Priceline Hotel: NYC Hotel Jan4-8 2005??

[a2ron83]

What kind of bid should i place if I need:

-2 hotel rooms

-anywhere in mid-to-lower manhattan

-on Jan 4-8th, 2005

-at a level comparable to a Holiday Inn or at the very least a Motel 6

-for less than $85 a night??

THANKS for any help!!

Aaron

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

There is a wide gap between a Holiday Inn and a Motel 6... especially in a city such as NYC where there are many independent non-chain hotels at the lower star ratings. If you pick a minimum star level we'll be happy to provide a strategy to follow, but there's too much risk in interpretation for me to take your above statement and tell you a star rating that you'd be happy with. As well, there may be some 2* hotels that you'd be content with, and some 2.5* hotels that you wouldn't be happy with... there is certainly risk when purchasing an opaque hotel at the lower star ratings. If you couldn't book thru Priceline, what would you do (ie- where and how much?). Let us know what you want to do star level-wise and we'll suggest a strategy to bid it.

To give you an idea of what some of the low-end hotels offer (these are not known to participate with Priceline, but they sure are fun to read the reviews... i still laugh reading some of them):

New York Inn for $89/niteREVIEW

Carter Hotel for $69/nite REVIEW

I would also offer these other suggestions:

-Arlington Hotel for $89/nite REVIEW

-What is the relationship between those in each room? Would it be possible to get a nicer hotel and share one room between four of you? (or are you already going four in a room?)

-Perhaps stay in Jersey City (NJ). A 18 minute PATH train ride to midtown manhattan or 7 minutes to downtown manhattan. Nice hotels can be had within your budget... some with great NY Skyline views.

Let us know how you want to play it and we'll advise accordingly. It also may help if you give the make-up of the guests... are you in your 20's and plan on partying until the wee-hours of the nite or are you in your 60's and will be taking things a bit slower paced and retiring to bed early.

[a2ron83]

Our group is 3 guys, 1 girl. If sharing a 4 person room is a money-saving option we'd consider it. Are there hotels that do that, or are you suggesting 2 people sleep on the floor??? (cause thats an option! lol!)

Were in our 20's, but not TOO wild and crazy. There may be one or two nights where we'd be out late partying, but nothing out of hand.

I'm not too keen on those hotels with those reviews, but were really not prepared to spend more than $89 a night...Is there any chance that a 3 star hotel in the city would accept an $89 bid? Whats the highest star option for $89?

As to your mentioning Jersey, before I thought about priceline I found a Super 8 Motel in North Bergen, NJ for a really low $79. They even offer a shuttle to Times Square. We'd prefer to stay in the city if possible, but if that deal cant be beat, we might just be heading to North Bergen! Any idea of the rating of that motel? Any recommendations for hotels in NJ for around the same price or less but with a good rating??

Thanks again, and this website is AWESOME!!! I didnt realize it would be this cool!! You rock!

Aaron

[dahammer]

a2,

you might be writing one of these reviews if you stay at this hotel... :) There is a NJ Transit bus stop nearby, but I don't think the hotel has a shuttle to Times Square. But if they did, how would you get back? Checking Hotwire for these dates, 2 adults per room, it looks like you can get into the Candlewood Suites in Jersey City for $67 per night including taxes and fees. It looks like the Jersey City Hyatt is available at $113 per night including taxes and fees. This jumps up to $180 per night if you have 4 adults per room. These properties are all close to the PATH train, a $1.50 fare and 17 minute ride to Herald Square, just another 10-15 minute walk and you are in Times Square checking our MTV 's TRL.....

[thereuare]

I'll check your options in the morning (it's late and just playing some catch-up with the board)... but i wanted to reply you to warn you against the Motel 8 in North Bergen. It's really nasty and does not attract a good crowd. For the money i thought the Arlington Hotel wasn't bad, but if you didn't like that property, i can assure you that you will not like the Motel 8.

[thereuare]

I've looked further this morning and here are my add-on thoughts:

In my opinion it is too risky to bid one room for 4 people in NYC as Priceline only guarantees double occupancy... you could get a room with only one bed and no room for a roll-a-way cot. If you go with Priceline you would have to bid for 2 rooms, but i'm doubtful you will be successful at $89/nite (and is that bid price or total amount including fees and taxes?)

Other option would be to use Hotwire where you can select the number or people, up to 4, and i'm assuming you could then double your maximum amount since you would only need 1 room. However, searching for 4 people doesn't reveal much... but searching for 3 people gives you a few options. Based upon what i believe the hotels are, i think you can get either the Sheraton Manhattan or the Sheraton NY for $175/nite (plus fees and taxes, which would bring your net cost to about $200/nite). Still a slight chance they try to give you a room with one bed (for 2) and one roll-a-way, but i think the chances of that happening are not very great and you could have a good argument on why that is not acceptable. You could book for four people on Sheraton's website but that adds about $25/nite to you amount (and now you're talking another $100 for the stay!)

Regardless of how you book and how many beds are in the room, a NYC room for 4 people will be tight!

The other option is Jersey City where you would be in a nice hotel. I'm almost certain you could get a super-cheap rate for the last nite of your stay... not sure if it would be available for the first 3 nites of your stay until you tried.

The bottom line is that i think you will have to yield someplace... either price, space, or star quality. The reviews above for the Arlington are indeed somewhat mixed, but for the price i think that it is a good option (especially when you see the other two reviews for similarly priced properties!)... but that isn't to say that would be my first choice of you available options.

How would i play it? One of two ways:

1) I would probably try for Jersey City.... either all 4 nites or at least part of your stay. Jersey City is a killer deal, but it's not in the Manhattan. I do understand part of a trip is about location, but this property is a great alternative. At the very least, spending one nite here would free up some cash in order to make staying the other nites in NYC a bit easier on the wallet. I would probably try first for at least two nites, figuring that four people in one small NYC room may be do-able for a day or two... but after that fights and arguments may begin to ensue :)

2) Take the Sheraton offers above, within your budget excluding taxes and fees.

I think my top choice would be to try for 2 rooms in NYC at $89/nite, the if/when rejected, try for 2 nites in NYC and 2 nites in Jersey City (if avaialble), if that was not successful then i'd go for 3 nites NYC and 1 nite Jersey City.

Let us know how you want to proceed and we'll supply a strategy for it all.

[a2ron83]

Well, im still consulting with my group, but anything in NYC is looking less likely, especially with an offer so enticing as $67 at the Candlewood Suites across the river in Jersey City.

If my group likes that, how would I go about exactly securing that offer at that hotel? I went to hotwire and noticed it was like priceline in that you cant see which hotel youre bidding on...

Also, any opinions on the option of getting a suite for the 4 of us?

Aaron :-)

[thereuare]

The rooms at the Candlewood can only accomodate 2 people per room... you would definately need two rooms if you book that property, so i don't know how that fits in with your plans.

Before 'settling' for the Candlewood (not a bad property) i would sooner try for a 3* property on Priceline... but this for your complete stay may be tough as well.

[a2ron83]

So, you're suggesting I try for a 3 star in Manhattan for around $70 (at 2 rooms for 2 people)? Which parts of NYC...downtown? midtown? upper east/west side? As far as I know, we have no preference as to our location if were in Manhattan because we hear the subway is excellent. So recommend whichever neighborhood is most likely to accept an offer.

If that fails, whats the best way to secure that Candlewood Suites option? (I checked out the hotel, 'settle' was NOT that right word! What a great place)

[thereuare]

Above i was refering to a 3* property on Priceline in Jersey City.... i would try for that before 'settling' for the Candelwood.

(you had previously said that the thought of being successful in NYC was fading).

I'm having trouble keeping this thread straight so i'll re-iterate what it think is happening and you can correct me if/where i'm wrong:

You were willing to spend up to $90/nite per room (i rounded it to make the numbers easy)... 2 people per room (4 people total).

I didn't think receiving this in NYC had a high probability of success and suggested splitting the stay between Jersey City and New York City.... if the plan went ideally you would get one room for four people for the first two nites of your stay (admittedly a bit tight) and then two rooms (2 people each) in Jersey City for the last two nites of your stay.... with the total room rates being near $720 (which is equal to your original plan of 2 rooms per nite, 4 nites, at $90/nite).

[a2ron83]

Sorry for the confusion, but after some discussion, our group has made some clear decisions:

-We would like to share a room for the 4 of us, and use the savings on a higher level hotel

-We are willing to spend up to $120 a night for that single room in Manhattan at a 3 star hotel. The Holiday Inn in Manhattan has a single room for 4 people for $115 a night on their website, so we think this is a safe bet.

SO,

with these new facts in mind, what steps should we take? We were thinking of placing a bid of around $90-100 to secure a nice place, something nicer than the Arlington or New York Inn. Suggestions?

[thereuare]

I don't think it's safe to use Priceline in this instance since you risk only getting a room with one bed. If you're willing to take this risk then we can supply a bidding strategy, but i don't recommend it. In Orlando, i wouldn't hesitate to take a quad occupancy risk... but not in NYC where rooms are notoriously small.

Here are some reviews of the Holiday Inn.

If you still want to bid on priceline i'll suggest a strategy, but the 4 people in the room is a BIG risk (imo). If you choose to book the Holiday Inn directly please use this boards link: HOLIDAY INN.

Let us know what you decide to do.