I need to visit the indian embassy at 3 East, 64th Street, between Madison and Fifth Avenue. i thought i'll take this opportunity to visit NYC too. i plan to get a hotel from 24th dec to the 26th. pls suggest a decent hotel (around $100) which is safe and clean and close to city attractions or subway. i do not want a shared bath option.
thanks

http://www.heraldsquarehotel.com/

Clean and safe, but small rooms, of course. And they seem to have room for those dates. $89+tax for small single with bath. $99+tax for slightly larger room.

Close to 34th street subway stops.

*This* December? You're going to have a very hard time securing reservations at this point. I can't speak to your budget but I imagine that would be a big problem, especially around this time of year.

Do a search at www.kayak.com

Actually, using various websites, I see quite a few hotel rooms available for 12/24 to 12/26. My guess is that the ultra high prices the hotels were asking early this season turned a lot of potential casual travelers away.

But now, besides the Herald Square I recommended, there are some Clarion/Comfort Inns in Manhattan for $108. Even a 4* in Midtown Central can be get for $156 on Hotwire for those dates. Another 4* Midtown East is $165 (most likely Grand Hyatt). A couple months ago, there were nothing under $250 for such hotels.

And don't discount Priceline either.

I see on biddingfortravel a 12/20-25 4* Grand Hyatt for $109, though 4* are mostly around $150/night for this weekend or around Christmas.

Thank god the days of "nothing under $300" is over, at least for now.

rkkwan... I love how the Herald Square captions a photo of the bathroom with: "Turn of the Century" "Decor"
No, really it looks pretty darn good for the price. Have you been there? It's clean? Safe? How in the owrld can it be so cheap?

I've stayed there many times in the 90's. And I have relatives who've stayed there more recently.

Also before I made the recommendations, I do check on recent reports on Tripadvisor, and it seems to be the same hotel I know so well about.

BTW, Hotwire has a 3* Midtown South "Customer Favorite" for $109. Could be the Sheraton Manhattan, based on data on betterbidding.com. Probably the best hotel the OP can get for his budget.