For the last week or so, I’ve been doing a little preliminary planning for the New York trip I mentioned a couple of weeks ago (also known as “Martie Takes Manhattan”), and I think we have settled on a date. Martie’s going, as is Sister, my sister-in-law Janie, my aunt C., and hopefully my cousin Paige.
Oh, and me. I’m going. Which is probably a good thing since I’m the one who has roped in all the other merry travelers.
It might offer you a little insight into the state of Martha’s excitement to know that last week she pulled all of her suitcases out of her closet to examine them and decide if any were worthy of a trip to New York. She’s very concerned that she’s going to exceed the airline’s 50 pound weight limit on luggage, and rather than incur unwanted surcharges, she has decided that she needs a bigger, lighter bag.
And so, if you work at a Belk’s or Dillard’s department store in Mississippi or Alabama, I would just like to say this: CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED. Martha is on a luggage mission, and you’d better know she means business. She has waited over seven decades to travel to the Big Apple, and she will not purchase anything other than luggage PERFECTION.
At the lowest possible price, of course. And preferably with a coupon. On senior citizens’ discount day.
Martha and I have begged my mama to come along for the New York ride, but she’s just not interested. She said that she would probably enjoy herself for about twenty minutes and then be ready to come home and clean for awhile. You know, just to relax from the hustle and bustle of her twenty-minute NYC adventure. I guess she’ll keep the home fires burning for all of us while we’re gone.
So here is my biggest trip-planning dilemma, and I’m hopeful that some of you travel-savvy internets will have some ideas to help me solve it. There is a certain section of NYC where Sister, Paige, Janie and I have enjoyed staying in the past because it is convenient and lovely and quiet and good. And there are many, many hotels in this particular area, so room availability isn’t so much an issue.
But as best I can tell, room rates are up about 100% (if not more) since the last time I planned a trip to New York (which, granted, was about four years ago). I don’t know if we’ll be staying two or three to a room – it depends on our final number, I guess – but obviously we want the best possible price per night that we can get. Based on the rates I’ve seen this past week, once we get to NYC and settle in at our hotel, I’ll have to sit right there for the duration of our trip because I won’t have any money to do anything besides pay for my share of the room.
And that does not really sound like very much fun to me.
We certainly don’t have to stay anywhere fancy, but we do want to stay somewhere nice. I want for Martha and C. to feel like they are getting extra-special treatment on their inaugural trips to the Big Apple, so I want to plan really well and get the most possible bang for our travel bucks.
So, if any of y’all have any tips for getting great rates on hotel rooms, I would love to know them. I have thought about using Hotwire to make reservations though I’m a little wary since I’ve never booked a hotel room that way before. I know that lots of hotels run promotional deals, but it seems like nothing coincides with our travel dates. I’ve even thought about contacting a hotel chain and explaining that it’s my 70-something MIL’s first trip to New York in the hopes that they’ll give us a cut on the room rate (and hello? TENS OF PEOPLE will be reading about our trip on my blog – IT’S LIKE FREE PUBLICITY!), but then I remembered that WHEN THEY FINISH NOT CARING, THEY WILL THINK I’M INSANE.
Any ideas, y’all?
On trips to the West Coast (San Fran)and even to places like Boston etc one thing I’ve tried is to call the hotel I want direct. Make sure you talk to somone on the property-not their call center. Lots of times they have discounts not advertised on expedia or through their website. Remember to apply AARP and the like to the discount too.
Starwood Hotels which has like 3 different hotel chains would be a great start too.
May you find the best place dirt cheap and take lots of pictures.
We have found that in the end it is often cheaper to rent a suite with several bedrooms. Embassy Suites has great breakfasts that are free with your stay. Homewood Suites also has free dinners on certain evenings, thereby reducing a HUGE portion of your expenses.
Have a blast. I’m with your mom though, I would rather clean my house than see NYC and I don’t particularlyl enjoy cleaning, I just have no desire, at all, to see NYC.
Blessings, Kim
We’re going to NYC in October, and I got a great deal for flight/hotel combo through Travelocity. We’re staying in a hotel in Grand Central Station.
I can email you details, if you’d like.
I have been about 4 times to NYC and just spent a 4 day trip in March with three of my best friends. We had a great time and had non-stop activities planned. Let me know if you want our itinerary and I will email you what we did and the links.
Jen
(Fellow Alabama Grits Girl)
I LOVE hotwire. I have used it twice and both times ended up at The Hilton for less than half the cost if I had booked it through The Hilton themselves. :) LOVE HOTWIRE!
When my friends and I convene in NYC, we book rooms through Priceline.com or HotRes.com. On Priceline, we put in $100/night for 3-star hotel in midtown and we’ve stayed some very nice places. HotRes lets you pick the place, Priceline doesn’t, but they’ve never disappointed us. I’ve used Priceline for other destinations as well, and I’ve never had a bad experience.
Have a great trip!
Check tripadvisor- they have real people’s review. I’ve used them to plan our last few trips and was SO happy.
And if you really want to cut costs, take me with you and I’ll pitch in absolutely everything I have. (Today that totals about $120.) NYC is my DREAM!!!! Can’t wait to read all about it.
I’m absolutely no help b/c I won’t travel on an airplane which limits here I can go! :D Good luck though!
Useless. Every time I’ve been to NY, the company picked up the bill. Every time I signed for it, it near gave me a heart attack. I could put the kids through college for less, I fear.
Happy Hotel Hunting!
My feller always books our reservations and he gets us THE BEST deals on priceline usually. He just puts in a low rate and waits for the offers. Be prepared to lock it in with a credit card as the offers generally do not last very long.
We stayed at a 5 star hotel in Atlanta…..for $89.00 a night!! He wanted my stay to be really nice since I was in total parental melt down after moving my daughter there for college and was LEAVING her there when I returned to Arkansas. Bless his heart.
Anyway, try those online bid sites first and see what you can snoop out. WE love it and always save tons o’ bucks.
My last trip to NYC was a company trip over a year ago. But I stayed in the Novotel/Accor Hotel right off Broadway. I could look down at the street and see awesome Broadway show signs and look to the right and see Times Square. I loved staying there and would love to stay there when I take my daughter. It may be thru the roof to stay there but I loved it.
All that sensible stuff aside, will you please go to Canal Street and bring me back tons of purses particularly brown ones with LV on them and a black one with C’s on it . I spent soooo much money on Canal Street and was thrilled!!!
I just recently booked a room in Atlantic City, and found that hotels.com, expedia, and travelocity usually offer the best prices. I checked all three at once (now that I became computer savvy and learned to open more than one tab at a time, hehe) with the same dates, same hotel, etc. and found that hotels.com and expedia were exactly the same and travelocity was a little more.
I’ve used Hotwire and have always been pleased with the results. If you are looking for a good rate, that is probably the way to go!
ENJOY!
I usually stay with friends when I’m there, but have stayed in Midtown a few times, too. I’m assuming you know this is the most expensive part of the city, but that’s because it’s convenient to the Park, the shows, and most museums.
We stayed at the Cosmopolitan Hotel Tribeca on our last visit. Probably not the location you’re looking for, but very reasonable and clean and friendly.
Would you consider renting an efficiency apartment? Many friends and my parents have done this to save money; it sleeps many people and you at least have a kitchen to avoid eating out (unless this is one of your main reasons for visiting NY).
I’ve used Hotwire and Priceline many times and have always ended up in great hotels. If you select 3* or above you should not have any problems. I recently discovered a handy little site where users have posted the hotel results they’ve gotten through these sites. The link below should take you directly to the New York page. You’ll see links for both the Hotwire Hotel List and Priceline Hotel List. You’ll at least have a better idea of what you might get!
http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showforum=254&
Happy Travels!
I would email Meredith at Like Merchant Ships(www.likemerchantships.blogspot.com). I know she uses either Hotwire or Priceline often. She would probably have several suggestions for you. Have fun!
This post will have me coming back for months; I’m currently planning a New Englad Road trip from DC to Maine. Let me know your experience and I may duplicate it.
You can go to http://www.travelzoo.com and get updates every Wednesday. There is usually always a discount on an NYC hotel. When we go…we usually end up surrendering to the OUTLANDISH prices in Times Square and stay at the Marriott Marquis or the Renaissance Times Square. And by that I mean, my dad uses his Marriott points…so it is a SHWEET deal for us!
ROTFLMBO @ when they are done NOT CARING!!
Oh my goodness.. you just make my laugh every night!!!!
I wish I could help you out there, but I myself have never been to NYC, although I actually lived upstate NY for 7 years as a child! Believe it or not….
Good luck!
Go Priceline.com!!! It is the BEST!!!
We have used (whoops – I wrote sued first and that would not have persuaded you:)) Hotwire several times. We just made sure that we picked a certain number of stars we absolutely were not willing to go below! We stayed at beautiful hotels in both Austin and San Antonio.
Also we took my 80 year old Great Aunt to New York last summer and called a nice hotel and they gave us a steal of a deal! I would definitely try calling! Good Luck!
Our family is addicted to Residence Inns by Marriott. They seem to always have a better price than the regular hotels in the areas we have traveled. There is tons of room since they have a living room and a full kitchen and some of the rooms will sleep six people (two bedrooms and a pull out couch in the living room). They also serve a killer hot breakfast every morning and dinner M-Th…all included with your room. The kitchen in the room (with a full refrigerator) makes it possible for you to cook a few dinners there and save some money.
First, tell Martha to try Ross for luggage if you have them in your parts. I got 3 great big suitcases for a steal there and they were really good quality.
Second, I always go to expedia to shop for hotels. I then get their rates for the dates I would like to stay. I call the hotel direct and ask to speak to a manager. I explain that I have a family of 7 and thus will need two rooms. I am on a strict budget but would really like to stay in his hotel. Can he help me?
Generally, I can get a really good rate. Much cheaper than the expedia rate.
The more expensive the room the bigger discount you can generally get. One time I got a room on the beach for 50% off which was great because for us it was like 2 for 1.
Good luck!!!
Chris said travelocity always works for him. Praying for good rates and extra cash to spend on good food and lots of souveniers! I bought a leather Hard Rock Cafe jacket when I was there a few…um I mean 21…years ago. Also some frosty eye shadow from Bloomingdale’s and a Coca Cola shirt from Macy’s (remember those?). I met my first Sharper Image store there…so much fun to play with gadgets!
Can’t wait to hear all about it!
Holly
Don’t miss “The Color Purple”
It is fantastic and my favorite show in a long time
Teresa
The Roosevelt Hotel, bar none. It’s the best, it’s got old glamour, it’s central, it’s safe and it was in ‘Maid in Manhattan’
Enough said.
i don’t have any suggestions but i’ll sure be waiting on the edge of my seat for details about the trip. can’t wait to hear what you and the rest of the gang do in NY!
try getting the reservation in your MIL’s name, since she’s the senior citizen, (all places offer senior discounts) and talk to hotel staff on site, not just on the 1-800 number. Tell them its her first trip and what all kind of discounts can they offer. Most of them will come way off their “list” price.
Oooh oooh oooh…although I usually lurk, this is right up our alley. My husband gets us the greatest places to stay whenever we travel…using PRICELINE.
But FIRST you have to check out biddingfortravel.com It is the best website which gives you great tips on how to bid, what the zones are, great tips for how to get “free” re-bids, etc. It’s too much to explain in the comments, but it’s so worth checking out. We always stay in resorts or 4-star places for Marriott prices (or less). Feel free to email me if you want more guidance.
I do recommend Hotwire. My husband and I wanted something in Times Square and we got a very nice hotel, for about $150 a night. It made it worth it since we didn’t have to pay for cabs to take us up and down town.
May I also suggest using the subway there. $7 dollars for the entire day. If you get lost there are lots of helpful people and employees to guide you on your way. Good luck and have fun!
In addition to the ones mentioned above, Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn Express have free breakfast included. Obviously, you get more space in a Staybridge (plus a full kitchen), but Express is usually newer and in good shape.
My husband is a hotel GM and I asked him before responding to your question. He said that Hotwire and Priceline are both good options for getting a deal, but you don’t know the hotel until you’ve booked it – make sure you put in how many stars (I’d put at least 3, 4 if you’re looking for something specific). He said you’ll usually get better rates this way, but you can always try AARP and AAA rates (if you have a membership). Also, if you end up at a chain hotel, sign up for their priority club (or similar) before your trip – you can sometimes end up with room upgrades or special bonuses.
Best wishes and have a great time.
NYC is crazy expensive to stay at. Priceline is great, but just know that you can’t always control the size of the room you get when bidding on it and NYC hotel rooms are really small, like barely can walk around the bed small. We found that the Embassy Suites in Battery Park was significantly cheaper than most other hotels. Pros: big rooms to easily accomodate all of you, free breakfast and happy hour, very good staff. Cons: not really close to much- it is in the financial district really near to the WTC. It is however very close to the Subway so you can get around easy. I would highly recommend it!
My best advice is to check http://www.tripadvisor.com. I never stay anywhere without checking with them first. They rank hotels by what customers have said about them. And if you have AAA plan to use it.
As for fun stuff in NY, there’s all kinds of things to do that are free or really cheap. The times I’ve been there we’ve done the whole tourist thing and enjoyed it. You have to splurge and go to at least one show and you HAVE to be in Time Square after dark. Fun, fun, fun! Try and find a hotel that offers a free breakfast and eat cheap for lunch. Then you won’t feel as guilt when you go all out for dinner! Normally, when we travel we do our big meal at lunch. It’s usually cheaper and it makes the evenings more relaxed. But, NY is all about the night life, so I would make dinner my big meal.
HAVE FUN!!
Blessings,
Georgia Mom
I was in NYC with 2 friends last July and we stayed at the Raddison on 48th and Lexington. I was also the “planner” and this is the best for the money, clean, good location, and A STARBUCKS IN THE LOBBY. (Not that I have a STARBUCKS problem or anything…I’m just sayin’) I booked through Travelocity, Expedia or Priceline and it was great. See a show, “Wicked” is wonderful. Have a nice Italian dinner at “La Loconda” in Hells Kitchen. Delicious. Have fun.
Hey Boo–
email me when you’re planning to head up there. I’m planning a conference there in September.
–Katiebod
NYC is very pricey. :( We live about 40 miles away in NJ and we rarely go there. We have been to 3 Broadway shows in the 9 years we have lived here. Two were gifts from my husbands company. We are splurging this weekend and going to a show for our 25th anniversary. The tickets were expensive and we got balcony seats! We wanted to go to a “nice” restaurant, but it was going to cost upwards of $200. SO we are going to walk around and come back to Jersey and eat at our favorite restaurant here. Warning: if you go to Tavern on the Green, it’s very expensive and we were not impressed with the food or the service.
I went for a girls weekend in April and we stayed at the Paramount hotel right around Times Square on Broadway. We walked just about everywhere including to Central Park and took cabs to Soho for some shopping and dining. We were on a limited budget too, but got a 3 room suite there for $1200. One room had two double beds, 1 had a double bed, and another had a pull out sofa bed. You could maybe just get two rooms if that would work for you. NY is so very expensive and I found that the smaller (non chain) hotels seemed to be cheaper plus they really have character. I loved our hotel because it was in the classic black and white and just oozed character. It was also close to everything so we didn’t have taxi’s eating up our money. Good luck with planning!! I have used hotels.com to book hotels and it has always worked out or sometimes used them to get some names and then called the hotels directly to see if I could get a better price. Just remember you will probably spend only a little time in your room and more time out and about!! I am so excited…wish I could jump in your suitcase to go back!
Mel
Hotwire has never let us down. You can pick the location so there is no danger of staying in a remote or dangerous place. The star level will help with what accomodations you must have…like a bed, and there are usually reviews that will say clean, friendly staff etc.
After we book it, my husband, ever the charming southern gentleman, will call and just make sure that everything is up to snuff. Hi this is Mr. Zoom and we booked everything on hotwire and just wanted to verify that we have a king bed non- smoking room?? and your name is Sally? oh Sally we are so looking forward to staying in your nice establishment.
We have always had great experiences.
The last line of this post just cracked me up. “When they finish not caring….” Good luck! I can’t begin to help you since I never go anywhere farther away than my local Walmart. LOL
I live in NYC, but the best way to find a reasonably priced hotel room is on priceline.com….especially if your travel date is a few months away, as you will have many opportunities to re-bid. Also, try to stay away from the Times Square area if you want a deal. Try Midtown.
Not really a lot of help for NYC as I haven’t been for several years. However, we had the same problem when we went to London, astronaumical prices, and then, just to make things extra fun, double the rates to make up for the exchange rate. We actually found a set of apartments and paid about $120 American for a really awesome apartment in St. John’s Wood (Rolls, Mercedes, etc, parked outside). Hotels in that area started at $300. I’d look up apartment listings, you might find something in the area you want for much, much less.
Boomama,
We are in the same boat. We are looking at December and the prices are CRAZY. We have stayed in the Amsterdam Hotel near Times Square and their prices for December avg $480/night! CRAZY b/c 5 years ago in July we stayed for $150/night.
I do recommend you get this little black book called NTF (not for tourists)for New York City. We took it the last time we were there and it is great b/c it lists everything you need by area including transporation.
Also, right off of Union Square (around the corner from Feline’s Basement) is a Chocolate restaurant…the molten cake with truffle sauce is to die for. On the upper west side is a great “after the show” place (am forgetting the name so will look at my pictures and post again). It has brunch items and great desserts. It was the little shop in “You’ve Got Mail” where they met for the first time. Lots of get shopping and great eating! Enjoy.
Debra
Of course, I don’t have the 4 hours it would take to read throught the 400 other comments, so I expect that someone has already suggested Priceline. My husband booked our rooms in Savannah through them. Being a little nervous becuase he hadn’t used them before, he lowballed the price just to see what would happen. Well, we were pleasantly surprised when we got booked at the Hyatt Regency next to the river. You really get to control your options – the “zone” where you want to stay, the “star” system quality of the hotel, and the price. We will certainly be using it again – hope that helps!
Well, I’ve never been to NYC, but next time I’m booking a trip, I’ll have to come back here and remind myself of all the tips. Also, we did just go to Michigan for a wedding. The hotel was picked by the bride, but was luckily a Choice Hotel (which I’m a member of) and the price dropped for a king size room from $89 to $59 a night because I was a member. So, if it’s a chain, definitely join the club for that chain. If nothing else, you’ll earn points you might can use some other time.
I was surprised to see that no one has suggested kayak.com I use it all the time to book travel. It is a meta-search engine, meaning it searches all the travel sites for you at once. When you click on the deal you want, it directs you to the site that hosts that deal. Use tripadvisor to scope the place out, call them directly to try and get a better deal and then book online if that price is better, although, having been a manager in the hotel industry, I can testify that telling your story to an actual human on site can generate some amazing deals! Please tell me that you’ll have your laptop and digital camera on this trip! I cannot WAIT to read the updates….:-) Almost as fun as going myself.
I have always wanted to do a NYC trip myself, so I’m so looking forward to hearing all about it! I was just talking with a friend who went in December with a girlfriend. They actually stayed a few minutes away in Newark, NJ (saving a TON of money) and took the bus into the city, which only cost about $4 I think she said. Anyway, I thought those were great tips and I plan to go that route if and when we ever go. Hope you have a fabulous time. Please take lots and lots of pictures!!
The Essex House is a wonderful (but expensive)place to stay. They even have their own house taxi to get you where you need to go in style! If you get the opportunity…try to get reservations at TAVERN ON THE GREEN! It is a place that you will never forget! Have fun!
Sorry to infiltrate your comments, but I was afraid if I emailed you directly, you wouldn’t recognize my email and might delete it as spam. :)
Anyway, a friend of mine just had to send two of her kids to the hospital in a helicopter. Her husband accidentally backed into them with the car. They have requested prayer from as many people as possible, so I naturally, thought of you and your “tens” of readers! Details as I know them are posted over at my place. http://kidscakesdisheslaundry.blogspot.com/2007/06/urgent-prayer-request.html
I understand if you don’t want to post anything since you don’t know them, but I am just trying to get the word out to as many people as possible. Thanks!
Orbitz, Orbitz, Orbitz!
Just became a BooMama fan a few days ago (thanks to my loving sister for my new addiction!).
Hubby and I went to NYC just before 9/11, standing on the WTC six weeks and a day before they came down. So I’m a little outdated, but maybe my advice will still work.
We booked Hudson Hotel (4 stars, right by the SW corner of the Park) using expedia. Got airfare from Texas plus 3 nights’ stay for $1500 for 2 — not bad. When we got there, I asked for a room upgrade and was told they were full. I replied, “Oh, that’s a shame. It’s our first time here, it’s my birthday and our anniversary — and my husband was laid off three days ago. Just thought I’d ask.” The reply? “Hmmm, let me look again.” We got a free upgrade to a double-size room — what could be better, y’all! It was a perfect weekend, and everything I said was true. It turned out to be a lovely start to a four-year jobless ordeal, but we have great memories, and now we both have great jobs.
And while you’re there, I highly recommend Il Cortile on Mulberry Street in Little Italy. Way yummy Italian food.
My view is that you’ll not be in your room much anyway, so try to find a room with 2 doubles (and squeeze 4 in) rather than get multiple rooms, because remember there’s like a 16% tax– oof!
Craiglist is good if you’re staying a short time and looking for an apt and want to do the local thing. It can be cheaper to rent for a couple of extra nights.
I agree with everyone else about travelocity, orbitz etc.
I go up several times a yr so can steer you to some restaurants etc.
If you want to see a show, check eBay for tix.
You can email me.. I’m going back in July.
AG
I cannot read all 50 comments, but let me say “Priceline!” You can email me and I can try to assure of the merits and safety of it. Oh–quikbook.com is great, too.
I’m practically a local now. I’m about two hours away and my hubby and I take little overnight trips there frequently.
Are you seeing theatre? I have some tips for that, too. I keep meaning to do a NYC blog post and never have.
1 – Tell Martha to leave room in her NY suitcase for the return trip. There will be shopping aplenty in Manhattan!
2 – I second Andrea and Anne’s recommendations for kayak.com and craigslist. CL is a good place to look for specific dates. You can also place an ad yourself to see what might turn up. I’ve never used Priceline but I’ve heard good things.
3 – I have no idea what their rates are, but there’s a B&B I’ve heard of downtown (212 674 8535) that might be worth calling. Can’t hurt.
4 – This may sound weird, but check your alumni magazine. Sometimes alums have apartments or houses they’re willing to let other fellow alums use.
I have been to NY 3 times in the past 5 years. One of the best times we have had each time is to go to “Good Morning America.” If you are an ABC fan it is so much fun. My husband wasn’t as excited about the idea, but after he went one time, he was hooked. We have seen Dick Clark, Ryan Seacrest and I got my picture taken with Rachel Ray. You can email GMA for the free tickets. The only downfall is that you have to be there at 6:15 a.m. with a smile on your face :(
I have one more suggestion. We travel quite a bit and the first thing we do in a big city is take a trolly tour. It takes you to all of the major attractions. The NY trolly has a 2 day ticket. We usually go full circle and decide where we want to stop off. The second round we get on and off and don’t have to worry about parking and cabs. Great way to see any city and find out where you want to spend the most time. The trolly in NY is a double decker so you get to enjoy the fresh air.
I went on my first trip to NYC in March. We stayed at The Roosevelt in mid-town. Small rooms, but very nice for the price. We weren’t there that much anyway so it was fine for us.
Have fun planning!