Priceline Hotel: Help w/ NYC 4/15 one night

[springfieldmonorail]

I just discovered this site - what a valuable service! Using the Hotwire lists, I don't see anything too appealing from a price/performance standpoint for my lone necessary night - April 15th, 2006. I'm looking for something 3* or 4*, walkable to Times Square / Broadway in the $200 range (preferably less, obviously). Per Expedia, Hotels.com, etc., a number of the more popular hotels seem to be booked already, so I would hesitate to wait much longer.

I like the Hotel 41, which I get on Hotels.com for 239 plus tax. This was/is a Priceline hotel at the 2.5 star class, but that class no longer seems to exist. Basically, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

I think it's too early to be spending $200+ on a hotel room 5+ months away. A saturday nite arrival may be affecting your success somewhat, but i'd sooner guess it's just much too early.

I would book a cancellable back-up and take a closer look sometime in January.

If you do decide to book the above Hotel 41, please use our Hotels.com link as found in our Support Page.

If you need a back-up QUIKBOOK has the Milleinium UN for $209/nite which is a "Pay When You Stay" rate so it's cancellable. This is a nice hotel, it's a long but do-able walk to Time Square (about 20 minutes)... but a cab should only run about $6 or so.

[springfieldmonorail]

Thanks for the tips - I think your strategy makes sense. And I appreciate the tip on the Millennium UN - that sounds like a reasonable deal. However, I just checked the Hilton site and found a nonrefundable rate on the Times Square Hilton of 269, wheres none of the main travel sites show any availability. I'm tempted to take it, since that's the place I would most like to stay - any advice in this regard? Am I at all likely to find this hotel cheaper?

[thereuare]

I'll re-iterate... i don't think these dates are going to be a problem, unless you're seeing something that i'm not. I see availabiilty thru their respective websites at the Westin, the Sheraton, the Hilton, the Hyatt, etc... all at very reasonable rates. Through what website and for which properties are you seeing hotels sold-out?

I think that $269 is too much to pay for a hotel room at this time. However, if you choose to book it anyway, please use our HILTON link to do so :)

The idea of booking a back-up is to give you peace of mind so that you can wait it out (or 'sweat it out' if the case may be).

I also think we may have gotten ahead of oursleves and sidetracked... do you want to give priceline a try? (at the very least i would do this before taking a non-refundable reservation at $2xx)

[springfieldmonorail]

Of the hotels you listed, I would be interested in the Westin and Hilton - both of these show up as being unavailable through the major travel sites (Expedia, hotels, Orbitz), but do show availability through their own sites. In addition, the Doubletree Times Square appears to be completely booked, showing no availability on its own site. Since I'm ideally looking for something very close to Times Square, it appeared to me that - due to the limited availability already demonstrated - it may be unlikely that I would find any of my choice hotels - or their ilk - for less than the 269 quoted for the Hilton. The lowest Westin rate shown at the Westin site is 299.

This was my logic - however, I haven't done anything yet, and I'm certainly interested in trying the Priceline.com route if you can help me with a strategy!

[springfieldmonorail]

Actually, given my hotel preferences, it looks like a Priceline 4* MTW attempt would make a lot of sense. What do you think?

[thereuare]

Ignore 'sold-out' conditions from 3rd party suppliers... the best source of true availabilty and demand is directly from the hotel websites. So i would assume that presently the Westin and Hilton are both currently available. As well, the price of the Hilton and the Westin (direct from their websites) do not indicate that rooms are close to being sold-out.

If you want to try Priceline you'll have to be comfortable with any hotel in the list for MTW... not just the Westin or the Hilton (both Hiltons in the zone i might add).

As well, would the MTE or UM/CPS be so bad? If you bid and received something in one of those zones you'd likely at worst be a 10-15 minute walk to Times Square (and a $6 cab ride away)... would such an "inconvenience" be worth saving $100? For me it would be... but it's your trip and you have to be comfortable with where you'll be staying.

I'll also add that you're considering spending $269/nite on the Hilton which is non-cancellable... i would sooner spend the extra $30 and book a cancellable rate at the Westin in order to leave your options open, especially 5 months before your stay.

So if you want to try Pricline you'll need to let us know if you can accept any hotel in the MTW zone and if you are also willing to accept any other areas.... then we'll be able to sugguest a strategy for you to follow.

[springfieldmonorail]

No, either of those zones would be just fine. But I guess that - on the surface - it seemed to make sense to initially limit my attempt to the zone with the highest concentration of hotels I would be legitimately excited about, as well as the most desirable location. Do you think it would really make a $100 difference in a Priceline context? You're the expert - that's why I'm here! I really appreciate your time.

[thereuare]

I was refering to a $100 savings over the non-refundable Hilton you were considering.

This early before your stay not all hotels may have released deeply discounted opaque inventory, which is why selelcting more zones increases your chances.

Let us know if, at this point, you wan to bid all three zones or not.

[springfieldmonorail]

I see, I see. Well, I guess not. I'd like to see if I have any bites in only the single zone now, and if not, I'll make a 299 refundable reservation at either the Hilton or the Westin and try again in January, per your advice.

[thereuare]

You have two re-bid zones available when bidding 4* in NYC. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read PRICELINE RE-BIDDING EXPLAINED and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before bidding.

Select 4* MTW...

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $130, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* MTW and re-bid zone2...

Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $150.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[springfieldmonorail]

Could you please clarify what the two rebid zones are?

[thereuare]

Re-bid zones are subject to change, so you need to know how to check them yourself... otherwise you can end up in a zone that you really don't want to be in.

Did you try reading thru the above link? We can walk you thru any problem/questions/etc that you may stumble upon (even if it's the beginning steps). If you read the the above and don't understand it then we'll break it down further for you... let us know.

[springfieldmonorail]

Yes; I read through the link. I was confused by the fact that it indicates to not rely on this site's list in order to know whether a certain Priceline zone has hotels of a certain *-class. Is there a list on the priceline site of *ratings available by zone? Are they the same as the 'visible rate' priceline hotels?

[thereuare]

The "list" is the PRICELINE HOTEL LIST for NYC.

The way to figure out your re-bid zones, as mentioned in PRICELINE RE-BIDDING EXPLAINED, is:

The way to check what star levels are available in each zone is to open a Priceline page, check ONLY the zone you are inquiring about, and then proceed to the next page (as if you were going to select a zone)... this will give you the available star ratings in that area. You can then hit BACK on your browser, uncheck the current box, check the next box, and repeat the process. It is important to do this before EACH attempt at adding a zone that you really don't want, as new hotels can be added and the star ratings can change at any time.

I'd recommend you write down each priceline zone for NYC, then write down the highest star level offered in this zone when using the above method. Then confirm your re-bid zones with the board before bidding... if you are still confused, try the above technique and post back with the highest star rated hotel in each zone and we'll take the next step to explain further.

[springfieldmonorail]

Sorry that I missed that initially - I followed the recommended strategy, but wasn't able to come up with any bites. I think I'll go with your recommendation of the millennium UN as a backup, and then try priceline/hotwire again periodically. Thanks again! Whichever I go with, I'll arrive at through your links.