[Chrissy Scivicque]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a nice (inexpensive?) hotel(s) in mid-town Manhattan when the Penn Club is sold out.

[OA Staff Member]

The following answer was submitted by Robert Ball:

If it’s on short notice, I’ve always had great luck with priceline.com. If you put start by focusing on Midtown M’hatten and stay with 4- or 3-star, you can get some great hotels at good prices. There’s also a site out there that tells you how much to bid to win/not overpay. Anyone know that url?

[sugarbush]

We use the Affinia Dumont but they are not inexpensive. Nothing in mid-town is inexpensive. There are some deals available downtown near the Financial District and the Lower East Side, which are cab rides away. I have used hotels.com as a last resort.

[LisaOlsen]

I have a great story about NY hotels! Last year a friend and I flew back to NY to see Wicked and got a "great" deal on three nights stay at the Hotel Carter - literally right off Times Square. You know the old saying, "if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't" - well, the adventure began from the minute we walked into this place. The lobby was full - packed - with other tourists who also booked for the weekend. Normal looking people. But when I saw the bullet proof glass at the registration counter, I knew we were in for a rough weekend!! A guy named "Guido" sheepishly took our bags to our room, which was the worst room I have ever seen. Tiles falling off the ceiling, no lampshades on the lamps, no TV, ripped drapes. We didn't even pull down the bedspread!! We slept on top. We didn't leave - we were on a NY adventure - but it was bad. We were out late every night (so we didn't have to spend as much time in the hotel room!!). The funniest thing was that when we got back, Trip Advisor put their lists out of the Best and Worst hotels in the US. Guess what hotel made the #1 spot on the WORST hotels....The Hotel Carter!! Not many people can say they stayed in the worst hotel in NY!!! We booked the hotel through Travelocity who told us "it was the best deal in NYC - $100 a night" We should have known better.