mclaurie,

I'm 40+ woman traveling w another 40+ woman. As long she promises to behave I guess I can share a bed with her.LOL What size bed are we talking about?
Looks like I should bid TS from what your saying, which is fine with me. My friend has never been to NY & wants to go so badly I don't think she cares where she stays.
We are planning mid -late April.
Still haven't booked air, as the price hasn't come back down. Hopefully Wed. or Thurs.
Looks like people are reco booking a back up room you can cancel.Holiday Inn Express ect. What do you think?

Regarding the bed issue, you can always call the hotel once you've won your Priceline bid and request two beds. They don't have to honor it, but they will try.

In a city like New York where it's very unpredictable whether you will get a room on Priceline for the price you would like, yes, it would be wise to book a backup hotel, just in case.

Otherwise, I'd nail everything down soon. April is next month. The sooner you nail things down the sooner you can start bidding on priceline and the more opportunities you will have of getting a room for the price you want to pay.

Good luck!

Regarding the bed issue, you can always call the hotel once you've won your Priceline bid and request two beds.

Again, this is not suggested in NYC, where two-bedded rooms are not the norm.

It's always a good idea to have a back up cancelable reservation since you never know if you'll get something on Priceline and sometimes PL wins don't happen til right before the trip. If you don't book something, you could be stuck scrambling at the last minute.

You should look on Hotwire.com to see what they have for the dates you're considering. That's sometimes an indication of what you might get on Priceline. Betterbidding.com can help you figure out what the hotels might be here

http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showtopic=88&

As to the issue of which area to bid, there's a thread from yesterday where someone won the Sheraton on Priceline for next week and is disappointed (and had to pay $225/night).

If you don't mind what area you stay in, I think MTE 4* is a safer bet (you'll win the Hyatt or the Barclay Intercontinental) or you can try Times Square but that's usually pricier.

I tried & tried to get a 4* hotel for my dates 4/24-4/28. Had great help from betterbidding.com. Still no luck, the BB guy suggested I split my stay & take a hotwire hotel for three days at $240 @ night & book the hotel he thoght it was through quikbook @ $360 for 1 night. I decided to try a 3*. got it on my first bid + thier counter offer. Staying at the Hudson.

$190 @ night for 4 nights in late April in NYC is pretty good.

I know the rooms are smaller than closets, but the location is really good.
My backup hotel was Gild Hall. It looked pretty nice,but rooms are up to $215 @ night & I really didn't want to be that far down on the Island.

And I'm going to try for an upgrade when we check in.

I think you did GREAT! The Hudson is in a great location. The rooms are small, 150 sq ft. ! but the rate on the website for your dates is $349-629!!! I wouldn't get your hopes up about an upgrade but you never know. Here's a link to the floor plans so you know what's what.

http://www.hudsonhotel.com/hudson_ho...oms_plans.html

I booked my in-laws at the Hudson over Easter weekend, and was really nervous after reading reviews about the room size, but it was fine! The rooms are tiny, no question... but they're clean and modern, and as long as you aren't planning to spend a lot of awake time in the room, you'll be just fine.

It's really a fantastic location- right by Columbus Circle and the south end of Central Park, plus many subway lines.

mommacl: Congratulations! That's a great price for New York!

If you need two separate beds, I'd suggest calling them up and specifying that to the front desk.

With Priceline (you did do it through Priceline? Not clear from your post), anything that want after a winning bid, you have to call the hotel: higher/lower floor, nonsmoking, feather/foam pillows, etc.

Have a great trip and do come back and give us a Trip Report!

TarheelsInNj;

Thanks for letting know that your in-laws liked the Hudson. I was a little worried about the room size, but we won't be in it very much. The location is GREAT as you said. One of the things I wanted in a hotel was good subway access.

easytraveler;

I did go with priceline. Very interesting & I learned alot about the bidding system.
Thanks for the suggestion about seperate beds. I was going to ask when we checked in, but I might just call like you said. High floor was also something I was going to ask for. Not just for the view,I've read the lower floors can get alot of noise from the Hudon Bar.
I will report back.

Arrived in NY this afternoon.Having a blast. Weather is beautiful.
Checked into the Husdon & asked if we could be upgraded. The clerk didn't say anything at first...just started typing & then said,I can upgrade you to a superior room. Cool!We paid $190 for $349 @ a night room & got $389 @ a night room.Hotel Lobby is awesome.
Tomorrow..Staten Island Ferry,China Town,inner at Roberto Passon,have tickets to Spring Awakening.

Wow! mommac1 - way to go!

It's successes like yours that keep the rest of us inspired to keep coming back to Fodors!

Thanks so much for reporting back!

Enjoy New York! Hope the weather breaks for you!

Mommaci, way to go!! Good for you. I'm glad you are having such a good time, and I'm glad you've learned so much about Priceline. I LOVE it. I always use it, and I've always done well, and been happy.

"Success" with PL is the norm. It boggles my mind that people won't use it because of misinformation or fear of something new, and derogatory comments by some people who made bad choices because they did not do their homework.

Or that they write HATE droves against it, when they haven't understood the basic premises to begin with, as well.

I had a great Priceline stay in Baltimore last week and I have to report that the difference in the "deal" price and what I actually paid through Priceline for 4 days was almost exactly $420. And that is MORE than both of our airfares plus a couple of hundred added.

I'm thinking about another extra baseball trip, maybe to TX or MN.

THANK YOU, PRICELINE! And THANK YOU, Southwest.

Excellent.
Viva P'line!

Will write a full report within a few days. But just to let all who are interested know.
We loved the Hudson. Room size was small but fine. Sheets, well ..too bad they didn't fit in our luggage!
We had a problem w/ the TV. Within 30 min. of telling them, it was fixed. Don't think a hotel of this $$$ should charge for internet. If Holiday Inn & Motel 6 can do it they should be able to, too.
All & all great stay, even better.... the location.Two Metro stations within walking distance.

=D>

Yea P'line.
Nice when you know how to use it, yah?
Thx for the results report.

In my experience, the nicer hotels are more likely to charge for little things like WiFi than the cheaper roadside motel chains. On the other hand, in Manhattan it's usually easy to find an open connection without paying for it.