Priceline Hotel: 4* NYC (UM/CPS) Swissotel The Drake

[Blizzz]

hello,

i am new to priceline and this great forum/site,

and was hoping to get some guidance to about how to bid.

i 'll only stay one night july 17 and checkout jul 18

my price limit is about 170$.

preferred zone would be central park south and then mtw, followed by mte.

is it a problem that the room will be occupied by 4 people ( 3 adults, one 2 year old) or does the hotel disallow/charge extra then?

thanks for any advice. sorry if this is obviously covered somewhere, i am just overwhelmed by the infromation on the internet in general :-)

best regards

Sebastian

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

More than two in a room could be risky for NYC as many rooms can only accomodate 2 people and don't even have room for a roll-away bed.

Here are some links on the subject (as well as similar links inside this thread): PRICELINE BED TYPE.

I assume you have a current standing reservation that you were trying to beat? If so, where and how much?

[Blizzz]

Hi,

thank you for the reply.

I don't have any existing reservation. It's more or less a last minute trip, due to an unexpected but very welcome visit of a relative of mine.

also thanks for the room occupancy/bed type information. that's something I'll have to think about . i could go for 2 rooms and rather 3/4 stars and a lower price , not sure, on the other hand i think i could risk this and try to call the hotel before i arive to make sure i get an extra bed into the room.

Best regards,

Sebastian

[thereuare]

Let us know how you want to go (2 rooms lower quality or 1 room and take your chances) and we'll provide a strategy to suit.

You may also want to consider try the JERSEY CITY HYATT which, although in NJ and doesn't give you the 'NYC Experience', can often be had very inexpensively and is only a short 10-15 minute train ride into Manhattan. The hotel itself is fairly new and gets great reviews as you can see from the above link.

Let us know.

[Blizzz]

Hello

,

i thought about this.

I will take the risk(*) and would like to get the following:

One room, 3/4 stars one night 17/18 July.

preferred zone would be central park south and then mtw, followed by mte.

thanks for the help

Sebastian

* i assume that the hotel always allows 4 people in one room ( maybe with additional surcharge). even it is means i have to sleep on a inflatable mattress( i could take one with me in my car) and my wife, daughter and cousin could sleep in the provided bed

[thereuare]

You may go and have no problems at all, then again the room could be smaller than you expect (i should re-phrase that since it's NYC... the room will be smaller than you think, but it may be even smaller than that! :) )

Some rooms in NYC can only accomodate one bed... i'm doubtful hotels would <knowingly> assign for people to one of those rooms. This isn't to say that they'll give you a room for four, it's to say that they may not allow it (even at an additional charge).

For instance, i just went to the InterContinental hotel's website and doing a search for your dates brought up a few rooms that state: Maximum 2 persons per room, including children. Priceline's only gurantee is that the hotel will accomodate double occupancy.

If you still want to go this route, do you understand RE-BIDDING? This concept will help you get the best price, so give it a read and feel free to ask any questions you may have. When bidding the 4* level you'll have 2 re-bid zones when bidding the 3* level you'll have one.

If price is a concern i would recommend bidding MTE and MTW first as prices in these zones are usually cheaper than the UM/CPS zone. If zone is more important then i can comprise a strategy to try that area first.

Let us know and we'll provide a strategy.

[Blizzz]

um/cps would have would have priority over price.

your intercontinental hotel example worries me a litle bit.

UM/CPS has only one 3* hotel listed. The park central.

according too their website they allow up to 4 people in one room.

if i bid in this zone for a 3*, the park central would be the only possible hotel then, right?

[thereuare]

There can be other 3* hotels in that zone. The first line of every PRICELINE HOTEL LIST:

This list is NOT a complete list of all hotels that Priceline offers in this area, it is ONLY a compilation of hotels that have already been reported on this forum

Did you understand the re-bidding?

[Blizzz]

Yes, I read through the links and think I understand it.

thank you for your patience and help.

by the end of the night i am an expert, that's for sure :-)

[thereuare]

OK then, time to roll up our sleeves and do some bidding :)

This is how i would proceed:

Select 4* UM/CPS...

Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $150.

If the above fails, close that browser and re-access a new Priceline screen however you did the first time.

Select 3* UM/CPS...

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $130.

If the above fails, close that browser and re-access a new Priceline screen however you did the first time.

Select 4* MTW...

Bid $105, if rejected add UM/CPS and...

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

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $130.

If the above fails, close that browser and re-access a new Priceline screen however you did the first time.

Select 4* MTE...

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

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $130, if rejected add UM/CPS and...

Bid $140, if rejected add MTW and...

Bid $150

If the above fails report back and i'll give you the last round of bidding for 3* or tell you what i think your Hotwire options are, where i'm seeing some 4* hotels starting at $155.

Any questions (like if you want to confirm your re-bid zones OR just want to know why i suggested something as i did) feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it works out.

[Blizzz]

I just did my bid on the hotel

i won the bid for 4* hotel and 160$.

Swissotel New York

i started out with

140$ 4* UMT/CPS

then priceline said i could rebid if i bid 22$ more

since location was important for me i did that ( instead of adding more zones) and the bid got accepted.

Looking at Hotels.com the Swissotel was sold out and for next weekend a room would start at 229$. so i am quite happy to get this last minute.

Let's hope they we all fit into the room I'll follow up on this :-)

thanks for all the help.

Sebastian

[thereuare]

Glad you got your preferred zone :)

Did they offer you to raise your bid by $20 or $22? You typed $22 but adding that to your $140 bid would bring the total to $162.

The offer to raise your bid was a COUNTER-OFFER and can usually be under-cut by adding re-bid zones. Not that big of a deal o a 1 nite stay, but on multiple nite (and multiple room) stays an overbid of even $10 can add up quickly.

To play it safe i would only send 2 people up to the check-in desk upon arrival. No sense in having them see your entorrage.

Enjoy your stay and have fun in NYC.

Let us know how it all worked out.

[Blizzz]

Everything worked out fine.

The room was quite big for New York standards. I called in ahead, and they put another bed into the room (35$)

All in all everything was fine, I was amazed yet again, how quickly you can spend money in NYC.

I believe i had one of the most expensive breakfasts in my life

at Normas (118 W 57th St Between 6th & 7th Ave New York)

But it was outstanding and we had a wonderful time.

best regards,

Sebastian

[thereuare]

Thanks for the follow-up and i'm glad everything worked out well for you.

Out of curiousity... just how much was the breakfast?

[KatiesMom]

It's funny that you mentioned Norma's (In Le Parker Meridien). I am considering it for one of our breakfasts when we come in August. Sebastian, I assume you didn't have the $1,000 omelette :) ?

[Blizzz]

KatiesMom:

No, I didn't try the "Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata". I think my credit card would have disintegrated instantly and plus i don't think i would have survived 10oz of Sevruga Caviar :-)

thereuare:

I don't know the final damage. I just let my wife pay for all of us. I just have to remind myself to not look at the credit-card bill this month.

I found this menu here with prices: http://www.parkermeridien.com/normasmenu.pdf

see also http://www.parkermeridien.com/normas.htm

The service was very friendly. I recommed to be there early. When we arrived ( i believe at around 9am), we got seating right away. At the time we left there were lots of people hanging out in the lobby, waiting to be seated.

The freshly squeezed orange juice (7$), came with free refills, which is nice

I had the Waz-Za ( see menu link above ) and liked it a lot

Best regards,

Sebastian