Priceline Hotel: NYC Hotel and Outlet Shopping

[micmac75]

Hi there my wife and I are travelling to NYC in February for 3 days. I have a few questions I hope you could help us with.

1. Is there any outlet shopping area within east travelling distance to NYC and how would we get there?

2. I've heard that there is an ice skating rink will this still be in place in February?

3. We would like a 4* hotel in manhatten. Near to Central park and or Times square. can you recommend any and how much should I be looking to pay per night?

4. any tips for places to eat without costing us a fortune would be greatly appreciated.

We have been to NYC before and saw empire States Building, Statue of Liberty etc and would like something a little different.

Thanks for your help. :)

[thereuare]

1. Is there any outlet shopping area within east travelling distance to NYC and how would we get there?

The best in the area (imo) is Woodbury Commons. I believe NJ Transit offers bus service there, leaving from the Port Authority; otherwise you would need to rent a car. About an hour from NYC.

2. I've heard that there is an ice skating rink will this still be in place in February?

Wolman Rink in Central Park or The Skating Rink at Rock Center... both should still be open in February (it's still quite cold here at that time of year)

3. We would like a 4* hotel in manhatten. Near to Central park and or Times square. can you recommend any and how much should I be looking to pay per night?

What are the actual dates of your stay... we can then suggest a strategy for you to follow.

4. any tips for places to eat without costing us a fortune would be greatly appreciated.

Too many to go into right now today, let's get your accomodations squared away and then we can work on your likes/dislikes and food budget.

[micmac75]

Thanks for your swift reply. We arrive Feb 17th @ 2.10 pm we leave on the 20th @ 7.05pm. Flights to/from JFK :)

[thereuare]

Are you ready to bid now?

What is your maximum budget? Are you only willing to bid the UM/CPS and MTW zones? (not including the MTE zone?) For the average visitor all three zones are convenient to mass transit and make it easy to get around the city, but not sure of your individual needs and/or purpose of the trip.

Also, forgot to mention above regarding shopping....

Ohter outlets in the area include:

Secaucus - close and mass transit to the area is available, but the stores are VERY spread out and you can't easily walk from one to the other, so you ideally need a car to effectively shop there.

Jersey Gardens - near the Newark Airport and i've been once and was not impressed by the offerings/selections, but as with any outlet, it can be "hit or miss" and other do like it. There is bus service to here, again, leaving from the NY Port Authority (also goes to IKEA which is in the same area).

[Blueskies]

I was too slow in posting - Thereuare got there before me.

On the shopping questions there is Jersey Gardens (http://www.jerseygardens.com/) and Woodbury Commons (http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=7).

The one in Jersey is nearer than the one in Central Valley and is under cover unlike the Central Valley one, which will be cold in February. Woodbury is a great mall (been there quite a few times) but if you are restricted for time and it is dead of winter I would choose Jersey Gardens.

Lots of places to eat, take your pick from http://www.menupages.com/

For iceskating- http://gonyc.about.com/od/iceskatinginnyc/

Do you intend bidding for a hotel on Priceline? If so take a look at the maps part of this website and get an idea of what has been won and you can see dates and successful bid prices for the grade of hotel you would like. The Hotel list gives you enough info to guage which hotels would be acceptable. If you do not wish to bid then please begin your searching through the links that support this site.

Hope this helps.

Blueskies

[micmac75]

Hi thanks for the help again.I would ideally like to pay a maximum of $600. I am willing to bid now.

Just a few questions.

Once your bid is accepted who do you pay?

Is there any way of cancelling and getting the money back?

Do you pay upfront?

We would really like to be near times square or central park/ Broadway. Not too sure which zone is best.

Sofitel, I read on tripadvisor, has good reviews :)

[Blueskies]

Micmac

Just for clarity - is the $600 the total price for the 3 nights for a room for 2?

You pay Priceline and the trip is not cancellable, you pay up front. That is why your plans need to be firm. If you are one of those people who change their minds or have commitments that can mean you have to change plans often then I would not advise you use priceline.

There are posts for new bidders which you should read before you bid.

MTW and MTE are pretty popular midtown zones. Is it mid-week or a weekend trip. This can have a bearing on the price. UM/CPS is also pretty central. MTE includes Grand Central area so not far from everything. Inter-Continental The Barclay and Grand Hyatt are a couple of the 4* hotels that come up in MTE. Check out the hotel lists.

[micmac75]

trip is sat sun mon tues.

$600 is for the 3 nights

[Burton C]

For Outlet Malls there is also Harmon Cove ( http://www.harmonmeadow.com/pages/harmoncovepage.html )

Although it's probably not the best mall in the area, it is very easy to get to (30 minutes on the NJ Transit bus 129 with a 20minute frequency during peak time). Best pick-up (and study) a map though, I completely missed the Nautica and Kenneth Cole shops which are away from the main "mall".

There's also no sales tax on Clothing and Shoes in New Jersey.

[Burton C]

Meant to add, nice to see another "bargain hunter" taking advantage of Delta's cheap LGW -> JFK offer -- I'll be coming back in March 2007 (just returned last Tuesday from JFK having "won" the Intercontinental The Barclay for

[thereuare]

Burton C,

Please post your winning bid to the board.

Secaucus (mentioend above) is the same as "Harmon Meadow/Cove Outlets".

micmac75,

Rates are currently high, but this is typically a slow time in NYC. Given the time before your stay i would not bid near your limit just yet. If you're willing to MTW and UM/CPS (i think both would be fine, but you can read NYC ZONE DESCRIPTIONS for more info if you'd like).

This is how i would proceed at this time:

You have two re-bid zones when bidding 4* in NYC. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

Select 4* MTW...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $125, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* UM/CPS...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $125, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* MTW and UM/CPS...

Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $140.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.