Priceline Hotel: 3.5* NYC (Times Square-Theatre District) Sheraton Manhattan

[sydneytraveller]

Hi all,

First post but I have found the site exceptionally helpful reading through the topics in the last couple of days (so thanks already).

My wife and I (from Sydney Aust.) plan to visit NY in July (tranfering from LA) for approx 10 days (July 10 till July20). I have however been naively shocked by the accomm prices. As such, I would like to keep the price of accom per night incl tax to around $100AU which is roughly $75US (depending on x-rate). We are not too concerned with quality other than a basically clean room with a private bathroom (shower and toilet). We wont have private transport throughout this time so something close to a bus line or the subway would be ideal (within 1/2 hour transport into/out of city).

Is this too much to ask for NY? Friends have stayed in North Bergen, NJ for around this price and this may be our backup plan. For ease fo access to NY city, are Brooklyn and Long Island City viable options too?

Regionally within the city, I dont really have a preference (something central to touristy locales would be best - Midtown?). I was thinking of checking all regions and offering approx $50-60US to see what comes back. Is this a sensible strategy? What could you suggest otherwise?

Essentially, price is the governing factor. Any tips you could offer to secure an affordable room in a NYC accessible location would be greatly appreciated. For a NYC location, should I be expecting to pay >$100US regardless?

Thanks.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

I would first re-consider your budget... you can get some very nice hotels directly in Manhattan for $100/nite (plus fees and taxes)... lesser rated ones (3 stars??) for maybe $80/nite... which are all excellent rates for NYC and i think would make your stay much more enjoyable to stay directly in the city vs. commuting each day. If you can't budget the above for your complete stay then i would at least try SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID so that you can spend part of your time outside the city commuting in and part of your time directly in the city.

Do you have any interest in a sidetrip to Boston, Philadelphia, or Washington DC?

Are you flying into JFK or EWR?

Let us know your thoughts on the above and we'll take it from there.

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

[sydneytraveller]

Hi,

I have just confirmed and purchased the tickets. We're in NYC from the 14th of July till the 20th.

It would seem sensible to stretch the budget to approx $100US for a Manhattan room but I am thinking that splitting the week across 2 (or 3?) accoms would be a good idea too. I am still interested in NJ for a few nights to keep costs down and we're keen to get down to Asbury Park (Stone Pony) for a day so this might be easier from NJ. I would love to get Hyatt on the Hudson for a couple of days. In NYC I dont know any of the Hotels so I have no firm preferences for anything. Other than the Asbury Park trip we're not planning any other trips (other than a Brooklyn day trip).

Is it right to assume that hotels on Priceline go for comparatively less than Hotwire - with the cost being not knowing what'll you get?

Thanks for your continuing help.

[AnotherEileen]

sydneytraveller -- I'm relatively new to Priceline/Hotwire, too, so defer to those with greater experience, but here's my 2 cents: I just ran a search on Hotwire for your dates and there was a 3.5 star hotel in Chelsea-Madison Square Garden for $96. There's also a 3.5 star hotel in Midtown East for $106. Based on my own experience, I think you might get either of those for under $90 on Priceline (heck, personally I might just start with your original $75 wish figure), but the Chelsea-Madison Square Garden area would probably work better for you for purposes of getting to Asbury Park -- NJ Transit runs trains down to the Jersey shore (including Asbury Park) out of Penn Station, which is right at MSG -- schedule is at

http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/r0080.pdf

You can also pick up that train in NJ, although I'm not sure how close the Hudson suites would put you to it.

Eileen

[sydneytraveller]

Hi Eileen,

That info re transport in NJ is really helpful. Thanks very much.

I too noted the Chelsea one for $96 and would be generally happy to pay that. I do however wonder if it is unnecessarily early to buy and should I be waiting till closer to the date (say, in another month and a half). My thinking here is that the hotels, noting vacancies in their rooms will release more rooms to Hotwire/Priceline for cheaper rates. Has this been the experience of anyone on the board?

I have heard two opinions on summer in NYC. 1) it's too hot and everyone clears out for a few weeks or 2) duh - it's summer holidays with loads of attractions and events. Whichever is reality will certainly determine the availability (and vacancy) of rooms.

I know this is dependant on a number of factors and a very general assumption but I'm wondering if it's worth waiting (with the risk of it increasing!)

And I take from your comments that, yes, priceline would be marginally cheaper as long as you can live with the randomness of the booking. Great news!!

Thanks.

[thereuare]

Generally speaking summer is "slow season" for NYC hotels... however, there is a point where hotels will not discount any further, and i don't think we're too far from that point. With 4* hotels hovering around the $100 mark and 3*-3.5* properties in the mid-$80's-$90's, i don't think you're likely going to see rates head too much lower than this. I could be wrong, but hotels also know that you're going to have to stay somewhere, and aren't going to sell a 4* hotel NYC hotel room for $50 (for example)

With rates this reasonable i wouldn't be SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID and for ease of your trip would try to get one hotel for the complete stay.

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

Let us know your thoughts and one you're ready to proceed we'll advise accordingly.

[sydneytraveller]

Thanks for the info - that's good to know.

If this is, on average, a time of low prices (for Manhattan anyway) then I agree that staying in the one place makes more sense (and is a lot easier!)

My thinking at this point is to bid for a midtown >3* property for $80 and see what happens. Which midtown sector doesnt concern me.

For example:

1) MTE for $80

2) MTE + MTS for $85

3) MTE + MTS + MTW for $90

Failing that I would try again after 72 hours and begin at $85.

What do you think?

[thereuare]

Personally, in NYC, i would first try for a 3.5* or higher, then only lower to a 3* property if necessary (unless i was using HOTWIRE and had a good guess as tothe 3* hotel i was purchasing)... but it's up to you regarding how tight your budget is and what you expect from your hotel stay.

Also, the way you propose bidding you could easily overbid for the MTW zone, so you could do better. Let us know your current maximum bid and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

Lastly, there is no MTS zone on PRICELINE... let us know which zone(s), by PRICELINE name, you're willing to accept and we'll advise accordingly.

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

[sydneytraveller]

I got the MTS from the Priceline NYC Zone Descriptions thread. I gues the areas I'm referring to include MSG and ESB and TS - all of which I believe would be acceptable.

For the bidding process I rethought that maybe it would be possible to devise a preferred ranking and then do the following:

eg

MTE - $80

MTE + MSG $80

MTE + MSG + MTW - $80

MTE + MSG + MTW + TS - $80

MTE + MSG + MTW + TS + ESB - $80

and, failing that, redo at $85 and so on and so forth. Or is this just akin to bidding $80 at MTE then a different bid of MSG at $80 OR is it the same as offering once for all (MTE, MSG, MTW, TS, ESB) at $80.

I guess I'm asking, if nothing comes back at $80 for (eg) MTE, do the powers that be rethink that bid if I rebid including another zone? If I dont get MTE at $80 by itself, will I get it at all in any of the other combos of zones?

Sorry - these are the kind of questions I'm not even sure make sense. I hope I have a good enough understanding of the bid and rebid process that the above isnt laughably wrong!

At this stage I would set a maximum bid at $90 a night - if that gets me a 4* then great, if only a 3 or 3.5 then so be it.

Thanks.

[thereuare]

I understand your question...

Using your sequence above you would not be successful on subsequent bids in the MTE zone (unless of course a new lower rate became available between the time of your first bid and the time you placed the subsequent bids... not a very likely scenario, but rates do have to change at some point in time)

However, i'm not sure if you fully understand re-bidding, which is explained here: Priceline Re-Bidding Explained

At the 4* level you have FIVE re-bid zones available... only THREE re-bid zones at the 3.5* level. See if you can figure out which they are and we'll confirm them for you... if not ask questions and we'll get you up to speed so we can then suggest a bidding strategy.

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

[sydneytraveller]

Hi,

I have reread the "rebid" article and more carefully analysed the NYC zones and have come up with the following strategy:

(as I dont know about or care about which specific hotel I get, I'm simply going for "the best I can get for the least")

To get TS 4*

1) TS 4* for $80

2) TS + Bro for $83

3) TS + Che for $86

4) TS + L Is for $89

5) TS + MSG for $92

6) TS + UES for $95

Should this not work, I believe I can redo the above substituting either ESB or MTW for TS (again working at a 4* level). Failing that I will devise another strategy for MSG for 3 1/2*.

I am on the right track here?

[AaronJB]

I haven't looked at rebid zones, but the prices above are more likely for a 3.5*; I definitely understand being on a budget, but a 4* in NYC accepting an $80 bid is quite unlikely.

[sydneytraveller]

Thanks.

I am willing to try all three 4* locations around central Manhattan (ESB, MTW and TS) on the hope that something will be accepted in the range $80 - $100US.

If not, then I will start the 3.5* process at a lower starting bid - maybe $65-70ish - and work up from there.

As I am booking for 7/14/09 - 7/20/09 I figure I've got some time to play this one out.

If it ends up costing approx $100ish so be it but I'll certainly try to avoid that if I can.

[thereuare]

I am willing to try all three 4* locations around central Manhattan (ESB, MTW and TS) on the hope that something will be accepted in the range $80 - $100US.

$100 is usually not enough for a 4* hotel in these zones but you can certainly give it a shot... to confirm, you don't want to bid MTE?

Let us know and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

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

[sydneytraveller]

I'm not sure what I was thinking re MTE was but I am willing to include it in my bidding.

I will let you know how I go.

[thereuare]

At the 4* level you have FIVE re-bid zones. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

I'd start as follows:

Select 4* MTE, MTW, TS, ESB...

Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $95, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $98, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $100.

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[sydneytraveller]

Over the last couple of days I tried the above strategy to no avail.

No 4* hotels in CP, ESB, MTE, MTW, TS or UWS were willing to accept bids from $80 - $95 for 7/14 - 7/20.

I started then on 3.5* with the same regions + MSG and again, no luck from $70 - $85.

I waited the min 24hrs and started rebidding (with TS initially) on 3.5* from $88 - $96 and won at $96 in Times Square. The Sheraton Manhattan.

On the Starwood site this is selling on these dates for $217.00p/n.

Obviously I am really happy with 55% saving. Thanks to everyone above who helped with this, my first priceline booking.

Of course, I used the PRICELINE link.

ps if you wish to retitle the thread, it should read:

3.5* NYC (TS) Sheraton Manhattan $96 7/14 - 7/20

[AaronJB]

Thank you for sharing your results with the board. Pretty amazing win for the Times Square area, especially for a 6 night stay! :)

Thank you for using the site's PRICELINE link to start your bidding, as well.

Enjoy your stay.