Toshbaf

I was looking into hotels in Manhattan in early December, say the weekend of the 7th. Everything is so expensive, like $400/night. I know that January is considerably cheaper. Do you think it will get any cheaper? Or is there a large convention or United Nations?

Out of my Element

NYC is crazy at Christmas time. As soon as the tree gets lit, prices go up.

Book something cancelable, keep your eyes open for deals, and pray.

Or stay in Long Island City, which is usually more affordable and is VERY close to midtown.

Hoyaheel

We love to visit in December to see the tree and (for me) the store window displays. I can sometimes get "ok" deals (for that time of year) at places we like to stay often (like Affinia) from email specials, so I'd recommend signing up for emails for places that you're interested in and in the fall, keep your fingers crossed. If possible, look at rate calendars too - sometimes there's one weekend that is cheaper (no clue why, I will never understand hotel or airfare pricing ;-)

Often1

From Thanksgiving to New Years, you can expect to see sky high Manhattan prices. $400 for a mid-range property is the norm and has been for many years. Your options are to hope that the economy crashes between now and then and that prices plummet, look at staying outside of Manhattan and commuting in (which may have its own expenses, depending on where), or locking in a bad but manageable price right now.

M60_to_LGA

LIC is a very good option. Prices tend to be a lot cheaper (like $100+) because it's Queens - but as the poster noted above, it's extremely close to Midtown. In fact, if the weather's nice, you could even walk over the Queensboro Bridge (not the nicest walk because of the traffic fumes, but you do get some decent views.)

There are a lot of midlevel chain hotels that have popped up right around Queensboro Plaza in recent years, plus some boutique properties (I think I saw an Aloft there recently when I was walking to the subway).

octr202

Second staying in LIC. Have had several stays there and frankly have come to prefer it to Manhattan, provided one is fine with using the subway. You've got good access to both Midtown and can also get to Brooklyn via the G Train as well, and every time we're back there's more and more interesting places to eat and drink in LIC itself. I just searched and could find good midlevel places in the $175-215 range, just looking at Hilton.

We often go down to NYC in December and have sometimes found great variation from weekend to weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some years we've found the first weekend of December exorbitant, but second or third weekend is much cheaper (especially if willing to cross the East River).

The LIC hotels are sometimes slightly beat by Jersey City, but then the access is harder and/or more expensive (especially if using public transit as you may often have to pay for both PATH and subway to complete trips).

MSPeconomist

Brighton Line

Long Island City is one or two stops from Manhattan on the subway (I work there) several new and under construction hotels as well established ones. I work a block from the East River 3 blocks from the subway. Hotel across the street from us and at least 6 others within a few blocks of the subway. The neighborhood is safe.

guv1976

If you're not already an IHG Rewards member, sign up for an account, and keep an eye out for points sales. Sometimes, IHG offers 100% bonuses on points purchases. A 50,000-point night would end up costing you $250 if you can catch a 100%-bonus sale.

In the Fall, check travelzoo.com to see if there are any Manhattan hotel deals for your desired dates of travel.

Toshbaf

Thanks. LIC is also expensive. It is not $400+ ($300+ LIC) when one goes as far as Garden City, Westbury, Carle Place, etc. where it is regular priced or slightly higher.

guv1976

It's not as convenient as staying in LIC, but I've stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Carlstadt, NJ, on a number of occasions when visiting Manhattan. There is frequent bus service two blocks from the hotel that can get you to Manhattan in as little as 20 minutes; roundtrip bus fare is ~ $9.00/person. The bus runs back to Carlstadt late into the evening.

Staying in Manhattan when you're sightseeing in Manhattan is the ideal; but if money is an issue, staying in the NJ suburbs is an option.

Toshbaf

Bingo. I found one of the major chains in a decent location for the low $300's. Foot in the door because I consider that price to be decent for the time of year. For January, one can get much better but it's not for January.

Lrtalk

The idea of booking something cheaper elsewhere that is cancellable is the way to do this. We've gone the second week of December the last two years and have stayed in Times Square for a little over $300 a night at very nice hotels. We stayed at Crowne Plaza one time and Hilton TS this most recent trip. Other hotels could be had for even less, but you have to watch prices. We use hotels.com where you can set price alerts that will watch for price changes automatically. Just be patient - prices change a lot as you get closer to December. There will be plenty of choices that are reasonable in Times Square later.

progapanda

Have you searched booking comparison sites like Kayak and Hotelscombined.com? I see the Affinia property below for as low as $133 per night - may be a sale and YMMV, but I see a few other smaller chain properties for well below 300$ a night for the weekend you're looking at. Also consider Jersey City.

Bonne chance.

andrewstahl