priceline 3.5* advice needed

I%26#39;m attempting to use priceline to bid on a hotel in NYC for 4 nights sept 18-22 this year.

I was hoping for a 4* in times square, mid town east, midtown west or central park south but i have reached my maximum bid of 拢150 per night (inc taxes) with no success. I guess i was being a little optimistic.

So now my options are to up my budget or try for a 3/3.5* hotel instead.

I think i%26#39;m going to have to go with the later so has anyone got advice on which of those zones they would recommend for 3.5* and estimated price?

priceline 3.5* advice needed

This is the forum for New York State. You will receive more responses if you repost your question to the forum for New York City, found here:

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priceline 3.5* advice needed

1) If you%26#39;re bidding on the US Priceline, start thinking in dollars not pounds (and I think the prices on the US board are often better). 150 gbp = $250 at current exchange and that%26#39;s WAY more than you should pay on Priceline.

2) It is VERY early for a Priceline win for late Sept. A KEY to using Priceline properly is to have patience. You should have a backup reservation that can be cancelled so you don%26#39;t feel desperate.

3)

betterbidding.com

biddingfortravel.com

both have lists of Priceline hotels at each star level and they also list what people have won. There is NOT ONE WIN listed on the betterbidding calendar for your dates so upping your budget at this point may make no difference.

4) One way to get an idea of what inventory PL has is to look at air/hotel packages on Priceline where they usually identify the hotels. Hotwire is also sometimes an indicator of what they have on PL (and you usually get it cheaper).

RELAX. look for a back up reservation and stay cool.

I got the Hampton Inn SoHo @ $87 per night (plus tax etc) for the end September/beginning October. I suppose I was taking a risk by including 2*, but I%26#39;m absolutely thrilled with getting this hotel. I %26#39;lowered%26#39; my sights when the first bids were rejected, but as it turned out this was one of the hotels I%26#39;d been thinking about anyway before trying Priceline.

I don%26#39;t think it%26#39;s necessarily a disadvantage to bid a while in advance. I understand the hotels are paid when the booking is made, and like a lot of businesses the idea of having money that far up-front is attractive to them, and may be worth accepting a lower bid than they otherwise would. Many already have a rough idea as to how well or badly business is likely to be in three months%26#39; time, and not accepting a bid (and cash now!) could well be a gamble they don%26#39;t want to take if they think there%26#39;s a fair chance they%26#39;ll have empty rooms.