Hotwire Hotel: Hotwire Hotels Upper West Side

[lml]

I have started looking for hotels on the Upper West Side for 11/14-11/16/03. I will be going back and forth to Columbia Univ.

Hotwire lists 4 hotels:

3.5* for $149 with restaurant, fitness, business

3* for $218 with rest., fitness

2.5* for $ 165 with rest only

2* for $170 with fitness, breakfast, business

Any ideas what these might be? Also, Priceline only lists 3 hotels, from 2.5* and down. Any ideas about those?

Many thanks!

[thereuare]

The UWS is not an area known for their hotels so i will ask: how many trips do you need to make back/forth to Columbia, at what time of day, and what mode of tranportation do you intend on using?

If you are taking taxis i'd consider staying in Priceline's CPS/UM zone and if taking subway i'd consider Hotwire's Times Square zone. I think you're likely to get a better value for your money in these areas.

If you're absolutely committed to the UWS area i'd first do a search on Expedia (link above) for your dates and then select the UWS area from the drop down list and you'll see most of the hotels that are in this area (there's only one page of hotels... like i said, not an area known for their hotels). You'll notice that there are very few name brands in this list, and i'm not saying that a name brand hotel is necessarily better than an independent hotel, but when buying blindly i'd prefer to go with a known brand as you'd at least expect certain standards to be met.

As for Priceline... they're not listing 3 specific properties, they're simply stating that the highest rated property in this area is 2.5*. Theoretically they could have 4 or 5 different hotels at each star level.

So, little is known about this area and i therefore can't identify any of the Hotwire hotels. Of course, if you decide to move forward with one of them due to the proximity of Columbia we'll gain some insight to the area; but if it were me i'd see if my plans could accomdate a different zone.

[lml]

Thanks, Thereuare, for moving the post to the right place!

I will be going up to Columbia at least twice each day, primarily via subway. I stayed in Times Square the last time, and it was OK, but I actually like the quiet of the UWS when I'm not trying to do anything further downtown. (The primary purpose of the trip is to visit my child.) I have looked at Expedia (many times); the best UWS hotels that I'm aware of are the Excelsior (4* on Expedia), the Lucerne, and On The Avenue (which isn't great). Then there are 1 or 2 very expensive places, which aren't an option, and a few less expensive ones.

I'm primarily trying to see if anyone on the board has previous UWS experience with either Priceline or Hotwire, and whether the 2.5* on Priceline is equivalent to a 3.5 * on Hotwire, or just a lower-rated hotel. Thanks for the clarification about Priceline; I haven't ever tried it.

[lml]

Thereuare - per your request, I'm updating this post. The reason I never posted a result was that I ended up doing an apartment vacation sublet on West 93rd - a two bedroom apartment for ~$250/night. Worked better since visiting family could stay with us.

lml

[thereuare]

Thanks for following up.

As an FYI, and for anyone else reading along, we request that you follow up your posts with the end result, regardless if you ended up using Priceline or Hotwire. It gives each thread some 'closure' and it also may give others alternative ideas if Priceline or Hotwire isn't working for them on a specific date. (ie- now somebody may consider an apartment sublet if they're unsuccessful for their own dates)

Thanks.

[lwitchel]

If this is of any use, the common 2.5*for the UWS on Priceline was the Empire, right next to Lincoln Center, which used to go as low as $65-$70 for perfectly acceptable rooms, but alas, closed to be converted into condominiums in late January. (I got it at $70 in early Jan. it for my brother's stay to visit)

I'm not sure what winning bids will get in the UWS now.