kimmos

After searching the web for a suitable hotel (that is not going to hurt the pocket too much) for our stay in NY in November, someone suggested staying in Flushing. Am I right to say that this is in Queen? How far is it to the touristy places as it is our first time in NY. Please....any info would be greatly appreciated!

kimmos

forgot to add that we will be using public transport.

kimmos

hi, it's me again, even before any replies to my post.....but then you were all snoozing as it's daytime downunder in Australia! Anyway, I have read some posts and many of time say not to stay out of NYC because of lots of reasons, mainly travelling time involved. If I go to places like Priceline, how do I know that I would not end up with places like Ramadas that do not have very good write-up? Once a hotel is picked I believe that one cannot opt out...true? Please help.

mclaurie

Flushing is in Queens and has some good sections and some not so good sections. Not where you want to stay if you're coming all the way from Australia!

It's pretty easy to figure out which hotels you'd get on Priceline by reading biddingfortravel.com and/or betterbidding.com - both websites that will help you construct a bid. Both have a list of PL hotels by area and by star level. Bidding on only 4* in NYC is a reasonably safe way to assure you'll get a decent place. But depending on when in Nov. you're coming and for how long, it's possible you might not succeed on Priceline. It's a good idea to book something cancelable in case PL doesn't work.

Radiocityapartments.com is one very popular budget option. What have you considered so far?

johngerard

I have booked Radio City Apartments for the end of July. Price is cheap but the reviews look good. Seems to depend on what floor you are staying on.
I checked if they had availability - they had a Friday to Monday & Wednesday to Saturday in one room and Friday to Sunday & Tuesday to Saturday in another. I e-mailed to see if I could stay in one room to Tuesday & the other till Saturday. They explained that I could stay in 1 room all week without having to move. They have my credit card details but I am able to cancel up to 24 hours before I am due there without suffering any cost. Their rooms sell out very quickly and that is because it is central to all the tourist areas.
What I suggest is that you can book there & look for somewhere else in the meantime in case you can find somewhere cheaper.

travelbuff

Also try www.expedia.com www.hotwire.com www.travelocity.com and www.hotels.com.

Hotwire says in their TV advertising that their rates are lowest, but each will give you an idea of costs of hotels for your dates of travel.

Staying IN Manhattan will be a bit more expensive, but will save you alot of time in traveling and the trains later in the evening don't run as often.

The Hotel Grand Union is a very nice hotel with decent prices and convenient to midtown and subway/bus transportation. www.hotelgrandunion.com

kimmos

Thank you all for your input. Mclaurie, I have not considered any place in particular yet because it is still another 6 months away.However, I know that I should start now. Have been reading the posts and Skyline Hotel, West of Broadway and Roosevelt Hotel on Madison (on the cheaper end) seem to have good write-ups though I would love to hear any other suggestions. Is Soho a good area to look for a hotel?

mclaurie

I think it depends on prices for the ones you mention. The Roosevelt is an old but classic hotel. Some rooms are fine and others are not so great but the location is good. The Skyline is not really a good option imo. It's good if you drive in, but otherwise you can do better. If you're coming the beginning of Nov. it won't be as bad as if you're coming at the end coinciding with Thanksgiving.

You will find the most popular/budget places are already booking up so you should get on this. Most of the time you can reserve and cancel if you find something better.

nytraveler

Agree that you don;t have time to wait. The lower priced rooms are gong now and the longer you wait the higher prices will be. I would reserve something cancellable - and then continue to look for better options.

Definitly stay in Manhattan - not just because of the travel time - which can be an hour or more in each direction - esp at night when subways/buses run less often - but because the feel is completely different than actually staying in the city.

If you tell us your budget and who you are (ages and how many) people can give you specific recos.

kimmos

hi there....there's going to be 2 of us in our 50s...budget would be around USD250....looked at some sites like expedia and it seems that at USD200 we can only get shared bathroom which is something we would like to avoid. thanks for for suggestions.

mclaurie

You still haven't given a specific date. One of the best websites for hotel prices in NYC is quikbook.com Picking the Thanksgiving holiday time, I see an average price of $255/night plus tax on quikbook at the Shelburne Murray Hill which is a great hotel with apt. like suites with kitchen. This rate looks like it fully refundable cancellable should you find something else you like better.

You can certainly find something with a private bathroom for $250/night. Expedia tends only to list the larger chain hotels. You need to look elsewhere. Also check kayak.com

On kayak, the Courtyard by Marriott Times Square South is $239 plus tax and the Courtyard Fifth Ave. is $219 plus tax. Both are good. The Washington Square hotel is a charming smaller hotel in Greenwich Village for $225/night plus tax.

kimmos

Hi Mcclaurie, I went into kayak.com but cannot see this Marriott courtyard on fifth ave? thanks for your help. I will need a room for first part of Nov.

mclaurie

kimmos, I now understand your problem. The NYC Marathon is Nov. 4 and it is impossible to find an affordable room right before it. So if that's when you're coming, you have a problem and will never get a room with Priceline. That may be why the Courtyard is not coming up. The dates I searched were toward the end of the month. But regardless, the info on kayak would have lead you to the hotel's own website. Go to http://marriott.com/courtyard/travel.mi and check prices for your dates. It looks like it's closer to $429/night.

travelbuff

Have you looked at the Hotel Grand Union. It is located on E32nd ST, close to everything and very well priced. The rooms are comfortable and there are lots of restaurants in the area.

ripit

I would absolutely recommend going the Priceline route. Here is good strategy:

Bid only 4*. Start with Upper Midtown/CPS. Bidding 4* allows 2 re-bids. Start at $110, if rejected re-bid $115, if rejected re-bid $120.

If that is rejected close your browser and access Priceline again. Try the same bids but select Midtown East. If no hits, close your browser and repeat for Midtown South and finally Midtown West.

If still no hits, repeat the above procedure (close browser, reaccess - etc.), but select Upper Midtown & Midtown East and increase your bids to $125, $130, $135. If rejected, repeat choosing Midtown South & Midtown West.

If rejected, choose Upper Midtown, Midtown East, Midtown South & Midtown East. Bid $140, $145 & $150.

If still nothing, choose Downtown and Bid $120. If rejected, add Upper Midtown, bit $125. Add MTE, bid $130. Add MTW, bid $135. Add MTS, bid $140. If still nothing, re-bid $140 then $150.

All of the 4* hotels in Manhattan available on Priceline are quality hotels. This strategy will give you a centrally located 4* for $150 or under per night. Make sure you save downtown for last resort, because while it includes some very good hotels in SoHo, TriBeCa, you could end up in the Financial District (which is usually what comes up when you bid downtown), which would be less than ideal but far better than Flushing.

If after all of this nothing hits, you can wait 72 hrs. and try again. Since the inventory on Priceline is constantly changing, you can keep your bids the same and keep trying every 72 hrs. You my get your price the second (or third) time around. Alternatively, you can raise you starting bid when you repeat the process.

kimmos

Thank you so much for your advice...will certainly follow the steps, ripit!

kimmos

travelbuff....no rooms available at Grand Union in early Nov....as maclaurie said...prob because of the Marathon?

nytraveler

If you'll be here the Marathon weekend you're probably too late for aything except the most expensive hotels.

Can you adjust the dates of your trip?

kimmos

actually nytraveler, I managed to get a booking at comfort inn Midtown, which surprised me. Heard some good reviews about it. Actually the POD hotel also had vacancies....which I cancelled. Sorry, I've got off the track. Is the Marathon a really big event?

travelbuff

The Marathon here is a HUGE event, with THOUSANDS running and many more thousands watching. The Marathon starts on Staten Island and the route goes through all 5 boroughs and ends in Central Park, so you can imagine that traffic is also bad that day, and bad all weekend.