Priceline Hotel: 3* NYC (MTE) Roosevelt

[jkloni]

Need help with bidding strategy for 3 rooms / 1 night pre-cruise stay in New York City for Friday, 10/15. Hoping to stay about $100 per room. Do you think its too early to start bidding?

Would prefer MTW/Times Square zone. But will go MTE for less $ and same star quality. What hotels at 4* level do you think I could possibly get?

Ideas?

As always, thanks for the help!

[thereuare]

It's never too early to bid if your plans are firm and you're within 330 days of check-in. You can get any 4* hotel in our PRICELINE NEW YORK HOTELS list and possibly others that we don't yet know about.

Rates seem high for your dates but it doesn't hurt to try this early as you may just get lucky.

Will you also consider UM/CPS? I'm doubtful you'll win a 4* bid there for under $100 and you could then use it as another zone in order to immediately bid again, but if you really don't want to stay there than i wouldn't use it as an option. The hotels in the UM/CPS are VERY nice and if you were to win one i think you'd be happy with it for the price.

Also, are you willing to bid 4* MTE at $100? You state you'd accept this zone if it was less money, but how much less than your maximum bid?

As i state in PRICELINE New York Zone Descriptions i don't think location is very important in NYC as many transportation options are readily available and fairly inexpensive.

Let us know answers to the above questions regarding bid amounts and zones and i'll supply a recommended strategy.

[jkloni]

Hi Thereuare!

Our plans are firm. We already have airfare booked. I am willing to spend basically whatever it will take for us to get a room. But I was hoping for around $100.

It is my parents' first time in NYC so that's why I wanted 4*. UM/CPS is not where I wanted to stay, but if we got that, it would be fine.

What if I went down to a 3*? What do you think I'd have to bid for that? I just checked the list and the Roosevelt Hotel is very nice for a 3* hotel.

Hope this answers the questions you needed to help with a stategy.

As always, thanks for all the help!

[wcj1]

Re: the Roosevelt and Midtown East, see the other 2 threads about Midtown East that I have posted to lately.

BillJ

[thereuare]

Still not sure exactly what zones and prices for each zone, but here are 3 strategies (you can pick which one you want) that go as high as $120 (a figure i think increases you chances since you say "whatever it will take to get us a room") and personally, i wouldn't go down to 3* at this early point in time (but if you choose to do so that's fine):

Bidding at the 4* level you have 2 re-bid zones.

Strategy 1: (potential for wins in MTE, MTW, or UM/CPS)

Select 4* MTW and...

Bid $95, if rejected add MTE and

Bid $100, if rejected add UM/CPS and

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone

Bid $120.

Strategy 2 (only bids MTE at $100 or less):

Select 4* MTW and...

Bid $95, if rejected add MTE and

Bid $100, if rejected close browser and start at a brand new screen and

Select 4* MTW and re-bid zone #1 and

Bid $110, if rejected close browser and start at a brand new screen and

Select 4* MTW and re-bid zone #2 and

Bid $115, if rejected add the first re-bid zone (so now your bidding MTW and re-bid zones #1 and #2) and

Bid $120.

Strategy 3 (potential wins in MTE and MTW):

Select 4* MTW and...

Bid $95, if rejected add MTE and

Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone and

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

Bid $120

My guess is that you'll have some questions regarding the above :) , so feel free to ask! If none of the strategies seem to fit your needs, or if one is close but not quite exactly what you're looking for, give more details and i'll ammend the strategy to fit your needs based upon the addition info.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[jkloni]

Hi Thereuare,

After reading your suggestions the first time, I understood most of it, re-reading I understood a bit more. Strategy 2 was the tricky one!

Before bidding I contacted my friends who told me they didn't want to go up to $120 because the total for the room would be close to $150 after fees and taxes.

So using part of your strategy I bid the following:

4*, 3 rooms

Bid $95 - MTW -- rejected, added rebid zone

Bid $100 -- rejected, added rebid zone

Bid $105 -- rejected

stopped (even though I still had MTE and possibly UM/CPS)

Opened new window

3*, 3 rooms

Bid $75 -- MTW rejected, added MTE

Bid $85 -- rejected, added rebid zone

Bid $96 -- rejected (don't ask why $96, because after I did it I didn't know either)

All bids were rejected.

What would you suggest for bidding a lower star quality to pay less?

[thereuare]

I would wait it out and not do something 'drastic' like going below 3* at this time. There is plenty of time to go between now and October and inventory is likely to change often between now and then.

Don't bid every 72 hours because you'll drive yourself crazy, but re-visit this every 2-3 weeks or so. But do make a cancellable back-up at this time in case out of the blue everything dries up.

Are you flying in for this trip? If so, Newark or one of the other NYC airports? If Newark you may also want to consider the Jersey City area as it will cost you half the price of a NYC hotel and has easy mass transit options for commuting into the city.

Keep us updated. If you can't 'wait it out' as i suggest, let me know that and i'll advise a 'must have' strategy.

[jkloni]

We are flying into LaGuardia. (After bidding I actually thought of staying somewhere close to the Weehawken ferry in NJ, but unsure of how we'd get there from LGA.)

I will book back up hotel rooms.

It is 6 months away, so you're right I have time.

And yes, you are right - again - that I will drive myself crazy if I try to rebid every 72 hours.

When you start to bid, it's hard not to get carried away just to win - especially when you have rebid zones.

How do I know when the inventory has changed? What should I check? I wouldn't want to miss an opportunity if/when it comes up.

Thanks alot.

(We went to NYC in Oct 99 - 5 yrs ago - and the same thing happened. All the rooms were sky high. The Roosevelt hotel offered $325 and went down to $260. When I asked why rooms were so high I was told that October is the opening of Broadway's new season. We ended up at the Portland Square Hotel for $115. Great location, but not a great hotel. This was all before I knew about Priceline. Was priceline even around back then?)

[jkloni]

Thereuare,

I tried bidding in mid-April for 1 night (10/15) using your strategy and was rejected. I'm ready to try again.

We now need 2 rooms instead of 3 because one of my friends just bid Priceline tonight and won. I don't know her bidding history, but she won

Midtown East

3*

$115

and it was the Roosevelt Hotel.

That hotel is fine with me, but I was wondering what your opinion was about the bid of $115 for the 3* hotel.

Can you give me bidding strategy for 3* using MTE, MTW and CPS? Do you think $115 was the lowest bid that would have won a 3* or can I go lower?

Thanks for the help.

[thereuare]

I would guess that $115 is likely just a bit too high and if being with your friend isn't that important to you then i would personally still hold off for a 4*, but if you wanted to try for the 3* level and get this taken care of i can understand that as well.

Judging from the way you bid above it appears that price is most important and this is what i would do:

First try a 4* strategy posted above again going up to whatever limit you're comfortable (doesn't hurt to try).

Second, for 3*...

Bid $95 for MTE (only) . If rejected close browser and start at new screen.

Select MTW (only) and bid $95, if rejected add MTE and...

Bid $100, if rejected add CPS and...

Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone (you only have one now... it's different than 4* where you had two!)...

Bid $110.

I'm relatively confident that the above will get you a room.

Good Luck with your bid and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

[jkloni]

I won!

I tried Strategy 1 first for a 4* (up to the $115 point) and stopped.

I then tried the 3* strategy offered.

Bid $95 for MTE - Priceline came back to raise bid by $22. I didn't do anything. I left that screen open in case I needed it later. (I would have considered raising by half that or $11.) But I didn't need it!

Opened a new browser and

Bid $100 with MTE & MTW

Accepted!!

3*

Roosevelt Hotel

2 rooms $200.00

Taxes/fees $36.74

Total $236.74

I am very happy with this outcome. Thanks so much for the help. I'm glad I don't have to think about this anymore. I saved $15 on each room with your help.

You are wonderful!!

[thereuare]

Congratulations.

Glad it worked out and you will all be at the same hotel (.... and that you got it cheaper than your other friend!)

Nice job on rejecting the counter-offer.

For breakfast be sure to check out Ess-A-Bagel (3rd ave and 51st st) as i recommend it to anyone staying in this area... some of the best bagels in the city! It'll be perfect for a light (and inexpensive) breakfast before heading to the ship.