Anyone stayed at the Hilton New York lately via Priceline?
 

Hello there! Last night I booked the Hilton New York via a Priceline bid of $120 a night (plus taxes and fees) for our upcoming trip. Has anyone stayed there recently via Priceline? I have reviewed biddingfortravel.com and it seems in the past they have sometimes given Priceline customers the smallest/oldest rooms, although not always. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on getting a decent room. I plan to call today to confirm my reservation and request a nonsmoking room with two double beds or a king bed. I know they have automatic kiosk check-in there now, I'm wondering if I should try it or just talk to one of the clerks in person? Thanks for any tips!

If the hotel is full you are likely to get the least desireable rooms - as is anyone who arrives late at night - since that's all that's left. Arriving earlier in the day - esp the afternoon gives you a better chance of having a choice - unless they KNOW the hotel is full.

And the deal with Priceline is that you are getting run of the house rooms - so you can try asking - but don;t expect to get any special choices.

I'm sure they will honor your non-smoking request, but as for the 2 beds, I don't know.

We use priceline frequently, but with the big cities it sometimes is hard to get 2 beds. I recently got priceline rooms in Baltimore and Boston. Both times I called in advance and requested non-smoke, 2 beds. Both times I did get non-smoke. Once they gave me a room with 2 doubles, but it was wheel chair accessible, next to the elevator and ice machine (wyndham in baltimore). In Boston, they could only give us a room with a king bed,a also wheelchair accesible (at the Sheraton, which actually was quite nice).

There have been times also when we were upgraded, but not in the big cities. It doesn't hurt to ask, and if they aren't busy they may oblige, but they certainly don't have to.

I've requested two beds at the Hilton NY with a priceline room on two occaisions and neither of them did I get two beds.

The Hilton New York is a massive convention hotel right on Sixth Avenue and 99.9% of their rooms are exactly alike; Standard hotel rooms.

We stayed at the Hilton New York on a Priceline vacation bid (they no longer do vacation bids). Anyway, on a vacation bid you can request number of people and rooms (which we had 4, two kids and two adults).

That worked fine for the New York Hilton in that case. Problem is you are going on a standard hotel bid and not the hotel/airline combined.

We came in a midnight, and still got a two double room. But of course they knew we had 4 people.

I think the best thing to do is to ask them nicely for a corner two bed room because this is your first trip to NYC and are excited to be there. Be pleasant and enthusiastic is probably your best bet. I always check the desk clerks visually when I arrive and look for the one that looks like they are in the BEST mood. My daughters often wonder why I get in the longest line! I just try to find the right combination of people to talk to.

Hopefully, you don't have more than two with you, because they could refuse to honor the reservation if you are trying to get 3 or more in a one bed hotel room. If you do have 3 or 4, you might want them to remain somewhere else while you are checking in. No point in making a public spectacle out of your Priceline bid for two when you have too many for the room.

Good Luck! If it works out the Hilton is a good choice for a trip. Centrally located, newly upgraded the last few years and close to public transportation.

If you really <u>must</u> have two beds, Priceline is not the way to go in NYC, especially! That is not the most common configuration in that city, and a PCLN bid is a bid for two people. Hope it works out for you...

Thanks for the quick replies and advice! It will just be my sister and me, so we don't have to have two beds. Although a king or two double beds would definitely be preferable to one queen. We're planning to check in around 3:30 PM. So I guess we'll see what happens and what they are able to give us. 4khansen - Great advice about dealing with the desk clerks, thank you!