You guys have given me great advice before on different things, most recently the trip we plan from Boston to NYC. Now I am asking for more.

I've been trying to get a one-night stay at a decent place in Manhattan at a reasonable price (I mean less than $150 per night, even less would be better on our budget) for 2 people in mid-March, and that seems to be out of the question.

Are there any tricks to finding such fares? If I go to priceline and name my price, what is the likelihood the hotel/motel chosen would be within walking distance of the Port Authority? I've been hesitant about doing that so far because of that reason.

I actually called a hotel that was supposed to be included on the Entertainment Card we have, and it was. But the rate, with the card, was over $230 per night. OUCH!

We don't want anything fancy. Just a room with a bed and private bath. Don't plan on spending too much time there.

Any recommendations? I know this is asking a lot.

Thanks.

"within walking distance of the Port Authority"

Why do you need a hotel within walking distance of PA? Is it because of time constraints?

I've used Priceline for NYC 3 times with good success using Midtown East as my area and got a room around $100 before taxes. That was in January each time though.

Go to biddingfortravel.com...it will give you an idea of the different hotels that people have received in the past..including price.

Also - if you go to priceline.com and start a "bid" it will take you through the process of choosing your hotel - the star rating and the location.

To gain a little more confidence in your choices go ahead and play with the website to see what the different areas are - find the one that is closest to where you want to be to see how they split up the zones.

I would just assume you wouldn't be in walking distance to the Port Authority - there are so many hotels that are a reasonable cab drive away - broaden your search.... Look around Times Square - cool area, and a really quick ride to the Bus station....

Port Authority is on 42nd Street at Eight Ave, which puts it in the Priceline "Times Square" area with "Midtown West" nearby, and the Hotwire "Times Square-Theater District" with "Midtown Central" nearby.

I always book the best place/rate that I can cancel as soon as I know I'm going, then keep shopping.

Priceline and Hotwire inventories/rates fluctuate constantly, so continuous and diligent shopping really pays off, along with checking BFT and BB regularly for recent bookings. With Hotwire, you can almost always guess the hotel correctly one way or another - but it's best to watch the rates every day for a week or two as they will fluctuate as much as $50 for the same hotel.

Other good resources are Quikbook, Travelzoo, and Easyclicktravel.

More often than not, if you shop every day and bid prudently on Priceline, you'll score a bargain.

We just returned from a weekend in NYC, and I was able to find a rate of $104 for the Doubletree Metropolitan on Easyclicktravel (which was not there the day before or the day after).

It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the New York "areas", as a fantastic rate for a hotel in a less than optimally convenient location will more than offset the bus fares or taxi fares during your stay.

Mid March is Easter Break. If you can book during the week, you'll have much better luck finding something under $200.

Realistically, plan on paying $200 per night including taxes and add ons.

I like:
The Park South
Apple Core Group
New York Hotel Group

I don't know if this is your style, but would you consider staying in the Pod if you had a double with a private bath?

http://www.thepodhotel.com/yourpod_double.html

I totally agree with GoTravel. $200 is much more realistic.

In fact, my recommendation would be to book the Travel Inn or the Edison, both of which are an easy walk from Port Authority, then keep looking.

First $150 including taxes (which are 18%) is really pretty low for March.

Second, walking distance from Port Authrority is a sort of strange request - and not a very pleasant area for hotels.

If you are 2 people who can share one double bed you can bid Priceline - but I would stick to midtown east and west and Central Park South - more pleasant than right next to an enormous bus terminal (Port Authority is primarily for commuters, although there are long range buses too - so there are hundreds in and out every day).

If $150 doesn't win something (and be careful about the star ratings) then you can gradually go higher,.

Why did I request this areas? We will have at least one suitcase and don't mind walking. In fact, we prefer to walk most of the trips we're on. We try to stay away from public transit if at all possible.

I appreciate all of the suggestions, and I knew $150 might not be realistic for a double room with a PRIVATE bath (that seems to be the most costly thing to find). I've found one in the Times Square area that the first 10 or so reviews of it were worse than awful. It was like a life-threatening situation, etc. So I will try to do my best.

Thanks for the replies, and I will look. But if you can think of anything else that might help, please reply.

Take a cab. They aren't that expensive.

Have you checked the Travel Inn on 42nd near 10th Avenue? It's a short walk from Port Authority, near some nice restaurants and newer off Broadway theatres and has gotten quite a few better than decent reviews here. No, it's not a luxury hotel, but I think it does fit your price range and fits your description. In fact, one comment often made is about how large and how clean the rooms are. All have private bath.
I wouldn't hesitate to stay in that location (although I suspect rooms facing 42nd would have a lot of street noise).

well - for random dates in mid March the Travel Inn is showing rats from $225 to $300 per night for a double room. (Might be realted to something at Javitts don;t know.)

But I have a bigger question.

If you refuse to use public transit how will you get around New York City? There really aren;t any tourist attractions that close to Port Authority - unless you count Times Square - which I don't. That's fine for theaters - but not much else.

But tourist attractions in NYC are spread out over an area more than 8 miles long and 2 wide - plus islands in the harbor. Your only choices if you won;'t do public transit are cabs (expensive and slow) or walking (way slower - and requiring walks of 15 miles or so to see things downtown and 8 miles or so to see more uptown stuff).

Travel Inn has not only significantly increased their rates in the last few years, the rates are now adjusted for holidays and events.

Rate over New Year's for 2006 was $225/night, 12/28-1/1. This past New Year's, rate was $250 for 12/28 and $350 for 12/29-12/31 (I ultimately cancelled and we rescheduled for the following week).

Not so long ago, rate was $135 and they were included in the Entertainment Book.

Booking rooms in NYC is becoming more and more challenging, even during "low" season/dates.

Still, I've been very lucky with Hotwire and Priceline, and, more recently, Easyclicktravel. So far, I haven't had to sell any Broadway tickets on E-Bay.

In a pinch, we stay at the Holiday Inn GW Bridge in Fort Lee (wonderful hotel) and drive into the city and back each day. It's not as bad as you would presume. Last time, when a Broadway show ended at 4:30, we decided to hit the road rather than wait a few hours for the traffic to subside, and the traffic really wasn't problematic. There were two minor slowdowns (and no problem getting onto the bridge), but we never sat in traffic.

Our best new find is the Metro Marche restaurant right in the Port Authority terminal (they have a website). Amazing!

The Milford Plaza near Times Square has rooms for $170 p/n + taxes based on 12th March and getting a AAA discount. It's a little more than your budget, but you might be getting desperate to find something. Have you decided not to do the Boston - NYC round trip in one day now?

I've just checked out some cheap hotels on kayak.com. While a number of them sound like they would be well known to the NYPD for various reasons, one did come up favourably. The Econo Lodge Times Square (302 W 47th St) was built in 2006. Had good reviews on tripadvisor. Rates (on its own site) are:

Internet Users / Over 50s / AAA members:
$144 p/n (+ taxes) inc cont. breakfast

Standard Rate:
$160 p/n (+ taxes) inc cont. breakfast

Funny you mention that, kayack is where I went to double check Travel Inn and saw it listed at $150 to $175. But when I go to the actual booking sites, I didn't find a price like that for March. I did find a few dates at random for $175, but as others said above, most dates come up closer to or even at $300.

Recently checking dates, I have seen the Travel Inn as low as $160 between now and the end of March. Again, everything turns on specific dates.

Note also that the Travel Inn also now has a two night minimum stay requirement on ALL weekends.

Appreciate all of the information.

We haven't scrapped the idea of going Greyhound to NYC from Boston and back in one day. We just thought if the price was right, we might be able to actually stay one of our nights in the Big Apple.

Unless we can get a room down around $150 on March 18, we definitely will not stay the night. But it can't be a place frequented by the NYPD either. We thought about March 17 in the Big Apple, but that will probably be crazy because of St. Patrick's Day.

Any other thoughts or help would be appreciated.