asa4

I am a former New Yorker (West Village) heading to NY on short notice (as in next week!) for two nights (weeknights, actually). Unfortunately, all my friends are also former New Yorkers nowadays so I've lost my usual floors and couches to sleep on! (And besides, I'm probably getting too old for that anyway.) ( :

So I need hotel recommendations from YOU! I am looking for a moderately priced hotel ($200-250/night) for my two-night three-day stay. I know, I know, you say impossible! But, I've looked at Priceline, Expedia, Betterbidding, Quickbook, etc., and it actually looks do-able. And, yes, I have checked recent Fodor's posts, many of which are over a year old. I need recent knowledge and real opinions!!!

As far as location, I am not interested in being near Times Square or Grand Central. (To put it in perspective, on Priceline, my biggest fear would be to get some hideous monstrosity like the Grand Hyatt or Marriot Marquis.).

Here are some of the hotels that might work for me and that I'd like to get some feedback on:

The Soho Grand
The Tribeca Grand
The QT Hotel (I know, I said no Times Sq., but this looked interesting.)

Also, does anyone have any experience with the "NY Inns" group of hotels? There's one in Murray Hill, one on the Upper West Side, and one near Union Square. They look very reasonable (though incredibly un-stylish!).

I especially like the downtown area, but I'd also be interested in hotels on the upper east side (as I plan on making at least one trip to Payard and one to Greenberg's to stuff my face with schnecken!) If only The Lowell were a third the price!

Finally, I have likes/dislikes, but really, any and all recommendations are greatly appreciated! Thanks.

GLD

asa4: You might want to check out the Avalon Hotel (32nd & 5th). There are alot of great reviews on Tripadvisor and Expedia.com. This may be within your price range. I've not stayed there before, but I have reservations for the end of Sept. ($229 per night for a junior suite). Also Expedia has a "virtual tour", if you want to see what the hotel looks like. Hope this helps.

asa4

Thanks, GLD. I'll look into it.

caroler

If you don't need to stay in a hotel, you might consider a furnished studio apt. Two rental sites I know of that do very short-term rentals are metro-home.com and nyhabitats.com. They each have apts. all over the city.

indytravel

Trying bidding Priceline in (the horror!) Jersey City, NJ.

In May I had a nice room at the Doubletree Suites for an $85 a night bid. A couple of blocks from the PATH line, it zipped me right into Manhattan.

mclaurie

The QT has bunk beds I've heard. I like the location of the Soho Grand but if you look at photos on tripadvisor, the rooms look pretty small for the prices they charge. If you want to stay in Soho, I think the Mercer or 60 Thompson have nicer rooms but may not be in your price range. I've had drinks at the Tribeca Grand in their lobby. Very cool but very dark and rooms open off the lobby. Not sure I'd want to stay there though.

I had a look on quikbook and within your budget, I'd pick

the Wales if you want to be on the upper eastside-92 & Madison (some of their rooms are tiny though)

the Park South (Park & 27 st)

The Millenium UN (rooftop pool)

The Cosmopolitan is a newish downtown hotel that might work for you. Don't know if it's available, but the Inn on 23 st. sounds like something you'd like.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

radiofanatic

I would recommend two: The Millenuem Hilton (I got for $179 on priceline) and The Best Western Seaport Inn (quoted a price of $219).

lisettemac

The BW Seaport isn't looking that good these days. I also wouldn't want to stay in that part of downtown since so little is open on the weekend (I'd make an exception for the Battery Park Ritz, of course!).

We'd had good experience at the Wales. The rooms aren't huge, but it is in a nice neighborhood, with some cute restaurants/bars nearby. They have nice linens, too.

radiofanatic

I stayed at the BW Seaport last October and loved it - I had a balcony which had a view of the Brooklyn bridge, hudson and empire state building and the room was huge and very clean - has it gone downhill since then? if so, that's really sad.

asa4

A quick word on "Quikbook" and a gentle warning. Here's what happened to me:

I decided I wanted to stay at Hotel QT, called them directly to make inquiries and found that no rooms were available for my dates. Then, just in case, I scoured the internet to see if there was anything out there in the stratosphere, and I found the hotel listed as "available" for my dates on "Quikbook."

I thought that I had hit pay dirt, but was cautious.

Before making any moves, like giving my credit card (eghads), I called the 800-number on the Quikbook website to ask about the discrepancy between the hotel and the Quikbook listing.

The Quikbook reservationist kindly rang up Hotel QT, while I was on-hold, and found out that indeed there was no room available. She said that the hotel should never have been listed on Quikbook. She said that if I had shown up to Hotel QT with my Quikbook reservation, the hotel would have had to send me to another hotel, and who knows what that would have been. It's kind of like over-booking.

Whether Hotel QT is to blame or Quikbook, who knows, really. And, it really doesn't matter. The point is that you should cover yourself and call all the parties concerned DIRECTLY to confirm availability, etc. Then, if you need to, go on-line and get your hotel rate. I know, it sort of defeats the point of going on-line, but better to get what you pay for.

Has this happened to anyone else?

Otherwise, the Wales looks interesting. Good linens are always a plus. And, within striking distance of Payard and Goldberg's, two of my favorite bakeries! I'll check it out on the web.

Thanks, everyone! Keep it coming!

Vera

The Warwick is wonderful--intimate, great bar with sidewalk views. Huge rooms. Great location.
Vera