NYC - hip downtown hotel under $300?
 

My friend and I will be in NYC in late March for a work conference and plan to stay over the weekend. We'll have to foot the bill for the weekend hotel, though, and would like to keep it reasonable. Are there any cool downtown hotels for less than $300? We're both 30 and love to eat, drink, shop and don't want to be in midtown. Thanks so much for your help!

I just did a quick search based on a random late March date, and it looks like 60 Thompson, Soho Grad, and Tribeca Grand are all between $300-$400. The Maritime is about $315 per night. All of these are cool downtwon hotels.

Don't know costs- The Giraffe and Soho Grand Hotel. Look into these.

Also look on www.quikbook.com for rates, and cross reference with www.tripadvisor.com for reviews.

The Muse! A Klimpton hotel. I checked 3/23-25 and AAA rate is $251 for king, $279 without AAA discount. Really nice small hip hotel a block off of Times Square on 46th, but quiet and good service.

READ ALL the TA reviews of The Muse...there have been some complaints about early morning street noise unfortunately.

here is a write up I did about staying at the Muse in August 2006- and you might check travelzoo.com for their NYC promotions because they have some hip hotels on there from time to time:

Muse Hotel: I got this hotel (46th St btwn. 6th and 7th, less than one block off Times Square) on Travelzoo for an amazing deal of $189 a night for a King Superior rm. We decided to stay in Times Square because we had a Broadway play each of our 3 nights. Although the Muse is so close to Times Square, 46th street on this side is fairly quiet. I am a light sleeper and I had no troubles at this hotel. I requested and got a room on a quiet room on a high floor (17th), not on 16th street but w/a decent view overlooking a side street. Whatever street noise there was (potentially only garbage trucks in the a.m.) was completely drowned out by running the fan in the room, which was not loud by any means but enough to cover whatever we might have otherwise heard. And the AC control was great, as cool as we wanted it.

I really liked this hotel, and I am picky on hotels. The lobby is small, and there are only two desk clerk/concierges (they function as both) but I got great service and all my questions were answered. The room was spacious by NYC standards. Modern but comfortable décor w/very comfortable bedding.

A few quirks in our rm.- no fan in the bathroom which was a bummer for me, trying to blow dry my hair in the early a.m. while daughter slept, as I almost suffocated keeping that bathroom door closed, it got so hot without a fan running. That was my biggest complaint. Another inconvenience was that our closet door was right behind the room door so you couldn’t be getting something out of the closet if someone was at the door. Also the closet door wouldn’t stay open, it closed every time you let it go. But those were tolerable and I would definitely stay there again at that rate! We really liked this hotel, and I have stayed at probably 20 nice hotels in NYC over the years.

Travelzoo has the Omni Berkshire at $219 on weekends through March, either king or two double beds. I've stayed there a few times. It is a pretty hip hotel, although a little more classic and not quite as hip as the Muse. BUt hurry, must book by 1/12 and must use the link provided on travelzoo.

Native New Yorker here. I'd avoid anything near Times Square. Stick to the downtown area.

A couple of my "complaints" about The Muse. The room was small, not tiny, but stupidly planned. There was one comfortable chair but you couldn't see the TV from it. If you wanted to watch TV you HAD to lie on the bed to do so. There was no room in the tiny closet to hang clothes or my hanging "suit carrier". It was only about a foot wide to begin with and the ironing board took up most of that. We stood the ironing board in the corner of the bedroom which gave the room such an attractive look. (NOT). If you lowered the Roman Shades for privacy (people in the next building could see in) or to close out the light, then the heat wouldn't work, since the vents were behind the Roman shades.
They provide you with a ton of bath ammeneties. But we had to remove them all just to find a place to put a toothbrush on the pedestal sink -- there was nowhere to put anything in the bathroom. And our favorite thing --there was a huge modern collage on the wall -- hung upside down. I wonder if they ever figured out the signature should probably go in the lower right hand corner and not in the upper left one where it was upside down.

But the doormen and desk clerks wore really neat, trendy clothes.

But why are we discussing The Muse? It isn't a "downtown" hotel!

My quirky suggestion would be the Four Points in Chelsea. It's not your father's Four Points and is actually quite hip and cool in a great location.

Oh, excuse me, I missed that the hotel had to be in downtown. But ellabella might want to check travelzoo.com as they sometimes have good deals at downtown hotels. Sometimes the deals there do not show up til closer to date of stay.

I second the suggestion about the Four Points Chelsea. Don't know the prices now, but it was wonderful when we stayed there in December. New, convenient, staff was really nice, complimentary glass of wine upon arrival, rooms are great, location is great, etc., etc.

Thanks all! I definitely want to avoid Times Square, but I will definitely check out the Four Points Chelsea. We probably are going to have to up our budget a bit, but we'll save money on taxis getting home at night. =)