Cheap Hotels for New York Visitors
With around 46 million annual visitors to NYC, Times Square and its surroundings have become one big fat tourist trap, focused on squeezing every last dollar out of naive tourists. Hotel rates, especially, are way out of control, with average nightly rates zooming up to over $300 (it was around $250 last year). What are Joe and Jane Six-pack supposed to do to find some decent and cheap hotels for New York trips? For starters, continue reading…
In addition to listing out the most desirable cheap hotels for the Big Apple, I’ll also be listing out some New Jersey hotels which are making a real and sustained effort to reach out to NYC visitors and tourists. Plus, NYCvisit.com -the City’s official tourism portal – has come up with an innovative deal offering 1 night free at major hotels. But first, let’s get started on the cheapskate NYC hotels.
The Pod Hotel – From bunk beds to single and double ‘pods’ and a swanky Townhouse Studio, the Pod Hotel in Turtle Bay, on the eastern edge of midtown, is a good example of how space challenged hotels in NYC can make up for it with cheap rates and a funky sense of style. They have a summer special going on now for $139. Standard rate for a Double Pod is around $200. More details here. All said and done, the rooms are small, even by NYC standards, but if all you’re looking for is a place to sleep, then the Pod is an excellent midtown base for an extended stay in New York City.
Two decent hotels near the Empire State Building are the Herald Square Hotel with rates from $89, and the Wolcott Hotel which comes highly recommended as one of the best budget hotels in New York City. Then there’s the New Yorker with rates from $129 and the Chelsea Savoy (its a bit far from the usual tourist haunts) with rates from $99. And the Park Savoy, just off Central Park, with rates from $145.
Now these were all decent enough and quite cheap, by NYC standards. But if you want something more out of a hotel, without having to pay through the nose, then check out the NYCVisit.com Sunday Stays program, which offers 20–30% off at participating hotels, along with free room upgrades, discounts on room service and restaurant dining, complimentary breakfast and other freebies.
Lastly, you can go one step further and entirely avoid the hassle and high prices in NYC by opting for a hotel in New Jersey, most of which are way cheaper and more spacious and luxurious. Here’s a full list (pdf file) of NJ hotels within 14 miles of New York City. This list might come in especially handy if you’re driving to New York City, where you’ll likely have to sell your car to get hold of parking space for a couple of days.
Photo by p_a_h via flickr (creative commons)
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14 Responses
Last time I was up in NYC I stayed in the Hampton, and it was great. Very clean, comfortable over all pretty enjoyable experience. I’m an ambassador for Hampton Inns, I had some info that it seems like you’d be interested in, I thought I’d let you know about it.
Hampton Inn is offering 10% off the best available rate until September 1st. We’re also giving away bikes, vacations and a lot of other stuff for the Olympic Games!
Check it out here: http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/ en/hp/promotions/hx_su mmerpromo08/index.jhtm l?cid=OM,HX,Dreams,Specials&it=Specials,Dreams
Best,
Rob Williams
Official Hampton Inn Ambassador
naturalhouse302@gmail.com
[...] clipped from http://www.uptake.com [...]
We have found that there are places that rent by the week for less than 3-4 nights of an average room, many of these offer small kitchens and a better chance to relax when needed
When I traveled to New York, I stayed over in Newark and simply jumped on public transportation to take to to Manhattan. Since most of my visits then were to the World Trade Centers, I’m sure that’s all changed now. But the price was right and transportation and time were all right too.
These are good for single people, but unfortunately, we’re talking $240-$300 if you want a double or queen bed… it would be pointless to a single twin bed if you’re going with your spouse/SO. These budget hotels aren’t much less than Marriotts and Hiltons if you’re savvy (the rack rates are $500-600, but who pays rack rates?). My recommendation: Stay at a hotel in Newark that has shuttles to the Newark airport, pay $100-$120/night for a MUCH nicer and bigger room, and take day trips to NYC via the NJ Transit train to Penn station — $15 round trip per person per day, 30-40 minutes one way. It’s a little bit of a pain and a extra time, in exchange for a large chunk of money and much more comfortable rooms. Trust me, you forget about the train once you’re in the city, and you’ll just crash on the trani on the way back, since you’ll be so tired at the end of the day anyway. To me it’s worth $150-$250 savings per day and more comfortable rooms to sleep in at night after walking around the city all day.
J.C can you please tell me the name of one of those places that can be rent for 1 week.
Thanks
GG, you can find plenty of these vacation rentals on the net. Try Craigslist (http://newyork.craigslist.org/vac/) or do a search on Google for ‘vacation rentals new york’. If it turns out good, you’ll end up saving money and getting to enjoy accomodations much more spacious and comfortable than a hotel, but you do need to remember that sometimes vacation rentals are not exactly as advertised.
A much better choice for vacation rentals is something like HomeAway, which has a few hundred places in New York listed. I’d stay away from Craigslist, because many who advertise on there aren’t very serious and there’s quite a bit of fraud. HomeAway even has a free rental protection program, covering up to $5k if there’s a problem with the rental you’ve booked through their site.
[...] Cheap Hotels for New York Visitors (tags: travel NYC) [...]
Try Hotel 17 on 17th street. Just stayed there for two nights. Had the best prices, three blocks from subway.
I am planning to go to NY for Thanksgiving week. I am travelling alone with not a load of money to spend. I am looking for a cheap, clean and safe (being a woman…) accomodation in NYC, preferebly with my own private bathroom. No need amenities, such as TV in room, internet etc, nor big places. I tried some hotels but prices are incredibly high (more than $200!I was looking for something at at least the half…). Any help? Or am I hopeless? Thanks!
Wow, that’s for the useful information!
- Jeff
[...] The Pod in New York, located in the Midtown East neighborhood, offers cheap bunk beds, and single and double ‘pods.’ They have a currently on-going summer special for $129. The dinky pods are great for tourists and visitors looking for ideally located cheap hotels in New York. [...]
[...] Cheap Hotels for New York Visitors [...]