lynn

We are thinking of booking one of the airfare deals for a long weekend and would appreciate suggestions on hotels.

I've been to NY once before but stayed with friends in Brooklyn so have no idea about where to stay. I have an eyewitness guide and I'm looking through it but would like some personal opinions.

I figure we mostly want to wander around a bit, see Times Square, Central Park, Wall Street, Little Italy, Canal Street, etc. We really like the flea market scene and eating all kinds of food. Street food to fine steakhouses. We like it all!

We'd like to stay in a central area where we can walk to many things and be near a subway stop. We'd like to spend about $100 a night. Perhaps $150 if we can get a great hotel at a steal.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Lynn

Owen O'Neill

Look for a hotel anywhere in midtown (roughly from the low 30's to the mid 50's) and within a block or two of a subway stop, preferably one that's close to several different subway lines. If easy access is important and you have limited time it's very helpful to lessen the walking to transportation. Hotel and room tax is 13.25% - keep this in mind when budgeting. Typically, in NYC, a "budget hotel" means $110-150 per night not including the tax. At $100 and under most choices will be rooms with shared bath. It should be noted that beginning late this summer, even before the recent turn of events, some lower priced hotels were offering specials as low as $99 before tax - prices like this may be still available. Among the places you might consider are the Grand Union, the Wolcott, the Stanford, the Metro, the Portland Square, The Ramada New Yorker, the west side Comfort Inn...
there are many others - best to review sthe forum archives to narrow it down. I strongly suggest trying priceline of you only need one room and don't need a guarantee of more than one bed. I've been surprised at the prioces I've gotten in some major markets including Seattle and Chicago. Haven't bid on rooms in NYC but have read of people getting great deals - as low as $70 pedr night for decent hotels.

lynn

Thanks for you help Owen.

I'll research some of those options and may have to increase my price range. I'm not big on sharing bathrooms!

Lynn

Owen O'Neill

Lynn - Occupancy is very low right now in NYC hotels for obvious reasons. Try checking quikbook.com or Expedia if you're uncomfortable with bidding on priceline.com. I just checked hotwire - they had a 2 star hotel in midtown for $118 and a three star for $98. You don't know prior to booking exactly which hotel you'll get but there's really no such thing as "bad" or unsafe location in midtown NYC. You could check their websites to confirm but as far as I know, none of the discounters sell rooms with shared baths. There's a big fleamarket in Chelsea every weekend - not sure which day but I think it's Sunday. Also not sure what part of Chelsea but someone on this forum will likely know (Chelsea runs from about 14th St up to 28th and is in the 7th and 8th Avenue areas). If you like variety of food there are lots of inexpensive ethnic restaurants in various parts of NYC. Good selection on 9th Ave in the 40's and 50's, in various parts of the Village including Bleecker and MacDougal. Also lots of Polish places on lower east side and a section there with lots of Indian restaurants. I like wandering in the NYU area and also on 2nd Avenue from 4th to 14th to "menu-shop". Even took the hike up to the east 90's once in the 2nd or 3rd Ave area to try a Peruvian grilled chicken joint - fantastic food and cheap.

Ben

I relly liked the Marcel, 201 E 24th at 3rd Av. Rooms are furnished in a sleek Euro design, clean as a whistle with marble bathrooms (not large, but this is NYC!) and free coffee bar in the lobby and daily continental breakfast. there are two subway stops within a few blocks, and lots of interesting little restaurants in the neighborhood. The brochire I picked up in the lobby shows other propreties run by the same folks but I haven't staye at any of them so can't comment. Their website is www.nycityhotels.net

Daniel

People are getting rooms in NYC right now for around $75 in 4 star hotels on Priceline. Look at the site www.biddingfortravel.com for tips on using Priceline.

Another great site for NYC hotels if you don't want to bid is www.quickbook.com.

Rachel

Owen-we stayed at the Roosevelt last spring. It was a good choice. Mid town location, close to Grand Central Station so we could get anywhere. The lobby is beautiful and the rooms were clean and decent sized (by NYC standards). We paid $150/night for a room with two double beds (2 adults, 2 kids) which was pretty good. I usually book thru quikbook, but this rate was with the Entertainbook card. Have fun.

Celeste

I just spent a weekend in NYC and the tourists were there in force, so I would imagine inexpensive hotel rooms are not as easy to get as they were last week...I agree with the Roosevelt Hotel suggestion as a possible option.