Priceline Hotel: Bid Strategy needed for NYC Times Square Hotel

[Roaderunner]

Hi,

My wife and I have just booked our tickets to the US for April. I will probably be posting a similar request a few times as we are hitting several places in the US over a 3 week break, however I thought I would start with NYC.

We can be in NYC any 4 nights between 4/23-4/29 inclusive. Our budget is $100-$150 per night. I am not sure if this is reasonable or not??

We are looking to take in all the tourist spots etc and would really love to stay in Times Square if possible.

I would really appreciate any help you can provide in suggesting a bidding strategy and the best time to start looking.

Cheers

Roaderunner

[AaronJB]

Welcome to the site. :)

One issue is wanting to stay in Times Square; while a highly popular destination, it is only a part of the larger city, and there are so many other things to do. Personally, Times Square was probably where I spent the least amount of time on my last visit. The rest of NYC - the neighborhoods, the little stores, the personality of other areas continues to interest me more than the glitz and neon of TS. Additionally, TS now holds even less interest now that the Virgin Megastore is going bye-bye.

I would recommend reading this thread regarding hotels in TS: Times Square Hotels

If you search on HOTWIRE there is a 4* in the Midtown East for $129 for 4/23-27 with the amenities: fitness, business, interest, restaurant and tennis nearby. This would likely be either the Intercontinental Barclay or Grand Hyatt; either would be a very fine choice.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE link to start your purchase if this listing is of interest.

[AaronJB]

If you are still considering destinations, I'd recommend Chicago. You may also want to consider a side trip to a smaller town, which might be a nice change after visiting several big cities. You can also bid on PRICELINE for these dates, but it's a matter of which PRICELINE areas you would be interested in. I suggested the above HOTWIRE listing, as both possibilities for the listing would be perfectly good hotel choices, and it was within your budget range.

Also, the HOTWIRE deal mentioned above is available for 4/25-29, too.

[Roaderunner]

If you are still considering destinations, I'd recommend Chicago. You may also want to consider a side trip to a smaller town, which might be a nice change after visiting several big cities. You can also bid on PRICELINE for these dates, but it's a matter of which PRICELINE areas you would be interested in. I suggested the above HOTWIRE listing, as both possibilities for the listing would be perfectly good hotel choices, and it was within your budget range.

Also, the HOTWIRE deal mentioned above is available for 4/25-29, too.

Hi,

Thanks for the info so far. Our current itinerary is:

San Francisco - 4/9-4/11

Los Angeles - 4/12-4/13

Las Vegas - 4/14-4/18 - We need to be in Vegas for the 4/18 as we are going to see Ray Romano & Kevin James at the Mirage that night

Washington - 4/19-4/22

Then we are currently trying to work out best itinerary for the dates of 4/23-4/29 - We were planning to take in Niagra Falls, Boston and NYC (we are flying back from JFK on 4/30) however we haven't yet decided the order to do these in.

I would love to hear what you think about the above and any little towns that we could take a night in near to these locations. We are planning on flying between all the destinations above, however I'm not against hiring a car to driver between some locations if reasonable.

[AaronJB]

Well, board moderator thereuare may be more familiar with side trips in the Northeast (I was thinking of side trips if you were stopping in the middle of the country), but I think given that you want to fit in Boston, NYC and Niagara in 4-23/29, there probably won't be time.

In terms of trying to structure those dates, I'd probably 1 or at most 2 in Niagara, 2 in Boston and 3-4 in NYC. I'd go DC-Niagara-Boston-NYC.

I will make the suggestion of using the train between Boston-NYC. This will allow you to go right from downtown Boston to downtown NYC and not have to deal with coming in from one of the NYC area airports.

[AaronJB]

The other option would be train from DC to NYC and stay in NYC, then from NYC train to Boston and then fly out to Niagara. It would take a bit longer, but you wouldn't have to travel in from the airport at NYC or Boston and you'd see a lot of scenery along the way, which you're missing on a plane.

[thereuare]

Also, while not for everybody, you can take the bus from Boston-->NYC for cheap.

BoltBus and MegaBus now offer this service and fares are capacity priced and the first seats go for just $1/ow (BoltBus i think tops out at $20/MegaBus at $15), but seats only go on sale (i think) 60 days before your travel dates, so if you plan accordingly you should be able to get one of the $1 seats (if not the next level is $4-$5... still an incredible deal)