Priceline Hotel: Best value for money 09/30-07/10

[Ykarus]

Hi,

this is my first post in this forum, but i read a lot here. Without this forum I would not even travel to new york, so thank you in advance ;-)

Now here are my dates:

I travel from 30. Sept - 7. Oct.

Since I stay with my GF i really need to have an ensuite bathroom (I think some 2 * hotels don't have it?). Since this is our first time NYC we want to see as much as possible of Manhatten. Max. travel time with public transit should be 30 minutes one way (I think this excludes all Airports, Brooklyn, Bronx and even Jersey?). So I accept all other areas and all star ratings (hotel has to be clean and as I mentioned ensuite bathrooms) . 1000$ (150/per night) is max for the whole stay, including all fees and taxes and hopefully breakfirst (not necessary). But for the max budget we want to have a really nice hotel and/or location. I know we did not chose the best time for a cheap stay, but I hope you got some advices how to bid :-)

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

$1000 'all-in' for a 7 nite stay comes to less than $125/nite before taxes and fees, which is going to be tough for this stay, imo.

All PRICELINE and HOTWIRE "opaque" hotels will have their own bathroom, but i'd caution against a 2* hotel in Manhattan unless you have a very reasonable guess as to what you'll likely receive... while some 2* hotels may be fine and suit your needs, some may not, and with an opaque purchase you can't choose which type you will get :)

You can take a quick stab at a hotel directly in the city, but if that fails, my favoriate area outside of Manhattan is the Jersey City Waterfront. The good news is that 4* hotels in this zone are usually very reasonable and offer a great bang for the buck, however, for your dates i'm guessing a 4* hotel in this area is probably just outside of your budget at about $130 or so. However, i'd still give it a try and also see if you're able to stretch your budget a bit.

Let us know what you'd like to try first and we'll take it from there.

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

[Ykarus]

Thanks for you reply.

Yesterday I tried my first bets, but not with serious bets. 80$ for a 3.5* hotel is not enough for the city center :)

What you think about 3* hotels in the city center? I know the chance is quite small to get one for ~125$ max. but I still want to try it if the hotels are worth it.

I read the re-bid strategy guide, but for 3 * hotels this is not possible because all areas have 3* hotel. So what is a good strategy to bet?

Some questions to Jersey City as well:

What is a 4* hotel in Jersey City like? Breakfirst included? Western European 4* standard? And do we need to pay more for the public transit because it's not the same state?

You think I should wait till 2-3 days before traveling to get a better deal?

And you have any experience with booking hotels locally? Because perhabs I could stay a few days at a mate's place but if not, I think booking hotels locally is MUCH more expensive than booking via priceline, isn't it?

[thereuare]

What you think about 3* hotels in the city center? I know the chance is quite small to get one for ~125$ max. but I still want to try it if the hotels are worth it.

Exactly which zones, by PRICELINE name, are you willing to accept.

Some questions to Jersey City as well:

What is a 4* hotel in Jersey City like? Breakfirst included? Western European 4* standard? And do we need to pay more for the public transit because it's not the same state?

No breakfast is not included, nor will you find breakfast included at most 4* properties in the US. The PATH train is $1.75/ride and given teh length of your stay there are discounts available which would bring your cost down to ~$1.40/trip.

You think I should wait till 2-3 days before traveling to get a better deal?

And you have any experience with booking hotels locally? Because perhabs I could stay a few days at a mate's place but if not, I think booking hotels locally is MUCH more expensive than booking via priceline, isn't it?

I wouldn't wait as i think your budget is low for this area and anything you get at the prices you're considering would be considered a 'deal'. If you wait, you could be left scrambling to find something at the last minute once you've exhausted your bidding opportunties for that day (and little time left to try again). As well, while you hope rates come down in the nest 10 days... they could go up too!

If you let us know which 'city center' zones you're willing to accept we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

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

[Ykarus]

Thanks!

The "center" zones are: TS,MSG,ESB,MTE,MTW,CPS,Chelsea in this order.

[thereuare]

The "center" zones are: TS,MSG,ESB,MTE,MTW,CPS,Chelsea in this order.

It may be a moot point given your budget, but I'm assuming that price is most important, and you would prefer a lower priced hotel in say the CPS or Chelsea zone vs. a higher priced hotel in the TS or MSG zone?

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

[Ykarus]

Ofc I prefer TS, but you're right, the price is more important.

[thereuare]

You have no re-bid zones at the 3* level.

You can try as follows:

Select 3* TS, MSG, ESB, MTE...

Bid $100, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* MTW, CPS, Chelsea

Bid $100, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* MTW, MSG, ESB, MTE...

Bid $105, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* TS, CPS, Chelsea

Bid $105, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* TS, CPS, ESB, MTE...

Bid $110, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* MTW, MSG, Chelsea

Bid $110, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* TS, MSG, Chelsea, MTE...

Bid $115, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* MTW, CPS, ESB

Bid $115, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* TS, MSG, ESB, MTE, MTW, CPS...

Bid $120, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* TS, MSG, ESB, MTE, MTW, Chelsea

Bid $120, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* TS, MSG, ESB, MTE, MTW, CPS, Chelsea...

Bid $125

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us now how it goes.

[Ykarus]

Hey,

thank you for your strategy. Today I found a quite good deal on booking.com. I booked the Best Western Plaza Hotel in LIC. It's a 2 month old 3* hotel and we got a Kingsize bed with ensuite bathroom. There are only a few reviews, but all of them are 9.x of 10 (which is very good).

I pay 980 $ including all taxes and breakfirst. Googlemap says I can be at the Times Square in 15 minutes with public transit. I think only the breakfirst saves us like 100-150$ and we don't need to pay any extra fees for the transfer from NJ to NY.

I can cancel it until the 28 of September. So what would you do? Try to find a new hotel via priceline or just take this one although it's in ugly LIC ?

[thereuare]

It's less than anything you're going to get in Manhattan, but it's not an area i'd choose to stay... so it comes down to your budget and what you're looking for from this stay.

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

[Ykarus]

What exactly is your problem with LIC? Just that it's ugly? I only stay there at night, so that doesn't matter much to me.

[thereuare]

Yeah, it just gives me a dirty sort of feeling, and for most of the zone it's not an area i would go wondering outside at nite.

[Ykarus]

Help ID 4* TSTD 219$, 10/03-10/07

Boutique hotel, Fitness Center, Restaurant(s), Hi-Speed

Points of interest:

1. Rockefeller Center , 2. Carnegie Hall , 3. ESPN Zone , 4. MoMa , 5. Madame Tussaud's , 6. Radio City Music Hall

Tripadvisor 4/5

Please help me to identify that hotel. Thanks

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

The above is a match for the Hotel Mela so that would be our best guess.

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

Let us know how it goes or i fwe can be of further help.