I know I may be asking for the impossible but here goes:

I'm going to NYC for a whole week towards the end of June. Any hotel I can get for $90-$110? It doesnt have to be luxurious and I don't need lots of amenities like gym, swimming pool, bar, breakfast.

I just need:
- CLEAN (no roach motel)
- SAFE (don't want to be mugged walking back)
- location is flexible (downtown, mid-town, village)

Is Priceline the way to go?

Thanks!

Hi there-

Yes, I think Priceline will be your best bet. Go to biddingfortravel.com and read everything on their hotel FAQ section before you try bidding on PL. From the winning bids posted on BFT.com, your price range has been winning 3* hotels.

Just beware, the winning bids on BFT do not include the fees/charges that PL adds on the grand total, so expect to pay an extra $15-20 on top of your bid. That means your max bid should be more like $75-$95, and after adding the fees/charges, your total will be within your range.

I don't know about anyone else but I find my hotel to be one of the least expensive things about my stays in Manhattan.

kittycat, the chances of you gettting mugged in Manhattan are miniscule. Hotels generally like to stay out of crime ridden areas. Hard to get guests to stay there.

Definatley do Priceline. My friends and I stayed at the Hyatt in the theater district last year for $90 per night. It was a great location and we all had great rooms.

Always use bidding for travel to get a feel for winning bids and the hotels in the area you want.

I used priceline. Got Murry Hill Suite Hotel for $65 + taxes ($80 total).

Was in NYC 4/27-5/4. Hotel was rated a 2 star, but was very nice.

Located 3 blocks south of Grand Central Station [39St./Lexington]
Definately read the info at www.biddingfortravel.com...as advised in other posts.

Good luck.

Use Priceline. I just got the Marriott Marquis for $111 a nightfor Memorial Day Weekend. It is considered a 4 star. Check www.biddingfortravel.com for more info before bidding on Priceline.

In addition to BTF, you also may want to look at betterbidding.com they offer friendly advice to help you bid.

If you do not have any luck with PL, take a look at the Applecore Hotels. They are running a special for their 5 midtown Manhattan properties (Comfort Inn, Red Roof, etc) including complimentary Continental breakfast and two complimentary, 1-day unlimited-ride MetroCards. Room rates start at $119. High speed internet is also free at all 5 hotels. http://www.applecorehotels.com

I agree with the above recommendations for both Priceline and Apple Core hotels.

Apple Core's Comfort Inn MIDTOWN is just a block from Times Square, on a block with a great variety of restaurants, and is the only all-nonsmoking hotel in Manhattan.

Heck, I am just going to ask this question here... y'all seem like a tolerant group.
I went to biddingfortravel.com and I just can't make heads nor tails of it.
People create some sort of list and the same people seem to respond to all the messages.
Can anyone tell me what all that means?
If you don't do it "right" they sometimes chew you out!

BiddingforTravel definitely requires thorough study to figure out the best Priceline bidding strategies.

If you request bidding assistance, the monitors will admonish you (and not usually "gently") to carefully comply with all requirements.

However, your efforts pay off magnificently.

Great, great great advice here. Running out the door but TxTravelpro the "same people" are paid moderators-experts. They raelly know their business. Read the FAQ. it takes a while. Another tip, there are a few areas that only have 1 hotel in that area/star level so if you bid that, you KNOW ahead of time what you're getting. 2.5 star midtown east= Marriott Courtyard. This is a winner & most people get it for $65-75/night.

mclaurie... how do you know everything? Is this your business?
You give some the best advice on this forum! Maybe you should write a book?

I use BFT to see what people have won and for what price; when I need advice I turn to betterbidding.com and place my bids through their link. This is just my personal preference. However, I wanted to know if the BFT website has had a problem this week, every time I access it the page is blank . . . anyone else have this happen?

TXTravelPro-

In order to make sense of BFT.com, you'll need to read their FAQ section first. It is rather tedious, but it pays off. As mclaurie says, BFT has moderators/administrators that will assist people with a bidding strategy. However, if people do not abide their guidelines, the administrators can refuse to help. But hey, if people want to save $, they should put in the effort to read everything on that website before they post their questions. Plus, it's a free service too! BFT has definitely helped me a lot the last few months in getting 5 hotel reservations and saved me lots of $!

I went to BTF & it is confusing. I am not even sure where the Hotel FAQ is.

Can someone help?

If you are confused by bFT try the other site http://www.betterbidding.com they have more patience with "newbies". I'm not bashing BFT, it's just that they crack the whip and the other site can save you the same $ without the attitude.

kitty, I find it archaic, too... it is not organized well and I can't find anything that simply outlines the process.
Just a simple numbered list of the steps involved.
Maybe I missed it, though...
I am so severly ADD I may have simply lost my concentration before I found it

kittycat, the best thing to do is just get on the BFT.com website and read, read, read.

By spending a couple hours reading, you'll save a couple of hundred dollars on your hotel room.

If you try and bid without a really good understanding of priceline, you could end up in a neighborhood you don't like (happens) or paying too much money for a hotel (happens).

Skip all the Priceline/BTF stuff. Go directly to the websites for Super 8 Times Square and Comfort Inn Midtown. These are your best bets. Good Luck!

In order of the questions

TxTravelPro-no this is not my business (I wish it were). Thank you so much for the wonderful compliment. I DON'T know everything (& I'm usually lucky to have other Fodorites correct my mistakes -but I must tell you a LOT of what I know I learned HERE on Fodor's. I've just had time to read, read, read. I would love to hear what sort of book you think is missing-or if you could articulate what you think I could write about that doesn't already exist. If you (or anyone else) would like to email me on this subject, that would be great
[email protected]

Margie-BFT works for me-BUT it loads very slowly. If your computer, like mine, is running out of memory, it may take some time. So suggestions: 1) have some patience & see ift it will load OR-try refreshing the page 2) try deleting some cookies to free up some space on your machine. If you don't know how to delete cookies, try searching here (another thing I learned on THIS website) but can't remember if it was explained to me on the US board or the Europe board. If that fails, start a thread titled how to delete cookies. I'll rty to help

kittycatangel-I too couldn't figure out that dang website. It's been a while, but I remember one problem was I kept being sent, I thought incorrectly, to another site ezboard.com That's where you need to be! It will say ezboard.com/pricelineandexpediabidding mine has an http:// and a number in front of that.
Then you scroll down the page & just above where it says airlines, there will be an FAQ-click there & then skip to the faq on hotels. Hope that helps.