Priceline Hotel: New York 20 Oct - 27 Oct

[Thejomak]

Hello everyone! A big noob here going to NYC for the first time ever with the missus on 20 Oct until 27 Oct (7 nights) 🙂

 

I was checking Priceline Express and Hotwire, and recently found out about Priceline bidding - via your forum. So now I'm even more confused!

 

I was initially planning for something around $150/night all-in, in Manhattan, somewhere south of central park, in a 3-star facility.

After a lot of searching,  and raising my budget to $200/night all-in, the best rates I got where some dubious 3-star ones in Times Square or some better 4-star ones in Wall Street (which after some research is an ok-ish neighbourhood to see NY). This is on Priceline, with the new member discount (10% off Express Deals).

 

Is there a way (with bidding or waiting or whatnot) to find either a more central location/better hotel thank 4* Wall Street for $200/night (even $220 would be manageable if something really good shows up), or a $150/night 4* place in Wall Street neighbourhood?

 

Thank you!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

 

I'm local to the NYC area and happy to help....

 

To get started, a full one-week stay can sometimes be troublesome thru PRICELINE / HOTWIRE... if a hotel is sold-out (or doesn't offer discounted inventory) for just one nite of your 7 nite stay it is no longer part of the list of possible outcomes.  You might do better by SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID, which involves changing hotels mid-trip.  This comes down to personal preference... some favor it as they view it as being able to stay in two different parts of the city, others are willing to do it if the savings are significant, while others won't do it at any price.  Splitting the trip takes a lot of research since there are multiple date combinations that can be used, and then if you do find a suitable hotel for the first set of date, you then also have to be fortunate enough to find a suitable hotel for the remaining nites.  So let's start with your options for the complete stay, and we can then take it from there (rates quoted below are room rate only before taxes/fees)...

 

4* HOTWIRE World Trade Center - Wall Street for $148.00
Free Internet
Smoke Free
Fitness
Restaurant
Business
Wheelchair Accessible
==> Doubletree Financial would be my best guess for this one... hotel does not get the best of reviews, but certainly do-able for the right price, and this does seem to be quite a bit less than other offerings

 

4* HOTWIRE Midtown East for $173.00
Free Internet
Boutique
Smoke Free
Fitness
Restaurant
Business
==> Club Quarters Grand Central... looks like this is entry point into midtown at the 4 star level, but a bit deceiving as it does not include the $22/nite resort fee (you know, to maintain all the palm trees in NYC😉)

 

3.5* HOTWIRE Madison Square Garden for $216.00
Free Internet
Smoke Free
Fitness
Restaurant
Business
Golf
==> Courtyard New York Manhattan/Times Square West... newer hotel that has been getting good reviews

 

From PRICELINE EXPRESS i'm seeing:
4 star Grand Central - UN Terminal --> Dylan hotel for $198 (the easy way for me to create a link to this property is broken at the moment but if you want this hotel i will create a link for you to purchase from)

4 star Grand Central - UN Terminal --> $184.... will have to research further if Boutique Hotel at Grand Central or Club Quarters Grand Central (they're sister hotels and nearly identical in all respects... including the ~$20/nite resort fee)

4 star Empire State Building Area --> $213/nite... i think it's the Iberostar 70 Park Avenue Hotel but again, if this is of interest i will research further to confirm

 

Any of the above of interest at these prices or would splitting the trip be a feasible option?

 

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 and we'll take it from there.

[Thejomak]

Thank you for your quick response!

 

I think that splitting a bid and risking a hotel switch will not work for us as we'd rather have a "base" and not switch it for the week.

From what I can see, it's either:

1. Dylan that comes by at ~$215/night all-in, and has no resort fees, from PRICELINE EXPRESS with the Priceline Coupon
2. Doubletree @ Wall str. from HOTWIRE at ~$195 all-in

Would bidding make a difference?

[thereuare]

Bidding on Priceline would likely be slightly cheaper... but you then give up the ability to have a guess as to the hotel you may receive (or know any of the amenities, reviews, etc if any of these things are important to you) and you need to be willing to accept any hotel in the zone(s) that you bid at the star rating (or higher) that you choose.

It comes down to if 'more unknown' is worth a little bit extra savings... although in NYC this becomes a bit more complicated since more and more hotels are charging resort fees; to keep within a budget you have to assume that you'll win the hotel in the zone that has the highest resort fee.  If you ultimately receive a hotel that does not charge any resort fee, then maybe you could have paid a little more for a different hotel in a different zone... on the other hand if you don't count for the resort fee and land something that has a high one, it can effect your plans while in the city based upon the funds left over when you budgted for 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 what you decide and how it goes or how we can be of further help.

[Thejomak]

Just wanted to follow up that we opted for a cheap apartment rental that popped up in Jersey City.

 

Really appreciate the help, and I'll be using a lot more of your help (and links) in the future!

[thereuare]

Glad to see you found something that will work for your needs this trip.

 

Thank you for closing this thread with your decision.

 

Have a great trip and dun in NYC.