Priceline Hotel: 3* Newark (Meadowlands-Rutherford) Sheraton Meadowlands

[HelloMan]

Hello,

We are travelling to NY from July 17th - July 21st. We will be driving there and will be needing to stay 4 nights (17, 18, 19, 20th JUly). Our main purpose is to see NY city and will be taking public transportation to go to manhatan from whereever we will stay. Our group consists of 3 adults, 2 seniors, 1 child. We will be looking for 2 rooms.

Can you guys suggest where to stay considering the above? Initially we were thinking about Newark airport area but then it might be just too isolated as most of the hotels there are on the airport. We are looking some place where we can walk around if need and buy some stuff like milk, water etc. The other area we were thinking is Jersey City as its very close to manhatan.

As we will be parking our car, that's another consideration.

Can you guys suggest where do we stay? If newark airport area, we are thinking max $70. If jersey city, max 90.

[HelloMan]

We are leaning towards staying at Jersey City (Hyatt). I looked at the prices on HOTWIRE and the prices varies by day (fro July 17th - July 21st)

July 17th night - $145

July 18 night - $109

July 19th night - $199

July 20th night - $336

If I chose all 4 days in hotwire, I get $249 perday rate. If I select 17th - 19th night, I get $149.

What strategy can I use to get at least the firs 3 nights at < 100 thru priceline. Will it be possible to extend for the night of 20th? Not sure why the price for July 20th is so high considering its sunday.

Looking forward for some advise on bidding.

[HelloMan]

I was looking at hotels in secaucus area and bid on priceline till $75 for 2.5* and still not accepted. If I look at hotwire, the 3.5* (possibly sheraton) is listed for $84 per night (07/17 - 07/21).

What could be wrong? Why I am not getting it on priceline for $75??

We will have a car and will be visitng NY center. Is Secaucus a good area for that purpose??

thanks,

[HelloMan]

I was missing including Meadowlands - Rutherford area. When I realizid, started my bid from $60 and finally got accepted at $70 for 07/17 - 07/21.

I using the link from this forum.

thanks.

[HelloMan]

Now that I have got the hotel, I was wondering if I can get some advice on travellin gto NYC. I have following questions -

1. Does sheraton have fere wi-fi.? Reading the reviews its not clear if its free or with fee. Hotel's website shows free wifi.

2. Does the hotel include free breakfast?

3. Does hotel provide microwave on request?

4. travelling to NY downtown? Reading other posts seems driving to North Begen P&R and taking bus 320 over using the hotel's shuttle to sanacucus junction.

5. If we want to goto libertry island, will going to Liberty state park be a good option over taking ferry from downtown area?

thanks in advance for all the help.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win!

Glad to you found success and are happy with the results.

Thank you for sharing your winning bid with the board and for using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.

Here are answers to some of your questions:

1. Does sheraton have fere wi-fi.? Reading the reviews its not clear if its free or with fee. Hotel's website shows free wifi.

Internet access is $10/day, but $15 (total) for 2 days, and $20 (total) for 3 or more days..

2. Does the hotel include free breakfast?

No. If you're looking to save money on breakfast, there is a supermarket (Edwards) and a Wal-Mart nearby (as well as a Sam's Club)... all are not walkable but a short drive. You can pick up bagels, muffins, cereal, etc. and keep in your room for an inexpensive breakfast.

3. Does hotel provide microwave on request?

The hotel does not have microwave ovens available.

4. travelling to NY downtown? Reading other posts seems driving to North Begen P&R and taking bus 320 over using the hotel's shuttle to sanacucus junction.

Youll have to check the hotel's shuttle schedule to see how it works with your plans (as it runs on a set schedule as opposed to 'on demand'). With a car at you disposal it may be easier to get to midtown via driving to the Park N Ride, although the shuttle gives you an option if you choose to drink or have a glass of wine with your meal while in the city. If you are indeed going to DOWNTOWN (as opposed to midtown) you may also want to consider driving to Hoboken (if a weekday as the service isn't direct on weekends) or Jersey City and taking the PATH train. (NOTE: both Hoboken and Jersey City have very strict rules for parking on the street and a lot of the area (all of Hoboken actually) requires a residential parking sticker to park on the streets for more than 4 hours, so either of these options will likely cost you money for parking)... therefore may just want to go to Midtown via bus/train and then take the subway downtown.

5. If we want to goto libertry island, will going to Liberty state park be a good option over taking ferry from downtown area?

1000% yes... but still go early to make the most of your day and keep the line to a minimum. Find out ahead of time the ferry schedule.

Let us know if you have any other questions regarding the area.

Enjoy your stay and visit to NYC.

[HelloMan]

Thanks for your detailed reply. Its very very useful information. I have few more questions.

1. We have 3 full days to spend for NYC visit. We are thing the first day we will drive to Liberty state park in the morning and spend at least half day exploring the 2 islands. Then remaining day we will spend exploring NYC on our own (may be central park, muesums etc). Next 2 days, we were thinging of taking the CitytoursNy - All downtown tour with hopon/hopoff as we have 5 year old and 2 seniors in our group. Do you think that's a wise decision or exploring on our own with metro day pass is better?

2. I was looking for tickets about statue of liberty and ferry and it seems if we book it online with fixed time, we could get the pass to go inside the statue which are limited and otherwise on first come first serve. Any suggestion here?

3. Should we buy tickets online in advance for downtown attractions? Like empire state building obsservatory and other stuff? Or is it better to wait and decide based on schedule?

thansk agian for great information and I am looking forward for this trip. This forum is great and I wish I would have known about this before to take advantage during my previous trips.

[thereuare]

We have 3 full days to spend for NYC visit. We are thing the first day we will drive to Liberty state park in the morning and spend at least half day exploring the 2 islands. Then remaining day we will spend exploring NYC on our own (may be central park, muesums etc).

I'm not really sure of your itinerary... if you're planning on doing the Statue of Liberty and Cetnral Park that would be a LOT in a day... if you have any time to go to Manhattan after the Statue (which if you don't get an early enough can turn into an all day affair with the lines and ferry travel) i would focus on Downtown (if you intend on doing anything in that area)... to first head to the museums and CPS would be too much ground to cover, imo.

I was looking for tickets about statue of liberty and ferry and it seems if we book it online with fixed time, we could get the pass to go inside the statue which are limited and otherwise on first come first serve. Any suggestion here?

I'm not a big fan of the Statue of Liberty visit unless you're a BIG history buff (which i'm not) so can't really commen too much on this, other than knowing that the lines from Liberty State Park are much shorter.

I prefer to create my own "hop on-hop off" tours using a metrocard, but it requires a LOT of research to make sure you cover/co-ordinate everything... given the age make-up of your group you may be better off with the fixed tour (unless you're adventurous). The HopOn-HopOff tours and other attractions are available thru our sister site Things To Do 411.com and there is currently a 5% coupon available.