After reading the US forum, I have cancelled my reservation in Pennsylvania hotel (Thanks for the advices). Any advice for a clean and reasonable place in Manhattan for end of November 2003?
Alain (Paris, France)

If you are interested in "bidding" for a hotel, you can get great deals through Priceline. Before you bid though you would need to study the rules for bidding and narrow down the areas that are acceptable to you. Priceline only guarantees bedding for 2 people although many hotels have two beds, but not all.

There is a great website for helping you get lower bids accepted called betterbidding.com. If you read everything thoroughly, Sheryl will help you out. It takes a while to understand everything but it is worth it.

If you are not interested in bidding, quikbook.com has decent rates, and unlike priceline you can cancel for a full refund(usually) if you need to.

Either way you have plenty of time to find a good hotel. enjoy your visit to NYC.

Another site that will help you understand Priceline is www.biddingfortravel.com. It's bigger and older than the other site, and will not only explain bidding strategies but also has lists of which hotels people have won in various sections of town.

There are a few "chain" hotels in Manhattan that aren't that expensive. For example, there's a Days Inn in the 30's and Lexington Ave that has recently been renovated, is reasonably priced and includes breakfast.

The Pickwick Arms hotel is also pretty cheap. They have single rooms, too, and it's clean, but the rooms are small. It's located in the 50's (51st maybe?) between 1st and 2nd aves. Near to Bloomingdale's, convenient to museums and midtown attractions like Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Madison Ave shopping.

I've recommended the Habitat Hotel before. It's located at 57th near 3rd Ave (again, near Bloomingdale's). It's a tourist class hotel and relatively new -- nice, but no frills. If you're willing to share a bath, rooms can be had for about $100.

The problem you are running into with hotel rates is that the end of November is Christmas season -- the most expensive season of the year for NY hotels. Good luck and enjoy your visit!

Sorry, I had another thought -- the Bentley. I've had friends stay here and the rooms are very nice and the rates are reasonable. Only drawback is that it is located all the way on the East side, near the river. That puts you at about 3 avenues (or about 10 blocks) away from the nearest subway.

I just recently noticed the Park South Hotel on East 28th St. (I live in NYC). I read reviews on it and all were very positive. It seem reasonable and the location is decent. There's also a subway right there. It also includes breakfast which is not common in NYC hotels. The website is www.parksouthhotel.com.

I just stayed at the Larchmont and loved it. You can check out comments by looking at the "Rant and Rave" section on this board.

There is a small new hotel on W 71st near Central pk west and its in a great neighborhood. Its either a quality or a comfor inn.

Unless something has radically changed in the past few months, I'd advise considering options other than Hotel Pennsylvania - do a search in this forum and you'll find that the great majority of comments from folks who've stayed there are somewhat negative.

Ooops..... talk about bad reading comprehension.... now I see that you have already cancelled your reservation.

Others have made good suggestions here. I'll add the Hotel Stanford on W. 32nd Street as a good choice (if their prices are still reasonable) and also the Beacon on the Upper West Side.

Researching at the suggested web sites and bidding for a 3* or 4* only on PL will likely get you the best value for $$.

I recently won a bid through Priceline for Christmas week at Midtown East Courtyard Marriott for $75.00 per night. I received help from biddingfortravel.com with the bidding. I had read good reviews of this hotel and am hoping that we will have a good stay. It is a 2-l/2* hotel on Priceline (no full service restaurant or room service). We decided we preferred a larger room at the Courtyard than a 4* with a full service restaurant.