Posted by Nick on August 31, 2010
If you’re planning a trip to New York City, you may be overwhelmed by the price of hotel rooms in NYC. Hotel rooms in NYC are notoriously expensive and tiny. If you’re trying to stay on a budget for your trip to the Big Apple, you may be looking at cheap New York City hotels but no too thrilled about the idea of ending up in a dump.
As a frequent traveler to NYC, I am always on the lookout for the best hotel deals in NYC. I don’t need luxury, but I don’t want to stay in a dirty hotel. I like to spend around $150 max on a NYC hotel room, but will go up to $175 if I have to. I think this is really as low as you can go in New York City and expect to have a decent stay in a decent hotel.
Here is my tested list of the 6 best hotels in New York City for the budget-minded:
Millennium UN Plaza Hotel
The Millennium UN Plaza Hotel is one of my favorite hotels in NYC. The average room rate is somewhere between $300 and $400 dollars but I have stayed here several times for under $150. A couple of years ago, I even spend a week at this hotel from Christmas through New Years for $159 a night. Getting a cheap room at this hotel is really all about luck. When I have found the low rate, it has always been through the MillenniumHotels.com website. It’s worth giving it a try when you are looking for a hotel. The only disadvantage of this hotel is its closest subway stop is a bit of a trek.
Hilton Garden Inn Chelsea (West 28th St.)
The Hilton Garden Inn Chelsea has been a super clean NYC hotel each time I’ve stayed there. I’ve been successful in getting it for the $150 or less per night in the past. And the big bonus to this hotel is that each room has a mini-fridge and microwave in it. You can pop over to a nearby grocery store and stock up the fridge with water, beer or whatever. It is also convenient to a subway stop. As of this writing, the TripAdvisor page for this hotel has a 15% off offer as well!
Four Points By Sheraton Manhattan Chelsea
Also in a convenient location, the Four Points By Sheraton Manhattan Chelsea is another great choice for travelers on a budget in NYC. I stayed here for $149 a night the last week of December one year. The rooms are clean but VERY tiny – even for New York City standards.
Ink48 – a Kimpton Hotel
If you’re looking for a cheap boutique hotel near the near Javits Center in Hell’s Kitchen, give Ink48 a try. It’s on 11th & 48th, which isn’t convenient to any subway stops – about 5 blocks to the nearest one. This hotel does have a really cool rooftop bar though. And most important – it’s super clean and you can get it for $175 or under if you find a deal. It is also a pet-friendly hotel, if that is important to you.
Hampton Inn Manhattan Chelsea
The Hampton Inn Manhattan Chelsea is your typical Hampton Inn experience – clean, free breakfast and free wi-fi. It has a great location near some subway stops. And you can regularly get a room for way under $200 a night.
Wyndham Garden Hotel Chelsea
About a year ago I booked a three-night stay at the Wyndham Garden Hotel Chelsea and canceled the last two nights to move over to the Hilton Garden Inn Chelsea. This hotel makes the list because it falls in the budget price range and it was clean enough. In my opinion, the service was terrible and I would never return to this hotel again. However, if you have no other options you can probably get this hotel in your price range. And I remember the hotel restaurant being decent enough.
The key to getting a great deal on a hotel in NYC is to do your research. Check the direct hotel websites and look on travel deal sites like TravelZoo. And if all else fails, you can use Priceline.com
for a deal – you just never know what hotel you’ll end up with on Priceline!
Posted by Nick on
If you’re planning on visiting New York City soon and want to catch some Broadway shows, the sticker shock of Broadway prices may scare you away. While off-Broadway shows are typically cheaper, they are about to get even cheaper when 20at20 returns.
20at20 is 20 off-Broadway shows with $20 tickets just 20 minutes before the show. It runs for 2 weeks from September 7, 2010 until September 19, 2010.
The way that it works is that you go to the box office of one of the participating shows and ask for a “20at20″ ticket – that is the only way to get the $20 tickets. And you can only get them 20 minutes before curtain. Assuming that the show isn’t sold out.
You can see a full list of shows on the website 20at20.com. Participating shows include:
- The 39 Steps
- The Fantasticks
- John Tartaglia’s ImaginOcean
- My Big Gay Italian Wedding
Posted by Nick on August 9, 2010
Each September in Greenville, South Carolina, a wine and food weekend dubbed “Euphoria” takes place. It raises money for charities across the state.
Local restaurateurs join musician Edwin McCain and star chef Tyler Florence to make the weekend happen.
The four day event features tastings, workshops, multicourse wine dinners, and live concerts. It all starts off with the Taste of the South. The Culinary Cook-off ends the festivities.
Euphoroa takes place in downtown Greenville. The dates for 2010 are September 23 – 26, 2010. For more information, go to www.euphoriagreenville.com.
Posted by Nick on August 8, 2010
Every year in August hundreds of small family-owned wineries bring out their best bottles for one of the single largest (and best) California wine tasting events. For the past 19 years, lovers of small-production wines have flocked to the Festival Pavilion of San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center to discover and taste some of California’s hidden gems.
The Family Winemakers of California Tasting was originally a trade-only event, but in 1996, Family Winemakers of California opened the annual tasting to the wine-consuming public. With more than 400 wineries on site—representing every wine region in California—this is one of the most diverse, not to be missed tastings in the nation.
2010 San Francisco Tasting:
Sunday, August 22, open to the trade (1:00 – 6:00) and the public (3:00 – 6:00)
Monday, August 23, open to the trade only (1:00 – 6:00)
at Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco
For information about the festival, go to www.familywinemakers.org.
Posted by rlashea on July 15, 2010
If you are planning a New York City vacation and have all of the city’s most famous sites on your to do list, a bus tour is a good way to spend a day or two of your trip. New York City bus tours provide transportation and information on the city’s most famous sites, or just a few of the ones you would like to see most.
City Sights NY
City Sights NY bus tours take visitors on double-decker buses with open tops, providing riders with unobstructed views of the most famous attractions. Tour options include full city, downtown, Brooklyn, night tours and a Harlem gospel tour. Private tours are available and packaged tours that include museum admissions and harbor cruises can be arranged. City Sights ticketing location is in the lobby of Madame Tussauds Wax Museum on NYC’s famed 42nd Street.
234 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10018
(212) 812-2700
Gray Line
Another double-decker bus option with open air top seating, Gray Line offers a variety of tours similar to City Sights. The most popular tour is the All Loops tour, which takes you past all of the city’s most famous attractions and includes either an Empire State Building or Top of the Rock ticket, admission to the South Street Seaport Museum and a water attraction ticket. The tour is a hop on and off tour, which allows riders to get on and off the buses at over 50 different city attractions as much as they want for 48 hours. Multilingual tours are available.
1560 Broadway
New York, NY 11221
(800) 669-0051
On Location Tours
If you are a movie or TV junkie, On Location Tours offers the New York City bus tours for you. Buses take visitors to some of the most famous filming locations in the city, as well as known celebrity residences. The main tour option with On Location Tours is the New York TV and Movies Sites Tour, on which riders see locations from movies and TV shows like Spider-Man, Ghostbusters, Friends and Gossip Girl. Additional tours, such as the Classics Tour, which takes you past locations seen in films such as The Godfather and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, are available as private tours.
10 West 37th Street
New York, NY 10018-7435
(212) 209-3370
