Priceline Hotel: 4* New York City (Madison Square Garden - Convention) Wyndham New Yorker Hotel

[ElPal]

Hi,

 

I am looking for a hotel for my sister who is travelling to NYC from 20-26 September.

 

Using your links, I have looked at HOTWIRE and PRICELINE and am finding it very expensive for these dates. I am not sure if there is anything in particular going on in NYC at that time which is causing such low availability of rooms. 

 

Are there any areas that you would avoid and is there any chance of getting a 4* hotel for around the USD $200 including fees per night mark? I am finding that even 3* hotels are costing more than this on HOTWIRE (using your link) and PRICELINE Express Deals (again using your link).

 

Otherwise, I am wondering whether I am going to have to look at getting an apartment or something for her.

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks,

[ElPal]

I decided to start by bidding on PRICE.LINE by using your link. Problem is that I know it is pretty unlikely that I am going to be able to get something within budget. Shame the AUD is so poor against the USD for this trip!

 

I also noticed that when I selected 5* as the star rating for bidding that when it comes to the page where it tells you the total price, there is a HOTEL FEE in addition to the usual Priceline fees. Is this a special NY thing or a USA thing? I've never seen it when I have looked before and for a 6 night stay it is approx $427 so not an insignificant amount.

 

I noticed that there was no HOTEL FEE when I selected 4.5* or 4* except when certain areas were included. Is it area specific?

[ElPal]

I have even tried splitting the dates for 20-23 and 23-26 September. Going in via your PRICELINE link each time.

 

Bid across all of these areas:

 

Central Park South
Chelsea Area
Downtown - Financial District
Empire State Building Area
Greenwich Village
Hell's Kitchen
Lower East Side
Madison Square Garden - Convention Area
Midtown East
Midtown West
SoHo - Tribeca
Times Square - Theatre District
Union Square - East Village
Upper East Side
Upper West Side

 

No luck at USD $118 per night.

 

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[ElPal]

Tried 23-26th 4.5* at $125 across the following areas using your [url=http://www.betterbidding.com/clicks/click.php?afsrc=1&id=40]PRICELINE[/url] link:

 

Central Park South

Chelsea Area

Downtown - Financial District

Empire State Building Area

Greenwich Village

Hell's Kitchen

Lower East Side

Madison Square Garden - Convention Area

Midtown East

Midtown West

SoHo - Tribeca

Times Square - Theatre District

Union Square - East Village

Upper East Side

Upper West Side

 

Again, rejected.

[thereuare]

$125 isn't in the right ballpark for a 4.5* over these dates... quite possibly not enough for a 4* either.

If any hotels in the zone have a resort fee then PRICELINE lists the highest resort fee on the preview page as a 'worst case scenario'... if the hotel you win does not have a resort fee then none would be payable directly to the hotel (and if there is a resort fee it may be less then it shown by PRICELINE, but it won't be more then is shown)

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

[ElPal]

Thanks. Using your links again I also tried all of those dates up to $145 for 4.5* and winged it for a 5* (knowing it was pretty unrealistic) but again no luck. No counter-offers either.

 

Any idea why NYC is so expensive during that week? My sister is travelling for meetings.

 

Re the resort fee/hotel fee, that's really good to know. Thank you.

[thereuare]

This is high season for NYC... anything else happening in the city just pushes rates even higher.

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

[ElPal]

Thanks. It also looks like the Pope is in town that week too.

 

The Aussie Dollar is certainly not helping things. Will be looking at options such as apartments instead and will report back to close off the thread with whatever we end up booking.

[thereuare]

The Pope in town would certainly qualify as "...anything else happening.." and would further explain the high rates.

Keep us updated on your progress and let us know if we can be of further help along the way.

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

Good luck!

[ElPal]

Have tried PRICELINE NYOP through your links as always, closing out and going back in via your link each time to bid for 5* up to $130 (knowing that it was very unlikely but the hotel/resort fee and bad AUD make it quite exxy). As expected no luck.

 

Then bid on all the areas that have the 4.5* hotels using the ones that don't as rebid zones and going in each time via your link and bid in $5 increments from $110 up to $205. Sadly no luck there either. No counter-offer to entice me that I was close either.

 

 

 

 

[ElPal]

As always using your links, I have now tried for a 4* initially with most of the zones on the island of Manhattan (with the exception of the scarier ones!). I have used rebid zones where possible and each time closed out and again went in via your PRICELINE link

 

I have bid $150, $160 on all of those areas.

 

I then narrowed it down to those with no additional hotel fee so that the total price would not be so high if I were to bid higher amounts:

 

Downtown - Financial District
Empire State Building Area
Greenwich Village
Hell's Kitchen
Lower East Side
Midtown East
Midtown West
SoHo - Tribeca
Union Square - East Village
Upper East Side
Upper West Side

 

plus Chelsea (which only had a fee of $21 for the 6 nights) and made the following bids: $175, $180, $190 and $200.

 

I then dropped Downtown - Financial District to allow for a rebid and tried $205 with no success.

 

Ouch! A$354 total per night and still not even a 4*. Going to now try for a 3*. Fingers crossed!

[ElPal]

Using your PRICELINE link and closing out and re-entering via it each time, I tried 3.5* across most of the areas bidding in $10 increments from $150 to $180 and again no luck! 

 

Argh!

 

Ok, 3 stars here I go! Crossing fingers, toes, arms, legs and even eyes at this point to get something!

[ElPal]

Using your link, I tried for a 3*:

 

$140 across:

Central Park South
Chelsea Area
Downtown - Financial District
Empire State Building Area
Greenwich Village
Hell's Kitchen
Lower East Side
Madison Square Garden - Convention Area
Midtown East
Midtown West
SoHo - Tribeca
Times Square - Theatre District
Union Square - East Village
Upper East Side
Upper West Side

 

Then $155 in the following zones:

Central Park South

Chelsea Area
Coney Island - no 3* hotel here
Downtown - Financial District
Empire State Building Area
Greenwich Village
Hell's Kitchen
Madison Square Garden - Convention Area
SoHo - Tribeca
Times Square - Theatre District
Union Square - East Village
Upper East Side
Upper West Side

 

Still no luck. Any tips? Split the stay? Any other websites I should consult? I really don't want to be paying over A$350 total for a 4 or 5 star property and definitely not over A$300 total for a 3 1/2 star property

[thereuare]

I really don't want to be paying over A$350 total...

Please post in US Dollars as i just searched/researched 4* hotels under $350/nite when i realized that you posted in Australian Dollars and are really only looking at $250/nite US.

PRICELINE EXPRESS has this 4 star Times Square hotel (confirm your dates on the landing page) for $245/nite which comes to about $290/nite all-in, which i know is over your ideal budget, but does seem like the best value based upon the other options.

Unfortunately you're coming to NYC during peak season, and with the Pope being in town it will draw even higher demand, which will only matter pricing even worse. Use our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com to search for your dates and you can get a very good idea of regular pricing and what you're up against in terms of pricing (you can then also use the price filter slider to only show hotels that are within your budget and see if anything exists)

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

Good luck!

[Beefdrippings]

Have you tried splitting your bidding in half?Making a bid for the first three days and then another one for the last three days.I've done it before it's not so bad.I'm going to NY almost the exact same dates and I've noticed after the 20th the prices are lower.Just some food for thought.

[Beefdrippings]

Have you tried splitting your bidding in half?Making a bid for the first three days and then another one for the last three days.I've done it before it's not so bad.I'm going to NY almost the exact same dates and I've noticed after the 20th the prices are lower.Just some food for thought.

 

Sorry,I forgot that you already mentioned that you did try that.

[ElPal]

Have booked Waldorf Astoria through its own website directly for 20-23 September so now using your links have been looking at HOTWIRE and PRICELINE for 23-26 September.

 

Would you like me to start a separate post for those dates as a separate stay and close this one off as having found accommodation elsewhere?

[thereuare]

What is the rate at the Waldorf? (and is it refundable?)

You can continue this thread for the balance of your trip.

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.

[ElPal]

Waldorf was a huge splurge - 289USD for the first night (20th) and 399USD per night for the remaining two nights. 

 

Not refundable.

 

It is higher than my sister's budget allowed but she was getting so disillusioned at the prices that she was going to have to pay for sub-par that she decided to splurge for a few nights and then will work out something hopefully very cheap for the remaining nights.

 

BTW, just to clarify, all amounts i have referred to in previous posts have been to USD - I always bid in USD and report all wins etc to the board in USD. The only reason I mentioned the 350 AUD was because the USD against it changes daily of course and $350 AUD per night was the budget.

[ElPal]

Tried 3.5* for $172 for a whole range of areas on Manhattan. Rejected and no luck. No counter-offer either.

[ElPal]

Using your link (always), bid for a 3* in the following zones for 23-26 September at $171 and got rejected:

 

Central Park South
Chelsea Area
Downtown - Financial District
Empire State Building Area
Greenwich Village
Hell's Kitchen
Lower East Side
Madison Square Garden - Convention Area
Midtown East
Midtown West
SoHo - Tribeca
Times Square - Theatre District
Union Square - East Village
Upper East Side
Upper West Side

[ElPal]

Any idea what property this might be?

 

Using your HOTWIRE link, I found this 3* hotel in Midtown Central Area for USD $247 per night with the following listed amenities:

 

Pet friendly

Boutique hotel

Fitness center

Restaurant(s)

Business center

Self-service laundry

Internet access

Spa services

 

The fact it has boutique hotel makes me think it is not one of the properties already reported to the board, some of which have the other amenities.

 

Any ideas?

[thereuare]

... not sure of the 3* HOTWIRE Times Square property (although i think the price is now $285/nite), but the Tryp by Wyndham Times Square would be my guess.

If you're willing to pay $250/nite... then why stop your 3* bidding at $171/nite?

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

[ElPal]

So, I received a 10% off coupon (valid for 6 hours only) for PRICELINE in my inbox when I woke this morning (I'm in Australia) so using your link tried again - realising we are having to up the bidding as all the properties are so expensive. The budgetted amount is constantly increasing.

 

Areas tried were all the safe areas on Manhattan.

 

Tried 4.5* at US$249 - rejected.

 

Tried 4* at US $249 - rejected.

 

Tried 3.5* at $249 and first of all got the "we're still working on your request" message and then when I clicked on the check status a few times, I was presented with a counter-offer of $320 per night. 

 

Then thought to ourselves, why pay so much for a 3.5*, may as well have a go at a 5* for 310USD (excluded the areas which have the additional hotel fee) and that was rejected with no counter.

 

Now have 20 minutes before the 10% off code expires and we are scratching our heads and umming and aahing about what to do. 

 

We could of course increase the 3.5* bid (using rebidding zones) to something between the U$249 and $320 that was the counter-offer but it really does hurt to pay so much for just a 3.5* property. 

 

I will let you know if we make any further bids and as always we use your links when we look and also when we bid.

[ElPal]

My 10% off coupon expired so I tried to use your 7% one and received the following message:

 

"Sorry, but this awesome coupon has already been used"