Priceline Hotel: 3.5* NYC (MSG-Convention) Affinia Manhattan

[MGL]

This is my first time on this forum, my first attempt at using Priceline, and my first trip to NYC, so please be gentle. :)

I'm in NYC on the above dates, hoping for a 4*. My max budget is about $250 a night, but any money I save on the hotel can be spent on other fun things, so $150 a night would be ideal! It looks like MTE might be my preferred spot to stay, with MTW, CPS, and TS also being options, although I'm also open to other areas.

I understand the re-bid strategy, but I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what my overall strategy should look like? Suggestions for starting prices, whether to start bidding all 4* zones at once, etc?

Thanks for the help!

[MGL]

Okay, I got anxious and decided to try things on my own (using the PRICELINE link provided, of course):

$120, 4* MTE, MTW, TS, CPS - Rejected

$125, 4* MTE, MTW, TS, CPS - Rejected

$130, 4* MTE, MTW, TS, CPS - Rejected

$135, 4* MTE, MTW, TS, CPS - Rejected

$140, 4* MTE, MTW, TS, CPS - Rejected

$120, 4*, ESB - Rejected

$125, 4*, ESB - Rejected

$130, 4*, ESB - Rejected

$135, 4*, ESB - Rejected

$140, 4*, ESB - Rejected

$100, 3.5*, ESB, MSG - Rejected

$105, 3.5*, ESB, MSG - Rejected

$110, 3.5*, ESB, MSG - ACCEPTED! Affinia Manhattan!

I'm quite pleased and looking forward to my first taste of the Big Apple!

Thanks to everyone who has posted up their strategies and results- they've proven very helpful!

[AaronJB]

Congratulations on your success!

This is a phenomenal deal for this property, especially during the often-busy month of September.

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

Enjoy your stay.

[latentpower]

BE CAREFUL! I just here last Thursday and unless you put up a fight (or pony up an extra $80) they will put you in an extremely small room (so small I don't believe they even advertise the rooms on their website). Literally the size of a closet, because you bought the room from priceline. If they have some availability, you may be able to upgrade without paying, however if they are full, you could be up a creek (especially if you arrive late).

[Isle of Man]

BE CAREFUL! I just here last Thursday and unless you put up a fight (or pony up an extra $80) they will put you in an extremely small room (so small I don't believe they even advertise the rooms on their website). Literally the size of a closet, because you bought the room from priceline. If they have some availability, you may be able to upgrade without paying, however if they are full, you could be up a creek (especially if you arrive late).

This is a little worrying !!

[MGL]

This is a little worrying !!

Yeah, it is!

Has anyone else had any experiences booking this hotel through PRICELINE?

[orion1778]

I won this hotel through PRICELINE for an upcoming visit in August. I called to see if I would have any luck getting a room with two beds. They said Priceline had booked me in a "studio 1-bed" room but they would be happy to sell me a "studio 2-bed" room for an additional $50 plus tax. That would have added more than 50% onto what I have already paid. I tried haggling and politely explaining that I wasn't interested in spending more than a nominal amount of money on this "upgrade" but the lowest I could get them down to was $40 plus tax. Oh well - I understand NYC is a tough city for getting rooms with two beds. I guess my friend and I will figure something out.

[thereuare]

As per the hotel's website Studio Suites range in size from 350-400 sq. ft. are are designed to accomodate up to two people (which satisfies their PRICELINE requirement of double occupancy)

The price difference between a Studio Suite and a 1BR suite from their website is $50/nite, so asking PRICELINE guests for this same amount for an upgrade seems fair and reasonable, imo.

Using orion1778's dates as an example... studio suites currently cost $239/nite at the Affinia website, so the $110 s/he has paid is certainly a very nice deal for this room. Even accepting the $50/nite upgrade rate (yeah, i know, 50% of what's aready been paid) would bring the cost up to $160/nite vs. the $289/nite for this class of room thru the hotel's website... still a very nice deal, imo.

[latentpower]

the studio 1br that I stayed in did not have a kitchenette. It was certainly <100 square feet. I have stayed in the radisson lexington petite rooms, and they were big compared to this.