My college aged kids and I are going to NYC Dec. 15th for four nights. We'd love to stay in a good hotel $400 avg per night but we'd like to try another area besides Times Square because we've stayed there before. Suggestions please? We intend on going to a couple of Broadway shows too. Two double beds in one room will do, doesn't have to be a suite.

My pick would be Chelsea. There is a Hampton Inn and a Four Points by Sheraton in Chelsea (one is on 24th, the other on 25th) that have a great location near subways. The rooms are small, but the price is often right.

Agree those are good options.

I'd pick the nicest hotel with the most space within your budget. Dec. 15th is HIGH price time. The Affinia Dumont has a studio suite with 2 queen beds that fits your budget on www.affina.com
It's in midtown (Murray Hill).

For those dates you won;t have a lot of choices at that price point for a double bedded room.

Personally I think Times Square is an awful
place to stay and almost anything would be better.

If you want to stay in midtown you could look to see if affinia had anything in one of their est side hotels.

Or you might try looking at the upper west side - which has better transit than the east side - esp for Broadway - since it has 2 subway lines. 10 minutes or so on subway to the theater and tons of good expensive restaurants of every type - since it;s a mid/upscale residential area. Also right next to Central Park (skating is fun if it's not too cold) and right near many of the major museums. You could look at On the Ave, Excelsior or even the Beacon.

For college aged, I think Union Square would be a great area to stay. The only hotel I know of there is the W at Union Square though. But not sure they have rooms with two double beds.

nytraveler, I think most people when they say "hotels in Times Square" use it in a broader sense and mean anything between about 40th and Central Park and between 5th and 8th. At least that seems to be the usual. People always refer to places like the New York Hilton or the two Sheratons as being "Times Square" area hotels.

Stay at The Lucerne