Hotwire Hotel: 3.5* NYC (Times Square-Theatre District) Time Hotel

[KoalaBear]

I tried these moves:

4* Midtown East $168

4* Times Square $168

3.5* Midtown East $158

3.5* Times Square $158

ALL OF THEM FAILED............

I do not understand why hotels are so expensive even when its not marathon week

I absolutely favour MTE or Times square and I'd like to spend up to $200 for a room (include tax + fees). Any advice?

[thereuare]

This is hi-season for NYC... even though it's not Marathon weekend, in addition to business travellers, there are still LOTS of visitors who come to NYC this time of year to do their holiday shopping and see the store holiday displays.

However, relatively speaking, rates are really not that high for your dates above. HOTWIRE has a 4* hotel in the Times Square zone for your dates for $173/nite (your price may differ slightly) with Fitness, Restaurant, Business, Internet, Spa and a TA rating of 4.0/5.0. This is a match for both the Westin Times Square and the W Times Square so either of these would be my best guess... would you be willing to go $14 over your maximum budget (total is $414) for this HOTWIRE offering?

There are other less expensive properties in nearby zones as well, but not sure why you want/need to only stay in the MTE or TS zone(s).

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

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly.

PS- can you please add the amenities HOTWIRE showed before your purchase to be associated with the Middlewown Days Inn.

[KoalaBear]

I absolutely would like to get that hotel except that its showing $337 on my HOTWIRE page =( I would have paid for the room right away if its only $173.

Im sorry but i forgot to add that im getting 2 rooms OCT 23rd-25th 2009. I thought they must have some unsold inventories.

[thereuare]

It was pointed out to me that i was search 11/23-11/25 previously, which is why i saw the $173/nite in the Times Square zone... that deal isn't available for your actual dates.

While hotels do have unsold rooms (there are offers available and most hotels are not showing 'sold-out') that doesn't mean that they're going to just give rooms away at rock bottom prices. It's a high demand time and they expect a certain number of 'walk-in' customers as well as a certain number of guests that will book just before their stay... they'd rather hold onto these rooms in hopes of selling the room at full price when somebody walks in rather than discount them too much and not be able to accomodate the higher paying walk-in customer.

Given you're just about at your stated maximum bid, what is your gameplan?

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

[KoalaBear]

Im not sure what my gameplan will be now. It will be a 1.5 day sightseeing trip so Im not sure what make sense now. The best I've found is hotwire - times square 3.5 stars at $239 (4 amenities: fitness center, restaurant, business center and high speed internet) -> probably doubletree??

We will reach NYC around 8-9pm on 23rd after coming from woodbury outlet. Is there anything meaningful to do in NYC after 9pm on Friday (WE DO NOT PARTY OR DRINK). If not maybe it makes sense to live in jersey city for the night and spend a full day in NYC on 24th?

Is the 1 day pass for NYC worth it?

[thereuare]

There's always something to do in NYC regardless of the day of the week or hour of the day... the question is will you be up for doing it after a full day of shopping or will you more likely be interested in just relaxing and getting an early start the next morning.

If budget is a concern Jersey City could provide a good option, as i think you could be successful at a 4* hotel there for $100-$135/nite. As well, there are places on the weekend you can park on the street (if you're confortable doing so) nearby whereas in NYC you'll likely be paying a premium to do so (it sounds as if you're driving to the city). However, it is less convenient than staying directly in Manhattan so it's a cost vs. conenience factor you'll need to weigh accordingly.

You could also save even more by staying the nite of the 23rd nearby and the head to the city (or Jersey City) the following morning, but given your limited time in NYC, i'd sooner be in place for the nite of the 23rd (whether it be Jersey City or NYC) so that you can get an early start the following day and not first be packing, checking-out, driving, and checking-in to a new hotel.

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

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly.

[KoalaBear]

so the only areas without 4* is chelsea, MSG, upper east side am I right? Well upper east side ha 4* but it seems I can assume I stand a better chance of getting a 4* in times square than upper east side since Times Square is cheaper. Does brooklyn and LI city have 4* hotels?

[KoalaBear]

I tried $210 for 4* at TS, MTW and $215 for MTE. Rebid zones include chelsea, MSG, CPS.

Nevertheless, ALL FAILED. Im contemplating living in those homeless shelters.

:)

[KoalaBear]

I included Central Park South in my previous bids (as CPS). It also has 3.5* hotels so I couldn't use it as a re-bid zone. It seems the only three without them are Chelsea, LI City, and Upper East Side.

I just tried 4* at MTW, TS, CPS for $225 and $228. Nonetheless FAILED.

We're sorry, but we can't accept your offer of $228 for a hotel room in the New York City area. Your credit card has not been charged for Request Number ###-###-###-##.

[KoalaBear]

Will prices go down if I book it seriously last minute or will the hotels just hoard them for walk in customers?

[KoalaBear]

Im trying to get 2 rooms (4/3.4*) in NYC (MTW, MTE or TS) from 23rd oct to 25th oct but the price now is astronomical. There also isn't any special big events this weekend. Im wondering if prices on HOTWIRE will go up or down as we approach the dates. Will they hoard them so they can rip off desperate buyers or will they lower their price to offload them? Does HOTWIRE prepay hotels in advance for the rooms or can they simply return any unsold rooms back to the hotel?

[KoalaBear]

3.5* for TS and MTW failed at $196 and $215. Simply crazy stuff

[AaronJB]

Personally, I would book now; when it's a matter of 6 months out, there is some room for discussion when it comes to prices going up/down, but in terms of NYC and a few days away, I don't think there's going to be much in the way of price variation.

While NYC is quite expensive, when looking on HOTWIRE for these dates, the prices do not seem unusual for this time of year.

If you would like help with your trip, please let us know your budget and desired areas.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchase.

[KoalaBear]

I've bid up to $228 for 4 stars at MTW, TS, MTE and they failed.

I've also bid up to $215 for 3.5stars at MTW and TS. This is the first time I've ever felt hopeless with priceline. I tried so many permutation possibilies that I forgot what kind of combinations I've used. When I reused a combination will they inform me that I can't rebid until 24hours later or do they just say they can't accept my offer? It seems that they keep saying they can't accept my offer that I dont know if I've rebid the same combination in 24 hours.

I see a HOTWIRE option in TIMES SQUARE at $239 (fitness, restaurant, business center, high speed internet) I wonder if that is the doubletree?

[AaronJB]

What is the star rating of the TS property that you are seeing?

[KoalaBear]

its 3.5*. seems like either millenium or doubletree to me. But I thought doubletree should have the suite symbol??

[AaronJB]

The Time Hotel and Millennium Broadway have been reported with this amenity set. However, I'm seeing a 3.5/5 tripadvisor rating on the detail page for this property, so that would narrow it down to the time out of those two possibilities. This would likely not be the DoubleTree.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links.

[KoalaBear]

I always thought if you mess up the 24 hours rule they will tell u to wait because its less than 24hours since your last bid. If the bid is too low they will tell you they dont accept your bid. Now im less sure because I've tried a ton of permutations and I cant exactly remember what I tried and what I did not and they all end up saying they cant accept my bid.

[KoalaBear]

$235 rejected for TS 4* and $236 rejected for MTW 4*.

$233 rejected for MTE 4*.

[KoalaBear]

thanks alot for the help

[KoalaBear]

if you mess up because of too many bids it will say this:

We were not able to process this request since our records indicate you have already made a request for this same trip. Your credit card has not been charged for Request Number ###-###-###-##.

Other than that its because our price was too low. Hope that helps.

[KoalaBear]

I've given up on bidding for good hotels for oct 23rd - 25th. Anyone here has good experience with some of the hostels? They seem to be in good locations in Mid Town West like 1291, jazz on times square, big apple hostel but Im not sure what I should watch out for. Any advice is appreciated.

[KoalaBear]

$228 4* for TS, MTW, MTE failed today

[Romelle]

I don't know the hostels, but if you found one that at least seemed OK and had a cancellation policy, you could reserve that and then keep bidding until the last minute.

You could look at the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins (above on this page), and then follow the posts and see if you think another area in which somebody had success might work for you. You also could browse the Hotel Reviews (tab above) for more info/possibilites on other areas.

An extreme solution is the Holiday Inn at Newark - $79 for your dates. I just did this with my son. It was part of a really inexpensive air/hotel package. I have to admit it took a shuttle/train/bus/train/train hour and a half each way to get to/from NYC but even the journey was interesting and we got to do NYC! If you are curious, a link to HI is under the Support/Travel tab above.

Hope you find something. NYC is incredible.

Romelle

[KoalaBear]

Hotel Amenity include Fitness, Business Center, high speed internet, restaurants

I used BB's HOTWIRE links and its "the time hotel"

Cheers :)