Priceline Hotel: 4* NYC (UWS) Empire Hotel

[Vivian]

I thought I would try my hand at PRICELINE, but I have a few questions:

• How do you know what type of room you're bidding on? Standard, Deluxe, etc. I would prefer one King bed.
  

• If I search the 4* hotels on Priceline through the regular rate offers, am I assured that I will be bidding on one of them in the Name your Own Price area?
  

I also noticed that there's a greater breakdown of areas in the Name your Own Price area. For instance, I suppose that "Upper Manhattan" actually comprises CPS, Upper ES, and Upper WS in the published rate area.

I suppose I would prefer to stay in the following areas: CPS, MTW, MTE, UWS in that order. Maybe TS if I have no other options. I noticed that there are no 4 stars in Chelsea, MSQ, UES, LIC so can I add those during my bidding process?

Please let me know what bid you think I should start with as well as a strategy.

Thanks for your help!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to the site :)

1. You are bidding on a standard room. Given the discounted rates that PRICELINE customers get, they are not entitled to upgrades. While people may get an upgrade if that's what's left, the only thing that should be expected is a standard room.

2. Not all of the hotels in the regular rate area are participants of the "Name Your Own Price" bidding area. However, many of them are.

What would be your budget per night?

[Vivian]

Thank you for responding so quickly. I've been searching hotels/locations/reviews and am overwhelmed. Even 4* hotels get mixed reviews.

It seems as though the standard rate hovers around $500 for a 4*. Would that be accurate? I have no idea where to even start to get a bid accepted. It would be great to get something for $200 though I could go higher... maybe $300?

I haven't even tried HOTWIRE. Is it easier to narrow down what you "think" you may get on that site?

Thank you again :)

[AaronJB]

Well, NYC hotel prices depend on the day (and traffic, conventions, etc.), but I think it's rare to find a set of dates in NYC where hotels aren't expensive.

While many mixed or negative reviews are legitimate, I think one also has to take into account that, when NYC hotels are charging $300-500+ for a 4* room (and quite often a 3* room), it creates expectations which cannot be met (and understandably so, given how expensive that is for most people.)

HOTWIRE does allow one to make an educated guess as to which properties are showing, but prices are generally a little more expensive than PRICELINE.

Let me do a little bit of research into your dates and I will be back with some ideas in a few moments.

[AaronJB]

1. The Vincci Avalon Hotel, which is $319 on Orbitz for these dates. Use coupon FABSAVE10 for 10% off = $287 per night. This is a 4* in MTS, which gets mostly good reviews on tripadvisor. If you are concerned about reviews (and rightly so), this does get a 4/5 on tripadvisor.

2. HOTWIRE has a 4* in Midtown Central with a Smoke-Free Icon and other icons for $279, which would appear to be the Sheraton New York. A lower price than most 4*'s, but very mixed reviews. There are 3* options for less, but not sure if you would be interested in a lower star rating.

3. Based upon 4* retail rates of $320-350 to $500+, I would say that a likely starting point for a 4* bid is $150. Thereuare is the board moderator and can provide a detailed bidding strategy when he sees this thread shortly.

[Vivian]

Wow, I really appreciate it. I think that I may book the Avalon and the decide if I'm going to try bidding. Pictures/reviews look good. I had been reading reviews of the Sheraton before your post, and yes, they were all over the place. Are you recommending the Avalon because of the price & reviews. Just curious how you narrowed it down from all the choices.

Thanks again!

[AaronJB]

Combination of just about the lowest price on Orbitz (in other words, regular rates) for a 4* (plus the ability to get the 10% off at Orbitz) and reviews.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Let us know if you'd like to try bidding and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases. (or our Orbitz link if you go that route)

[Vivian]

Can you suggest a strategy for me?

11/5/08-11/08/08 4*

MTE, CPS, UWS, MTW... maybe TS. The Hilton reviews scare me which is why I have MTW and TS last, but it seems like TS is better than the one in MTW?

If you have a better zone strategy, please let me know.

Thanks!

[thereuare]

Unless you designate otherwise, most users are looking for the least expensive hotel in any of their acceptable zones... are you considering bidding up to your limit first for the MTE zone, then starting over and bidding up to your limit for the CPS zone, etc, etc OR are you looking for the least expensive 4* hotel in any of your prefered zones?

If the latter do you want to include the TS and/or MTW zone?

What is your maximum bid for this stay?

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

[Vivian]

I would prefer a 4* in MTE so I'd like to start there. Obviously, I would like to go as cheap as possible. My maximum bid would be $250. Is that reasonable?

[OysterHo]

I would prefer a 4* in MTE so I'd like to start there. Obviously, I would like to go as cheap as possible. My maximum bid would be $250. Is that reasonable?

I can tell you that I've been trying for 2 weeks to get a 4* for 4 nights in MTE, 11/5 - 11/8. I've gone all the way up to $275 with no luck. The last time I bid was 10/16.

We're lowering our standards to a 3* because

1. we just can't see paying $300+ a night because don't forget the taxes are added on to your winning bid and

2. I'm no longer going, so I'm helping my girlfriend figure this out for her and her son.

Sorry to be a debbie downer. I hope you're able to win. Maybe now that you're even closer to the travel dates, you'll have better luck.

(don't worry, thereuare, i will start my own thread :) )

[Vivian]

Wow. And I thought this might be easy :) I'm willing to add zones such as CPS, UWS and ESB (maybe TS and MTW.) Is it that you're having no luck with *just* MTE? What are some good backup hotels? I suppose I should book something just in case this priceline thing doesn't work out.

What's an acceptable starting bid?

[OysterHo]

Wow. And I thought this might be easy :) I'm willing to add zones such as CPS, UWS and ESB (maybe TS and MTW.) Is it that you're having no luck with *just* MTE? What are some good backup hotels? I suppose I should book something just in case this priceline thing doesn't work out.

What's an acceptable starting bid?

At first I was bidding only on MTE. After a week of nothing, I added MTW and CPS. We didn't try ESB, TS, or UWS though. That could help you quite a bit.

As far as an acceptable starting bid, my highest (and most recent) starting bid was $200. My initial and lowest starting bid was $120 two weeks ago.

You could start lower than $200 if you're willing to add EST, TS, & UWS. As far as the strategy suggested, I'd wait until thereuare or one of the other pros logs in. I'm just not that experienced enough to list out a strategy.

[Vivian]

Woops. Maybe I should have waited for a bidding strategy, but here's what I ended up with:

4* Empire Hotel, UWS, $230/night so with taxes, my 3 day stay comes to $815.44.

How'd I do for my first time? Did I overpay? Anyone have good feedback on this hotel? I wasn't expecting anything to be accepted.

[OysterHo]

It's still a good price, esp for a 4*. Has 3.5 star rating on Trip Advisor. Here are the reviews.

Reviews

[OysterHo]

http://www.empirehotelnyc.com/rooms.html

their website and rooms

[OysterHo]

Vivian,

What bid did you start with and how many did you make until you got to $230?

I may try to include UWS in my bidding and see if we can get a 4*.

Thanks!

[Vivian]

I started at $150.... and increased in $5.00 increments. Not sure why the directions ask you to shut down the browser and start again because I didn't have to do that.

I've been reading up on the Empire and feel better about the outcome. Seems the rooms are extremely small so I'll try for an upgrade. Any advice on that topic? :)

[thereuare]

Thank you for sharing your winning bid with the board.

Not sure why the directions ask you to shut down the browser and start again because I didn't have to do that.

Shutting the browser is done in order to maximize your bidding and make sure you don't overbid. For example (not necessarily how you bid, but just an easy example to follow), if you bid:

MTE $150

MTW $175

CPS $200

UWS $225

... you never give yourself a chance to win the UWS hotel for less than $225, which would results in an overbid if the hotel was available for less than $225.

Seems the rooms are extremely small so I'll try for an upgrade. Any advice on that topic? :)

If you're comfortable with it, you can try a tip at check-in, as per this Tipping at Hotels thread.

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

Enjoy your stay.