Hotwire Hotel: 4* Newark (Jersey City) Hyatt Regency on the Hudson

[trueblu]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum, and a relative amateur at hotel bidding so sorry if this post is rather naive.

My wife and I would like to go to Manhattan for a week-end (Sat to Mon), we are fairly flexible, but are thinking either mid-September (e.g. 13th to 15th or following week-end) or late October (e.g. 25th to 27th). It seems that the Hyatt on the Hudson in Jersey City would be a decently priced alternative to staying in Manhattan itself, and proximity to PATH makes it doubly attractive.

I see that it is available as a property on the 'name your price' in PRICELINE, with very good rates from wins. However, on the non-opaque part of Priceline, there are 2 hotels that are 3* in the Jersey city zone - the other being the doubletree. Is there any way of ensuring one 'wins' one and not the other? WHat are the members' views on the Doubletree vs Hyatt? Is HOTWIRE a better option?

Any advice on bidding strategy would be most appreciated.

many thanks,

tb

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Both hotels are 'good', but the Hyatt is clearly a step above and much nicer (in other words if you get the Doubletree at a good price it's not awful, but most who bid this zone clearly prefer the Hyatt).

You can't bid on a specifc hotel, so if you're going to use PRICELINE then you have to be willing to accept either property (or some other yet reported hotel (although i'm very familiar with the area and can't think of any other hotel which would be 3* rated... atlhough this will change come November (i think) when the Westin Jersey City opens and then later in Jan/Mar when the W Hoboken opens)

If you only want the Hyatt then HOTWIRE could be a better option as you can likely identify it before your purchase and 'know' what you'll be getting.

Lastly, NYC (and likewise Jersey City) are typically very expensive this time of year, however, Sundays are the slowest day of the week for hotels and even though this is only a two nite stay, if you're willing to SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID you may (we'll look further once you confirm your dates) be able to get a GREAT deal on a NYC hotel for Sunday nite and stay elsewhere on Satuday.

Let us know once you're dates are set and you're ready to start bidding/commit to a purchase and we'll advise further.

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

[trueblu]

Thanks thereuare! I appreciate that you might be on the road right now, but help from yourself or other knowledgeable pundit most welcome.

Having consulted with my wife, we thought that we'd give the 13th to 15th a go. We'd also like to try splitting the week-end, as an experiment, and given this will be a short trip, we won't have too much luggage (although we will have a car). If we can score a decent hotel in Manhattan itself for the Sunday, so much the better (esp if we can sort out the parking issue).

I had a look at HOTWIRE, and the Hyatt didn't seem to be offered for either week-end in September (no 3.5/4* hotels in that part of Jersey city).

best,

tb

[trueblu]

I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try: no success as yet, so advice appreciated.

Using the HOTWIRE links, I first tried to check the price of the Hyatt -- it wasn't showing for both sat/sun nights, but the sat only was showing for $143. No listing for Sunday night either. In fact, the minimum prices for Sunday night (as suggested by thereuare) are rather high, so don't know if that is a particularly busy sunday??

I then went to name your own price (using the PRICELINE link), and bid $102/night, 3*, Jersey city area. This was rejected, and I used the 'Elizabeth' re-bid zone to up my bid to $111, rejected again.

Will have to wait 24 hrs before trying again: strategy suggestions appreciated.

tb

[dahammer]

the prevailing rate at Hyatt.com is $219 for each night, so I would continue every 24 hours and raise your bid. Each time you add a rebid zone such as Elizabeth, make sure you double check to see that there is no 3* in that area. Understand that the Doubletree is in this zone and you could end up winning this property through bidding. Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

good luck!

[trueblu]

Update:

After a few failed priceline bids (went up to $113), let things cool for a while. Then decided to try hotwire, since really didn't want to end up at the doubletree. The Hyatt wasn't available for both nights as one booking, but did show up on both the saturday and sunday as SEPARATE bookings: sat for $169, sun for $106.

I went ahead and booked the saturday, went through no problems (price with taxes and fees c. $200) . Then I wanted to book the Sunday, the price had gone up to $109, but I thought, OK. However, every time I went to make the booking, it said that the itinerary was no longer available. Going through the website, there it was: but I couldn't complete the purchase (would only go to this error on the very last page). I think this is rather cheeky of hotwire!! :)

Any advice on how to circumvent this??

tb

Final update: after multiple failed attempts, I went through the HOTWIRE link, as before, didn't log in. Used my wife's credit card and name, a different e-mail and it seemed to work: final price paid, $106+fees/ taxes = $127.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your ultimate success... glad it worked out well for you and you manged to secure both nites at the same hotel by splitting the purchase. This appears to be a great rate for this time of year and it is a very nice hotel.

Since a different rate was paid for each nite please use separate threads for each leg of your stay. We'll use this thread to reflect your first purchase, please start a NEW TOPIC for your second purchase.

Also, can you please clarify which date(s) you ended up purchasing and add the amenities shown before your purchase to this thread... you can still view these by going to HOTWIRE and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

Thanks for sharing your win(s) with the board and for using our HOTWIRE links to begin your purchases.

Enjoy your stay.

[slowfood]

After reading this thread, I coaxed a newbie friend who needed the 13th and 14th to check hotwire, then bid 75% of the hotwire rate on priceline. She got the Hyatt on Saturday (Hotwire $169) for $120 and Sunday (Hotwire $106) for $75. I had suggested she average the rates and bid both nights together, but I guess she missed that. So the total fees were a few bucks higher.

I've never seen this "day 1 available, day 2 available, day 1 and 2 together not available" on Hotwire before. Anyone know why they do that?

[thereuare]

slowfood,

Perhaps i missed it above, but i don't think it has been confirmed the actual dates that this stay is for (the first post suggests a range of possible dates but then doesn't stay which dates were actually purchased)... nor is it clear the dates of your friend's purchase.

Can you please post your win(s) as a NEW TOPIC in the PRICELINE - New Jersey section of the board so that others will be aware of the win and so that these dates will appear in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins. Please use separate threads for each win since the price is different for each nite.

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

Thanks.

[trueblu]

First, thanks to the folks on this board for their help.

Just to confirm the purchase, both made on HOTWIRE (via links).

The dates we wanted were 13-15th September 2008. Unable to find that for the Hyatt Jersey City, so booked both night separately.

So, first purchase: Hoboken, New Jersey, 4*. 13th-14th September. Amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business. Available at $169.

Second purchase (located here Jersey City Hotwire): 14th-15th September. Same descriptors as above. Available at $106 (but had to book in my wife's name -- I hope they won't force us to check out and in again).

tb

[thereuare]

Thanks for the follow-up and for using our HOTWIRE links to begin your purchases.

Enjoy your stay(s).