Are they really that expensive?

I am attending a conference there next month. The venue is W Union Square (on Park Avenue), which is an hotel. Unusually, the organisers have not block-booked rooms in the hotel at a delegate rate. They have got a deal with a local Hampton Inn, at US$350/night. That seems expensive, particularly for a Hampton Inn (I've stayed in those places before).

I'm guessing that some of you have experience of NYC. I've never been there.

Am I just being naive on hotel prices in Manhattan?

I remember Ben saying that Hotels in New York were about 3 times more expensive than anything he'd ever stayed in for about half the space.

I seem to recall him mentioning one particular hotel where he reckoned he could have easily reached the toilet without getting out of bed.

He never told me if he tried!

I had a feeling I was going to get a response like that (the cost bit, not the unpalatable bit).

It just struck me that I missed a trick. My missus works for the government, which gets some extremely preferential rates at many hotels, including some in NYC. She's on the case as of now. It's in her interests to do so. She wants to come with me.

I stayed at that W. It's nice.

Beware the taxes on hotel rooms in NYC, they're almost as bad as the taxes on tickets out of YYZ.

I would hope it to be nice. It's horribly expensive.

We stayed at The Hotel @ Times Square at 59 West 46th Street. It was about $150 per night and included a decent breakfast.

Edit: I just checked their website and it seems we were lucky with the nights we stayed. There seems to be quite a variation depending on which night of the week you are staying, but might be worth taking a look.

Shouldn't your wife be on Government business before taking advantage of such a perk, lol.

Such things can be fudged. It would not be massively difficult for us to link what she does for a living with what I do for a living.

Shades of suspended Senators.

Not really. We wouldn't be using public money. It would be our money, or that of my company. What's the difference between that or using an airline promo code?

Oh good grief. BE's professional miseryguts weighs in again.

None whatsoever.

I always try to negotiate a good corporate rate with hotels when I am sending people from work, if I think I might fancy going there myself in the future. That's normal isn't it?

NY hotels vary in price between weekday and weekend. Weekdays are considerably more expensive. Most of them I stayed in you were looking around $300 a night.
* New Yorker (the infamously small room incident)
* Flatotel
* Marriot Marquis
* Sheraton
* Pensylvania

We usually stayed at the Flatotel which gave you more room for the money but at the expense of lightswitches you had to get out of bed for and those nasty shin shredders at the bottom of the bed. Not a great combination, but you got used to wearing shin guards.

I know it might be a bit controversial to suggest this....but there is a US forum here....with plenty of folks in that neck of the woods that could help out with suggestions....

For a budget euro type hotel try the Larchmont on west 11th in the village.