Dougy333 Posted August 25, 2018 Report Share Posted August 25, 2018 I'm looking to book a hotel near to Times Square and the theatre district between 10 November 2018 and 17 November 2018. Ideally I'd get a place with 3.5* or higher and a total cost of no more than $1,250 USD. So, in brief: Dates: 10 November 2018 to 17 November 2018 9November 2018 to 16 November 2018 Rating: 3.5* + Area: Times Square Price: No more than $1,250 USD total (inclusive of all fees). Link to comment
thereuare Posted August 25, 2018 Report Share Posted August 25, 2018 Welcome to BetterBidding! Your budget is on the low side on an all-in basis for NYC this time of year. Close to what you're asking for i'm seeing: 3* Times Square - Theatre District (confirm your dates on the landing page) for $129/nite with: Business Center Restaurant No Smoking Rooms/Facilities ==> best guess here would be the Mayfair New York 3.5* Times Square - Theatre District (confirm your dates on the landing page) for $148/nite with: Fitness Center Business Center Restaurant No Smoking Rooms/Facilities ==> The Gallivant Times Square but this comes out a bit over your budget after fees/taxes and the hotel's mandatory resort fee A few general comments: I would suggest looking beyond only the Times Square zone. I know every tourist starts their search wanting to stay directly in Times Square, but you will spend far less time here then you think. However, i did take a quick look at rates in other areas and your budget is still limiting for something at the 3.5* or better. Do either of the properties above work for your needs this trip? 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 either of the offers above) and we'll take it from there. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Dougy333 Posted August 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2018 Hi @thereuare Thanks so much for your help! I thought my budget may be on the low-ish side - what do you think a more realistic all-in price is to get somewhere in the 4* region for those dates? The above two options look good to me - though I've heard better reviews about The Gallivant than Mayfair. I'm open to other areas - I know one of my friends recently stayed at the Skyline in Hells Kitchen and said that was a good location. Open to suggestions! Thanks again! Link to comment
thereuare Posted August 27, 2018 Report Share Posted August 27, 2018 If the main concern is the 4 star rating (although above you were also willing to accept 3.5* and above) you could get the following which is close to the same price as the previous ones above: 4* Empire State Building Area (<-- CLICK HERE and confirm your dates on the landing page) for $134/nite with: Fitness Center Business Center Restaurant No Smoking Rooms/Facilities ==> LIFE Hotel, NoMad is my best guess for this property, with the resort fee this comes to $1353... although this lowers to $1306 when using the board's Priceline Coupon. This is This 4 star hotel from HOTWIRE: 4* HOTWIRE Times Square for $147.99 Free Internet Boutique Smoke Free Fitness Restaurant Business Hi-Speed Internet Travel Accessible Room Accessible ==> best guess here would be the YOTEL New York at Times Square, but note there is also a $34/nite resort fee (which is becoming more and more common in NYC) Plenty of other very nice options if going even higher in price, but not sure just how much you're willing to stretch your budget. Do either of the above work for your plans? 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 either of the ones above) and we'll take it from there. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Dougy333 Posted August 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2018 Hey @thereuare Thanks so much for your help despite my vague ideas of what I want. I've just booked flights now and will actually be in NYC from 9 November to 17 November now. Both the above look good, though prefer the Empire State Building option over Times Square. What would you suggest for 9 Nov - 17 Nov for similar budget per night? Interested to hear your suggestions 😀 Thanks! Link to comment
thereuare Posted August 28, 2018 Report Share Posted August 28, 2018 Unfortunately, at the moment there is very little within your budget (and nothing that really excites me) when searching for 11/9-11/17... and the 4 star Empire State Building hotel for $134/nite is no longer available. Using our sister site RefundableRates.com i would suggest booking: Washignotn Jefferson Hotel at Times Square for $198/nite which admittedly i'm not that familiar with but the location and reviews appear to be good... the intention would not be to keep this reservation, but book the fully refundable rate so that you at least lock something in that you could live with should rates only go higher from here. Then keep an eye on PRICELINE EXPRESS and HOTWIRE for something better to come along. To assist with tracking rates (so that you don't need to go to search daily to see if anything better has come along) you can use our RateDrop service (it's free) and set alerts for the following areas: Central Park South Chelsea Empire State Building Grand Central Terminal Madison Square Garden Midtown East Rockefeller Center Times Square ... filter the RateDrop results to only show 4 star hotels and click a SET ALERT button next to 4* hotels in each of the zones above, setting the alert to (let's say) $175 (although you will need to set Madison Square Garden and Rock Center at high prices since there are currently $165/ntie and $170/nite hotels in each of those zones, although neither are great properties, imo, so if you were to set these alerts at $175 you would receive an alert later today since the current price is below the $175/nite you set... OR you could set these at $175 to see how the service works, since once it detects the lower price it will send you an email and automatically change the alert price to the new lower price (hope that makes sense)) You could then do the same for similar zones from HOTWIRE (and/or for 3.5* hotel as well, but obviously those should use a slightly price... but you can use a different alert price for each star rating/zone combination, which should be just below the current price for that star rating/zone combination). 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 (or questions) on the plan above and we'll take it from there. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Dougy333 Posted August 29, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 Thanks @thereuare I've booked a stopgap hotel with free cancellation and will wait on the saved alerts. I've ended up shortening the dates to 9 November to 16 November (to stay an extra night in DC). Let me know if you see anything which may be worth booking for those dates 🙂 Cheers! Link to comment
thereuare Posted August 29, 2018 Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 Let us know if any alerts come and/or feel free to bump this thread every 2 weeks or so (or weekly as we get closer to your check-in date) to see if anything new has surfaced. Where and how much is your backup reservation? As there are a few different price ranges discussed above, please remind me/confirm what is the maximum budget we are targeting? Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Dougy333 Posted August 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 Will do @thereuare! My backup reservation is at the Mayfair which I know doesn't have the best reviews but looks like a good location and was $1,350 USD for 9 Nov to 16 Nov. Price: My upper limit is 200 USD/night all in (do you think that's achievable?). Star Rating: Not too fussed, but ideally 3.5*+ - just don't want a dodgy hostel type 'hotel'! Areas: Agree with you about not needing to be right in Times Square. At the moment I'm thinking of anywhere that fits the budget in: Times Square; Midtown West; Empire State Building; Rockefeller Centre; Chelsea; Central Park South and Midtown East. If that Empire State Building 4* hotel reappears for 134/nite again, I think I'll go for that one! Fingers crossed now. Link to comment
Dougy333 Posted August 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 Also - don't really understanding how the priceline bidding works - but would you suggest I try bidding for those dates as well? Link to comment
thereuare Posted August 30, 2018 Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 If you would be happy with the Mayfair it can be booked for about $250 less than your back-up reservation: 3* Times Square - Theatre District (confirm your dates on the landing page) for $130/nite with: Business Center Restaurant No Smoking Rooms/Facilities ==> Mayfair New York is my best guess for this one It would be appreciated if you used the requested sites/links on the board as it helps us keep this site running as a free resource for everyone. If you were to move forward bidding on PRICELINE, what would be your maximum bid price? Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Dougy333 Posted August 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 Thanks @thereuare! Not sure I want to commit to Mayfair just yet, but if I do I will definitely be using the link through the board. I'd probably try focus on the 140/150s per night with bidding for a 4* to see if I could get something similar to the Empire State Building one you found? Just want a bit more leeway on bidding in case I win a hotel that has an additional resort fee. I'd also be a bit concerned bidding on the lower star ratings that I'll end up with somewhere that is cheap for a reason haha! Do you think that's a reasonable bidding price or should I be looking a bit higher? Link to comment
Dougy333 Posted August 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 Quite interested to see if this one drops that I found through BiddingHelper: 3* Hotel in Empire State Building - Bryant Park area HOTWIRE Free breakfast Free Internet Business center Fitness center Smoke-free rooms For $199 USD/night. Looks like it may be Hotel Central Fifth Avenue which I'd be very happy with. All in price though is bit over my budget at $1,811 USD. Link to comment
AaronJB Posted August 30, 2018 Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 I'm seeing on HOTWIRE: 3* HOTWIRE Empire State Building - Bryant Park for $184.00 Complimentary Breakfast Free Internet Smoke Free Fitness Business Hi-Speed Internet ==> Best guess would be the Best Western Premier Herald Square. Would this option be of interest? I'm seeing the potential Yotel option mentioned above for slightly cheaper this morning: 4* HOTWIRE Times Square for $137.00 Free Internet Boutique Smoke Free Fitness Restaurant Business Hi-Speed Internet Blind Accessible Travel Accessible Room Accessible Wheelchair Accessible Bathroom Accessible Handicapped Parking Roll-in Shower ==> Best guess would be the Yotel Unfortunately, the potential Life Hotel Nomad listing on PRICELINE EXPRESS appears to be no longer available. Thank you for keeping us updated on what you decide. 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. Link to comment
Dougy333 Posted August 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 Thanks for hopping on board to assist @AaronJB! Neither of those links seem to go through to the listing - are they still showing on your end? Link to comment
thereuare Posted August 30, 2018 Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 We can't link directly to HOTWIRE offers... use our BiddingHelper.com tool and the EASY VEW tab to match the amenities to what is listed above (you need to use BiddingHelper.com EASY VIEW tab in order to see the complete amenity set). Would you prefer one of the HOTWIRE offers above where you have an educated guess of what you may likely receive or Bidding on Priceline? Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Dougy333 Posted August 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 Thanks for clarifying that @thereuare. Unfortunately both of those come in a bit high once the resort fee is added 😞 I'd be tempted to try Priceline Bidding in the Empire State Building and Hell's Kitchen areas (as there seems to be better reviewed hotels than Times Square) if you think it's worth a shot? What would be your suggested bidding technique? Link to comment
thereuare Posted August 31, 2018 Report Share Posted August 31, 2018 For Hell's Kitchen and Empire State Building what star rating would you be bidding and what would you maximum bid be? My suspicion is that the amount you're looking to bid is not going to be enough as you will be leaving too much of a 'cushion' to account for the unknown resort fee. 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. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
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