Priceline Hotel: Is $100 max for NYC possible for 12/10?

[busybee]

We're staying in NYC for 1 night only on 10 Dec. So long as it is in Manhattan, we don't care about the area as we assume pretty much all hotels in the city are subway accessible.

We are hoping for a 3.5-4 star hotel. What is the best way to bid when we don't care about location? We prefer to stay as close to $100 as possible.

What is a likely successful bid for 3* in any area in Manhattan?

What is a likely successful bid for 4* in any area in Manhattan?

Also, since we are only booking for 1 night, do you know if we are lower down on the priority list compared to people who book 2 night weekends?

Thanks!

[WillTravel]

There have been almost no sub-$100 bids in Manhattan lately, and definitely not for a 3-4* hotel.

I think that the pre-Christmas date is pretty high-demand also, but you can determine that by looking to see what conventional rates are for your dates. Single Saturday night stays tend to be the hardest and most expensive to get.

You might like to look at the Jersey City options.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

This is one of the most expensive weekends of the year in NYC (although i do realize you're only looking for one nite of the weekend) and i'm doubtful you'll find anything at the 3* or 4* within your price range.

You'll need to raise your maximum bid amount (probably substantially) or choose areas outside of the city. Jersey City (the best option outside of Manhattan) will also likely cost you more than $100/nite and you may have to go as far as the Meadowlands area, where you'll need to take a bus (~20 minutes) into Manhattan.

Let us know your thoughts on which options above work best for your plans and we'll advise accordingly.

[busybee]

Thanks for your advice so far :)

Definitely we would like to stay in Manhattan if possible. Although we are flying out quite early from Newark on Sunday morning. So it's not out of the question for us to be in Jersey. So here are the questions:

- how much would I have to raise my minimum bid to get 3* in Manhattan?

- how much if I include Jersey? Is it fair comparison that 3* Manhattan price = 4* Jersey price?

Based on your feedback, I've given up on 4* as that seems rather ambitious!

Thanks again. What a very useful and cool board!

[busybee]

Oops... my first time using the board and I may have posted the reply using the wrong 'reply' button... So here it is again:

Thanks for your advice so far :)

Definitely we would like to stay in Manhattan if possible. Although we are flying out quite early from Newark on Sunday morning. So it's not out of the question for us to be in Jersey. So here are the questions:

- how much would I have to raise my minimum bid to get 3* in Manhattan?

- how much if I include Jersey? Is it fair comparison that 3* Manhattan price = 4* Jersey price?

Based on your feedback, I've given up on 4* as that seems rather ambitious!

Thanks again. What a very useful and cool board!

[thereuare]

Thanks for the compliments on the site.

My guess is that you'll likely need to be much closer to $200 (or more) than $100. See this PRICELINE thread for another user's experience for bidding for this weekend.

Jersey City will likely cost you more than $100 as well, the Meadowlands area should be accessible for under $100, but one user did have trouble finding a room in this area during this peak season (i don't recall the exact dates) but they didn't go as high as $100.

But as you're flying in, and i assume not for one day, where are you staying the other days? How will you get to the hotel you end with and to the airport on Sunday. A taxi to EWR from the Meadowlands area is an expensive trip for a relatively short distance.

You can't really compare star ratings and price in one area to star ratings and price in other area... there's not a direct correlation as you propose.

[busybee]

Hi again,

Curiosity got the better of me and I tried bidding on Priceline, no luck. This is how I bid (and failed!)

check in 10 Dec. check out 11 Dec.

Bidding for 3* minimum. 2.5* didn't sound good...

startedwith 100

Midtown West

110

Midtown West

Midtown East

120

Midtown West

Midtown East

Midtown South

125

Midtown East

Midtown South

Midtown West

Upper West Side

125

Midtown East

Midtown South

Midtown West

Upper Midtown - Central Park South

Upper West Side

130

Midtown East

Midtown South

Midtown West

Upper East Side

Upper Midtown - Central Park South

Upper West Side

135

Downtown - Soho - Financial District

Midtown East

Midtown South

Midtown West

Upper East Side

Upper Midtown - Central Park South

Upper West Side

And that's how it ended so far... I'm not overly worried because my partner also has a Priceline account and if necessary, we can retry using his account.

We are indeed flying in on Saturday morning and leaving Sunday morning!!!! Long story, but basically we got a cheap airfare and since it's only an hour flight, we don't care. So we only need 1 night...

We DEFINITELY only want 3* and up. Unless someone can convince me that the 2.5* are decent?

Can you help with a strategy for 3* in Manhattan? We don't care which zone.

Thanks!

[thereuare]

What is your maximum bid... as you're really not bidding high enough for this date.

[busybee]

Is 150 doable? How are 2.5* in NYC?

[thereuare]

With this being one of the busiest dates in NYC, there is little reason for hotels to release deeply discounted inventory to the opaque suppliers if they believe they are likely to sell the rooms themselves (at full price).

Let's approach this from another angle:

If you can't get a hotel on Priceline (or Hotwire)... where will you stay and how much will it cost you?

[busybee]

Funny you should ask :) My travelling companion and I were just talking and since our flight is at 8 AM on Sunday, we should just stay out all night and then head straight to the airport. But if we can get something for $150, then obviously it would be nice to have a place to rest/shower etc. But since we paid 90 for our return plane tickets, we don't want to pay 200-300 for a hotel room for just one night. I think 150 is the max reasonable amount we would fork out.... can we get 2.5* for this?

[thereuare]

I'm doubtful you'll be successful, but i will suggest a strategy in a follow-up post none-the-less, but before i do...

Since you have an 8am flight out of EWR, why not get a hotel near the airport? Fly in, drop off your bags, head to the city for the day and most of the nite. When you're done with the city head back to the hotel to rest, sleep, shower... then catch your flight.

Hotels by EWR should be substantially less than a Manhattan property.

[busybee]

Because we hear it's not easy to get to Jersey late at night. Do public transport between Manhattan and Jersey run 24 hours? Or do they stop after midnight?

[thereuare]

Because we hear it's not easy to get to Jersey late at night.

Where did you hear that?!?! (as it's not true... unless you need to get to a specific area of Jersey City)

... but are you now talking about Jersey City or Newark (Airport)?

Let us know and we'll outline your transportation options.