Is December the worst time to get a hotel room in Manhattan?
 

The prices seem a lot more expensive...is it just me? Is any particular night less expensive?

Pretty much. Mid week "may"be cheaper but not by much.

I've determined that NYC now has two "seasons" as far as hotel prices go. Low season is from January 9 to January 11. High season is all the rest.

Try here: if you are flexible - you might find a deal.

https://www.roomertravel.com/

DebitNM, I hadn't heard of that website and it sounds like such a good idea -- reselling uncancellable rooms. But looking for a room for a December Saturday night in Manhattan, I only came up with two rooms that seemed good -- both at the Doubletree Financial District -- one for $272 and one for $290. But if I go direct to the Doubletree site, I find rooms for $269 either using AAA and able to cancel, senior and able to cancel, or no discount but can't be cancelled.

But to the OP, that rate certainly isn't bad at all for December!

Ooops. Sorry. I have the wrong link and the wrong thread. I was thinking this was the one about those uncancellable rooms.

I did sort of cross connect the 2 thread, Patrick. Not to worry. I am sure some of the deals are better than others. I guess it depends on what the original buyers paid/the deal they got for the rooms.

The period between Tanksgiving week and Christmas is the most expensive in NYC...perhaps triple the cheapest rates in January and February (Super Bowl week excepted).

If you use Hotels.com or a similar site, be sure to click through to see the price for each individual day of your proposed stay.

I was recently looking for a hotel in Manhattan for a work-related visitor and discovered what Patrick said is true. I was seeing a three-night stay in December, including Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. No matter the hotel, the rate for Saturday night was virtually twice the price of Sunday or Monday. If you can avoid Saturday, the price may drop significantly.

Yes - the city is mobbed with tourists for the holidays.

But there are differences.

New Year's Eve is easily the worst night - anyplace near Times Square and they may triple the normal rate - or more.
itself.

You can sometimes get (comparative) deal the last few days before Christmas - since business travelers are gone and some tourists head home for the holiday

But overall rates are going to be at least double what they are in Jan and FEb.

Personally I think it's the best time to get a hotel room in NYC -- but it is the most expensive.

A few weeks ago I found the. Hampton Inn Chelsea for $293 a night for my dec 12-15th stay. A few days ago I added the night of the 15th for $189. Total for 4 nights is about $1200. Not great but certainly not bad for this time of year. These are AAA rates. I used kayak.com. I have stayed at this hotel before and really like the location, size of room, friendly staff, and generous free breakfast.

There are now over 75,000 hotel rooms in NYC with an increase of over 16% since 2005. Last year there were over 50 million visitors about 10 million from other countries.

There is always something going on here. For example one of the worst weeks for traffic, besides Thanksgiving Eve through New Years, is the second and third week of Septemeber when the UN General Assembly opens and almost every leader comes to NYC to hear him/herslef speak.

I have found that later in the week of Christmas, to include Christmas Day and the two or three days after, is a hair less expensive, generally, than the rest of the month--not cheap, but a hair less. Then rates skyrocket again for New Year's. It's a great place to be at the holidays, after all...

NewbE, yes, I've found that to be true. I remember one year when we checked into the Marriott Marquis at a rock bottom price the day after Christmas, but left on New Year's Eve Day when the priced skyrocketed, of course.

I got excited when I saw these responses and hoped I'd save money by going in between Christmas & NYE -- instead of during the week of Dec. 10th.

But ... at Hotwire I found a 3* Times Square Hotel for $202/nt for arrival 12/10. When I plugged in 12/26 - 12/29, I got a rate of $224.

Not only are hotel rooms less expensive the last week of December (usually) but we found that the cost of tickets to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular was much less expensive that week. I love that week in NYC - all the decorations are still up but it's not as crowded and prices have dropped. Just leave by Dec. 30th ;)

Last week we stayed in a hotel at 76th and Broadway. Nice location, near subway at 72nd. We actually walked back to the hotel from Empire State Building. Just starting walking to see somethings - Bryant Park Christmas Markets, NBC and the tree, a couple of stores, and then we found ourselves at Columbus Circle, and finally the hotel. Would consider using a hotel in that area even if the focus was mid Manhattan. Not that inconvenient and assume the price would be better. We paid $200/night BUT that was mid November.

Dec. 18-27 are typically much cheaper than the rest of the month. The first week in Dec. is the worst.

Yes, we've found better prices for the days closest to Christmas.

fmpden: what was the name of the hotel? Would you recommend it?