midtown East area for dinner at The Four Seasons, this seemed like a good location for us. It's also near Grand Central, where we are traveling back and forth from by train. My budget was around $150 for the night, but for the past few days the best rate I saw was $165 (with 10% off from PRICELINE EXPRESS) plus taxes and fees, most likely for the Intercontinental the Barclay. I saw what appeared to be The Grand Hyatt pop up on Priceline Express for a few hours yesterday, for a higher rate ($170). I was hoping the Grand Hyatt might show up again because I would prefer it to the Intercontinental, but it didn't, and the trip is coming up this weekend.

I saw what appeared to be the Affinia Shelburne on HOTWIRE for $133 a night (4*, Empire State Building, Amenities: Pet Friendly, 4.5 out of 5 on Trip Advisor). But when taxes and fees were added HOTWIRE was more than Hotels.com at $149. Hotwire and Priceline taxes and fees are HIGH and sometimes can wreck a low rate and/or discount.

I also bid on PRICELINE going up to $156 for 4.5* properties in Midtown East and Times Square, and $135 for 4* properties. No luck.

I've stayed at The Benjamin, another Affina property, and found the service to be top notch, so I'm happy to try out this Affinia property.

Thanks everyone for your help.

[AaronJB]

Very good deal for this property during the early Fall and glad you are looking forward to your stay.

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

[KatiesMom]

**A final change**

Because I could cancel my Affinia Shelburne reservation up until 9/13 without penalty from Hotels.com, I kept checking Hotwire and Priceline to see if I could find a better deal, and YES I did.

Through your BiddingHelper.com link, I booked:

PRICELINE EXPRESS

4*, Midtown East, Grand Hyatt, $135 (Plus an additional 10% off using coupon code BigCity6)

Amenities: Restaurant, Business Center, Fitness

Guest Score: 8 out of 10

With taxes and fees this wound up being $25 less than the Affinia Shelburne, and it's a hotel I've stayed at before, found them very accommodating, and ultra convenient to Grand Central (you don't even need to go outside). Very very HAPPY!

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

Fantastic last-minute deal for this property and glad you are looking forward to your stay.

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

Enjoy your stay.