Has anyone stayed in a nice hotel in Manhattan for around $200? It doesn't need to have a restaurant, but I would like it to be well-maintained, clean, and big enough for two people.

Trip advisor will give you a lot of ideas about hotel prices and reviews. Maybe you can search for that price on the dates you would like to visit? Once you have the names of some properties, people can give you specific properties. Price varies a lot depending on the day of the week and time of year.

That didn't make sense - I meant to say reviews on specific properties. Sorry!

What time of year?

Thanksgiving through New Years $200 will barely get you a cot and shared bath in a student hostel while in January that price will get you a moderate hotel.

Peak season is Labor Day through New Years and shoulder season is Spring through Labor Day.

Time of year will definitely affect prices. The Radio City apartments is one place that has prices for $200 or less but it gets booked very quickly. radiocityapartments.com

If this is for the summer, check on travelzoo.com There are usually specials listed for around $200. Some of the ones listed right now are good. Here are the ones I would pick:

Carlton on Madison
the Muse
Rihga Royal
the Mansfield

If this is not for the summer, check quikbook.com. They often have good prices and most reservations through them are cancellable.

You can probably get a 4* on priceline for $200. Check biddingfortravel.com.

When are you travelling?

If it's high season Priceline often has little or nothing to offer - or at rates similar to what you get from the hotel.

WHEN are you planning to come? And can you share one bed? Any preferences for location or activities to help advise you?

The travel inn in the times sq area gets good reviews and may be under $200. www.thetravelinnhotel.com

Check out the Applecore Hotel group. I stayed at their Red Roof Inn on 32nd St in Little Korea last September; there was no mistaking it for the Carlyle, but it was perfectly fine. It was clean, comfortable, central to subway stops, a few blocks from Murray Hill, a quick cab ride to anywhere else I wanted to go (like the Carlyle, where I saw the unforgettable, incredible Elaine Stritch)....

www.applecorehotels.com

We're leaving today for NY and we're staying at the Econo Lodge Times Square (W 47th at 8th Ave.). We're paying between $150 and $180 a night (depending on the day). I can let you know after I get back next week how it was.

I stay at the Super 8 several times per year. Easy walk from Grand Central, and Times Square 1 long block.

I find the Traveler's Inn and an "off" location, and pretty desolate at night.

We are staying at the Excelsior, and our two nights the last two days of June are slightly over 200, but our two days of the first two days of July are slightly under 200. So it averages out close to 200.

We're back from our long weekend in NYC and as promised, I'm reporting about the hotel. We stayed at the Econo Lodge Times Square (W 47th and 8th Ave.). The location is great. We were near several subway lines (no more than 3 blocks).

The hotel was nice, but the room was small. The queen bed took up pretty much the entire width of the room, so you couldn't walk between the foot of the bed and the wall. I was on the opposite side, so I always had to climb over my hubby. For a few days it was bearable, especially since we had small suitcases, but I could imagine it would be harder with a big suitcase (nowhere to keep it open). The size of the room was really the only negative (although the elevator was quite slow). The room was always clean, had an air conditioner, flat screen TV and a free breakfast was served in the lobby.