Priceline Hotel: Looking for 4* Millenium Hilton

[Oboy]

We'll be in Tribeca. Can I get the Millenium for $100/night? As of today, I've already bid $130, but if I wait until April, will I get better rates?

Also, please let me know if I need to provide further info. :-)

Thanks,

Oboy

[thereuare]

You won't be bidding for a specific hotel, all that you are able to choose is the minimum star rating and geographic boundary (as defined by Priceline)... so even if you are successful at that price and star rating it may be at a hotel other than the Millenium. Is that a possibility you are willing to accept?

With that said, i don't think that $100 will be enough, and as you can see, $130 isn't currenlty enough. Nobody knows if rates will go down (or up) between now and you're check-in date... do you have any reason to believe they will go down (or just wishful thinking?)

Historically, $100 will not be enough for a 4* in this zone.

Let us know if you'd like to wait it out anyway, lower your star rating, or increase your maximum bid amount we'll advise accordingly.

[Oboy]

Thanks thereuare!

No, it doesn't have to be the Millenium, just a 4* and preferably downtown. The only reason I'm obsessing (hoping) over the $100 is because a friend got it last year in April for $100. I was just *hoping* to do the same for myself this year and thought maybe there was a specific reason she got it so low last year. I do know that she bid just a few days before her trip. I'm willing to wait it out.

Thanks so much for your response!

[thereuare]

Rates are currently higher than they were a year ago... as a result the rates thru the opaque services have generally gone up as well.

Besides general price hikes, there are a lot of variables that can affect hotel pricing. Although both your upcoming stay and your friend's stay last year occured in the same month, there could be conventions or other events in town for your upcoming stay while last year there were none.

[Oboy]

Ok, that definitely helps! Thanks again and I'll post when I make my winning bid, whatever it may be.

[Guest djazz]

My wife and I have won bids several times for 4 star midtown west for $100 and have only once been rejected (not a great sentence!). We usually get the Millenium, Hilton, Westin etc...nice hotels for $100. Have things changed? The last time we bid was about 6 months ago.

Thanks.

[patt6]

:)

Be patient this is my first post. Been looking for hotels in NY and trying to figure out how all this stuff works. The $ I am finding are all over $200 per nt. such as the Belvedere and that's not rated as such a hot property.

Help please! Would love to know what you ended up with.

[Oboy]

I will post here when I get my winning bid.

In the meantime, for MY dates (April 15-17), on Hotwire I just pulled up a 3* for $105 in Downtown, a 4* for $181 in MTE and a 4 1/2* for $179 in MTE. Not sure what you are looking for or where you are looking. Perhaps you can create a new post like I did. Good luck.

[thereuare]

My wife and I have won bids several times for 4 star midtown west for $100 and have only once been rejected (not a great sentence!)... have things changed?

Yes, but not necessarily.(how's that for 'not a great sentence'?)

During very low occupancy times, usually the early winter and during the summer, it is not uncommon to see rates around $100; during other times occupancy levels can be higher and therefore rates thru the opaque services are higher as well. Add that NYC is a big convention town and you add another wrinkle to the factors which determine prices.

Bottom line is that rates over the last 3-4 years have been steadily increasing, as the economy improves, travel picks up post-9/11, and occupancy levels are higher. It used to be you could almost always get a room in NYC for $125 or less... but that is not necessarily the case anymore, and rates are more date specific.

I guess this would be a good lead-in to ask you to post some of your own winnng bids to the board, as the more datapoints we have the better we can help others with the seasonality factors that affect pricing.

[Oboy]

I ended up using Hotwire (even tho this is the Priceline thread). I got the W Hotel for $181 per night and was VERY pleased with the value. Made use of the Bliss spa on the 4th floor (yummy!)

If I should cross-post this in the Hotwire thread please let me know... I'm sorry this info is kind of dated... :-(

[thereuare]

We will move this post to the Hotwire thread but first please include star rating, date of your stay, price paid, and the amenities shown before purcahse... all of this should still be available by going to Hotwire and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

Thanks.