Priceline Hotel: Is Priceline for me?

[kej]

A friend and I are talking about going to New York for the weekend of Nov. 14-16. We want to share a room so we can split the cost, but we don't want to share a bed. Beyond that, we aren't picky: though we want the most "stars for the money," two and a half or above is fine and we're flexible about the neighborhood. I read the post about the hotel that charged an extra $50 for a two-bedded room, but I'm not clear if that's the exception or the rule, and since that $50 is about 50% more than I'd like my final payment to be, being hit with such a fee would make a real difference. Given these criteria, should I bid on Priceline, or should I just stick with Quikbook and Hoteldiscounts.com?

(And, by the way, when should I start bidding? There are a couple of things at the Javits Center that weekend, but neither seem huge. I'd love to get a four-star room for a hundred dollars, but it's not THAT important.)

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

The $50 surcharge is the exception, not the rule.

Priceline rooms (as well as the other consolidators you mentioned) book rooms "run of house", meaning that you will get what's available at time of check-in. You can call ahead of time and put in a request for 2 beds... but it's just that, a request.

If you absolutely only want 2 beds, you should book directly with the hotel (but it'll cost you!), and even then there is always a chance that when you show up a room with 2 beds is simply not available.

Rates via Priceline in NYC are such a great deal vs. anything else that i know of that it would be a risk i would be willing to take, but only you can decide if it's a risk you're willing to take.

If you decide to take the risk of Priceline (or as discussed below, want to try to get 2 rooms at a price better than you can get one room) let us know and we'll supply a bidding strategy for you.

PS- some of the rates at the websites you mentioned are more than double what we typically see winning bids for the same property, so depending upon how much you plan on spending with Quickbook or HotelDiscounts you may actually be better off bidding for 2 rooms via Priceline. I have nothing against either of those sites; in fact just yesterday i recommended a friend book a Las Vegas hotel via QuickBook as i think they have very good rates in that market, but in NYC they're just not that competitive.