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Priceline Hotel: 2.5* Newark-Meadowlands (Meadowlands-Rutherford) La Quinta Inn Clifton


deejub
By deejub,
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Newark (Secaucus - Meadowlands) 2*. Business center, laundry, high speed, restaurant on premises. Rate $44 6/16-17. 2/12 out of 5 TripAdvisor.

Business center and restaurant rule out Extended Stay America. Could this be the Howard Johnson Inn in Clifton (on Rt 3)? That's got the right amenities, but it's also showing no rooms available on that date on Hojo's website and on Orbitz, which would seem to make this unlikely. Rodeway Inn Secaucus has no business center and would be pushing it at 2*. LaQuinta Clifton, Super 8 N. Bergen and EconoLodge Carlstadt -- again, all with no business center, and none of these have a restaurant. Any ideas? (And what does "business center" mean for Hotwire, anyway? Are fax services by staff on request enough, for example?)

Thanks!

Editing my own post -- the LaQuinta *does* have a restaurant... a Red Robin hamburger restaurant connected to it. Still no business center listed on the LQ website.

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My best guess is the Howard Johnson, which when i just searched Orbitz does show rooms available for the nite of 6.16 (i didn't check their own website)

I'm familiar with this area... what are your needs/purpose of this trip?

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

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That Hojo definitely said no rooms on Orbitz when I looked as well as on Hojo's website -- must have been a res system glitch.

My need is a bed and a shower and that's about it. I have a 6:15 a.m. flight out of LaGuardia the next morning, headed straight to a business appointment after landing, and I live about 3 1/2 hours from LGA (that is, just north of Albany). So I need a bed to park in driving down the night before and getting up in time to make the flight (like 3:30 if the overnight's in North Jersey, which seems the most logical choice. The other options -- Yonkers and areas that don't charge to park in Queens/Bronx -- would be more expensive with no substantial benefit). Cheapest Park & Fly option at LGA is $199, or about $240 after tax. Parking at offsite lot at LGA for the 3 days I'll be gone is about $55, so I'll save substantial $$ driving down as far as North Jersey and then driving to LGA before the flight, which would take from 20-45 minutes from anywhere in the area going from Fort Lee to Paramus via the GWB or, as a second choice, in the Secaucus-Meadowlands zone via the Lincoln Tunnel. My backup reservation, which can be canceled through 6/14, is at the Ramada Rochelle Park, priced at 58.65 + 15% tax = 67.45 (making a total hotel + parking real cost of about $123 as opposed to about $240). Of course, I'd like to do better or I wouldn't be here analyzing all this. :)

Thanks! This is a tremendously valuable resource and it is greatly appreciated.

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I think it depends what you really want from this stay...

If the least expensive anywhere in the area, the HOTWIRE property above might work for your needs. You might also consider bidding the area via PRICELINE for a 2* hotel... you may get one of the extended stay type properties as there are a few Homestead Studio Suites, an Extended StayAmerica, in the area as well, as well a Red Roof Inn.

For an extra $20 you could stay at a 3* up in Ft Lee... it's $20 more but would also likely be a little bit nicer, if that is important to you at all.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know what you decide and how it goes, or if you decide to bid for this stay, if we can be of further help.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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I've bid over the past few days on PRICELINE for 2* in relevant areas on the northern half of the area at issue. The history for the last couple, in each case with the bid before the slash and the real cost after fees and tax after:

May 25, 2010:

Saddle Brook/Hasbrouck Heights 28/39.48

Added Paramus-Hackensack, 34/45.97

Added Teaneck-Ft Lee, 37/49.43

Mahwah-Ramsey-Allendale, 35/47.12

Added Woodcliff-Park Ridge 40/52.90

May 27, 2010

Saddle Brook/Hasbrouck Heights 35/47.53

Added Teaneck-Ft Lee, 38/51.03

Added Paramus-Hackensack, 39/52.20

Added Ridgefield (free rebid), 40/53.56

Mahwah-Ramsey-Allendale, 37/49.44

Added Woodcliff-Park Ridge 41/54.06

All of that failed. I tried the Secaucus - North Bergen area earlier up to a real price around $50 without success. I'm hesitant to try 1* on Price.lne as that, I fear, could bring in some utter dives -- even considering that for this trip, all I care about is a bed and a shower, preferably without bedbugs and roaches. (For examples of what I'd be worried about, check out the Royal Motel or the Lincoln Tunnel Motel.) Please advise if that's an excessive worry about 1*. In contrast, I would be just fine with the Red Roof or even the Super 8 North Bergen at the right price. (The equivalent would apply to some of the dives vs. the low-end chain places in the Fort Lee to Paramus strip -- it's just that I'm more familiar from years of driving Route 3 and 495 to the Helix with the no-tell motels on that route.)

Everyone has their own view, I suspect, about when PRICELINE and HOTWIRE are worth it to them. For me, it depends on what I'm doing. If, as in this case, I need a bed and that's about it, I would have to save something substantial -- let's say $15. I've done that successfully several times in that situation. (See, for example, this topic.) If, in contrast, it's going to be a situation where I want to shoot for a better quality place at the same price (e.g. my wife is coming along or I'll be in the hotel a lot), that's a different story.

Here, since an acceptable market rate place to crash for the night is available at a real cost of $67, I'd want something with a real price of $52 and down to start considering it. $44 on HOTWIRE is a real cost of $59 -- a savings of only $8 for a place that, if it's the Clifton Hojo, is slightly less convenient for me. (3, Tunnel, and through midtown, even at 4 a.m., is not as quick as 4, GWB, Triboro, plus the drive to get there on the way down is longer.)

Again, I analyze way too much. :) I'll keep throwing lowball bids at PRICELINE until the day of cancellation just for the heck of it.

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For examples of what I'd be worried about, check out the Royal Motel or the Lincoln Tunnel Motel.) Please advise if that's an excessive worry about 1*.

I'm sure there are a few 'diamonds in the rough' at the 1* level, but with PRICELINE and HOTWIRE you can't choose which type you will get, which is why i err the side of caution, and stick with the higher rated hotels, as i'd advise you do as well... at the 1* level it's just not worth the $10-$15 you may ultimately save, imo.

It may be 6 of one or half dozen of another, but i would think that at 4am Clifton-->LGA cutting thru the city would be quicker than Rochelle Park-->LGA (i know google maps states otherwise, but i don't think that's taking into consideration the wee hours of the morning you'll be making this trip)

Good luck and keep us updated.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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deejub, did you bid in the LGA area for a 2*? I had stayed several times at the Fairfield Inn for about $50 plus tax and fees, this is in the Flushing-Whitestone zone. They offer free parking, its a small lot, but there is ample street parking.

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dahammer, thank you! I didn't even look on the other side of LGA. In Flushing-Whitestone, the 2 possibles I found are the Fairfield Inn and ESA, both of which would be fine.And when I looked closer, I see that I can rather safely bid 2* in Elmhurst-Corona (Days Inn or PanAmerican, both with free parking, look like the only reasonable possibilities) and maybe Bayside (though the Ramada there looks like it has issues, it's one night). All closer than Jersey. I just bid these and got nothing, but I started out with lowball bids and will keep trying.

If I get something on these bids, I assume I should note that here to close this thread and then post the bid in the Priceline area?

P.S. I looked at the Ramada Bayside / Queens Conference Center on Expedia. The description stated the following: This casino hotel is situated in Bayside, near Adelphi University.... In addition to a casino and a restaurant, Ramada Bayside / Queens Conference Center features a bar/lounge, complimentary parking, and conference rooms." I didn't notice there being a casino in Queens yet, and the one they want to put at Aqueduct wouldn't be near this hotel!

I called Expedia to report this, but I'm not sure the guy on the phone really cared. :)

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If I get something on these bids, I assume I should note that here to close this thread and then post the bid in the Priceline area?

No, just post here and the title will be edited. I think my best bid in this area was around $50. Don't forget to bid the LGA zone as well. The Long Island City zone is also fairly close to LGA, you can hop on Northern Blvd., but I think it will take more than $50 to win. Good Luck!

PS, thanks for your follow up review of the HoJo's in Newark, I am tempted to bid here, but the parking fee makes the total cost higher than the Country Inn and Suites in Elizabeth.

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Thanks -- I'm not bidding the zone LGA because of the parking cost, with all or almost all the hotels in that zone charging substantial parking fees.

That's in contrast to the last trip via EWR where I stayed overnight at the Hojo. There, I had an early morning departure with my wife, hence getting out in the morning took longer and being close to the airport mattered. Plus, because of the timing of the flights and arrival, I was able to park the car at Vista Parking, which is adjacent to the HoJo, without paying for a full extra day. (That would not be the case this time.) However, I have stayed at the Country Inn and Suites by Jersey Gardens and the stay was quite good and the parking indeed free while staying there.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This one makes a substantial update to the hotel list.

This is the Clifton LaQuinta (265 Rt 3 East), the former Wellesley Inn -- but it's definitely not a 1* as suggested in the hotel list, but rather a 2.5*. (That's not to say that I'm unhappy with it -- it's a location and quality upgrade over my safety hotel at the same price after taxes/fees -- but rather to advise that an update to the list is definitely needed.) And the star rating is in line with other sources - it's 3* on Orbitz, 3* on Travelocity.

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