Priceline Hotel: 3* NYC (Downtown-SoHo-Financial District) Club Quarters Downtown

[Havanah Joe]

Hello,

I've been in the process of looking for a decent hotel room for a trip to NYC. We're going to see Madonna on the 6th and want to spend some days in NYC since we haven't been there before. The trip is for 2. I've done some moderate research and have tried some priceline bids for $200 in:

Central Park South

Chelsea Area

Downtown - SoHo - Financial District

Empire State Building Area

Madison Square Garden

Midtown East

Midtown West

Through Expedia I found the Doubletree Metropolitan for about $280 a night including taxes and fees. I also found a package through priceline that taking out airfare comes down to about $220 a night at the Club Quarters Downtown. I also found another Club Quarters for about $20 per person more for the whole trip. This is for check-in on the 4th and check-out on the 7th. The dates can be moved around as long as we spend the whole 6th there, but I assume a weekend stay is cheaper.

It seems like October is an expensive time of year to travel. I am looking for something up to $250 a night for 3 nights at a 4* hotel. Since we're mostly only going to be sleeping at the hotel, we really don't mind staying at a cheaper place, but not really interested in a hostel with shared bathroom.

How easy is it to stay in say Brooklyn or other areas outside Manhattan and just use the subway to move around?

Of course I would love to get the best price for the best hotel and make the trip even more enjoyable.

Should I wait until the date draws closer to make my bids through priceline? I've read about making a cancelable reservation and I will take that advise, but wonder if it's worth waiting or if the prices are going to be in this range no matter what because of the date.

Thanks for the help.

[Havanah Joe]

I've been doing some individual searching and reading reviews and it looks like these Club Quarters hotels are very nice. The package deal that I get with priceline seems to me like a very good deal.

$1,409 total for the Club Quarters Downtown or $1,437 for the Club Quarters Midtown.

This is with Jetblue nonstop flights that separately, the cheapest I can find is $758. This means that the cost of the 3 nights is $651/$679 with taxes and fees, which comes to $217/$226 per night including taxes. About $190/$199 per night pre-tax, which is what I'm bidding but not getting any wins. I don't think it's worth bidding that, so I should shoot for something lower but probably won't find it.

Now I'm wondering if it's worth saving $28 by staying at the Downtown hotel. Probably not.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Yes, October is an expensive time in NYC.

The Club Quarters are 'ok' and typically rated 3 stars, so given that you've only been bidding 4* (as far as i can tell from your post) which explains why you would be able to get the Club Quarters for $199/nite (when figuring the price of this component when bundled into the package product) yet not be able to win it when bidding that same amount.

It really depends what you're looking for... above you state that you really only want a 4* hotel, but then in the next sentence mention that you don't mind going for something less since you'll only using the room to sleep. What is your preference?

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

[Havanah Joe]

Thanks for the reply. I'd like to get a 4* but wouldn't mind a 3* like the Club Quarters. From what I've seen those look nice. You are right, I have not tried to bid on a 3 star hotel yet. What scares me off a bit is that I've read countless reviews and I've seen hotels with 2 or 3 stars that get horrible reviews and I'm worried that I might get one that is cheaper but not as good as an experience I could have gotten by buying when knowing the hotel.

I guess it boils down to how reliable are Priceline's picks when it comes to hotels? Will I be disappointed if I bid on a 3 star hotel and win it? What about a 2.5 star?

[Havanah Joe]

Well looks like I just had to do some more reading and learn the priceline tricks, bidding strategies, re-bidding and all that.

I tried to look for a 4* hotel and got all the way up to 200 with different zones with no luck, I tried it again and it didn't work, but followed the procedure of adding one zone each time I increased the bid.

I then read the wins for 3* hotels and found that most hotels that were won were decent ones, so I started the bidding process for 3 star hotels. I started with $140 in Downtown, then added MTW and bid $160, and then added CPS and bid $160 and the offer was accepted by Club Quarters Downtown. So I saved $39 per night on the hotel I already wanted :)

Thanks for all the help!

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win!

Happy to hear of your success and that you received one of the hotels you were hoping for. Glad to hear the board was helpful in your bidding.

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

Enjoy your stay.