Finding a Cheap NY Hotel

July 14, 2009 3:52 PM

Help Me Find a New York Hotel for November

A few years back I lived in New York. I've been thinking lately that it would be nice to spend some time back there again. Looking at flights, the 4th November - 14th November seems a good time to go price-wise from the UK.

That, however, is the easy bit, because now I need to find a hotel for myself (and the wife) to stay in - yes, I know the city reasonably well, but I was living there last time so didn't really think to get to know any decent hotels!

So I'm wondering if any MeFites out there have any recommendations.

Our requirements are pretty basic:

- For 2 People
- Cheap
- Clean
- Private Bathroom
- Double Bed
- On Manhattan Island would be nice, but having good/quickish subway links (and not too expensive for the occasional late-night taxi back) is the main thing.

From hunting around online, so far the Ravel Hotel is probably our current candidate, by way of an example.

So any ideas? Any secret NY hotel suggestions lurking out there in the minds of MeFites?

posted by garius to Travel & Transportation around New York, NY (23 answers total)

you'll have to define what cheap means. is it $100? $150? below $100?
posted by lia at 4:21 PM on July 14, 2009

Response by poster: Well that Ravel would work out at about $108 dollars a night overall, so that's the marker for us at the moment.

Basically $100 - $130 on average a night would be the range - anything over that and, over 10 nights or so, it soon adds up.
posted by garius at 4:26 PM on July 14, 2009

I know it sounds a bit crazy, but you could try Craigslist. My friend posted a request to rent someone's apartment for a weekend in San Francisco and set the price, and she got one awesome reply (and a few other weird ones). We helped someone pay for their rent, and we got a sweet deal on two bedrooms and a bathroom of our own. Good luck!
posted by filthy light thief at 4:27 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

The new Standard Hotel, which stands over the High Line park in Manhattan, is running an online-only special of USD 225 per night for a queen room. That's cheap as hell in lower Manhattan; cheaper than the Pod Hotel for a similar room and that's the go-to cheap option in midtown.
posted by nicwolff at 4:28 PM on July 14, 2009

Ah, didn't see your clarification on price. I don't know of anything you'd like in lower Manhattan with a private bath in that range.
posted by nicwolff at 4:29 PM on July 14, 2009

Response by poster: Yeah - its the private bath that's the killer, but the Missus is insistent.

Fair enough really I suppose - it's her holiday (and money) as well!
posted by garius at 4:34 PM on July 14, 2009

New York City has seen massive drops in the average room rate, but it's still $178 a night. That said, the generally reliable hotels.com has rooms in that period for less. You should have a look there.
posted by CunningLinguist at 4:39 PM on July 14, 2009

Keep an eye on Newyorkology and Quikbook. But what you have right now with the Ravel sounds like it's the cheapest, at this point in time (a few months out). A lot of hotels currently have sales that only cover from now until September.
posted by kathryn at 4:47 PM on July 14, 2009

I did Priceline for a hotel room in NYC a couple of months ago for $130 per night. It ended up being a Marriott in midtown, 53rd St and 6th ave. Very comfortable and convenient.
posted by peeps! at 5:25 PM on July 14, 2009

I'd definitely look into subletting someone's apartment... it may end up to be a whole lot cheaper, and much more comfortable.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:27 PM on July 14, 2009

hmm. I've stayed at and thoroughly liked the Chelsea Lodge Hotel. it's clean, fairly cheap and well located. I think it is just chelsealodge.com off the top of my head.
posted by spyke23 at 6:32 PM on July 14, 2009

I always got great deals on priceline for New York($150 to $200 during peak winter and summer seasoons). Way better than the posted prices. If you stick to Manhattan 4+ star all the hotels (I'm pretty sure) are fine and will meet your criteria.
posted by betsybetsy at 7:11 PM on July 14, 2009

Seconding Priceline. Granted, this was a couple years ago, but I got the Waldorf-Astoria for $125/night! Check out biddingfortravel.com or betterbidding.com to see what kind of prices people are getting - there are some good deals to be had.
posted by SisterHavana at 7:14 PM on July 14, 2009

I pretty much always look for apartments for vacations these days. Here's Manhattan apartments on VRBO. I check out pictures and read reviews, and google the addresses so I can take a look at the neighborhood. I've never used it for NYC, but it might be worth checking out if you don't want full-on hotel/maid/room service.
posted by oneirodynia at 8:01 PM on July 14, 2009

Ugh, forgot the link before posting: VRBO for Manhattan. (That's vacation rentals by owner.)
posted by oneirodynia at 8:03 PM on July 14, 2009

I just got back from a five-day, four-night stay in Manhattan. I booked a room for my son and I at the Hotel Pennsylvania for $274, including taxes and fees ($68.50 PER NIGHT!), on lastminutetravel.com. It wasn't great, but it was clean and safe, and it had a private bath. Our room had a king-sized bed. It's right across 7th Avenue from Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, which might get old for as long as you plan to be in town, but it worked out great for us.
posted by unclejeffy at 8:29 PM on July 14, 2009

Response by poster: Cheers guys (and gals) - all good advice so far.

If I'm reading this right then, the current feeling here seems to be then that:

- If we want to book now then that Ravel is a pretty good deal
- Alternatively, we could wait and try and go something a bit more last-minute deal-like.

Would that be a fair reading of the situation?
posted by garius at 1:45 AM on July 15, 2009

The gf and I stayed at the Pod Hotel in January for a couple nights. We got a room with a private bath and a double bed for about $150/night. However, I'm not sure how comfortable that place would be for 10 days - the room was small and had just enough floor space for the bed and a nook to throw your suitcase in. Very similar to what you might find in London, actually.

On the whole, though, it was a very pleasant experience. They cater to a younger (single) crowd, but it was quiet and clean.
posted by backseatpilot at 5:01 AM on July 15, 2009

just came across the oyster review of on the ave, a new boutique hotel on the uws, which makes it sound like it might be exactly what you want—private bathroom (small but chichi marble, they say), great neighborhood and average room price of $115 a night.
posted by lia at 8:04 PM on July 15, 2009

Response by poster: It does indeed look nice - but I don't know where that review site is getting their prices from. According to the hotel's website i's about $300 a night!
posted by garius at 1:34 AM on July 16, 2009

I found a good deal at the (refurbished) Paramount hotel off Times Square for about £100 per night via quikbook.com - the great thing being that I never had to pay for the reservation until I checked out, and could have cancelled it at any time up to two days before I checked in.
posted by almostwitty at 5:53 AM on July 16, 2009

Craigslist, under Vacation Rentals. My parents have done this 4 times when visiting me in Manhattan. All of the apartments have been nice - WAY bigger than the hotels they've tried and half the price (full 1BR apartments for under $200/night).

If you still have friends in the area, it helps to have someone check out the place first - we've never had an issue, but it definitely confirms that the apartment exists and you aren't just sending a deposit to a scam artist.
posted by melissasaurus at 12:37 PM on August 4, 2009

We got a really nice, clean room with a king-sized bed at the Reserve Hotel in lower Manhattan (near the WTC site and two blocks from the 4/5/6? subway lines) for somewhere around $115? a night about two weeks ago. The prices on the hotel's web site were much higher than the rate we got through Expedia, however. The staff were great, and room was very nice if smallish- they just opened under a year ago and seemed to be not quite as busy as they might have wanted at the time.
posted by charmedimsure at 12:20 AM on August 19, 2009