Priceline Hotel: 3.5* NYC (MTE) Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel

[mr6ix]

Hi,

First of all, thanks for all of the help and information you've all provided on this board. It resulted in a great NYC deal for June of this year (Sheraton Manhattan for $97 a night!).

I'm now trying to bid for six nights - September 26 - October 2. I've bid up to $125 for 3* (and up) and up to $110 when I included 2*. Still nothing. I've included the following areas:

MTE

MTW

TS

MSG

CPS

ESB

Can anyone offer any advice to help me win? Is it really this expensive at this time of year? Is the length of stay a problem? Would it be advisable to try for 3 nights and then perhaps extend my stay or even do a new bid?

I'd appreciate any advice, as I don't want to spend more than $120 a night if possible (before taxes).

[thereuare]

This is generally a more expensive time of year in NYC and while i suspect your length of stay is not too much of an issue, it's certainly not helping... more likey this simply isn't currently enough for a NYC hotel for these dates.

Nobody can say if price will come down, or go up, betwen now and your stay, but a few comments:

-i would caution bidding 2* in NYC... while some hotels at this star level may be acceptable, others may not, and with PRICELINE you can't choose which type you will get

-if your budget is flexible you can likely be successful for a 3.5* or 3* hotel in the ~$140 range

-if your budget is firm, you can also consider the Jersey City where you can likely find success at a nice hotel with easy access to Manhattan (although access is more sporadic in the wee hours of the morning) for sub-$100, but if you do lose much of the "NYC vibe" that makes the city what it is

-you could choose to SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID, staying a few nites in Jersey City to save money and a few nites in Manhattan to 'experience' it

You could also just wait it out to see if rates drop betwen now and your stay, but i would expect you will likely need to adjust your expectations in some regard (either price, zone, or star rating)

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

[mr6ix]

Ok, I was probably being optimistic with regard to the price of rooms given how cheap they were in June. Thanks for your help.

[mr6ix]

Originally, I had a budget of $120 a night (before taxes), but following on from the advice in this thread, I decided to up my bids as this September/October can be expensive. I started at $125, for 3* and upwards, including MTE, MTW, CPS and TSA. No good, but I did get the 'for $22 more....' message. I didn't want to go with that.

It was late so I decided I'd have just one more bid. Added ESB and MSG and upped the bid to $130. Success with the Doubletree Metropolitan in MTE! Probably not my first choice, but it's got a good location and as long as it's clean we'll be happy. Prices for this hotel across the web are about $280-320 per night (including hotel's own website), so it's a substantial saving.

Thanks for the help! Booked using the PRICELINE link

[AaronJB]

Congratulations on your success and thank you for sharing your win with the board.

Looks like a fantastic discount off of regular rates! Glad you are satisfied with the results, and certainly a very nice job with bidding.

Thank you for using the site's PRICELINE link to start your purchase.

Enjoy your stay.