You should NOT stay near EWR - that should be your last choice!

What happened to the Hotwire option?

If you choose a hotel near the airport, aside from allowing an hour in each direction to go from your hotel to the airport to transportation to Manhattan, you will also pay more than $50 in each direction for your family of four to do so. Take that $100 per day and invest in a Manhattan or Long Island City hotel.

the hotwire offer is still out there although $191 now. Just trying to cover all the bases. I have been reading till my eyes are blurry and I believe you. It will cost us $100 per day just to go back an forth, I think. So I'm going back to look at LI city againa and the hotwire. Thanks for being patient. The sticker shock is still getting me. Being from Oregon we are just used to having our car everywhere and there is virtually no public trans where we live.

Have you looked at the country inn &suites long island city, It's only a short ride on the subway to mid-town. I have booked it for November, but also looking at other options.

Subway is only WITHIN NYC. this is none anywhere near Newark airport in NJ. to get from a hotel near EWR you would have to take the hotel shuttle to the airport, take the Air Train to New Jersey transit station and then take NJ Transit into Penn Station Manhattan. You would need to allow at least an hour for this - perhaps 1.5 hours allowing for getting from hotel to airport - and would cost a substantial sum. this is a huge waste of time and money.

Put the money towards a hotel in NYC and then just step out of the door of the hotel and there you are.

You really don;t have much time left and I think really need to make a decision based on the choices there are. The better deals are only going to disappear soon. This is simply what NYC costs. $200 per night is a bargain budget for 2 people and close to a miracle for 4 people this time of year. If you can;t find a place in the City, then Long Island City, while not pleasanat, is much closer - and much less waste of time and money versus EWR.

Yes! We have a hotel. I took the deal on Hotwire and got the Holiday Inn Midtown on 57th. Looks decent and the reviews are mostly positive. Looks like a good location, too near Central Park. Thanks to everyone for helping me make up my mind! Doug, thanks for your patience. Looking forward to the trip. I think the girls will love the rooftop pool.

Kudos to you for going w/the Hotwire deal and getting Holiday Inn midtown! Not only rooftop pool but free internet in the rm. $900 total for 4 nights w/taxes and fees for 4 people. A very very good deal. Please report back and let us hear about the trip!

Told ya!! (I have used Hotwire many times, and have yet to book a hotel I hadn't identified correctly in advance). I think you'll be very happy, especially with the location.

I think you will be happier not to stay near EWR. It's particularly inconvenient.

oregonmom, that's great! Your hotel is also at the top end of Hell's Kitchen: plenty of good, inexpensive eats down 9th Avenue and some fancier places on 10th in the upper 40's/lower 50's... Being really close to the Time Warner Center is helpful, too: check out Whole Foods in the lower level for prepared foods, and you have a number of subway lines that come into there to easily go up and down the west side and out to Brooklyn! (You can take the 1 train downtown to transfer to the 2 or 3 into Brooklyn, which has stops in both Brooklyn Heights and by the Brooklyn Museum/Botanic Garden.)

nelsonian, in case you haven't seen it, here's a post about food options near the Country Inn & Suites LIC:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...or-grubhub.cfm

I am late to the game but wanted to mention that we got a one bedroom suite at the Affinia Shelborne for $251/night for the last week in August. One bedroom with 2 Queen beds and separate living room with pull out couch. Kitchenette. Just another option for those following this thread.

I need some help from you hotwire experts (sf7307)....what is your best guess for a 3-1/2 star Chelsea - Madison Square Garden area hotel for $202 per night (8/4-8/6)?

Donna, when you went into Hotwire for your dates, did you ask for a hotel for 2 adults, or 2 adults and 2 children (or other)?

I just poked around Hotwire a bit, and my best guess is the Doubletree Chelsea. Note that this is an "accessible" room (roll-in shower, etc.).

There are some other good deals for higher-starred hotels in Soho and Times Square, but I couldn't even hazard a guess based on information on better bidding. All of them are "accessible" rooms, however.

I asked for a hotel with 2 adults and 1 child. I don't need anything accessible. I would really like Times Square location - I see a 4-1/2 star Times Square - Theatre District area hotel for $249 and a four star Times Square - Theatre District area hotel for $218 - best guess on what hotels they might be?

This is a sign of "star creep", There is no 4.5* hotel in Times Square and very few 4* ones. (Unless you are using the hotel's self-assessment.)

The 4* Times Square Hotel is very likely the Millenium Broadway, again, an "accessible" room. I have no idea why so many of the available rooms have "accessibility" as amenities.

Have you done a search on kayak.com? There seem to be a lot of hotels available in your price range for that weekend, and they wouldn't be "anonymous".

Very few people want accessible rooms unless they are in a wheelchair because of the walk in showers. The bathroom floor becomes a mess. And the sinks can be too low. So they go at a discount if not booked.