NYC hotel recommendations
 

PLease advise- going to be in NYC the week of Aug 23-26. I'll be alone. Looking for a clean hotel that is close to public transit. I would like to take transit in from JFK.I'm going to museums and shows mostly. I would love to keep it under $300 and even under $200 would be great as well.
Thanks!!!!!n

Have a look at the usual discount sites - travelzoo.com, hotwiwre etc - to see who is offering what. Then check out the websites to be sure they are near subway stations.

For museums and shows I would consider the upper west side - perhaps the Beacon, Lucerne, Excelsior etc. Near - or right across the Park from - many of the major museums - and a 20 minute walk - or 5/10 minute ride - to most theaters. But I don;t know what deals they are offering. (And much better than the awful frantic activity of Times Square.)

betterbidding.com

pick up nice midtown 4 stars like the

Hyatt Hilton from $120 bidding priceline.com

chelsealodge.com suites if u do not want to bid.

Do you know NYC? The theaters are in the west 40's-50's (Times Square area) and most museums are on the upper east side. Some people like to stay near Times Square to walk to the theater. Others hate the crowds.

There are a bunch of hotels along 44th st. between 5th & 6th ave. that solve the problem being close enough to walk yet far enough away to be saner. The Iroquois, the Algonquin, the Mansfield, the Sofitel, the Royalton and City Club are all there and all pretty good. There's a special on travelzoo for the Royalton that would get a rate of $209 plus tax for a standard room. There's a secret sale on quikbook for $182 superior boutique 5th ave. that looks to be the Mansfield.

If you want to try bidding on Priceline, all the 4* hotels in Times Square are good and you could probably get one for $120-150/night plus tax. Have a look at the win calendar on betterbidding.com to see if anyone has already won hotels for your dates and where/at what price. I think all the 4* hotels in the Empire State area are also very nice and would be a good location for you. Betterbidding has the hotels listed by area and star level.

Quikbook.com has some other good "secret sale" deals (similar to Hotwire where you don't know which hotel til after you book). They have a king room in Murray Hill at a deluxe hotel for $186/night plus tax that I think is the St. Giles Court and then another for $195 that I thinks the St. Giles Tuscany, not a bad location for your plans. I believe these are some of the 4* hotels on Priceline in the Empire State area.

Either of the St. Giles hotels is great, and the location is fabulous. They have some of the largest rooms in NYC. I like the Mansfield, but the rooms are small, and some of the smaller ones do not have real closets (just an area in the corner with a rod that's draped).

Any hotel in Manhattan that is between 9th and 3rd Avenues and between 59th and 14th Streets will be within less than 5 minutes of the subway. Those that are further east or west are often near bus stops, and the bus can be very useful in NYC, particularly to go across town. Most hotels on the Upper West Side (between west 59th and 96th Streets) are near subways. Hotels on the Upper East Side can be less convenient because there is only 1 subway line there, and it runs along Lexington Avenue. Downtown is more difficult. There are hotels south of 14th Street that are close to subway stops and some that aren't. But the street grid is a little different down there. Basically, as long as you are staying in Manhattan, there is almost always some kind of transit nearby, whether subway or bus.

DH and I stayed at the Park Savoy. It is very very basic but we did get room for less than $200. One block north of Carnegie Hall.

http://www.parksavoyhotelny.com/

It took us about 20 minutes to walk to Times Square. It is 1.5 blocks to subway.

PS-Park Savoy is on 58th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues. There is a subway station at 57th and 7th-very close. It is also close to Columbus Circle and Central Park.

GossipGrl -

that is a neat map and I think is going to be very helpful to me in trying to find a hotel for next summer.

Thanks!

Plug your dates into Kayak.com. Many decent hotels (with ratings 7+ out of 10) under $300, and some even under $200 show up.

Most midtown locations (30s-60s) would work, and most are near public transportation.