NY: Mercer or doubletree metropolitan???
 

Which one do you prefer? the mercer is in soho, which is a "chic" area, but the metropolitan is right in the middle of everything!!! I think (by their websites) that the mercer is better, but not sure...
any suggestions??

The Doubletree Metropolitan is a run of the mill hotel with average rooms (small bathrooms) in midtown east. When you say &quot;in the middle of everything,&quot; tourists usually mean Times Square and it's <i>not</i> in Times Square. It is a convenient location, but there are a lot nicer hotels in that same area. I'd say this is a mid to budget hotel.

The Mercer is a small boutique hotel in Soho that attracts celebrities. They can't possibly be the same price. All things being equal, I'd pick the Mercer. HOW did you come up with these 2 options?

Just went back to your first post and refreshed my memory. Go to the Mercer if it's available. It will be a different experience for you and the shopping is fun in Soho. The Metropolitan will be a real disappointment after the Palace.

If you're concerned about being that far downtown, the Giraffe is a small boutique hotel known for great service just south of midtown. It's available on quikbook.com for $450/night first week in Dec. (I checked Dec. 1-5)

The San Carlos which I mentioned earlier, near the Palace has a 1 bedroom suite (like an apartment) for $500/night (plus tax). The Sofitel, very well regarded hotel near the theaters has a special on quikbook for an average $500/night but it requires prepayment and no cancellations.

is quikbook reliable?? I usually prefer to book directly to the hotels or via agency...I see that it's way cheaper than directly!!!

Quikbook is very reliable. So reliable in fact that when I checked into a hotel that was sub par, I called them and they immediately moved me to another hotel no questions asked.

My vote goes for The Mercer. I think the location is better but first time tourists to Manhattan may not. I try and avoid the heavily populated areas of Midtown.

do you know if its safe to send my credit card number by mail (to the hotel directly and not via one of the reservation websites)??

By mail? Do you mean email? Why not just phone them?

if you email them at [email protected] and they need a credit card number, is it safe to give it to them by mail??

Over the years I've given my credit card number by email at least a thousand times and never had a problem. There is never a guarantee, but I feel that's a whole lot safer than when I give my card to a waiter in a restaurant who disappears with it for a few moments.

you're probably right!!

I still wonder why not phone them?

Phone them? What's a phone? Oh, yea, you mean one of those funny little old fashioned instruments where you can talk to someone one on one. I remember those! Yes, often it will work better than a computer and you can resolve more issues that way.

LOL

It's not so easy when it's not your mother language and the difference of hours doesn't help...

carlota, if you have typed the above messages, I can't imagine a phone conversation in English being a problem.

Hours? Where are you? I've never had a problem picking a time to call just about anywhere in the world. It may mean that I get up at 6 AM to call them late in the day or I stay up until 11 PM to call them, but there ought to be some logical overlap of hours.

don't get me wrong!!I speak english, but trying to book things I've often had &quot;misunderstandings&quot; so I prefer to have everything written...
do you know what is the time difference between spain and nyork??

5 hours. Call New York at 3 or 4 in the afternoon Spain time and it will be 10 or 11 in the morning in New York -- perfect.

I do understand the language concern -- but one option is to make sure they fax or email you a confirmation in writing that you can print off to be sure. That should always be done with a phone call.