Fitzofury Posted March 24, 2010 Report Posted March 24, 2010 Thank you all for the fantastic resource that is betterbidding.com. I am coming to NYC with my wife for the first time in late May. We will be attending a concert on Friday and most likely a Yankee game on Thursday. We want to stay in Midtown (I think) because its centrally located and seems to be a good starting location for someone who has never been to the city. I'm looking for hotel advise. We are not looking to spend the absolute least amount of money on a hotel. We would like to pay a bit more for a great location. We are open to botiques or standard hotels. We are willing to pay up to $300.00 all in but would prefer to be around $250-$275 per night. I have been monitoring the forum and it seems like people are getting 3.5 and 4* hotels for around $150-$200.00. With our budget of $250-$300.00 per night, would someone be able to give us a recommendation or two? Thank you all in advance for your time.Best,JamesPDX.
thereuare Posted March 25, 2010 Report Posted March 25, 2010 Welcome to BetterBidding!You don't necessarily receive a 'better' hotel if you bid more... you could just as easily win the same hotel you would have received had you bid lower, but you'll end up overpaying for it. See this thread for a more in depth discussion on this subject: Don't Bid Higher for a Specific Hotel.If you're looking for a specific type of property (boutique, non-busines, etc) HOTWIRE may be a better option as you can often take an educated guess as to the hotel you may receive based upon the amenities shown before your purchase. The trade-off is that PRICELINE is usually a little cheaper than HOTWIRE.Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
Fitzofury Posted March 25, 2010 Author Report Posted March 25, 2010 Thank you for the reply. I will check out the link you provided.
Fitzofury Posted March 25, 2010 Author Report Posted March 25, 2010 So after reading about advanced PRICELINE theory and such on the link provide, I have a better understanding of how bidding more doesn't equate to a better hotel. So I guess that leaves me with a couple options. I can either roll the dice with a 4* hotel on PRICELINE and get what we get, or I can try to narrow down my choices by identifying the hotel that is being offered by HOTWIRE.If I decided to PRICELINE the hotel, am I going to run into a conflict with 2 business days (wed-thur) and two leisure days Fri-Sat in the same reservation? Where would you suggest me to start my bidding for a 4*? We would like midtown or close by.I forgot to ask about timing. We are looking for a hotel around the 3rd week of May. Is now a good time to be searching?
thereuare Posted March 26, 2010 Report Posted March 26, 2010 Whether the first two nites will effect your bidding or not depends upon your budget and/or if there are any major events taking place in the city. I haven't looked at your dates in particular at this point (as it doesn't appear you have yet decided whether to go with PRICELINE or try the HOTWIRE route) but generally speaking i wouldn't anticipate a Wed-Sunday stay to be an issue in NYC.As far as when to bid, i recommend bidding as soon as your plans are firm, but also knowing what a 'good' price is and making sure you don't overbid early on. For a more in depth discussion see the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ.What is your maximum budget for this stay? At the 4* level are MTE, MTW, TS, CPS and ESB all acceptable?Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
Fitzofury Posted March 26, 2010 Author Report Posted March 26, 2010 All the above refrenced areas are acceptable although I would like to avoid the Time Square area after reading the advise on the forum. Our all in budget would be $300.00 per room. As for major events, there are two sold out Pearl Jam concerts at MSG on 5/20 and 5/21 although I'm not sure thats a major event in NYC.Thank you.
thereuare Posted March 26, 2010 Report Posted March 26, 2010 The MSG events aren't likely to influence hotel demand for those dates.I don't necessarily suggest avoiding Times Square, but not necessarily targeting it either. We get a lot of posts on the board where it will be a user's first visit to NYC and they feel they have to stay in Times Square to be centrally located, which isn't really the case. However, since you prefer not to stat there we'll leave it out of a bidding strategy at the moment.I'll suggest a strategy which goes up to $180, which at the moment may prove to be too low, but i think that would be a 'deal' for these Spring dates... rates could potentially go lower, but it's a 'good' amount to have your plans finalized as well. However, you can obviously stop at whatever dollar amount you're comfortable with.At the 4* level you have FIVE re-bid zones. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.Select 4* MTE and MTW...Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $145, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINESelect 4* CPS and ESB...Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $145, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINESelect 4* MTE and MTW and CPS...Bid $150, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $155, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINESelect 4* MTE and MTW and ESB...Bid $150, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $155, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINESelect 4* MTE and MTW and CPS and ESB...Bid $160, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $165, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $170, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $175, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $180, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $185Any questions feel free to ask (especially confirming your re-bid zones with the board)Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.Good luck and let us know how it goes. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
Fitzofury Posted March 31, 2010 Author Report Posted March 31, 2010 Thanks for all the advise. I ended up winning the "W Tuscany" @ 180.00. Tried all the above suggestions and was almost at the limit of 185.00 before something finally took. Seems a bit more than most people have paid, but maybe its the time of year or something. Thanks again for the help.
yellowdog Posted March 31, 2010 Report Posted March 31, 2010 FitzofuryThank you for sharing your result with the board!Enjoy your stay.Please use the site's HOTWIRE and PRICELINE links to start future purchases.Yellowdog.
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