MyBailey

Well, I know it has been a couple of years since I stayed in Manhattan, but I cannot believe my eyes at the prices of Hotels. I am speechless. I wanted to stay one night in Manhattan--on the West side- or anywhere but the Times Square area- just to see a play. I am not getting anything under $400 for a half way descent hotel.Knowing alot of hotels are scarey there, I wont go under 3 stars. Does anyone have a magic website for getting something alittle more reasonable? this would be on a Thursday night. I remember doing Priceline once, and the room was the size of a matchbox. I guess Manhattan is not in my future. Help!

gb944

Yep, the price of hotels has doubled in the last two or three years.

Could be that the weak dollar compared to the euro has allowed the hotels to fill themselves with foreign visitors who have the money that we don't.

Rumor has it that it will get better sometime in 2009.

NeoPatrick

MyBailey, it's not just New York either. I was looking at a single night in San Francisco and was shocked that the cheapest I could get a couple hotels that I think of being about $200 are now $400. And even Sheryl on Bidding for Travel indicated I'm not likely to get much of anything on Priceline there -- due to the conventions. I'm renting an apartment for a trip to Chicago, but I was equally shocked at the hotel prices there, which I used to always think were a bargain compared to other cities.

Ryan

You might try a place called the Dylan Hotel which is just off Park at 41st. I've stayed there a couple of times when I've had work things that kept me in the city late.

mclaurie

If you stick with 4* hotels in any area except midtown west you should wind up with a hotel that's not matchbook sized. Book a backup from quikbook.com or see if there's a special on travelzoo.com

When are you planning this?
ontheave-ny.com might be an option for a decent 3*.

MyBailey

I was planning this the third week in October. I did check on prices for OTA and they were in the $400 range also...Oh well.

nytraveler

We are completely overrun with european tourists - and I don;t think it will change anytime soon. And that will keep prices high. For some dates it's not prices - it's any availability in any decent place.

And you've definitely picked high season. Have you looked at the POD hotel - rooms ARE tiny - but it's fairly new and a decent quality.

estravel

we like to stay at the Marriott Courtyard 40th and 5th. Clean, nice room, modern small bathroom. Good location.

artlover

Try bidding on priceline.com. Check out bids first on biddingfortravel.com.

Yes, rates are very high--I felt "lucky" that I was able to get the Crowne Plaza for $230 last year after much bidding. Good luck.

djkbooks

You may want to consider staying in New Jersey, especially if you are driving. I'm glad we were able to stay in Manhattan until this year, usually with Priceline or Hotwire, but even those rates have skyrocketed. Our favorite "fallback" has more than doubled its rates and now they're adjusted upward during all sorts of even minor events.

We've stayed at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City the last few trips. It's right next to a Path station, with trains to the World Trade Center station. From there, it's a short walk to any of the subway lines. It takes us about 45 minutes to get to the theater district, but for the savings we don't care.

We've also stayed in Fort Lee and driven in daily. If you wait until noon to arrive, rates for parking are significantly less. And, the drive back and forth really is about 20 minutes, sometimes with the occasional slowdown. We left one afternoon in the middle of rush hour (rather than sitting around waiting until later) and had no problems at all.

mclaurie

The Jolly Madison is $278/night on quikbook.com and not a bad option, fully cancelable if you want to try Priceline. Park South is $329, also not bad. Desmond Tutu Center (in Cheslea) and Comfort Inn Midtown near theaters (recently renovated) are both ~ $360/night.

mclaurie

Actually the Thurs. prices are a bit less than I've posted. If it's just 1 night, I feel sure you could get a Priceline win. I'd bid 4* Times Square, Empire State building, Upper midtown and maybe even downtown if you don't mind the idea of the Millenium Hilton. For 4* you have 2 free re-bid zones, upper east and upper west sides. Notice I don't reco midtown west since the Sheratons have been made 4* on PL. They're not very nice. In midtown east, the W New York has very small rooms. If there are 2 of you, I'd skip that area too.

NeoPatrick

wow. I can't believe the Sheratons were made 4*.

NWWanderer

I'm going to NYC in mid-October and got a reservation at the Park South Hotel for just under $300 (with AAA discount). It's a great value for NYC--I stayed there last year.

MikeT

By eliminating Times Square, you are eliminating most of the hotels that are likely to have rooms on Priceline at a reasonable rate. There are a number of hotels in that zone with close to a 1,000 rooms, which improves your chances of a cheaper room.

If you want a room for under $400, you need to lower your expectations.

dfr4848

<I can't believe Sheratons were made 4*>

Now that's downright scary. Can't be right.

nytraveler

priceline doesn't rate or review hotels. they just categorize them based on a questionaire the hotel fills out. IMHO Priceline lists Most hotels at least 1/12* higher than thhey really deserve.

dmlove

nytraveler, did you mean 1/2 * too high, or 1-1/2* too high?

goddesstogo

MyBailey,
Try the Wellington Hotel at 7th and 55th (around the corner from Carnagie Hall). I've never stayed there myself but my best friend has chaperoned school trips there and is going to be staying there with his wife and daughter next week.

I don't think it will be fancy but I know he wouldn't put his students or his family into any place dirty or unpleasant. It's got a decent coffeeshop downstairs and it's in a terrific location.

(His son and the son's fiance are staying at the Park Central across the road, so you might want to look at that too.)

dmlove

I don't know the rates (everything is super-high in October) at the Wellington, but I have stayed there. It's an okay, tourist-class hotel. The coffee shop is actually pretty decent. I'd say it's a little "tired" (frayed?), but it was clean and certainly adequate.