Priceline Hotel: 3* Newark (Jersey City) Hyatt

[sailakfan]

Hello everybody,

We are planning a trip on the above dates to visit Newyork City on a pleasure trip and we are four of us in the group I had been exploring every option and have concluded to stay in New Jersey and take the subway. I wish I can get the candlewood suites but for 4 occupants hotwire does not bring it up.

Another option is the Meadowland Plaza which I can get for around $110 with 3 * rating but I could not find any review on the hotel so if anyone have stayed there your feedback will be appreciated.

Another option is to stay at the Newark airport but since this is out first time I dont want to get stuck far away on in high traffic areas.

So kindly advise me.

Thank you in advance

sailakfan

[thereuare]

Are you looking for one room or two? Is your budget around $110/nite?

I've never stayed at the Meadowlands Plaza but if it's the hotel i'm thinking it is than i believe it used to be a Hilton property (10+ years ago). Regardless, the Jersey City area is a much better choice than the area around this hotel.

[sailakfan]

Thank you for the reply thereuare. That is my budget and I can live with 1 room 4 occupancy if that would work cheaper.

sailakfan

[thereuare]

Here's the situation:

Priceline only guarantees accomodations for two people. You could take a chance and get one room and hope it all works out ok, but you could also show up at the hotel and be given a room with only one king bed and really be stuck!

Hotwire now allows you to select up to 4 people in a room. But...

The standard rooms at the Candlewood only accomodate 2 people, so that isn't even shown when searching for more than two people.

What is believed to be the Hyatt appears for about $100/nite when searching for two people, but change that to four people (which you would need to do to ensure sleeping accomodations for all of you) and the price jumps to about $160 :)

Here is what i would do:

Try bidding $37 for 2 rooms at the 3* level in Jersey City.

If successful you'll have more room/space than squeezing all four of you into one room and it will still be cheaper than selecting 4 people via the Hotwire reservation above!

Any questions feel free to ask, but i would try the above first and let us know how it goes. If unsuccessful i'll list some of your other options.

[sailakfan]

Hi,

I tried your strategy and received the following

We're sorry, but we couldn't find a hotel willing to accept your offer of $37 for a hotel room in the Jersey City, NJ - Meadowlands area. Your credit card has not been charged for Request Number xxx-xxx-xxx-xx.

Since I have sometime should I wait for 72 hours and try again or still what are my other options?

Thank you in advance

sailakfan

[thereuare]

I'm assuming you don't want to split this stay (as i think there is a very good chance of success at the above $37 price for the first nite of your stay). If you're willing to change hotels i would bid the above for the first nite and then bid the second nite separately. By splitting the bid, if you're successful for the first nite, you can then continue to just bid for the second nite.... and if not successful in a given amount of time opt to get a different hotle for the second nite.

If you don't want to split the bid i would lower to 2.5* and try $41. We sometimes see $41 accepted when $37 has been rejected. Based upon previous history bidding 2.5* opens up the possibility of the Courtyard by Marriott... but i'm doubtful $41 would be enough to obtain that property (not that the Courtyard @ $41/nite would be a bad thing) and hopefully you can get upgraded to a 3 star. Rates are low enough that if they stay at this level i would suspect that you'll ultimately have success... but the Hyatt has been tricky in the past and we have seen low bids accepted with high conventional rates and higher bids declined with lower conventional rates :) .

Let us know if you decide to try the 2.5* bid above and if so, how it goes.

If you try it and are rejected (or if you don't try it) i would book a cancellable back-up just so that you know you will have a roof over your head. I would continue to try the 3* and then 2.5* bidding (if you choose to do the 2.5* bid) for at least a few weeks... bidding it every 72 hours. If by 2 weeks before your stay you are still unsuccessful i would then consider seeing if you could get the 2 rooms at the Candlewood Suites for $60/nite per room or less. This would only increase your budget by $10 for the weekend... but that money would be very well spent vs. staying in the Meadowlands area.

Those are my thoughts... any questions/comments feel free to ask.

[sailakfan]

thereuare,

Thank you very much and I will try the strategy later tonite as I am walking out the door for work. I will continue my quest either later today or tommorrow and keep you posted.

sailakfan

[sailakfan]

Hi,

Also could you please let me know what other areas than Jersey City is convenient in New Jersey, since in hotwire I am seeing a $71 in the Fort Lee - Hackensack area.

Thank you

sailakfan

[thereuare]

For convenience there really is no comparison to the Jersey City waterfront. Right there you have PATH train service (which runs frequently) and ferry service into Manhattan.

Anywhere else in the state you will be traveling via bus which although during peak times can be frequent, the schedule is more likely to have delays and during off-peak times the frequency slows considerably. I wouldn't recommend using any other zone as an alternative at this point, given the current low rates in the Jersey City area.

[sailakfan]

thereuare,

Thank you for your reply. At the Candlewood's website I got $139.99 for 4 persons a night and I booked them as a backup with cancellation allowed policy and am going to keep looking.

Thank you,

sailakfan

[sailakfan]

Followed thereuare's advice and on priceline got accepted at the Hyatt for the following and really excited about it and thankful to thereuare

Congratulations, you got your price of $37 for a 3-star hotel room.

See your complete hotel itinerary and receipt for your trip below. Be sure to print out a copy of this page for your records and have it with you at check-in.

I am glad I found betterbidding.com

Thank you,

sailakfan

[thereuare]

Congratulations, that's GREAT news!!

I'm very happy for you and that it worked out.

I assume this is for 2 rooms and 2 nites? (the same bid that was just rejected just 3 days prior?!?) You will be so much more comfortable with this arrangement than four people in one room... not to mention that it's cheaper! :)

If we can help with any of your plans in the area just let us know, i live about 2 miles from this hotel and a few others are also local to the area.

Enjoy your stay.

[sailakfan]

thereurare,

Thank you for the offer and hope I do not bother you too much and what a great place to live. And yes this is for two rooms for 2 nights and the $37 is per room per night.

We are from Texas and our plan is to fly into La Guardia on the 28th and spend that night at the airport and drive to Niagara on the 29th and come back on the 30th and fly back to Texas on the Nov 1st. We got a Comfort inn at the Niagara for $76 + tax and still looking at booking a hotel at LGA on the 28th of October and wish we can stay at the Crowne Plaza but for that date for 4 people hotwire is showing $105, so any suggestions.

Selected amenities include: Restaurant(s), Fitness Center $105

sailakfan

[thereuare]

What time does your plane get in on the 28th?

There is really nothing noteworthy in the LGA area so unless you are getting in very late at nite and don't think you'll want to drive, i would also consider statying an hour or so towards your Niagara destination.... this brings you that much closer to Niagara and also helps you avoid traffic on Friday (NYC traffic is very unpredictable, but chances are it would be better at 10pm than a random time on Friday morning/afternoon.

I'm not 100% sure of the route you would take, but my first guess would be that you would take the NY Thruway, but i would look at a map and consider some other place 30-60 miles onward of your journey (again, unless of course you think everyone will be too tired to travel after the flight). If this is an option and you have more info on your driving route let us know and i'll try to think of sensible places to stay along the way.

[sailakfan]

Three of us are getting in at 4:40PM and my wife had to work and she dont get there until 11:30PM and that was the reason for staying at the airport. We have not given much thought about the directions and most probably we will get the AAA's trip tics and if you have any suggestions I will appreciate it.

My plan for now was spend sometime in the morning (10/29) in NYC and leave to Niagara at around noon and get there that night and sight see next morning (10/30)and start in the afternoon and get back to NYC. Any suggestions to this plan is welcome.

Thank you for all your help in advance.

sailakfan

[thereuare]

It looks as if you're cofined to LGA then.

I don't think you have enough time to see Manhattan on the morning of the 29th. If you drive it will be a hassle (and expensive) to park your car, the bus/subway will take you close to an hour each way, and a taxi will cost you close to $20/each way (and could take anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes)... i think it's more of a hassle then it's worth, especially since you'll be back later in the trip.

If you want help with the LGA part of the stay please start a new thread (as this thread is already 'designated' to the Jersey City portion of the stay and there would be no easy way of adjusting the title to include the new LGA win... as well as the fact that this is the NJ Forum and the LGA would be in the New York section).

I can't speak much for the best route/directions, but once you get them i may be able to suggest a lunch place as you leave the tri-state area.

PS- i just took a look at Mapquest and they're route doesn't appear to make much sense to me, so i would consult a few sources and don't rely on just one.

[sailakfan]

Thank you very much thereuare, I am heading out to work and will start a new thread for LGA under the NY topic tommorrow.

sailakfan