My husband and I hope to travel to NYC in late October for 4 days/3nights. We're hoping to find a good deal on a hotel and wondering if there might be a decent location a little outside of the city that would still have good transportation options.

We will want to do shows and Ellis Island and other touristy stuff. I imagine we wouldn't be in the hotel very much, but would love to find a good deal and still have private bath, free wireless and maybe even a donut! The few budget hotels I've found with good reviews in the city are booked for our dates.

Any advice on areas to search would be appreciated!

If you share your dates and per night budget, I'm sure you'll get plenty of suggestions from many people here. Also, how will you be arriving in NYC?

You might want to consider looking at hotels in Long Island City. It's a mixed use area and not particularly pleasant, but is safe. You would need to pick one of the motels right near the subway - but rates are reasonable and you can be in the city in 10 minutes on the subway.

You might also want to look at travelzoo and hotwire.

Caveat: Oct is heading into high season - and all hotel rates will be higher than during the rest of the year.

We technically could go anytime Oct 12-28th, but to be good parents and not miss birthdays or sports tournaments, we are looking at 18th-21st or 24th-27th.

I'd love to stay $150 or under if we are outside of the city, $200 in the city.

Have considered trying bidding on hotwire/priceline as I've usually had great luck with that, but NYC is so different than any other city!

Thanks for any advice!

And we will be flying in; haven't booked tickets yet, but hope to do that today or tomorrow.

This s high season now, so expect to stretch your budget. I really do not like hotels in NJ because transport options are geared to commuters and not tourists. Not to mention that transport can be fairly expensive, erasing much of your savings on the room unless you can stay near a PATH station.

So this leaves you with Queens and Brooklyn. Queens hotels tend to have the best prices and most convenient transportation, which s important if you want to go to the theater at night. I also like Long Island City, which is one subway stop from midtown Manhatten. Look at the Country Inn And Suites.

You may also want to try Priceline. Sometimes you can get a good deal there on a Manhatten hotel. But I urge you to book the hotel immediately. The cheapest rooms are already gone fir late October.

Agree that your budget is VERY limited for that time of year - and since the city is so busy Priceline may or may not have something decent available. A couple of the places I might have recommend are already fully booked for your dates.

Urge you to book something cancellable that you can live with now and then look for better options. (IMHO moderate hotels in NYC average about $250 per night - but that's average - Oct is definitely into high season and I would expect to pay $300 or more in Manhattan.)

Country Inn and Suites have availability for about $185 per night - including tax. At that price I would grab it.

Thanks, all. Looking now at Midtown and $350/night.
The Country Inn & Suites is a great price... it is in Queens; how long would it take us to get to theater district, would you say?

You can use Hopstop.com to estimate times for subway trips in NYC.

The Country Inn & Suites is close to the 7 train, a train that then goes to Manhattan and Times Square. Hopstop estimates 25 minutes from the hotel to Times Square.

Actually, there are a few other trains nearby, but it really depends on where your theater is, since they are spread out over 10 blocks north/south and from 6th to 8th Avenues. Different trains would get you closer to different theaters, but I would imagine 30 minutes would be a good general estimate.

You should definitely be able to get something in Manhattan for $350 per night. As well as midtown, have a look at the upper west side - which is a nice stroll to the theater district - or a quick 2 stops on the subway.

Have a look at the Beacon, On the Ave, Lucerne, etc - all well-regarded and convenient to Central park and many of the major museums, as well as a plethora of inexpensive and moderate restaurants.

Thanks, everyone! I emailed a friend from college who lives in NYC and asked her questions, and she was so generous to offer for us stay with her for two of the nights, so that is a big savings! She lives in Manhattan! The other night we will splurge and try to find something great.

Any recommendations on shows? We are seeing Wicked this weekend on tour for the 5th time, or else that would be one for me. Thinking Warhorse and maybe Newsies?

And any must-do restaurants? Under $75/pp

Love Fodor's forums!

Newsies was at TKTS last week, but if you want to be sure you get good seats, you need to buy your tickets soon. There's currently a discount at Broadway Box.com, but you do need to buy these in advance. That show is fairly popular. Warhorse is also offered with a discount through Broadway Box, but it's easier to get good seats there, so you could also wait (in my opinion).

One more question
It is about $100 cheaper to buy two one-way over round trip (and more savings if we do different airports, too).

We will be staying in Lower Manhattan first night, can stay wherever last night.

LaGuardia or Newark? Newark is cheaper for they way back to Indiana, same price for flying into the NY.

If you are going to take a cab or car service then to and fro LGA is cheaper. If you are taking public transit the cost will be about the same either way - and for downtown (if you mean rally downtown and not midtown) EWR will be just as fast.

As a former NYer who has moved out of the Empire State but knows his roots, I'm appalled that Doug Stallings cannot spell Manhattan.

Doug Stallings has difficulties typing on his ipad, which is a common problem among those who do and do not live in Manhattan. He also knows that "is" is spelled with an "i" and not just an "s".

I empathize, Doug; phones are even worse. What I really hate is when the onboard dictionary decides to add your mistakes as new entries and then helpfully auto-fills them next time.

It's bad enough when I'm typing on my regular computer. I am usually in a hurry and don't take much time to review everything carefully enough (editor yes, but definitely in a hurry). Perhaps I'll learn someday. A few weeks ago I made a mistake so ghastly that I had to delete my post entirely and start over.