Priceline Hotel: 4* New York City (Midtown East) Doubletree By Hilton Metropolitan New York

[slygirl]

Whoo! Michigan won today and I also booked an awesome deal through Priceline Express and an extra 5% off with the SPRING14 code. I had wanted to spend less than $125 because I had just visited NY last weekend.

 

These were the amenities revealed before purchase:

Star Rating: 4

Guest Score: 7.0/10

Guaranteed Amenities: Pets Allowed, Business Center, Fitness Center

 

Priceline Express Price: $85

Total with taxes and fees: $111.88

Price paid after applying 5% SPRING14 code: $107.63

 

(Now to find a good bar to watch the Michigan game on Sunday and my man will be a happy camper.)

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you scored (as did Michigan tonite!) a nice deal and are pleased with the results.

These are two 'official' Michigan bars for football season so i would imagine that they will be packed for the basketball game as well (i've never been to either so i can't comment, but Brother Jimmy's has a few locations throughout the city and has cajun-themed bar food):

Professor Thom's

219 Second Avenue (btwn 13th and 14th St.)

Brother Jimmy's Union Square

116 East 16th Street (btwn Irving & Park Ave)

You're also near my often recommended Ess-A-Bagel (Third Ave at 51st St) which has one of the best bagels in the city, makes for a nice, and relatively inexpensive, breakfast among local NYers.

Thank you for sharing your win and using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.

[JustDandy]

Wow! Great catch! I walked by that location quite a few times this past weekend...looked very nice. Would you recommend it to others?! Just curious! :)

[thereuare]

I saw my niece over the weekend (a recent U-M grad) and mentioned the subject of this thread and that i needed to recommended a place to watch the game to a member of the board... she immediately said "either Brother Jimmy's or Professor Thom's" (and the above was written before speaking with her).

Ni ether are expensive (by NYC standards) and while i have been to a different location of Brother Jimmy's so i know the theme (southern/cajun/fishbowl drinks) i was told that Professor Thom's is known for their HUGE nachos which are served on a pizza pie sized tray.

Unfortunately Michigan lost last nite (my 9 year old daughter cried :( ) so our basketball season is over, but it was a nice run, hopefully next year many of the players will opt to return (although i understand the lure if some of them don't)

[slygirl]

Too bad for the Wolverines and the Spartans. If Michigan had been playing in Madison Square Garden, we would have tried to get nosebleed seats on Sunday even though they were $150 a piece. I tried to convince my boyfriend we should go to a MI-friendly bar to watch the game but he doesn't really care for crowds, so we watched the game from our room. There was a pub called the District Tap House that just opened recently that had individual TVs in the booths that I was considering that I thought might be more "quiet". The weather was just icky on Sunday.

 

The Doubletree was a decent overnight stay, and I would recommend it to anyone, especially for the price we paid! I had stayed at the Benjamin next door on a trip a few years back so I was familiar with the area. The only thing I did not like about our room was that the tub needed to be repainted. There were a chip or two and since the paint is wearing off, it looks like it needed a good scrub. Plus Housekeeping missed a few hairs on the shower wall from the previous guest. Otherwise it was a comfortable room with lots of pillows. We stored a few bags at check-out and when we returned a couple of hours later, the bellman had us look for our own luggage in their store room instead of referring to the ticket we gave him. Then he couldn't locate our umbrella but it was eventually found. I thought that was odd, and it wasn't exactly comforting to overhear an upset guest who was missing her own luggage talking to management or security. I hope she was able to find her things.

 

Some small things:

We enjoyed the cookies offered at check-in :)

 

Complimentary wifi in the lobby but you have to pay for wifi in your room (per device). So there were lots of people in the lobby and bar area at all times.

 

The bellman charged us $1/bag to store them after check-out. I work in hospitality myself and I only noticed this "policy" when I stayed here and at the Grand Hyatt at Grand Central. I have stayed at various other 4* hotels in the city as well as my employer's 5* sister property and haven't experienced the $1/bag policy. I usually tip $1/bag anyway, but I know guests don't like to be surprised with fees. I'm not entirely sure if that is an actual policy that those chains implemented, or if it's a way for the bellman to guarantee himself a tip.

[thereuare]

Glad you enjoyed your stay.

I'm not a big fan of bar crowds either, so i understand where your boyfriend is coming from... although my niece was at Brother Jimmy's on Sunday (she's a young Michigan alum so still enjoys the crowds)