Priceline Hotel: Help with NY 4* bid for 7/28-31

[Sciamano]

Hi,

I've bid many times on NY hotels but I'm having no luck this time, so I need help.

My parents are going to visit the US next summer, and they are staying in NY both when they arrive (28-31 July) and when they leave to Italy again (14-16 August).

But let's do one bid at a time :-)

For the first bid (7/28-31) I've tried up to $200 with no luck. All rejections, some pretty immediate (that is: I clicked "bid on my hotel room now" and two seconds later the dreaded "we could not find a room in NY for $xxx" page would show up).

I've checked regular hotel rates, and they don't look higher than usual (Marriott hotels rates are around $379 and Hiltons go for as low as $329...) therefore I thought that $200 would get accepted...

Any suggestions? Am I bidding too low or is it too soon to bid (I'm encountering the same problem with my Philadelphia bid).

I placed a backup reservation for a room at the new Desmond Tutu Center via Quikbook ($161/night) but we are gladly willing to bid up to $220 to get a 4* in the usual zones (MTE, MTW, Times Sq, UM/CPS)...

[thereuare]

I suspect it may just be early, but HOTWIRE has a 4* in the MTC zone for $221/nite (Restaurant, Fitness, Hi-Speed Interent, Business) which i suspect is the Helmsley Park Lane which you may want to consider if you'd like to try to target this particular property or just want to 'get this done'.

Please use a seaprate topic for the return stay in August.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know if you choose to go for the above and how it goes; if not, keep us updated and let us know how we can be of further help along the way.

[Sciamano]

Sorry for not replying sooner, but I did not receive the email notification of your reply, so I thought no one actually had replied yet...

I'm not in a hurry to get this done, considering my backup reservation is pretty good (the Desmond Tutu Center is being reviewed nicely on TripAdvisor), therefore even if I can't get anything through Priceline, my parents will still have a place to stay.

My only worries about the Desmond Tutu Center is its location, which might be nicer and quieter than most other "touristy" zones, but I'm not sure my parents would appreciate it.

The Helmsley Park Lane at $221 could be ok, considering the lowest price on their site is $290, but isn't PRICELINE usually cheaper than that?

I'm willing to wait in order to get a better rate...

[thereuare]

PRICELINE is usually, but not always, a little cheaper than HOTWIRE.

There is a chance you would be successful if you increased your priceline bid between $200-$220 (which would still make it cheaper than hotwire), but sometimes it's just not the case... which is often more likely to occur if there is a rate change during the stay.

Besides being 'quiet', it's a little bit of a hike to the subway... although 23rd St is a major crosstown street with bus service which can get them to the East side and/or to the subway station(s).

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[Sciamano]

Would you suggest raising my bid limit right now? Or, considering there's still plenty of time, would it be better to keep bidding up to $200 for some time, and raise to ~$230 at a later time, when the dates of the stay get closer?

[thereuare]

Of course when you wait you run the risk of the hotel(s) above disappearing or going up in price, but given that summer is slow season, you have a back-up, are not in hurry, and have time before the check-in dates, i would keep my bidding at $200 or less for the time being.

Keep us updated as to your progress.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[Sciamano]

Thanks. I will post any updates (I love this board.. don't write too often because I'm italian and don't use PRICELINE and HOTWIRE as much as Americans do! :) I would love to be able to use it more, but in Europe sometimes the potential savings from PL are not worth the risk of getting a bad hotel)

[Sciamano]

An update, as promised.

Nothing so far. Tried 4* up to $200 and even tried for a 3* (it looks like 3* hotels in MTE and MTW are not that bad, so they might be acceptable) up to $160 with no luck.

[Sciamano]

I've just received an email offer from Quikbook which allowed me to book the Desmond Tutu Center for $149/night.

Considering that it's receiving very good reviews on tripadvisor, and that breakfast is included, I'm starting to think that we might actually use this reservation. I can't see a successful bid for a 4* property with PL at these rates...

We've been in NYC many times, so this could also be a nice occasion for them to be in a neighborhood different than usual.

My only concern is safety: is this a safe neighborhood, especially at night? My parents won't probably be "home" later than midnight.

Thanks

[thereuare]

Generally speaking the city is pretty safe, a LOT safter than it was many years ago, but you still should have your senses about you and take precautions just as you would in any large city.

Quickbook rates are usually cancellable, and assuming this one is, i would book it in order to know your "price to beat" and know that they have something (please use our Quickbook link to make your reservation).

I'd say there is a decent chance they can improve upon this in the weeks ahead... summer is slow season in NYC and rates similar to this were successful in previous summers. Hopefully this will be the case this year as well, but it doesn't seem like deeply discounted inventory for the mid summer months has been released yet.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Keep us updated.