Priceline Hotel: 3.5* New York City (Madison Square Garden - Convention) Courtyard by Marriott New York Manhattan/Times Square West

[mikiwzh]

I have never bid a hotel on priceline before, and I am going to bid a room for my stay in New York. I will be in New York with my parents around May 5. I would like to bid a room with two beds, but I can't control one bed or two beds on priceline. Besides, I want a hotel close to subway or other transportation. Any suggestion to get a two-bed room? Any suggestion to choose the area? Thanks!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

HOTWIRE, where you can search for the amount of people in the room, is a better option. Looking for more than 2 people on HOTWIRE should guarantee some form of bedding for the entire party - that may be two beds or 1 + sofabed or 1 + rollaway. Unfortunately, NYC is the riskiest city when it comes to getting two beds on the discount services, given the small rooms (two beds is often an upgrade.)

What would be your desired budget per night, star rating and date/s of travel?

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

[mikiwzh]

The highest price I could afford is about 140 dollars per night. The lower, the better. I think 3 star rating and upper might be better, but I don't care that much about star rating since some 4 star hotels might not as good as some 3 star hotels. Check-in date is about May 5, 2014, and check-out date is May 9, 2014.

I haven't decided the check-in date because I will first travel to Boston and then go to New York City from Boston. If the hotel in New York is too high, I might stay in Boston for two nights and leave for New York in the morning of May 6. However, I will be most likely to check-in on May 5 because there is not much to see in Boston for two whole days.

[AaronJB]

Unfortunately, this is during the prime Spring season in NYC and hotels are expensive. If you were to bid on PRICELINE and risk getting one bed, a 3* is likely going to require a bid of around (depending on the zone) at least $155-170. In terms of searching for 3 adults on HOTWIRE, rates for 3*'s are over $200 (rates will be more expensive if you are searching for more than 2 adults.)

Those approximate rates are for 5/5-9. Switching date/s will possibly change results somewhat, but May unfortunately is still going to be high due to nicer weather/Spring traffic.

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

[thereuare]

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

...and if you haven't yet, please read your messages.

Thanks.

[mikiwzh]

Thank you for the suggestion.

I am trying to find the information about which hotels in New York will generally provide two-bed room on Priceline? or maybe hotels in which area? I was told that hotels around Times Square generally have a smaller room, but how about other area?

[thereuare]

...and if you haven't yet, please read your messages.

2x

[mikiwzh]

My trip plan is firm. I will be in New York City from May 5 to May 9, need hotel for 4 nights. Both two-bed and one bed room work for me. The following are my preference

1. Want to avoid small room hotels.

2. Want to be close to the subway, but within 10-20 minutes walking distance is acceptable as long as it is safe to walk around 9-10pm at night.

3. Prefer MSG, ESB, MTW area, but open to other areas.

4. Prefer 4 star hotels, but 3.5 might be acceptable

5. I don't have a budget limit, but 200 dollars is reasonable. The lower, the better.

 

I have done some research, and have several questions:

1. Will I have a better chance to win at a lower price if I bid for two 2-night stay instead of one 4 night stay?

2. MSG area is the ideal for me since I would like to be close to the Penn station, but the price of hotels in this area is generally higher than other during my stay. I don't know why.

3. How much should I offer? The price varies from area to area, so I don't know how much should I offer for each area. 

 

Thanks!

[AaronJB]

There's no way to avoid a small room. The majority of NYC hotels have rooms that are small as major cities go and some have rooms that are particularly small (130-150 sq ft.) In terms of being near a subway, you have to be willing to stay anywhere within a selected zone, there is no way to pinpoint (when bidding) a particular hotel/location.

 

These date/s are similarly busy across the board, so there is not likely to be an advantage to splitting your stay.

The hotels in a particular area may be higher for a particular date or date/s for any number of reasons - small convention, etc.

 

In terms of how much to bid, first are you okay with being anywhere within the desired zone/s and quite possibly getting a small room? If not, I'd suggest instead using PRICELINE express or HOTWIRE to try to narrow down possibilities showing.

 

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

[mikiwzh]

I just want to know hotel rooms in which area is generally small. For example, I am thinking if the hotel rooms in times square area are generally smaller than other areas. If they all the same, then I am OK with any hotel in the area. 

 

By the way, I always use the board's PRICELINE link. Thank you for the advice

[thereuare]

I just want to know hotel rooms in which area is generally small.

There's no way to avoid a small room. The majority of NYC hotels have rooms that are small...

As posted above.

Are you OK sharing the same bed with your parents? Are they OK sharing the same bed with your?

You ask about SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID, are your parents OK with needing to change hotels mid-trip?

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

... and GO BLUE!

[mikiwzh]

I saw a Priceline express deal of 184 dollar per night. Then I started bidding at 157, but failed. I changed the browser, and bid at 168, then won. I first bid for two night from 5.5-5.7, then extended the stay to 5.9 after I won the first one. The total cost for 4-night stay plus tax and fees is $831. I guess I might be able to get the hotel at a lower price, but I don't have much time to bid everyday.

 

I contacted the hotel, and the hotel is not able to upgrade to a two-queen bed room. They may be able to accommodate at check-in, but will charge extra 50 dollar per night. However, the hotel can add a sofa bed for free to accommodate me and my parents. I have never slept on the sofa bed before, but I think it will not be too bad. 

 

I did use the forum's PRICELINE link. I noticed that I can see a much cheaper priceline express deal price when I used the forum's link, not knowing why. Again, thank you for the help. 

[mikiwzh]

Hi, thank you for the help. I have already posted a new post regarding my winning bid in New York. I got a hotel for 4 night, and will have a sofa bed.

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

 

Very nice deal for this Courtyard property! While it's unfortunate that you were not able to get two beds, I think it's lucky (with how bad getting two beds in NYC is) that you were able to get the sofabed for free. Hopefully the hotel will be able to work with you at check-in.

 

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

 

Enjoy your stay.

[mikiwzh]

I have another question. The priceline just sent me an email about the available deals in New York for my date. One of them is only 138 dollars for a 4 star hotel in Downtown-Financial district, but I can't see such deal. Does it really exist? I have seen some websites posting very low price to attract customer, but displaying no inventory when customers actually click to make the reservation. Don't know what is going on with Price.line.

[AaronJB]

I'm not seeing anything at that rate for your date/s, which continue to look quite expensive. I'm guessing it was a deal but maybe not for your particular date/s.

 

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