# Hotels, NYC, Priceline and Hotwire



## memphislawyer (Mar 2, 2007)

Going to NYC on Wed. August 28 and leaving on Labor Day, Sept. 3. Have stayed at the Wellington, the Days Hotel on 8th near 44th and then a great deal one time at the Helmsley New York. Have reservations at the Hotel 91 near Chinatown, and it is a full bed for $154 a night and taxes. Downside is said to be the noise of the bridge and also the smells (guess it is the food and trash). Said to be a pretty nice room for a 2.5 star on tripsadvisor, but it gets decent reviews. Dont need internet as I will be really only using my Iphone to respond to emails.

Wondering if it is realistic to get a better room near the same price. Can get like the Hampton Hotel near Times Square for $204 or so. The Doubletree, cant remember which, is not that much more. Even saw a deal on the Beekman.

Primarily we will be shopping in Soho, want to get to Tribeca, Nolita, Chinatown, and then Broadway at night, through we will see the Yankees that Sunday and the Giants preseason game the day we get there. Open to new areas to stay in if we got a fantastic deal, say the $150 we got 3 years ago for the New York Helmsley.

Looking really only for nice, clean room, non smoking, queen bed, dont even care if they have a restaurant since we just go out to the street for bagels and donuts for breakfast.

Any help would be appreciated


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## zzdocxx (Sep 26, 2011)

Are you familiar with the site betterbidding dot com ?

It is all about Priceline and Hotwire, they have more or less worked out most the algorithms and also have lists of hotels, based on winning bids posted by site members. Those posted winning bids also give the amount paid.

So, you need to look at which parts of town would be acceptable to you -- Priceline has the cities divided into different areas -- see the Priceline map for that. Then see which hotels are in those areas by checking the hotel list. Then see what recent winning bids are, and which properties were won. Then click the Priceline link from BB get to the part that shows the different Priceline areas of NY. Make a list of which areas have which "star level" of hotels. This is key because in order to get around the rule that you have to wait 24 hours for another bid, you could rebid with the inclusion of an area that doesn't actually have the star level hotel you are looking for. Which is like a free extra bid -- you may be able to do this multiple times, depending, while you inch your bid up incrementally. The previous wins will give you a ballpark idea of where to start.

I no almost nothing about NYC btw.

Learning the above process is a bit tedious but after the first time it is much easier.

Good luck!


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## zzdocxx (Sep 26, 2011)

Oh yeah you have to click the "name your own price" button on Priceline to get to the place that shows the different Priceline areas of town.

Then for each part of town, click the box as if to search that area. Down below there it will show what star level hotels they have in that area. Then unclick the box and go to the next one, etc etc

That way you'll know which area of town has which star level hotels. This is key to get those extra bids ! ! !

Last week when I went to LA, I was shocked that the 2.5* Santa Monica Travelodge, which I paid $85 in February, was up to ~$150 per night. I went through Priceline and ended up with a 4* for $145 I think it was. Of course they ripped me for $32 for valet parking, oh well.

So again, good luck!

OK just checked, NYC has 18 different Priceline areas.


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## memphislawyer (Mar 2, 2007)

Went to that betterbidding cite. I asked a few questions. The hotel, well Wellington was centrally located to Times Square and stuff but the room was so small, and the windows, you could hear every trash can emptied at 3 in the morning. Hotel 91 gets props for comfy beds, clean rooms, better bathrooms, but the downside is some people say that the bridge traffic is noisy (others dont seem to notice much), the smell of food I guess in Chinatown can be offputting and to my wife, she would prefer a queen over a double bed. However, I booked it at $154 a night two weeks ago and they went up to $300 a night and the whole hotel is sold out now. Finding a 3 star that gets good ratings (better than Hotel 91 on say tripadvisor) puts me at least $50 a night more.

We are in Soho to shop and plays at night, and so anyway near those two areas work best, or as long as we can catch a quick subway ride. Upper east side or say financial district is doable but not as desireable. Wife would prefer close to soho so she can drop bags off easier or times square for the night.


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## zzdocxx (Sep 26, 2011)

Yes it gets a little complicated, more difficult for me to understand due to lack of any knowledge of NY geography!

Is that Labor Day weekend?

In any case, good luck!


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

A quick check on the Hilton web site showed the Doubletree on W 29th for $224 as either an advance purchase prepaid or a AAA rate. The one on Lexington near the Waldorf was about the same.

I suspect they could be had for less on a name-your-price web site.


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## jackmccullough (May 10, 2006)

There's another site called biddingfortravel dot com that seems to work the way betterbidding does. I've never booked travel to NYC there, but I've gotten good rooms at good prices in other locations. I suspect it would be harder to use in a big city because with more hotels you have less chance of getting a free rebid. In smaller cities you can literally specify the exact hotel you're bidding on without taking much of a chance.


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## blue suede shoes (Mar 22, 2010)

For $179 per night, you can book a queen or king room at the New York Hilton on any of those discount booking sites. The location is great, between Central Park and Times Square. I have stayed there many times and never had a bad experience. There are restaurants in the hotel, with many other good restaurants within a short walk.


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

blue suede shoes said:


> For $179 per night, you can book a queen or king room at the New York Hilton on any of those discount booking sites. The location is great, between Central Park and Times Square. I have stayed there many times and never had a bad experience. There are restaurants in the hotel, with many other good restaurants within a short walk.


While I couldn't get that close to '21' without being pulled into its vortex, the people at my company who stay at the Hilton often really like China Grill in the CBS building (entrance on W 53rd).


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## memphislawyer (Mar 2, 2007)

How can I grab that Hilton Hotel for $179. Queen bed, we would take it, since we have a double bed for $154 at Hotel 91, on East Broadway in China town?


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

Looking right now, the best thing I can find that's in Midtown is the Doubletree on Lexington a block up from the Waldorf (very convenient to a subway station, one stop to Grand Central to switch to an express) at $233 for a queen and $242 for a king or two doubles on either AAA or AARP rates.


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## band of brothers (Apr 29, 2013)

Priceline has worked for me most of the time, but NYC is getting real expensive.


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## band of brothers (Apr 29, 2013)

You can always try the roger smith.


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