Priceline Hotel: need help for NYC

[pennypinchin]

Hello. I'm vacationing with my wife for our first NYC trip. We are arriving on 12/10, checking out 12/13. Our flights are booked so I'm open to splitting the hotels if we have to. We're hoping to stay in Midtown East, Midtown West or UM/Central Park South in a four stars for under $160 per night.

We've bid on priceline but not accepted for:

130, 140 and 150.

I'm open to 3 stars but I don't want to risk staying at the Raddisson. I'm also open to booking with any decent, clean hotels in this area directly but I'm not sure of the safe bets and we are looking for the best rate possible.

Please help, Any ideas are greatly appreciated! (PS - We love this site!)

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding! (and thank you for the compliments on the site :) )

Unfortunately the weekend rates for this stay in NYC are extremely expensive!! I'm not too concerned about the nite of the 12th as i think we could fairly easily provide you with a strategy to get something well within your budget, but the other two nites are currently going to be near impossible and would require a much higher bid. Do you have any type of back-up or alternate plan if not successful with Priceline?

[pennypinchin]

:) Oh no, is this a busy tourist weekend? I'm open to booking through a clean hotel directly or another discount site. Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

[thereuare]

I think you're going to have to bend somwhere... either in location (as in outside of NYC) or price.

To give you an idea of how bad things are for this Friday and Saturday, the Radisson on Lexington (the hotel you didn't like) is going for $499/nite! :)

Let me know:

-which airport you are flying in to

-i don't need to know your specific ages, but are you in your 20's and will be partying until 4am or is an idea of a 'nite out' a quiet dinner with a nice bottle of wine and back home by midnite

-where are you flying in from (are yo used to cities or are you from a more rural area?)

We'll try and come up with the best alternative solution to meet your needs.

[pennypinchin]

WoW! We're flying in to JFK on 12/10 in mid morning from Tampa, FL. We're 28 and are most interested in a clean hotel room that we will have access to the fun of midtown from fairly easily. We might stay out late a night or two but nothing too crazy We're mostly interested in seeing the cool sights and enjoying some great food.

[thereuare]

For the first two nites of your stay i think you're going to have to raise your maximum bid... even to stay 'just' outside of the city itself. A bid of $150 just isn't going to do it for this Friday and Saturday nite. Are you able to raise you bidding limit at all?

Are you willing to SPLIT YOUR BID?

What time does your plan arrive on Friday nite?

[pennypinchin]

I can raise my maximum bid. What price strategy do you reccomend?

I can split my stay. Our plane arrives on Friday afternoon at 12:30 PM.

Also, do you have any other ideas beyond priceline? Thanks!

[thereuare]

I haven't only been checking Priceline, as i think that this will be nearly impossible thru Priceline alone (well, not impossible, but much more than you are willing to spend). Before even trying Priceline i think we need to determine your back-up plan first (as this will give us an idea of just how high you should be willing to bid).

Looking at each nite individually, this is the best i could come up with thus far:

12/10 - stay in jersey city (approximate cost $150+ taxes and fees)

12/11 - stay in jersey city (approximate cost $220 <ouch!>)... a different hotel than the one above but just down the street from it. You could stay here both nites, but the first hotel is nicer and cheaper. This would be a refundable rate so you could still keep your options open and continue to look for a better value/option for this nite of yourstay. Another option is to stay out in Neward (~$125/nite) for this nite, right near the PATH train. However, Newark is not a great area and many do not feel safe there, but i throw it out as a low cost option.

12/12 - i'm not worried about this date as it should be easy to get a reasonably priced room in Manhattan

I know you want to stay in NYC all 3 nites but i just don't think it can be done even close to your budget for these dates. The hotels i'm looking at in Jersey City are good alternatives as they are within walking distance to the PATH trains which will take you to midtown in 17 minutes and downtown in 8 minutes for $1.50/each way.

What are your thoughts about the above?

[pennypinchin]

I just found some options for 4 stars in Manhattan 12/10 & 12/11 on easyclicktravel.com for $159 per night. Do you know if this is a reliable, legitamate site? I don't want to book through them if the hotel is going to deny me when I show up based on this low rate.

[thereuare]

EASYCLICKTRAVEL is legitimate (and please use our link to start your purchase if you choose to go thru them), but...

I would first question what it is you found. You have to look at the status of the room, they either list it as 'on request' or 'available'. For the on request options they need to contact the hotel to check on availability and too often they come back with a reply that the hotel is unavailable or it is available at a much higher price than is listed on their site. I don't bother with their 'on request' options and check the link that reads "Show Only Available Hotels".

I just did a search and think i know what you're seeing and it shows as 'on request'. You could certainly try to see if it's available (they'll get back to you within 8 hours) but if this hotel is indeed listed as 'on request' and you do not yet have confirmation that it is available, i wouldn't count on this as your back-up.

Let me know if my suspicion on the above scenario is accurate or not.

[pennypinchin]

You were correct. I tried to book the 159 - 4 stars, and it came back with a message that it was not available at this time.

I talked with my wife and she isn't keen on staying in Jersey city so we are going to keep trying. Hopefully some inventory will open up on priceline.

[pennypinchin]

What were the hotels available in Jersey City - I might check them out to see if I can talk her into it.

[thereuare]

Jersey City: Hyatt and the Doubletree.

You do lose some of the "NYC Feel" by staying out of the city, but the commute into Manhattan is very easy, quick, and inexpensive... and it certainly beats paying $300+/nite for a hotel room. :)

[pennypinchin]

Inventory did not open in NYC for this weekend. And our heart was set on staying in the city for our 1st trip. This is just a busy time of year in NYC. So we decided to postpone this trip to April '05.