Hotwire Hotel: NYC need help

[silk]

It's my first trip to NYC.

My dates: 04/29/2009 - 05/06/2009

I want to stat central, I think MTW, MTE, MTC, Central Park, Times Square, Empire State, Chelsea are all good choices.

I don't care, if it is a 4* or a 3* (maybe2*) hotel, I'm just focused on the price.

Best deal today is 129$ MTE (I think it's Intercontinental The Barcley).

Is it a reasonable price for this date? What do you recommend - booking now or waiting and last-minute booking? Waht do you think - Is there a chance to get a hotel for less than 100$ at this date? Lower prices at priceline?

Thanks for help!

I'm very new at this board and read many topics - enjoyed it, because it's very helpful and all members are very friendly ;-)

[AaronJB]

Welcome to the site. :)

If you are fine with the Intercontinental Barclay (and it is a nice hotel), I would try to bid $110 for a 4* in the Midtown East area on Priceline.com and see if that's accepted. I don't think you're going to get that hotel for under $100, especially in late April.

While I don't know if prices are going to go up a great deal due to how the economy is, I don't think they're going down much (if at all), either - Spring is a fairly busy time in NYC and additionally, the hotels in NYC do generally have a floor on how much they discount their rooms to maintain profit margins.

You may be able to get a 3* for under $100, but it would likely be just barely under $100 ($90, $95?) I wouldn't recommend bidding under 3*; it wouldn't be worth the minimal savings.

Given that you are going to be staying for several days, you could also break up your trip. You could try for the 4* Intercontinental Barclay for the first half of the trip and see if you could get a cheaper 3* for the second half. That's just another possibility to consider.

Please use the site's PRICELINE link to start your bidding (or the site's HOTWIRE link if you use that service) and ask if you have any questions.