It's up to you, New York!

July 25, 2008 9:04 AM

I've been tasked with taking 8 members of my family, needing five bedrooms from the UK to New York in June 2009. Any advice on group booking deals and the like, for flights and/or hotels? Am I looking too early for good deals?
posted by electriccynic to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)

If you can give your price range it would be helpful with hotel suggestions.
I could give you links to some hostels if you are interested.
posted by WizKid at 9:13 AM on July 25, 2008

And:

- How long would you be staying?
- Would you be traveling anywhere else in the States?
posted by mdonley at 9:18 AM on July 25, 2008

You aren't too early to book.. hotels do like knowing far in advance what their occupancy rate will be.

However, 10 rooms is the standard for getting group rates. You can try talking to the group sales department, but you aren't really likely to get anywhere.

Beyond that, web rates are usually the rock-bottom cheapest.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 10:57 AM on July 25, 2008

Also, with that number of people, check out vacation rentals by owner; one site where you can find them is VRBO.com. Here's a 3 to 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom condo on the Upper East Side of Manhattan for $3900 a week; it appears to be available for all of June 2009. Here's a list of all their Manhattan properties; be sure to check the location, ask for photos, and make sure your dates line up.
posted by mdonley at 11:46 AM on July 25, 2008

We'd be staying for 7 nights, and not going anywhere else Stateside. As the people going are mostly 30-something couples (and one couple in their 60s) it'd have to be reasonable but cheap-ish accomodation... so hostels are alas out...

Thanks very much for your help thus far :D
posted by electriccynic at 4:34 PM on July 25, 2008