Priceline Hotel: 4* NYC (MTW) Sheraton New York

[Raralith]

Howdy ya'll,

This is my first post here, but I've read a lot of useful information. My wife and I finally have time for our belated honeymoon and we decided to go to New York City on April 17th to the 20th, 2009. Looking at both Hotwire and Priceline hotel listings on these forums, we definately want to stay in the Midtown West, Midtown East, or Time Sqruare zones with at least a 3.5*, preferably 4* for about $150/night. My wife really wants a balcony though which I'm not sure New York City hotels have? If so, we definately would be willing to pay up to $250/night for specificly that.

What confuses me is what Hotwire and Priceline can specificly do.

Priceline: Area, dates, min star rating, and price.

Hotwire: Area, dates, variety of hotels with star rating, price, and amenities.

Looking at this, Hotwire has the advantage because you can guess the hotel right? So let us say hypothetically that 4* $120 hotel shows Hilton, we can bid 4* $125 and it may show us Shermon? Or will it always default to the Hilton since it is a 4 *? Is there an advantage that Priceline has over Hotwire? Should I just plug away at both and see what comes back at me?

Appreciate what ya'll do here, and thanks again!

[AaronJB]

Happy Honeymoon and welcome to the site. :)

Balconies are a no-go in NYC, as far as I'm aware of - and if there are properties with balconies, they would cost a steep upgrade fee - more than $250.

PRICELINE is a more opaque service - and therefore, it is often cheaper than HOTWIRE.

HOTWIRE does give you more information and one can possibly guess which hotels are showing. HOTWIRE, as a result, is often more expensive than PRICELINE.

Not sure what you're asking on the last part, but HOTWIRE hotels change all the time - there is not a "default" hotel. There's also not a default hotel on PRICELINE, either - if you try to bid higher in an attempt to get a certain hotel, you'll just end up paying more than you should have for a hotel you could have bid less for.

The object of HOTWIRE and PRICELINE isn't to get a specific hotel - it's to get *A* hotel for cheap.

[AaronJB]

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases, and let us know if we can be of help in terms of bidding or deciding on a HOTWIRE purchase.

[Raralith]

Thanks for the help.

I decided to go with Priceline.

Dates: 04/17/09 - 04/20/2009

Start: 4*, MTE, 100, nothing

Rebid: Added Upper Eastside, 105, nothing

Rebid: Added MTW, 110, nothing

Rebid: Added TS, 115, Sheraton New York Hotel And Towers

I know single bed and no smoking are not guarenteed, but would I call the hotel in advance or ask that when I check in to see if it is available?

[AaronJB]

no smoking shouldn't be an issue, and one bed is very likely. You can definitely call to confirm and lock in these details, but one bed and no-smoking are requests that you will likely not have a problem getting accepted.

Thank you for posting your win and using the site's PRICELINE link - this is a terrific price for the Sheraton (about half off.)

Enjoy your honeymoon and hope you have a pleasant stay in NYC. :)

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Just an FYI, the Sheraton is a Smoke Free property so that aspect won't be an issue at all :)

Thanks for the PRICELINE post, enjoy your stay and honeymoon! :)