NY hotels
 

Can anyone recommend a moderately priced (under $200) hotel in midtown Manhatten? <BR> <BR>

If you're looking for a room between late October and early January there's unlikely to be anything available under $500. It's hard to believe, but my office partner spent 2 hours this weekend with a travel agent looking for a room in NYC for Nov 5 & 6 and all the hotels were sold out, most straight though January. She finally found a suite at the Algonquin for $500... too pricey for most of us. If you're looking for later in the winter there are many great values in NYC at that time of year, even under $150.

Hi, Judy, <BR>You can find rooms for around $200 on the weekends, a little harder but still possible midweek. Depends on when you're going; I just booked a room for the weekend after Thanksgiving and had lots to choose from (surprised me) in that range. Try Expedia or Travelocity.

The weekend after Thanksgiving is the last chance to get a cheap room until January, but for $250 you can get a room at the Bedford in Grammercy Park (sww www.cheapestdeals.com). I know nothing about the Bedford, but if you can't wait until January, this might work.

I was able to get a great weekend rate ($169 per night) at a nice hotel (the Doral Park Ave.) for a weekend in October by using www.espress-res.com. When I called the hotel directly or tried another reservation service, the rate for the same weekend was over $300 per night.

It occurs to me that I somehow decided July was interested in going to New York in December (projecting, I guess--that's what I wanted to do). Anyway, Express Hotel Reservations, the place Cheryl mentions, is great. Two Helmsley places, the Warwick on W 57 at 6th and the Middletowne on the East Side are both good, basic hotels that you can book through Express (unless you're going in December :-)).

Martha, a small correction, the Warwick is not a Helmsley Hotel. The Windsor on 58th Street is a Helmsley property.

Small in terms of spelling, but not in practical terms. Thanks, Frank.

Judy: Try the Hotel Edison in the theater district. If you do a search on this forum with the name of the hotel you'll find it mentioned quite frequently and recommended by many. I have stayed there and can vouch for its location, safety, and reasonable price.

I've been searching, too, for a Thanksgiving stay. Rates for rooms and air fare seem to be going up by the minute. They must see us coming! Does anyone know On The Ave Hotel at W77-- I found something there ($145) but can find no info about the place, which has caused me to wonder...

I stand corrected on my original response. Although AAA assured my friend that nothing was available and hours of phone calls direct to hotels yielded the same result, we hadn't considered the fact that many consolidators (such as 1-800-96HOTEL and others mentioned here) <BR>have already purchased blocks of rooms for the busy fall season and hotels consider those rooms to already "sold". The $500 she was going to paay for a suite at the Algonquin has now dropped to $320 for a suite at Ian Schrager's place on 63rd near Lincoln Center. Rumour has it, however, that this is shaping up to be the busiest fall/X-Mas season that NYC has ever seen and all are advised to act quickly if still making travel plans.

Has anyone stayed at Portland Square Hotel (times square). Some of us ladies are going in December. Is it safe, clean, OK area? <BR>[email protected]

A good place to find out about hotes is at nytoday.com. Under Travel, there are listings of many hotels in NYC. You can even choose which area of Manhattan you want. They list hotels by rating as well as by price. The ratings reviews are straight forward. Good Luck.

Synne <BR><BR>On the Ave is a newly renovated hotel. I just checked it out and it is well worth it. A really good deal!

Synne--if you're still looking for information about the On the Ave Hotel, their website is www.stayinny.com. I just booked a two night stay there in November--hope it ends up being as nice as it looks on the website!

Hi, <BR>I just got a hotel thru priceline.com for $159/nt at the Bentley Hotel 11/12-13. It looks quite nice, too -- a boutique hotel that has just been renovated, and includes parking in the rates! Can't beat that in NYC. I've never been to this hotel, but, as I said, it does look nice based on what I've seen on the net (they don't have their own website). It's located on E62nd/York (upper East side).

Suz: Although I'm not familiar with the Bentley, I believe I have driven past it. 62nd and York is technically the Upper Eastside, but it is a very traffic congested location surrounded by the 59th Street Bridge, an entrance to the FDR Drive, hospitals, and a gas station out front. At night the area is very quiet since York Avenue in the East 60's is primarily institutional and residential (no stores or restaurants). One long block west is First Avenue with lots of restaurants and nightlife, but in general you are a long distance away from the standard tourist sights. <BR> <BR>Having said that, the rate is good, and if you can, get an east (river) or south (bridge) view on a high floor.

have been inside both the Bentley and On the Ave--both new and both well worth the price. There are a bunch of nice, smallish reasonable hotels coming on board in NYC--many reconverted from apts. You are safe at both!