Priceline Hotel: 3* NYC (MTE) Helmsley New York

[CmdrThor]

I was unsuccessful bidding on priceline for a 4* hotel in the MTE and CPS areas for 6/4 - 6/7. I used the link here, selected 4* MTE and CPS and submitted the following bids adding a zone with no 4*s each time:

$95

$105

$110

$115

$120

$125

All were unsuccessful so I tried 3.5* for MTE only submitting the following bids:

$85

$90

$95

$100

Also unsuccessful. I noticed someone else recently got Le Parker Meridien, 4* in CPS, for pretty much my same dates. Any suggestions? My wife and I are visiting to see Phish on 6/5 at the Jones Beach Theatre, and also to sight-see Manhattan and visit a few friends on Manhattan.

[thereuare]

The difference betwen your dates and this PRICELINE win for the NYC Le Meridien is that your check-in date is 6/4 and theirs is 6/5. If you check the Le Meridien website for their dates 6/5-6/7 you'll see rates of $279/nite... then check for the solo nite of 6/4 (your extra nite vs. their reservation) and you'll see rates $389/nite, which is much higher and explains your rejection while the "pretty much my same dates" as yours was accepted.

I supposed SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID is not an option?

Is there a reason you're not considering the other nearby zones with 4* hotel? (MTW, Times Square, and/or ESB)

How about the 3.5* in the Chelsea-MSG zone for $115/nite with Restaurant, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business... this would be a match for the Doubletree so that would be our best guess. It's a brand new hotel (not even opened yet... due to open mid-May) so the hotel should still be 'fresh' for your June stay, and assuming you're taking LIRR towards Jones Beach would provide easy access to the LIRR, not to mention a good location in the city as a 'base' to go exploring.

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

Thoughts?

[CmdrThor]

thereuare,

Thanks so much for your help. I'll start by saying the reason why I didn't consider more zones is because I am new to PRICELINE and I've only visited NYC once, so my knowledge of the zones is limited to what I've been able to research so far. I liked MTE and CPS because of the wins people have recently gotten from hotels like the Grand Hyatt, Inter-Continental Barclay, and the Le Parker Meridien. I read reviews of every 4* you have listed in those zones and I was happy with them all. For some in MTW (such as the Sheraton), there were mixed reviews and I wasn't as certain I would be happy with the results.

Splitting the bid would probably work budget wise, but if we got stuck in different hotels, it wouldn't be very easy for us to move on Friday because we were planning on heading out to Long Island fairly early Friday (and you were right we're planning on taking the LIRR) so it would be too difficult to wait until 3pmish until checkin.

Initially I didn't look at Chelsea and MSG because I was hoping for a nice 4*, but I will take a look now. I assume the $115 hotel you refer to is on HOTWIRE, I will check it out.

Thanks again,

CmdrThor

[CmdrThor]

Ok, so I decided 3.5* in MSG would be ok, but I wasn't terribly excited about the Doubletree since I could get that for ~$156 advance purchase or $167 AAA refundable straight from their website. Is it bad that I want a "great" deal? :)

I went back to PRICELINE (from your link) and started with $100, 3.5*, MSG because the Affinia Manhattan looked pretty good. That was rejected so I upped it to $105, left it at 3.5* and added MTE. I had looked at all of the 3.5*s in MTE yesterday and I was ok with them, and I got rejected at $100 with MTE and CPS 3.5* yesterday. However at $105, I scored! :)

3.5* NYC (MTE) Helmsley $105

6/4/09 - 6/7/09

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $105.00

Subtotal: $315.00

Taxes & Service Fees: $67.80

Total Charges*: $382.80

That sure beats the $411 I was going to pay for the Jamaica Clarion in Queens ... Time to cancel that one.

Thanks again for your help!

CmdrThor

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Not only does this beat the rate you would have paid at the Clarion in Queens but you'll enjoy your stay much more staying directly in Manhattan and having everything right at your fingertips rather than commuting to/from the city each day.

Glad to hear this worked out well for you and that you're happy with the results.

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our PRICLINE link to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.