hotels/ hostels close to penn station, new york city

Thanks, polly1064!

To get the discussion rolling here--and you've noticed that it indeed does do just that--Hotwire.com has a 2-star hotel in its 'downtown-SoHo' zone for $142 plus tax for the 10-14 May. The normal retail rate for this room is $224.

The 'downtown-SoHo' zone zone includes Greenwich Village and everything south of it, including Wall Street, Chinatown, Tribeca, etc., with the exception of the eastern portion of this area, which some consider to be unsafe. Typical 2-star hotels used by Hotwire are Comfort Inn, La Quinta, and Days Inn.

Of course, the cheapest rate available on Hotwire could change by the time you read this.

Manhattan has several Y hotels. Probably the one with the best reputation for reasonably normal guests (a young international coed crowd) is the Vanderbilt YMCA, near the United Nations and within walking distance of the Broadway theatre district, but if you consider staying there, you might wish to open a new tread on this forum asking about people's recent experiences.

I haven't stayed at any of the current hostels in NYC, but I generally like the ones affiliated with Hostelling International in the States. The one they have in New York is the largest in the country, but it's isolated from most tourist attractions in the very upper Upper West Side (Amsterdam Avenue at 103rd). 'Better than Newark' some will say here! It's near the subway, however, and tour buses stop at the door. Again, ask in this forum, if you are considering this.

Best wishes.

For your dates, expedia has about 10 options - all under budget. They include the Chelsa Star, Latham, Riverside Studios, Alexander, Belnord, Hotel 17 and Americana.

priceline.com and biddingfortravel.com for advice first will beat the heck out of any other hotel booking method. Staying outside of Manhattan doesn't mean staying in Newark. Any of the boroughs will do as will the area in NJ right across the river. And most are accesible from PATH or subway and get you into town quickly.

Ed

Hotel Pennsylvania just over the street from Penn Station. It should be available for around 150USD. Some say that it is awful but I found it OK.

I found the Hotel Pennsylvania OK also. Many posters here have not.