Priceline Hotel: 3* NYC (Downtown-SoHo) Holiday Inn Wall Street

[chimps]

I am running the New York Marathon and have accomodation in the Embassy Suites on the nights of 4th and 5th November, unfortunately I cannot really afford the night of the 3rd November on the prices being quoted. I am keen to use priceline or hotwire as I have heard you can secure discounts to get good hotels, even the Embassy Suites. Please can someone help and advise what price I should bid at?

I am a UK resident so does this exclude me using priceline?

[thereuare]

You can use the US version of priceline by following the tips in this Priceline for Canadians thread (no longer necessary for Canadians since priceline now accepts canadian addresses, but still applies to other non-North America locations).

What is your maximum bid for the nite of 11/3? With it being marathon weekend, and most hotels will likely be at/near full occupancy, you can probably save a little bit of money but i wouldn't expect any super-deals to be had. However, i just did a search and was surprised to see a 3* in the Downtown zone available on HOTWIRE for just $129/nite which seems like it would be a pretty good deal (the hotel hasn't yet been identified, but i recently guessed in another thread that it might be the Holiday Inn Downtown... but can't be certain).

If you take the offer above please use this HOTWIRE link to begin your purchase (Hotwire also has no residency restriction). If you'd rather try priceline let us know your maximum bid, minimum star rating, and the zone(s) you're to accept and we'll suggest a strategy to follow.

I'll also add that there is a great deal (likely under $100) for a hotel in Jersey City which is an 8 minute train ride from downtown manhattan... not sure what your rate is at the Embassy Suites or if the convenience of NYC is more of a factor for these two nites than money, but figured i'd throw it out there in case you don't mind a train ride to get to the busses to the Verrazano (i'm assuming there are downtown busses to get to the starting line).

Hope you're training is going well.

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[chimps]

Thanks for the help, think I will go for the Hotwire deal, seems a good price and easier than trying to explain to me how to win on Priceline! unless you think I can secure a better deal on Priceline?

[thereuare]

Priceline is often, but not always, a little cheaper than HOTWIRE (especially when this rate appears to be an 'outlyer')

If you want to try to beat it via priceline, you could try the following:

Select 3* Downtown...

Bid $90, if rejected add MTS...

Bid $100, if rejected add UM/CPS...

Bid $105, if rejected add MTE...

Bid $110, if rejected add MTW...

Bid $115, if rejected add UES...

Bid $120, if rejected add UWS...

Bid $125.

If the above is rejected then just take the offer thru HOTWIRE (please use this previous link and be sure to let us know what hotel you end up with).

I would do the above ASAP to make sure that the (apparently) great rate above does suddenly disappear.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[chimps]

Booked it through Hotwire - it is Holiday Inn Wall Street District

Thank you for your help, it was greatly appreciated.

[thereuare]

Glad to hear it went as expected/predicted... thanks for confirming this property for our Hotwire Hotel List.

Did you try to bid this on priceline or did you just take the easy route and accept the HOTWIRE offer?

Good Luck with the marathon and enjoy the rest of your stay in NYC.

[chimps]

Took the easy route - unlike the marathon!

Thanks!