Priceline Hotel: 4* New York (Downtown - Wall Street) World Center Hotel

[Keith_B]

Hi there,

 

We're travelling from Edinburgh, Scotland to Stewart Airport, and then a bus from there arriving at the Port Authority Bus Station on 12th Oct, possibly around 10pm.

 

We'll be tired, so I was hoping to find a hotel within easy distance by either subway or cab.

 

I don't know NYC at all, and have only starting reading about biddinghelper / priceline / name your own price today.

 

I was thinking of trying for a 4.5* hotel in the following areas, simply because they border Times Square on the biddinghelper map, at around $200, including all extra "resort fees", etc.

 

1 - Times Square

6 - Midtown West

7 - Central Park South

4 - Rockerfeller Center

5 - Madison Square Garden

 

Does this sound sensible?

 

Am I kidding myself with my target bid?

 

Thanks for your assistance.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith.

[Keith_B]

I'd also consider express deals on PRICELINE / HOTWIRE at slightly more money, outwith these areas, as long as the likely hotel is less than a few minutes from a subway stop...

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

 

I'm very familiar with NYC so will try to help guide you towards something that will work best for your needs.

 

At current rates your budget is not going to be enough for a 4.5* property (as there is often a large jump in price when going from 4 star hotels to 4.5 star hotels).

 

If you're trying to stay at $200 all-in you will likely need to stay at a 4 star property 'downtown' (ie- Wall St. / World Trade Center) area which is certainly do-able, but not the most convenient for the average tourist (as the majority of your activities will be between Greenwich Village and Central Park... so you're looking at about a 10-20 minute subway ride each time you leave your hotel and are heading north towards The Village / Central Park)

 

A more centrally located hotel in midtown will likely run you about $190-$210 before taxes/fees... a 4.5* would start at about $215-$225 before taxes/fees.

 

Also, don't choose your hotel based upon proximity to your arrival location.  The Port Authority is fairly centrally located and easily accessible to all of Manhattan via subway or taxi... even if you choose to stay 'Downtown' you're looking at a 15 minute / $15-$20 taxi ride (or $2.75 on subway although if you're going to be that tired you may not want to deal with figuring out how to navigate the subway system at that hour, although you may get a second wind upon your arrival, and we can always give you explicit directions to your hotel once we know exactly where you will be staying)... so better to have an extra 5 minute taxi ride to your hotel upon arrival and have something that is well located for 5 days in the city than choose something close to your arrival location which may not be as good for the rest of your trip. (most locations near the Port Authority will be fine, but the preceding is good advice no matter where you are traveling as well as a reminder for anyone else reading this thread)

 

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

 

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

[Keith_B]

Hello thereuare,

 

Thanks for replying.

 

On reflection, as your advice indicates that the Port Authority is well connected, I'd be content to go outwith the areas I had previously indicated, as long as those areas are generally safe, and well connected for the subway; a 20 min subway trip is fine.

 

I would also be content to increase the budget slightly to $220 p/n to see if that brings us more options, including any resort fees, priceline fees, etc.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith.

[thereuare]

Hotel tax in NYC is about 15% so to reverse engineer an all-in price $220 you're looking about $190/nite room rate... then about $8-$10 per nite booking fee and you're down to about $180/nite... and that is assuming the hotel doesn't charge any resort fees (an uncommon, but becoming more common, trend in NYC).

 

Your choice(s) come down to (confirm your dates on the landing page after clicking the links below):

(NOTE: you can save an extra 5% off any of the PRICELINE EXPRESS deals below by using our board link and code in my signature)

4* Downtown - Wall Street for $176
Business Center
Restaurant
Free Internet
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> best guess would be the Club Quarters, World Trade Center... although the Club Quarters Wall Street and/or World Center Hotel would be secondary possibilities as well

 

To see your options if you want to stay more midtown and increase your budget:

4* Empire State Building Area for $212
Restaurant
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> likely the well reviewed HGU New York

 

4* Rockefeller Center - Bryant Park for $214
Business Center
Restaurant
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> Club Quarters, Opposite Rockefeller Center is our guess for this one... very centrally located

 

... or at the originally sought after 4.5 star rating:

4.5* SoHo - Tribeca for $240
Restaurant
Fitness Center
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> best guess would be the Nomo Soho

 

Alternately if you wanted to go down in star rating:

3.5* Empire State Building Area for $161
Pets Allowed
No Smoking Rooms/Facilities
==> good location but hotel is basic and 'meh' imo

 

Or a HOTWIRE options (similar to the 4 stars above but other options in case you're interested):

4* Midtown East for $207.00
Free Internet
Boutique
Smoke Free
Fitness
Restaurant
Business
Laundry
Hi-Speed Internet
==> Club Quarters Hotel, Grand Central our guess here

 

Lastly you could try bidding on PRICELINE (i think that was you original intent) but then you have to be able to accept a hotel anywhere within the boundaries of the zone(s) that you bid, won't be able to guess/target the hotel you may receive, and also have to assume a 'worst case scenario' in terms of any resort fee that may be charged would then likely greatly reduce your maximum bid amount.

 

Your thoughts on any of the hotels above or additional thoughts/questions?

 

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

Let us know how you'd like to proceed (or how it goes if you take one of the offers above) and we'll take it from there.

[Keith_B]

Hi thereuare,

 

Changed my dates by a day to 11-16 October, but used your link and code to book the 4* Downtown - Wall St option, which for me said $180 and not $176, and it turned out to be the World Center Hotel.

 

The total sum in sterling will be around £800; hotels.com here in the UK want £1070 for the same room, so a significant saving using the express deal.

 

Thanks very much for your help.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith.  

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

 

Glad to see you found something that will work for both your needs and budget.

 

When you changed the dates the price changed slightly but so did the hotel being offered.

 

A short walk from this hotel i recommend this place for a casual dinner:

Adrienne's Pizzabar

54 Stone St

... it's a restaurant, not a slice shop, but the food is reasonably priced (for NYC) for the quality of ingredients used.  Stick with their rectangular 'grandma' style pizza which is what they are most well known for.

Thank you for sharing your win and using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your purchase.

Enjoy your stay and let us know if we can be of any further help with your NYC visit.

[Keith_B]

Just back in Scotland. Hotel worked really well. Room overlooking the 9/11 pools after the 1st night. Nice staff. 

 

Went to Adriennes and it was excellent.

 

Thanks for your help.

[thereuare]

Glad to hear you had a great trip and also that you enjoyed Adrienne's.

 

I haven't been 'downtown' in awhile so glad to hear they're still doing an excellent job.