Hello all,
I am looking for any recommendations for accommodations for six adults. We are open to staying in one large room or apartment-type place or any other combination that would suffice (i.e. one large room for four, one small for two, etc). The hard part is we would rather not pay more than $85 per person per night ($510 per night total). I thought of doing Priceline, but this could be questionable due to lack of experience. We are open to hostels and would like to stay in Manhattan, preferably south of Central Park North at very least. We are planning to visit sites such as Central Park, ESB, DUMBO, Greenwich village, Times Square, Soho and anything else that crosses in the many hours of walking.

try to contact them to see room prices:

Vanderbilt Branch YMCA
224 E. 47th St.
New York, NY 10017
212-756-9600
Rooms for: Males and Females

or read up about priceline/strategy, see winning bids at www.betterbidding.com and www.biddingfortravel.com.

do your homework. defintiely worth the time.
you may be surprised. It is not that difficult.

You might be able to find a large apartment for rent through www.vrbo.com

Craig's List is another source, but those short term rentals tend to be smaller apartments.

Also, if you don't want to deal with priceline and you don't mind being in a non-touristy neighborhood, look into the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Tribeca. The rooms are small, but adequate, according to a friend who stayed there last year. Location is excellent for downtown activities; and it's served well by the subway too.

Try www.metro-home.com They list a 2BR 2 bath with a queeen, two single beds and a queen sleepr sofa on the upper west side for $360/night. We rented a studio through them a few months ago and were quite pleased.

It might be worth the trouble to read past posts about using Priceline. You'd need 3 rooms, but you could probably get something 3* for $150-170 per room.

try affinia.com They have nice apartment-type suites in a number of locations. I've stayed in three of them and was pleased all times.

The Salisbury Hotel has a two bedroom apartment with two full baths and a kitchenette that would work. King/Queen/Queen/Queen sleeper sofa.

A hotel that hasn't been mentioned is Radio City Apartments. Very centrally located and very good value. I think their largest apts are 1 bedroom for 4 people.
www.radiocityapartments.com

Doing a check on quikbook.com the Hotel QT has a rate of $165 for a standard king or queen room for 2. 3 of those would fit your budget but there would be tax on top of I think another 14%. This is a newish hotel in the Times Square area. Rooms look small. Look at reviews on tripadvisor.com

If you would prefer an apartment, here are some websites to check

citylightsnewyork.com
http://www.metro-home.com
http://www.citysonnet.com
www.hospitalityco.com
subletinthecity.com
liveinnyc.com

Try the Gershwin (7 East 27th St., 212-545-8000,[email protected])-we stayed there 2 times in 2004 and think it is a fun, quirky place. Easy walk to 2 metro lines. In Flatiron area. Their brochure says rooms starting at $99 with family rooms available. Please report how it goes!

You might try 2 suite hotel rooms for the 6 of you. That would put your room price at $255 a night. Still gonna' be tough, especially at that time of year.