Is this hotel o.k. for a decent nights sleep.... for 4?

Not really. Threadbare rooms, indifferent service and large noisy tour groups.

I can't afford to pay much more than $150.00.... is there an alternative?, also, there will be 4 women, and I'd be bringing in a blow up bed for my 10 year old daughter..... do the hotels have a problem with that? of course, I wouldn't be obvious about it...... I just cannot afford a $300 dollar room

You really should be able to get a 3 or 4 star hotel through Priceline or possibly even hotwire.com for less than $100 a night.

Since there are four of you, you might want to try 3 star and go for two rooms at around $65.00 to start and increase your bid to $75.00 per night. Two rooms would be much better no matter what hotel you receive in Manhattan (and still stay within your $150.00 budget.

priceline is entirely new to me..... i'll take a look-see

If you are new to PL, then you must go to www.biddingfortravel.com and read *everything* they have to say about bidding for hotel rooms, especially their FAQ and the specific comments about NYC. I agree with hansen, you'd be better off with 2 of almost anything you can get on PL for 3*/$65 -- and you'll have two bathrooms!

Check whether the Marriott Courtyard MTE is still the only 2.5* listed in MTE -- that was a great buy for $75 last summer, I think they're stuck at 2.5* because they don't have an in-hour restaurant, but there are so many good places in the area, it doesn't matter.

As far as your plan for cramming 5 people into your hotel room -- don't even think about it. Not only are many rooms barely big enough for two, but hotels are required to enforce many of the per-room limits because of fire laws. Your efforts to bring in a blow-up bed will NOT be greeted with amusement.

Someone else just posted about two choices, Howard Johnsons' or Days Inn, both on Eighth just up the street from Milford Plaza. She was getting a $100 price on either of them, I believe direct from the hotels. I'd do either before paying $ 1.00 (yes, I typed that right) for that dump called The Milford Plaza. I even had British friends who were booked there, prepaid, and left without staying, forfeiting their entire prepaid stay. They wouldn't stay in THAT place.

okay...... what about the Paramount on 46th St.?

Tiny rooms there, but classy. A world apart from Milford Plaza.

Our daughter is a flight attendant and unfortunately this is where they stay. It is bad although I have heard that they may be renovating. I suggest bidding on Priceline for 2 rooms but read biddingfortravel.com AND the rules of PL VERY carefully. Do not bid on less than a 4* hotel or you may get something even worse than the Milford. Don't be put off by the screen that will appear when you make your bid that basically says "this bid is much too little". Just go ahead and submit it. Start low. Because you can change areas of NYC you will have a lot of bids to try.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of 3- and 4-star hotels that aren't good deals.

I have found that it is worthwhile to go to biddingfortravel's lists of hotels for a city and read thru all the reviews that they have available. This can help you avoid places that are rated 3 or 4 * but get terrible reviews (just don't bid on that zone/star rating) and can help you find treasures like the MTE 2.5* that I mentioned above.

Whenever I use PL for a new city, I print out BFT's list of hotels, annotate it with ideas from the reviews, as well as recent prices, and this investment of 15-60 minutes (depending on the city) usually pays off handsomely.

If you are not locked in to the 45th Street area take a look at The Milburn Hotel, 242 W. 76th Street - www.milburnhotel.com. One bedroom suites are very reasonable. Web site states cost based on double occupancy, each add'l guest $10.00 and children under 12 are free. Check website for current specials. Suites include small kitchen. Rooms are a good size.

My husband and I stayed there last year and were completely satisfied.

Good luck.

You might also want to try the Red Roof at 32nd street, near the Empire State building. It is a newer property, the reviews at tripadvisor.com are favorable and the$99/night rate includes a continental breakfast. Here is the website: http://www.redroof.com/reservations/...?innNumber=605

If you pursue PriceLine, also read Betterbiddding.com for help with hotels, bidding, etc.

A friend (who recently turned me on to "Quikbook.com") travels with her husband and 3 kids. Mom and Dad are the only "official" guests when they check in and then they surreptitiously go to their room en famille. They were in New York recently and stayed at a very nice hotel on the Up. West Side that they booked on Quikbook for a very reasonable rate. I recommend you look at Quikbook.com if you are looking for a deal. In terms of large rooms, the Gramercy Park Hotel has enormous rooms -- especially by NY standards. The hotel is a bit faded but the rooms are clean. They also have a pleasant breakfast room with a free, decent, continental breakfast. I stayed there with my partner one weekend this summer and paid $89.00 per night. The hotel ain't fancy, but the location is good and the rooms are BIG. Request a higher floor if they give you a room on the 2nd.

We stayed there once, my husband and I and two kids. The room had a double bed with just enough room to walk around it. They offered to bring in one cot for the two kids. Where they were going to put it was our question. We raised a great fuss and got a room with 2 beds, but it was very tight!

I stayed at the Milford Plaza fifteen years ago for my first trip to NYC and didn't mind it (I also spent a lot of time that summer in European youth hostels though)... About ten years later I stayed there again and was disgusted. Everything written above fits the bill, unless they've recently been rennovated.

Try Express-res.com for better rates. There's nothing fancy to it -- similar to an expedia or travelocity website.

I'm the one who always stays at the Hojo or Day's Inn. Just got back from 3 nights. Also look into Super 8 and compare the 3. Very large rooms at the Hojo and Days Inn, and NO rooms will allow occupancy of 5 officially. I would get 2 rooms.

Let me add to what has already been said about the Milford Plaza. The rooms are so.....small! I could not put my suitcase on the floor next to the bed and open the door at the same time. I also wonder if a larger person could have even fit in the shower.
Also, while the staff was mostly friendly they were not always totally helpful and the doorman seemed to be gone as often as not. Not very helpful when you need a cab at rush hour.
I had not stayed there before so don't know how it was previously but the rooms were not too bad as far as cleanliness is concerned. I think the recent renovations might have helped in that regard.
Mainly, there are so many places in the area I am sure you can find a better place for the same or less $$.

We stayed at the Milford a few years ago, and ditto to the other complaints. We just got a 4 star on priceline for $112- the Millenium Broadway- and are excited to get there next week. We researched all the 4 stars in the Mid town area and they all seemed acceptable so we took our chances with PL and came out a winner- The Millenium was one of our first choices when looking through expedia.