70 Park Avenue Hotel, New York City

I am a Priceline whore.

No.  Wait.

I am a Priceline ninja.

I have been using Priceline for years to book rooms at hotels I otherwise couldn’t afford.  Priceline’s name your own price feature allows me to indulge my champagne appetite on my RC Cola budget.  I’ve stayed in a deluxe room at the 70 Park Avenue hotel in New York City for $170 a night.  I’ve stayed at a 4-star hotel blocks from the Magnificent Mile in Chicago for barely more than $100 per night.

And yet, every time I suggest to a friend that they should try to name their own price on a hotel at Priceline, I get a terrified look of horror in response.

“But you don’t get to choose the hotel!”

“What if I end up in a dive?!”

“What if I have to pay for a room way out by the airport?!?”

Pansies.

Yes, Priceline’s name your own price feature comes with a certain amount of risk.  You have to input your credit card number and agree to pay for whatever room is given to you by whatever hotel accepts your offer.  There is, I admit, potential for disaster.

Unless you know what you’re doing.

How Not To Get Screwed Using Priceline To Book A Hotel

(And still save a ton of money on a fancy hotel)

1.  Research neighborhoods in the city you’ll be staying in.

If you’re booking a hotel in a large metropolitan city like New York City, Chicago, or Los Angeles, Priceline gives you the option to choose from various neighborhoods or “areas”.  Head to a site like UpTake.com and research “Things to do” so you have an intelligent idea of where the tourist attractions are that you’ll want to stay near.

Reading reviews of hotels in the neighborhoods you’re considering will give you a good idea of how safe the area is and how convenient it is to major attractions.

Then, when you go to “name your own price” on Priceline, you’ll see a map that shows the various areas available – and you’ll know which areas would be a good fit for your vacation.

2.  Research prices.

The first step to getting a good deal on a hotel is to find out what everyone else is paying.  Again, using a site like UpTake or Priceline’s main booking site will give you a good idea of the average price for a hotel in the areas you’re interested in staying in.  Do not plan to pay the average price.

Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to start the actual bidding.

3.  Choose a higher star level than you’re willing to settle for.

I assume that a star rating on Priceline is overly generous.  Better to go in expecting a 4-star hotel and get too much luxury, than to find out that “continental breakfast” qualifies a hotel for a 3-star rating.  Just to be safe, I almost always request at least a 4-Star hotel when I’m bidding on hotels in a large city – even though my frugal princess head could surely survive a night on a 3-star pillow.

4.  Start with 1 or 2 areas and give yourself room to negotiate.

The trick to getting a great deal on a great hotel on Priceline is to give yourself room to go up.  If your original offer is rejected, you have to make changes to your request in order to resubmit.  One of the easiest changes to make is to add more areas to your offer.

So have 3 or 4 potential areas in mind that you’d be happy to stay in if you can save hundreds of dollars – but don’t tell them that unless you absolutely have to.  Your first offer should be your dream scenario.

5.  Start the bidding at 50% of the average price of a hotel.

Again, the key to negotiating with a computer is to play your cards close to your vest.  And I might be mixing metaphors here, but you get the idea.

There are times when you’ll get your first offer will be accepted and you can do the “Ha, ha, common folk!  I scored a great deal!” happy dance.

There are also times when your offer will be rejected and Priceline will be all “are you crazy?  You do know the average price of a hotel in this area is two times what you’re asking us to give you, right?”  Ignore these intimidation tactics.  Bid low and hope for the best.  If the best doesn’t happen, you’ll have plenty of room to go up and still walk away with a great deal.

6.  Have a stop loss point.

Remember all that research you did ahead of time?  Let it tell you when you’re no longer getting a screaming deal that’s worth assuming the risk of letting a computer blindly pick your hotel.  Saving $20 a night on a $250 room is not worth it.  Saving $50 per night over a 4 night stay?  Something to think about.

The bottom line is that Priceline’s name your own price feature is essentially a marketing gimmick meant to attract budget travelers.  But there is real potential there, if you book wisely, to save a considerable amount of money on a great hotel.

Shoot for the Ritz and plan to end up saving a little money on the Hilton.

*PRICELINE, PRICELINE.COM and NAME YOUR OWN PRICE are registered service marks of priceline.com Incorporated

70 Park Avenue Hotel, New York City. Limo not included, I asked.

In honor of turning 40, I enjoyed a full month of birthday celebrations. It culminated in a romantic long weekend in New York City with my husband. We did a good mix of visiting friends and seeing tourist sites like the Empire State Building and the phenomenal Metropolitan Museum of Art – they have an actual wig from an actual Egyptian mummy!

Through an introduction from my travel writing buddy Annie Scott, we were able to get a great deal on four nights at the 70 Park Avenue, one of the beautiful luxury Kimpton properties in NYC, in a perfect location,  two blocks south of Grand Central Station.

70 Park Ave lobby, scene of wanton wine drinking, nightly.

If you know the Kimpton line, then you’re familiar with their tradition of each hotel telling a story. The story of the 70 Park is “live life well” and they certainly do what they can to help you do just that, with a wine happy hour in the lobby every evening, Frette linens (which I wanted to steal) and a pillow bar.

A pillow bar might seem like a silly thing, but let me tell you, married people have BIG fights about things like pillows and it was a surprisingly delightful perk to have my nice firm foam pillow while my husband got to have his weird, squishy, totally uncomfortable down pillow.

Like all Kimpton properties, the 70 Park Ave is part of the admirable and extensive EarthCare green program, which includes in-room recycling, energy efficient water fixtures and non-toxic cleaning products.

A Deluxe King room feels big b/c of light and mirrors

Location Location Location
We stayed in a king deluxe on the 4th floor, in the front of the building overlooking the corner of Park Avenue and 38th Street. The convenient mid-town location on the East side, plus the proximity to Grand Central Station, meant we were close to everything. You have a Starbucks one block up the street, the gym is two blocks away, and the Empire State Building an easy five minute walk.

The Room
When you travel to NYC, you think “Tiny, space at a premium, be ready for cramped luxury.” So the size of the rooms at 70 Park Avenue was a delightful surprise. Good size (235 – 500 square feet), with a good sized window overlooking Park Avenue, and letting in lots of natural light but keeping out the street noises.

The rooms were made to feel larger by excellent use of mirrors and lighting. Huge mirrors covered most of the walls, and there were several area lights with individual controls.

The Bathroom
Small, but cleverly designed, using all of the available space. The shower curtain was probably the best part. It had a curved curtain rail, so you get a little more space when you’re inside the shower.  The L’Occitane bath amenities are my new favorite — I’m even thinking of buying the lavender conditioner.

But…the worst thing about the bathroom was the sliding door. I hate sliding doors on hotel room bathrooms. They never give you a good “sound seal”. Also, this one didn’t have a handle, so it was incredibly hard to get it to shut all the way. I’m sure there’s some cool sliding door trick, but I don’t know what it is.

The Silverleaf Tavern

Food and Drink
As I mentioned, the 70 Park Avenue does a wine happy hour every evening between 5 and 6. It was so nice to get back from a long, hot afternoon of sightseeing and be greeted with a a glass of wine from the sassy Mr. Patrick. And he didn’t even yell at me – well, maybe  just a little – when I spilled my wine. In fact, he came right over and refilled my glass up to the very brim.

The Silverleaf Tavern is off the lobby, and you can get a nice buffet breakfast in the am and cocktails and food in the evening. If you do have breakfast there, brace yourself for the price: it was $70 for the two of us, although they were extremely nice and brought me scrambled egg whites, without an extra charge, when I asked for them. Before you chalk it up to NYC being expensive, on another morning we took a two block walk to a neighborhood diner and paid $30 total for the same basic meal.

The Mini Bar
Full fridge, with loads of great snacks and a wide variety of booze and soft drinks. I was able to resist the cashews (can you believe I forgot to write down the price?) but I did succumb to the siren song of Pringles at 3 am with a cold Corona! More usefully, the mini-bar area also contained a toothbrush, toothpaste, razors, and a myriad of other things you need when you need them. It was like staying overnight in a Walgreens, which for some of us is a dream come true.

If You’re Going to Stay
I can highly recommend this as a location for travelers who want be somewhere central, safe, and comfortable. You’re close to everything, including the subway in Grand Central Station, and there is plenty to see within walking distance. The neighborhood is pretty dead at night but hey, it’s New York – if you want action, jump in a cab and $10 later you’re in a dive bar in the East Village, watching a 3 piece rock-a-billy band. Your luggage and everything else will be safe and sound back at your nice clean hotel, waiting for you to come sleep on the pillow of your choice!