Priceline and Parking
 

We have received some great advice from this board about using priceline.com to book our hotel room, we are just wondering about parking. We are coming in from Canada and will be driving, do most hotels at least 4* on priceline have on-site parking facilities?<BR>If anyone knows or has experience with this please let us know.

In my experience, most 'better' hotels in the US have parking. This may be in their own garage, via full validation/reduced rate at a nearby private garage/lot or by valet only. The hotel's website will usually mention the parking situation, if not just give them a call.

Nearly all hotels have parking. Best bet is to check with them directly. Often, parking the car yourself (in the same adjacent garage) is more economical that turning your keys over to the doorman, but sometimes the hotel has a "deal" with the closest garage with rates lower than you'll obtain by parking the car there yourself. You just have to check. In major cities, you can sometimes find much lower rates per day by driving around the block.

Not too many hotels have on-site parking but most have arrangements with nearby garages. Expect to pay anywhere from $30 to $40 for 24 hour parking with no option for using the car during the day. There is no need for the car in the city so consideration could be given to parking on the fringe of the midtown area. 24 hour parking in these garages will be around $20 a day for 24 hour parking.<BR>Indicate where you will be staying and specific parking advice will follow.

I'm surprised no one has asked what city Seema is coming to! Where to, Seema?<BR>If it's NYC, most hotels do not have on-site parking. (And if they do, it's very expensive!) Further, it's often a lot cheaper if you park the car yourself in a nearby lot.

Sorry, I should have specified that we will be coming to NYC but, not until July or August. We are debating whether we should consider flying in (which can we quite expensive from Toronto) or driving in. We are thinking of bidding on a hotel in the Midtown West area on priceline.com.

Depending on how many days you will be spending in Manhatten and how much you value the appearance of your car, you might consider finding your own enclosed parking. You can parked until you leave Manhatten.<BR><BR>Virtually without exception, major hotels will valet park your car, where is another story. Most don't have their own parking, and the care the valets give your car is problematical. The cost of valet parking is about $40 a day. The main advantage which is in and out privileges won't help because parking in Manhatten is expensive and frustrating.<BR><BR>Enclosed parking is available for about $20 a day in various places in Manhatten. I used parking at the Javit convention center.

Vic - you mention the Javit Convention center would this be a safe place to park our car for 5 nights? We are not looking for in/out privleges, just somewhere safe and close to the hotels in Midtown West to park our car.

The Javits center has enclosed parking. I left my new BMW there for about four days and it was unmolested. I found an end slot with quite a bit of room. Obviously, the fact that I had no problems doesn't prove anything. However, as I said, it's enclosed and it appears as safe as anywhere. Office buildings allow some long term parking, but it tends to be very expensive.

Thank-you all for the advice on parking. Now, we are still debating on whether we should use priceline.

I have had very good success with Priceline but only after finding the website Biddingfortravel.com and reading everything there about bidding for hotels on Priceline. You tell them what you want and they map out a Priceline strategy for you. I told them I wanted to stay in NYC in Midtown East or West in a four star hotel for four nights in March and would not pay more than $100 per night - they said I would get a 4 star for less than that and I ended up paying $90 per night for the Millennium Broadway. I couldn't find a rate less than $259 myself. I have also used them before this with similar results. It will be more expensive in the summer, but you will still pay less than half the posted rate at any hotel!