NYC hotel for up to $150?
 

A friend & her husband from Europe are planning to visit NYC in mid May. Maybe the wkend of May 9-12 or the following wkend.
She can afford up to $150 per night for a hotel and is willing to stay in Brooklyn or Jersey City. Manhattan is preferred.
I'm not having any luck finding a room for that price. I already proposed Craigslist and the Courtyard in Newport, Jersey City. But the Courtyard is still expensive. Any ideas?

Try Priceline.

Also look here -

http://www.eurocheapo.com/newyork/

If they are used to European hotels in that price range (100E or $150US) with the occasional shared bath, then these will probably suit them fine.

There are several options.

The Pod Hotel (shared bath room only with bunk beds) in Manhattan, The Larchmont (shared bath room) in Manhattan. Union Square Inn in Manhattan, Howard Johnson Express (Houston St) in Manhattan.

Comfort Inn Long Island City in Queens.

The best advice I can give anyone is to choose anything but NJ first. Some hotels in Long Island City, Queens are more convenient than Brooklyn. If they must stay in NJ, then they should really try to stay in a hotel adjacent to a PATH station, but these hotels are not so cheap in most cases, as you have found with the Courtyard in Jersey City.

They really ought to have tried a travel agent in Europe. With the dollar at its current low value, they may do very well by taking a room in a block already reserved by a European consolidator.

Priceline is also a distinct possibility. But they really need to start shopping. These cheap rooms will book up quickly. Finally, realize that there are almost no rooms that are really $150. You can find some rooms that have $149 rates but taxes must be added, so it's likely they will have to pay something closer to $160 per night.

You have a couple of good ideas above- but in May for $150 you're probably talking shared bath.

I would definitely do Priceline - you're likely to get something decent for that price -but perhaps not until fairly close to the date. So - reserve something else for them that can be cancelled if Priceline comes through.

Big Apple Hostel gets good reviews, not for everybody, but may be an option??

Excellent location.

$150 for 2 people in May is impossible in Manhattan with private bath unless they get lucky on Priceline. Craigslist is really really dangerous. There are loads of apt. scams going on right now and I would really avoid going that route.

There are no good hotel options in Brooklyn near a subway except the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott which is often not much cheaper than a Manhattan hotel.

So that leaves:

>Hotel in Queens or New Jersey
>shared bathroom in NYC
>maybe a hosted apt. (you stay in someone's apt. with them but get your own bedroom and sometimes bathroom)

What's best for them depends on their taste and flexibility.

The Hyatt Regency in Jersey City and Doubletree Club in JC are both 3* Priceline hotels near a PATH train stop that get won for under $100/night. So they could book something cancelable and then try bidding on Priceline for both Manhattan and/or Jersey CIty (Jersey City is listed under NYC are airport hotels.

Forgot to say, citylightsnewyork.com is one agency that does the hosted apt. thing. Nyhabitat.com is a reputable agency for apt. rentals but either of these options is less flexible/cancelable than a hotel.

The Quality Inn Long Island City comes close to their budget and should be cancelable. Not a lovely area but close to Manhattan. How are they arriving in NYC? If they're flying, do you know which airport?

Forgot to mention poster Gard Karlsen stayed at that Quality Inn in Long Island city and has a trip report with photos here
http://gardkarlsen.com/NYC_travelogue_2007.htm

Friends have stayed at the Amerisuites in Secaucus NJ and Fairlawn, said they found it easy to take the bus into Port Authority.

I think I would prefer the Larchmont, if they can get in. Shared bath should be no biggie for Europeans.

Thanks to all. They used Priceline and got the DoubleTree for $160/night.
They didn't want to wait too much and risk losing whatever little remaining options they had. Thanks again.

I HOPE that's for one of the Doubletrees in Manhattan. Do you know?

Unfortunately it was the one in Jersey City.

If they bid on Priceline, they chose which zone to bid on.

mdn, are you sure they used Priceline for the Doubletree, or is that perhaps their cancelable backup?

The usual strategy for Priceline bidding if you're planning months in advance is to book something cancelable and then keep trying Priceline bids until the last minute. Some of the very best values on PL come in on very short notice.

The price of $160 that you reported is what the regular hotel web site is showing for those dates, and the most recent Doubletree win on Priceline that was reported in biddingfortravel was $90 for December 8.

It's possible they used Priceline as a booking service rather than bidding using the "name your own price" method (maybe they didn't understand or realize there were options). If they actually chose the hotel and booked it, this may be cancelable. It would be a fine backup. If they bid, that's non-cancelabe and I don't understand why they would have bid that high.

Looked at my friend's e-mail again and it didn't say specifically that they used "Name Your Price".
Thanks again for your observations. It's a little difficult coordinating with friends in Europe.

Hi

We stayed at Quality Inn in Long Island City and you can check out my review of the hotel in my NYC trip report with pictures http://gardkarlsen.com/NYC_travelogue_2007.htm

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

oopps...i see now that there was a link to my trip report already...sorry about that.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

I loved the The Herald Square Hotel! Super location and super price. Would stay there again without a doubt.

You should be able to get a room there for around $150.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html