I was wondering if anyone knows of any hotels that are decent for under $125. We are under 30 and don't need a whole lot of luxury. We would prefer a private bath in our room, but I fear this may be impossible. Also, we need suggestions on where to stay. We would like to stay in two different areas of NY. Any suggestions? We'd like to be where the action is (or at least close). Thanks! Also, if anyone wants to know about Costa Rica - I just came back and would be happy to share.

Priceline. You can easily get a nice 3* or even 4* hotel in New York (City, I presume) for well under $125 a night.

Crystal - you need to name WHERE you are looking for in your message. You probably did a search and assume that the area you searched for (NY City??) displays in your query, but it doesn't. If you are asking about NYC, there's been some good comments made about the Super8 and the RedRoof Inn. Also many people have written about getting excellent prices on PRICELINE for better quality NYC hotels.

www.portlandsquarehotel.com

ttt

I've used hotwire.com for hotels in NYC about 4 times now and have always been VERY pleased with the hotels, prices and location. You can chose the area as well.

I've used quickbook.com & they were very helpful.

We stayed at the Carlton Hotel on E 29th and Madison 99.00 a night. It was clean and the bed was great! Not the Ritz but decent. www.carltonhotel-ny.com

just checked the Carlton they have gone up sorry.

We stayed at the Radisson Suite Hotel in Secaucus (right accross from the Hudson River - 20 minutes bus ride to Manhattan). We had a view of New York City. It's a quiet area, inside pool, exercise room, fridge, wet bar, 2 TV, 2 double beds in the bedroom and a sofa bed in the living room. Really nice & clean place for $99/night

Hi, Crystal!
The place to stay is the Madison, on the corner of Madison Ave and 27th. Their prices make the recommendations above sound expensive, and although they may not be as luxurious as some of the hotels on Priceline, at least you will know in advance exactly what you are going to get, and where. This is a great site for visits to lower Manhattan, and it has the added advantage of being close to a subway. Plus, the price includes (or did, last December, anyway) a breakfast voucher for the diner next door. Check out www.madison-hotel.com, and you will see that you can get decent rooms in New York, with private bath, for not much more than half your projected price.

Alan's suggestion of the Madison is a good one but if you have some flexibility (it sounds as though you do) it really is worth using Priceline. In NYC many hotel rooms have only one bed and Priceline only guarantees double occupancy. Traveling with kids makes that a problem but if it's just two of you it should be possibel to get a GREAT deal on PL. I used them recently on two occasions in NYC. I live only 20 minutes from midtown by car but had friends visiting and needed to get a room. I bid on a 3* at $70 for Midtown south and got the Clarion on 40th Street (very nice place). Next time I got the East Side Marriot on Lexington between 48th and 49th as a 3* for $80. These were both REALLY nice hotels. YOu can check www.biddingfortravel.com to see what kinds of bids people have been winning with for NYC and you might also get a good deal on www.hotwire.com (with hotwire you know the price and * quality in advance but not the name of the hotel). I checked hotwire for mid October and their prices look high - you should be able to get a good room for well under $100 on Priceline. If you want some info on bidding procedures for Priceline I made a Powerpoint presentation to help some friends who wanted to do it (and I got tired of explaining the process). It's about an 800kb file so not a good idea to email it unless you have a cable modem or DSL. I have given this to other people who found it helpful - email me direct and I'll send you (or anyone else who wants it) a copy. If you don't have Powerpoint pleased indicate and I'll send it with the "viewer" included.

Check out http://www.biddingfortravel.com, which provides incredibly help for using Priceline. You will almost certainly be able to get excellent rooms, with private bath, for under $125 if you follow their advice. If I could pick two areas, I'd go for Broadway for the shows and tourist attractions, and then the Upper West Side or Greenwich Village for a sense of how people live in urban neighborhoods of Manhattan.

Enjoy your trip!