Priceline Hotel: 3* NYC (UES) Melrose Hotel

[Camasite]

Have booked my flight to NYC for a 10/13-10/19 stay. Have been unsuccessful (so far) with bid & rebid strategies for 3* and 4* hotels in all zones (don't want downtown), up to $140. I'm reluctant to keep going higher in price... I'm beginning to wonder if its the length of stay that is locking me out. Will splitting my bid into two dates get me better results in this price range?

I guess I don't understand NYC pricing. I've had excellent results in pricey San Francisco at the height of summer with $75 bids getting me a 4* marriott room. What gives????

Thanks in advance for your help.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Come to NYC in the summer and you'll almost certainly have success at the levels you have already bid... but it's typically not enough for mid-October. There is a chance you may be able to have success for one or two individual days within your stay, but what will you then do for the balance of the days that will certainly take a higher bid? Do you have a back-up reservation yet?

When you say you are reluctant to raise your bid, is that because of your budget or because you feel you'll be overpaying?

A user in this PRICELINE STRATEGY is seeking dates very similar to yours and so far has been rejected at prices up to $175 (i received a message the other day that they are half way thru the 3* part of the strategy... so far without success)

We discuss splitting your bid in this post which i don't know if you saw or not: SHOULD I SPLIT MY PRICELINE BID?

[mr.drew]

It would probably help to split your bid, so you should start a new bid, at 4*, and go up to the max of $140.

With the mix and match, you should start with a request for 10/13 thru 10/16, which is 3 nights, then, if rejected in all areas, adjust the dates.

If rejected for 3 nites, then make your request 2 nites, then 4 nites, then 5 nites, starting with 10/13 as your beginning date.

Then, change the starting date to 10/14 and 5 nites

Then... start date 10/15 for 4 nites.. and so on and so on

There are many combinations to try if these don't work, but you want to try many so that you may end up with at least a couple nites in a 4* hotel, if there are any available for $140. Splitting will give you your best shot at getting a decent price for at least a couple of the nites, but October is an expensive time of year for NYC.

I did a similar thing for my trip beginning Sept 24th, and ended up with the Park Central for 4 nites, and Grand Hyatt for 3 nites. This was actually perfect, as my wife now gets to see two parts of town.

Good luck!

[thereuare]

At this point i believe this to be more of a price problem rather than a length of stay problem.

I'm not sure splitting the bid will help, but if it does, it may result in a 2 nite stay (out of 6) accepted and then the remaining 4 nites being much more expensive.

[mr.drew]

Yes, that is true. Camasite, you are going to NYC during a busy time, and the rates will be sky high. $140 might be a real problem...

Looking at QUICKBOOK, I see the Quality Hotel on Broadway for $126 per night, but I have not heard of the hotel or ever been there. Pictures look ok.

Expedia has nothing in the City less than $179 for those dates...

Good luck.

Maybe you could try raising your bid by a small amount, say, $9.. to $149.

It can't hurt...

[Camasite]

Thanks for the advise, everyone. I started with week-long backup reservation at the Wolcott for $189 (a junior suite - which sounds nice since we're traveling with a teen) so went ahead and bid for 3 nights, thinking I might improve on this "older, but well situated hotel near the Empire State Building". I ended up having to bid up to $180 for 4*, then 3* hotels in my preferred regions -- Ended up with 3 nights at the Melrose for $180. Am pleased with this result. Even if the Wolcott isn't great, we'll have something to look forward to.

Has anyone stayed at the Wolcott? Should I try to get a less expensive 2.5* in the vicinity, even though we might not get a room with as much space?

[thereuare]

Can you please clarify the dates you won for and what zone the Melrose is located in?

When you dropped from 4* to 3* did you immediately bid for all the zones that you had previously bid for at the 4* level or did you start completely over and add zones one by one?

Here are some reviews of the WOLCOTT and some of the MELROSE NEW YORK CITY.

Please let us know about the date and zone question above, i'll then edit the title of this thread accordingly. If you'd like to bid for the remainder of your stay, please start a new thread so that we can properly label the title of that one once a hotel is won.

[Camasite]

Can you please clarify the dates you won for and what zone the Melrose is located in?

When you dropped from 4* to 3* did you immediately bid for all the zones that you had previously bid for at the 4* level or did you start completely over and add zones one by one?

I won a 3* UES (Melrose) for Sat-Tues Oct 16-18. I think I went ahead and bid for all previous zones MWS, MES, CPS, plus UWS and UES when i dropped from 4* to 3* (ran out of time -- sorry, should have tracked the strategy more carefully to share with the board). I really appreciate your willingness to map out rebid strategies. Thanks! I'm sticking with the Wolcott now for the first three days --

[thereuare]

You'll be about a 10 minute walk from Ess-A-Bagel (51st and Third Ave) which i often suggest users try for breakfast... it's inexpensive, counter service with tables available (so you can sit and have breakfast but no need/expense of a tip), but most importantly they have some of the best bagels NYC has to offer.

I'd be very interested in your review of this property upon your return. As well, the rooms at their website look great, but knowing NYC like i do, i suspect that they are very small (from the way the pictures look). If you have a digital camera it would be great if you could take a couple of pictures of the rom for us and post them at REAL HOTEL PHOTOS... it will be itneresting to see how they compare to the hotel's website.

Enjoy your stay... if you need any help/advice with your NYC itinerary feel free to ask.