Priceline Hotel: First 4* hotel, hell's kitchen/madison square garden. June 23-30

[waterdonut]

Hi,

I'm taking my mom and little sister to NYC for our first time. This is also our first big vacation and my first time pIanning so I would really appreciate any advice.

Ruirements are 2 beds or one bed and a sleeper. Free breakfast is preferable.

I chose the hell's kitchen area because it seems to be a little cheaper than surrounding areas but still walkable. I'll be buying the metro pass so I'm open to other safe areas.

Budget is 150 to 200.

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

The issue with NYC is that rooms are small and rooms with more than 1 bed often go for a premium. Therefore, if you do use Price.line bidding, there is a significant risk that you will get one bed. You can contact the hotel and try to negotiate room type, but the hotel will most likely say no.

 

PRICELINE EXPRESS (where you can look for a listing with bed choice, then on the next page you are presented with options) or Hot.wire (where you can indicate the amount of people in the party and therefore guarantee some sort of bedding for the entire party) are better options.

 

Are you seeing a listing of interest on Hot.wire for these dates in your desired budget? If so, please provide the price per night, star rating, zone and amenities (including accessible amenities) and we would be happy to take a look and try to ID.

 

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

[waterdonut]

Thanks! :)

 

On Hot.wire: 

 

$182

Madison square garden - hell's kitchen area hotel

3 star rating

90% recommend

Free breakfast, free internet, business center, fitness center

 

 

$231

Empire state building area hotel

3 star rating

80% recommend

free breakfast, free internet, restaurants

[AaronJB]

For the 3* MSG, if you click on the listing, do you also see internet in addition to free internet? If so, I'd guess the Holiday Inn Express West Side.

 

I'm not seeing a 3* ESB with these amenities. If you are still seeing this listing, how many people (adults/children) are you searching for?

 

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

[waterdonut]

For 3* MSG, no I only see "free internet". Do you think that is a good price for the Holiday Inn or should I wait to see if it drops closer to the date?

 

I am searching for 3 adults, 7 nights, 6/23/2015 - 6/30/2015. Thanks :)

[yellowdog]

For 3* MSG, no I only see "free internet".

You can do the following to ensure you're seeing the complete list:

1) use the EASY VIEW tab of our Bidding.Helper and click the green 'See All Amenities' button

OR

2) search HOT.WIRE (or use the HOT.WIRE tab at Bidding.Helper) and...

· click the offer

·  on the next page click the BOOK NOW link

·  in the TRIP SUMMARY box click the 'See more' link at the end of the amenities

 

Using any of the methods above, do you see any additional amenities for both hotels?

 

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

 

Yellowdog.

[thereuare]

Please start by reading your messages (which will also remove the red box at the top of the page and make the board easier to navigate)

The Holiday Inn Express West Side is a little too far west for my liking and i think you have other/better options available.

For example, when searching for 3adults i'm seeing what looks to be the Holiday Inn NYC - Lower East Side for $182/nite. While this would not be the most ideal location either, it's more 'city like' than the Holiday Inn Express you're considering, closer to a subway station, the Lower East Side has gone thru a renaissance ans there are a lot of restaurants/shops in the area, and the hotel gets very good reviews. (if breakfast not included is a deal stopper for you don't let it be as you can usually get very inexpensive breakfast in NYC, which if you ultimately decide/consider a hotel that doesn't offer free breakfast, i can explain further).

However, you asked about an ESB property above ($231/nite) that is well over your target $200 budget... if you let us know how important budget is relative to hotel location, quality, etc. we can offer some other suggestions. Also, is your 'little sister' 18+ (and if close how old is she)

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

[waterdonut]

The prices went up on both!

 

Using method 1)

 

madison square garden - hell's kichen area hotel

$254

Free breakfast, Free Internet, Pet friendly, Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access

 

 

Empire state building area hotel

$245

Free breakfast, Free Internet, Restaurant(s), Internet access

 

 

I found a couple more backups if those two stay expensive:

 

$214 Upper east side area hotel, 3 1/2 stars

60% recommend

Free breakfast, Free Internet, Pet friendly, Boutique hotel, Smoke-free rooms, Internet access

 

$215 Upper east side area hotel, 2 1/2 stars

40% recommend

Free breakfast, Free Internet, Boutique hotel, Smoke-free rooms, Business center, Internet access

[waterdonut]

Hi I read my message, thanks.

 

I asked about the ESB by mistake because I was in the mentality that I can 'place my own bid' after reading about PRICELINE...sorry! I really do not want to surpass $200 since we will stay for 7 nights. I will try and expand to hotels that do not offer breakfast because the ones that do are out of my budget I am starting to see. 

 

She is under 18, in her teens, so I'd like to stay in a safe, non-party environment. I will check out lower east side. I am definitely going to buy a metro pass so close to a subway station would be good...now to figure out which subway lines go where...

 

Thank you! I will look up your suggestion.

[Romelle]

She is under 18, in her teens... I am definitely going to buy a metro pass so close to a subway station would be good...now to figure out which subway lines go where...

 

I'm fond of just telling a younger member of my group it is their task to figure out the subway thing.  Kids love the empowerment, and rather quickly will be comfortably leading the adults around.  She could start with a web search for some how-to's.  Print out a map or buy a map.  Figure the route from airport to hotel, hotel to your various sights, etc.  ahead of time for practice.  

 

Even 12-year old grandkids can get the hang of it promptly.  

 

The pass in wonderful, since when one makes the occasional mistake, it doesn't cost another fare to correct.  It also saves the continual fumbling for correct change and purchasing new tickets.  

 

Click here  for a good start on instructions.

 

And while I'm at it, do you have some good guide books?  If not, your local library usually has a full array.  I favor the Lonely Planet series, but there are lots of other good ones.  If you decide to purchase so you can take with you, Amazon usually has the best rates.

 

Romelle

[thereuare]

I really do not want to surpass $200...

... and all of the hotels above are over $200/nite, so i would suggest starting by looking at the Holiday Inn and see if that will work for your needs, you can then decide if worth increasing your budget or not (although i doubt it would be worth increasing your budget to the last two hotels above (the most affordable ones) as they each have a very lower recommendation by previous HOTWIRE guests).

She is under 18, in her teens...

This is good as it enables you to search for 2adults/1child which may be a little cheaper, and more hotels offered, then if you searched for 3adults.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

Let us know your thoughts and we'll take it from there.

[waterdonut]

The hotels above are under 200 this week and next.

I might just wait longer to see if the prices go down...

[waterdonut]

I'm fond of just telling a younger member of my group it is their task to figure out the subway thing. Kids love the empowerment, and rather quickly will be comfortably leading the adults around. She could start with a web search for some how-to's. Print out a map or buy a map. Figure the route from airport to hotel, hotel to your various sights, etc. ahead of time for practice.

Even 12-year old grandkids can get the hang of it promptly.

The pass in wonderful, since when one makes the occasional mistake, it doesn't cost another fare to correct. It also saves the continual fumbling for correct change and purchasing new tickets.

Click here for a good start on instructions.

And while I'm at it, do you have some good guide books? If not, your local library usually has a full array. I favor the Lonely Planet series, but there are lots of other good ones. If you decide to purchase so you can take with you, Amazon usually has the best rates.

Thanks so much. I think I'm on my own figuring the subway lines out :P

I'm trying to see which subway line goes to the most tourist sites and get a hotel near that one. Any recommendations?

I don't have guidebooks but just have been looking up the main tourist sites online.

Romelle

[AaronJB]

The hotels above are under 200 this week and next.

I might just wait longer to see if the prices go down...

 

They can go up or down and do so quickly. It's not that long until your date/s so I'd guess hotels have a pretty good idea of traffic for the end of the month already. 

 

Please keep us updated with what you decide and let us know if you have additional questions.

 

You can also use our RateDrop.com service to monitor price declines.

 

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

[Romelle]

I'm trying to see which subway line goes to the most tourist sites and get a hotel near that one. Any recommendations?

 

I haven't done New York City this way, but for other places I've visited I sometimes have started with a simple search "cityname top 10 tourist attractions".  Many of the sites derived from this include maps with the attractions marked, so it is easy to see where things are clustered.  You can also leave out the "10" and just ask for top tourist attractions.  www.tripadvisor.com usually shows up with its useful lists.

 

The Lonely Planet maps generally have both the tourist attractions and the metro stops on their maps.

 

You might consider staying in two different locations - 3 nights in one and 4 in the other.  That way you could experience a couple different neighborhoods and check out the nearby tourist sites of each.  When you are searching on Hotwire for a 7 night stay, a hotel has to have availability all 7 of those nights to show up.  If you split the stay you might see some different properties.  Moving is a bit of a pain, but sometimes worth it.  It can let you stay in slightly lower star levels when the rates for those dates are high, then live it up in higher star levels when the rates for those dates are low.  

 

Romelle

[waterdonut]

Wow! I didn't think about hotels only showing up if all 7 days were available. Thank you so much. I'll definitely try to split it up into two hotels. I like your idea of staying in better hotels that are cheaper in one half. I'll look again now with this in mind, thank you again! :)