Priceline Hotel: 4* NYC (MTW) Hilton

[HotFlash]

Hi Everyone! First time user. Parents & aunt want to go to NYC 11/11 to 11/13. I'm committed to drive them down from NH and find a hotel for us. Was blown away by room prices! Have done B&B's in past & everyone's booked- understandable with this short notice. My Seniors need to be close to Theatre district or a subway (think I can get them on/off ok). Would like under $200/night/room. Prefer 3-4* with hopes of queen/king beds. Is this price realistic with Priceline? Can't afford time wise to mess up as a first time bidder.

Suggestions appreciated!

[bbbb]

I don't think $200 will even come close to getting accepted for your dates. Rates are very high for these two nights. Do you have a back up reservation for this stay or will you cancel if you can't Priceline something?

[HotFlash]

Thanks bbb. I did do 6 bids 11/5 afternoon, adding 1 NYC zone each time and dropped to 2.5*. Went up to $250 and none accepted. Then tried Brooklyn Bridge Marriot. Called the hotel and they had plenty of rooms available for my dates; good subway access. Rates @ hotel website for $309/night. It was the only 3* in Brooklyn (believe it was 'Long City' area- near BBridge anyway) on Priceline...I bid $225 figuring that was 30% < than web rate and not accepted. Guess my expectations were too high.

Committed to those dates this weekend as already purchased Radio City tix for my senior gang.

Will book rooms at Brooklyn Marriot tomorrow & cancel if can do better. In the meantime will see if there are any decent B&B's in Brooklyn with private bath/close to subway, may try last chance bidding Tues. I have to wait 3days now right? Good learning experience, but no $$ saved this trip.

[dahammer]

no one has reported a win in Brooklyn, if you're considering this area, you might also want to consider NJ since you will be commuting from Brooklyn into the city to see the Rockettes anyway. The Secaucus-Meadwolands NJ area is as close to NYC as Brooklyn, though not sure if your seniors could handle taking the bus into the Port Authority Bus Terminal. You could always get a car service or a taxi into the city, though I'm not sure what the round trip cost would be. The Crowne Plaza looks like its available on Hotwire for $93. I would also suggest Jersey City, but this area looks booked up for next weekend, the Doubletree is available for $239. Finally, using the Travel Links to Help Support BetterBidding, it looks like the Hilton Newark Gateway at Penn Station is available for $129. I would not normally suggest this property, but it sits atop the train station with easy access into NYC and given your circumstances, this might be an alternative to shelling out close to $400 a night in NYC.

[HotFlash]

Thanks for the NJ suggestions dahammer. Coming from NH, I'll have to stick to the Brooklyn side of the city if I can't get anything in town. Know the roads ok for decent in/out driving. Brooklyn Marriot does have good weekend parking rates, 2 beds/room and refrigerator and also 3-4 subway lines on same block. Normally would never go to city at peak time but my mom's willing/able to pay their share so my wallet isn't suffering as much as it could have otherwise.

[krondeau]

You might also want to try the Sheraton LaGuardia in Flushing -- it's highly rated, and I think there are plenty of options for traveling from there to the City -- that's what I had planned to do until I won my Friday night only bid at the Hilton. I think it's $99 a night.

[dahammer]

the Sheraton in Flushing is a decent property. But, besides being close to my favorite Korean Barbecue, Picnic Garden, the only reason to stay here is to catch an early flight out. While there are many options to travelling into the city, none of them are very good due to high costs (taxi or car service), lengthy (subway/train), or boring (bus).

One other reason for staying here would be to catch a Mets game

[thereuare]

What hotel and rate did you get? I'm doubtful the NYC MTW Hilton would be $99/nite

[HotFlash]

What hotel and rate did you get? I'm doubtful the NYC MTW Hilton would be $99/nite

On 11/8/05 started bidding 4* in MTW for $200 (2rms/2nights-11/11,11/12) and not accepted. Added UMT and $250, still no go, added MTE for $275 and got accepted for MTW Hilton (though I think it's more a 3*).

Parking $40/24hr with in/out (step-father insisted on-site pkg), 20" wait to get into garage; by 4p was at full capacity. 2-3 blocks west, pkg for <$20.

Was given 13th floor rooms. Requested floor >15 and was given 27th floor, each with 2 double beds. Nice size rooms (those with queen beds quite a bit smaller). Parents had very nice oversize room behind the elevator- even their hearing impairments were not enough to drown out the noise and resulted in bad first night. Also the heat wasn't working- maintenance did fix it though. Was able to get a different room for 2nd night which was a huge improvement. Coffe makers- provide "roast" coffee, no tea bags. Nice linen and down comforters...comfortable beds. Poor room insulation from street noise. My sister recently stayed at Marriot Marquis and heard NO noise from outside the room. Guess I expected the same of the Hilton.

All staff were professional, friendly and accomodating!

$25 M-Fr pre-theatre prix fixed dinner was very good first night option at the hotel "Marketplace" restaurant, otherwise pricey (coffee/tea-$3.50). If you want to save a few$$, definitely some decnet edibles ouside the hotel. Step-father enjoyed full breakfast at 24hr grill acroos the road from Marketplace for <$5.00. Not perfect and plastic utensils, but certainly edible.

Glad we didn't stay outside of the city as all subway lines were under going maintenance resulting in limited service. Great location for theatre and tourist area of the city.

Thanks to all who gave suggestions- hopefully I'll get better price next time I bid!