Need help with Hotel for September

I am planning a trip to New York with my daughter-in-law from Sept 8th -Sept 13th. She is leaving to return to San Francisco on the 13th and then my husband will join me for a few days (until the 16th)before we take a road trip through New England. (our wedding anniversary!)

I need help with some hotel suggestions. I am getting more and more confused...maybe I am reading too many guide books! My daughter-in-law and I plan to see some shows, shop, museums, sights....the usual. I think it would work to be close to midtown so that we could walk to different areas. She will be 5 months pregnant then and I think it would be good for us to have two beds in the room for the most comfort. I notice that a lot of hotels do not have rooms with separate beds unless they are a suite. When my husband comes on the 13th I would like to switch to a king bed-room or, I suppose, we could change hotels at that time.

One thing that has me a bit worried is that I just realized that the week we are there is fall fashion week! yikes! Will this make the hotel prices sky high??

I would like to stay under $300 a night. I am still having sticker shock on the room prices! I would like a newer feel to the hotel, a good bed ( I have a bad back), a working air conditioner, a refrig in the room would be nice, too. One place I am looking at is the Sofitel and another is the Shoreham (AOL recently had a bargain rate on this one). Any thoughts on these or other hotels? I am realy open to any suggestions.

Also....how does one get the best price for rooms? I have compared Orbitz and Hotel.com....this is part of my confusion. Is it better to call the hotels and bargain with them?

thanks for any help!! liz

Need help with Hotel for September

HI, LIZ

Availability for those dates, especially for rooms with 2 beds, is already limited %26amp; prices are are running high ($400+ for the Hampton Inn!!).

The best (in terms of location + quality of accommodations + price) I%26#39;m seeing for you on quikbook.com is a 1-bedroom suite at the Best Western Hospitality House (145 E. 49th Street) for $275/night or at the Kimberly (145 E. 50th) for $335/night.

The Best Western is sold out via its own web site, so no need to bother haggling with them personally and a nightly rate of $275 is quite good anyway. The drawback with booking this through quikbook is that this reservation can only be secured by paying in full now.

The Kimberly is a nicer property than the BW -- AND you can reserve now with Quikbook without paying in full. That would be my recommendation, if you can swallow the $335 rate; indeed, I%26#39;d book it today. This cancellable reservation would give you the security of knowing you have a nice place to stay, but can also take advantage of any better deals which might come up between now %26amp; September

TravelZoo is an excellent ';clearing house'; for closer-in-time deals:

http://hotels.travelzoo.com/new-york-hotels/

Need help with Hotel for September

There are a lot of hotels with what they call a ';double double';. I%26#39;m thinking of a hotel, but it is not midtown but in Greenwich Village. It is the Washington square hotel. Be careful because they have rooms that have not been renovated. Some rooms have been and if my memory serves me right they have a room with two double beds. Breakfast is included in the price and it will be under 300$, I%26#39;m pretty sure. You are next door to the M6 bus which will take you midtown in 10-15 minutes, depending on the traffic.

You should check the Affinia hotels, but they will be a little bit more expensive.

You should look at the hotels from the HK chain (Casablanca, Giraffe, 脡lysee and Library hotel). Breakfast is included. You have coffee, bottled water and cookies all day long. Complementary wine and cheese from 5 to 8. I stayed at the Giraffe and loved it. The other three hotels are either midtown or times square. The rooms are beautiful and the staff is super nice. You will feel like queens!!

Gosh, it%26#39;s heartbreaking to see prices at least $100 over what they should be normally. You%26#39;ve gotten good advice so far. I agree with cocklecove that one scenario would be to book the cancellable Kimberly for $335 if you can handle that should nothing else come along.

I searched on kayak.com, a website that searches lots of other websites and saw the Metro for $310/night. It%26#39;s not my favorite location, but would be very convenient for you and the hotel gets good reviews here and has the amenities you want.

The Crowne Plaza UN while not my favorite hotel in that area is very well priced for those dates at $240 for 2 double beds and slightly more for a king if you wanted to switch. That%26#39;s on their own website (or a link from kayak.com).

The other idea to consider is an apartment or apt. type space in an inn, if you don%26#39;t mind giving up daily maid service. 1871 House might be a nice place for you to stay with your daughter. 1871house.com

They have a 2 bedroom suite (a queen bed and a single bed) for your entire stay or other options for the shorter stay.

There are plenty of apt. rentals but it will be harder to find 2 separate beds in an apt. unless it%26#39;s a 2 bedroom apt.

I%26#39;m stunned at the prices! I%26#39;ve got no advice here, Whiz is the real hotel expert. I%26#39;ll just comment that I hope you%26#39;ve got your accommodations sorted out for the New England portion of your trip. Many B%26amp;Bs and inns book up a year in advance for foliage tours.