Priceline Hotel: 4* New York City (Times Square - Theatre District) Hotel Mela

[zachkaiser]

Started from $80, then $95, $120, $135. Finally accepted at $135.

Actually I am very disappointed because when I look at Hotels.com after the bid, I found the total price including tax&fee is ~$15 lower than PRICELINE! The daily rate is $136 on Hotels.com but PRICELINE has higher tax&fee, which makes the total price higher.

I am afraid that I cannot use PRICELINE's best rate guarantee since the daily rate is $1 cheaper. Any post-bid suggestion would be deeply appreciated! Thanks.

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear you didn't receive much of a deal with this one, and three tidbits of advice i can suggest:

1) ask the board for help before your next opaque purchase

2) use our BiddingHelper.com to research rates beforehand (the OTHER tab gives retail rates and you can filter by 4* hotels to see the cost and adjust your maximum bid price accordingly)

3) bid in smaller increments, especially with 3+ weeks before your trip

4) (EDIT TO ADD THIS ONE) you didn't say which zones you added when you re-bid, so if you added Times Square at the end of your bidding then you could have bid more strategically

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and although maybe not too much of a deal, this hotel does get reviews and i'm sure you will enjoy your time here.

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

Enjoy your stay and have fun in NYC.

[zachkaiser]

Thank you for your reply. Since $120 was rejected, it would be only a $15 margin. I guess even if I tried $130 I would have still gotten this one.

Contacted Priceline for Best Rate Guarantee after the bid. They offered to match the Hotels.com price, plus $25, and a $50 coupon which can be used for Priceline travel package. I wanted to cancel the reservation but the representative said that Priceline has the right to determine which BRG option to offer (cancel or refund the difference+$25). In my case, I only have the option to accept the difference+$25.

So it seems that their BRG policy looks at the total price instead of daily rate -- one data point.

I wanted to cancel because I realized that I may want to accommodate 3 adults in the room, and this hotel does not even have double beds room on the base level. Emailed the hotel to see if there is any way to pay for an upgrade to their "deluxe" double beds room (published rate is about $100 higher), but no reply yet...

[AaronJB]

Hopefully they will be able to work with you on bedding. Unfortunately, PRICELINE and NYC is high risk with more than two people as rooms are often tiny and two beds usually goes for a premium. Great location though, and hopefully the stay will be enjoyable. Let us know how the stay goes at this property.