Priceline Hotel: Newbe heading to NYC

[Loriandgary]

I am a newbe heading to New York city July 17-22, I am looking for someplace nice and will need 2 rooms preferably with queen or king or 2 dlbs as I cannot sleep in one double bed with the hubs! Ideally the hubs would like times square area, but we are open to suggestions, we will be doing all the tourist things from a yankees game, theatre, to SOL and Ellis island.  We would like to keep our total for each room including taxes and fees under $170. So I need suggestions as to what areas we should be looking at and how to go about the process of bidding. Thank you for your patience and help for this newbe!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

The issue with NYC is that rooms are often decidedly smaller than the norm for large cities. It's definitely not unusual for a room w/king bed (when it's an option) to be a paid upgrade (and the same w/2 doubles.) PRICELINE only guarantees 1 bed and while you can make a request with the hotel in regards to bed type, they can (and in NYC there is a high risk they will) say no.  You can look for a PRICELINE Express deal with a bed choice option, but the total will likely be over your desired budget per night, as if the bed choice option does show 1 king or two doubles, it will very likely be a higher per night cost.

 

Let us know your thoughts.

 

Also, while TS is arguably the most popular/known, I find the Midtown East and Empire State Building areas preferable, as they are convenient, very nice and less hectic than TS.

 

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

[Loriandgary]

Thank you, I realize I cannot select my bed size, I was just hoping if I choose a higher star rating if I would have a better odds at getting a queen,king or 2 dbls. We are not set in stone to TS, we were there 15yrs ago and stayed in that area and actually loved it, coming from a very rural area in northwest Ohio! it will be our son in laws first trip to the city and my hubs thought he would enjoy TS area, with all the lights and crowds, but we are fine with staying close to that area if we would have better chance of getting a cheaper room! should I be looking now or waiting closer to July?

[thereuare]

Room size is not necessarily dependent upon star rating, the most glaring example being the (currently) 4* rated Hudson Hotel which has one of the smallest rooms in NYC.

Generally speaking a the 4* level the following zones work well for the average user, with the noted caveats below:

MTE, MTW, TS, ESB, MSG, Chelsea

MTE - most hotels are very well located, but a few can be up to a 15 minute walk to the subway

Chelsea - walk can be 10 minutes to the subway, but this is a 'hot' area right now with a lot of boutiques, bars, restaurants, cafes, shops, etc. so it is often considered to be desirable, even with the 10 minute walk to the subway

Let us know your thoughts regarding which zone(s) are acceptable, or if you only want to first try TS up to your maximum budget, then include other zones if unsuccessful for Times Square.

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

[Loriandgary]

Thanks for the reply, Can I just try TS right now and if unsuccessful try adding others? we would like to be close to the subway, as we will be parking in NJ and bringing path in and then hoping on the subway to get to the hotel, while I know it will just involve pulling suitcases on arrival and then leaving but I think we would prefer to be closer to the subway, however if that means I need another area to get a cheaper hotel then thats fine, we will make it work!  I am excited to see if this will work for us!

[thereuare]

To get to $170 all-in your maximum bid would be about $145/nite and my guess is that this will fall just a little shy for a 4* hotel, but you can give it a try...

When bidding 4* in NYC you have ONE re-bid zone. 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 proceeding.

Select 4* Times Square...

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

Bid $145

If rejected just post back and discuss your next options and revise accordingly.

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

PS- you may (likely) just want to take a taxi once arriving in Manhattan as it will save time, aggravation, and depending upon where your hotel is located it may actually be cheaper than 4 people taking the subway (if not cheaper it won't be more than ~$5 total more expensive, which would would be worth the convenience of a taxi, imo)

[Loriandgary]

Just letting you know, that I was unsucessful in getting a room in TS for the $145...What do you think I would be able to get a room in TS for? We already have reservations at the Holiday Inn Express in Times Square with a king bed for $189 that are refundable, but I was hoping to find something a tad cheaper with the cost of everything else in NYC, I hate to pay so much for a room that we sleep and shower in....In regards to the taxi, we will think on that, but we had planned to buy the week pass for the subway so the taxi would be an additional expense. Thanks again for your help!

[thereuare]

Even with an unlimited metro pass, i would likely recommend taking a taxi to the hotel (especially with 4 people)... July is usually hot and humid in the city and the subway even more so. A taxi will likely be $10-$20 (depending upon where the hotel you ultimately receive is located) and it's worth less than $5/pp to not arrive at the hotel and start your vacation needing a shower (or looking like you already took one ;) )

For your hotel direct purchases please check for and use the links in our Support Page where we have links to most of the major hotel chains and online booking agencies, including the Holiday Inn Express.

At current rates i think a 4* in Times Square will run you close to $190-$210/nite.

Which Holiday Inn Express did you book... the one on 39th St?

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

[Loriandgary]

Yes, it was the one on 39th street...Good Deal? it has mixed reviews on TA, but has 86% approval    If any of you have opinions on this location I would love to hear your comments, if this is a good deal I can keep it otherwise I will try again tomorrow on PRICELINE, or would HOTWIRE be a better choice?

[thereuare]

The location is good and it appears that the rate has gone up since you booked, so the rate for this specific property is good too... but i think you can likely do better (as your current bidding only included one zone (which this hotel isn't even in the zone you're bidding) and you're trying to get a 4* hotel at less than your 3* back-up (again, for which rates have gone up since you booked))

PRICELINE EXPRESS has a 3.5* hotel in the MSG zone for $189, but the noteworthy aspect is that this property has a 9.0/10.0 user review rating. The amenities aren't much to go by as they apply to many hotels in the city (Restaurant, Free Internet in room, Business Center) but the Distrikt Hotel has previously been seen with this amenity set, and fits the minimum 9.0/10.0 rating as shown by PRICELINE, and that would be my best guess for this one. Even if my guess is wrong, the minimum 9.0/10 rating should ensure a good stay (and if i am right, this property has a 4.5/5.0 TA rating and currently ranked #13 hotel in the city)

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

Let us know what you decide or if we can be of further help.

[Loriandgary]

so even though it is holiday inn express times square, it is not in the TS area? but in MSG? hhmm, I think I am going to have to rethink on this....what would your suggestions be if we want to be real close to TS and close to subway stations...we are up for suggestions in areas. You stated before that Chelsea and MTE are good choices but 10-15 minute walks to subway?? any other suggestions with be closer to both the metro and TS

[thereuare]

The southern boundary for PRICELINE's Times Square zone is 42nd St, so with this hotel being located on 39th St it is South of the Times Square zone... it is certainly close, but not directly in the Times Square zone.

As far as what is 'best', if you only want to be directly in Times Square (which i really don't think is necessary), it will limit your options (and likely cost a little more) vs. if you're a little flexible (yet will still be in a 'good' location). For example, read the reviews for the Distrikt hotel that i highlighted previously, overall the reviews are great and many even mention 'great location' (yet it's not directly in Times Square, which even if you're not impressed by the reviews, would at the very least emphasize that you don't need to be directly in Times Square ;) )

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

[Loriandgary]

Ok, can anyone offer me some help...there are 2 hotels up on hotwire express deals in midtown east nyc, July 17-22, 2 rooms, one is 90% recom a 4 1/2 star with  int. fitness, business, rest, spa, self laundry for $179 the other is 95% recom a 3 1/2 star with free int, smoke free, fitness, business for $175 any ideas on what the locations might be?

[thereuare]

I believe there are likely more amenities then what you have posted above as HOTWIRE has a new interface that does not show the complete set of amenities unless you click thru a few extra links.

If you repeat your search using our BiddingHelper.com tool... use the HOTWIRE EASY VIEW tab and then click the GREEN BUTTON next to this listing, do you see more amenities then what you have listed above?

This is what i see for the 4.5* hotel:

Fitness

Restaurant

Business

Laundry

Hi-Speed Internet

Spa

Blind Accessible

Deaf Accessible

Travel Accessible

Room Accessible

Wheelchair Accessible

Bathroom Accessible

... if this is what you're seeing my guess would be The New York Palace.

For the 3.5*:

Free Internet

Smoke Free

Fitness

Restaurant

Business

Laundry

... guess here would be the Club Quarters Grand Central

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

Let us know what you decide and how it goes or if we can be of further help.