Does anyone have any recommendations for a cheap hotel in New York City? Myself and OH are meeting a friend and his 9-year old daughter for 4 nights at the end of June in the big apple and would love some advice on where to stay or websites for good deals.

Cheers.

I love the Chelsea. People complain that it's unsanitary but that's what I to NYC for.

Hi there

Hotel Belleclaire is fantastic and on 77th Street at Broadway with a 24 hour diner across the street. If you take the shared bathroom option this brings the price down but go on the website and see the pictures for yourself. You won't be disappointed. Duvet covers instead of sheets and very reasonable.

www.hotelbelleclaire.com

teL 212.362.7700

Have a fab time and give New York my love x

I had a great stay at the Astor On The Park Hotel. It may be a little far out for some people (133rd St @ Central Park W) but for me it was great, right across the street from Central Park.
It's what you expect from a 2*, nothing fancy, but the room was a pleasant surprise to me.
Wish I was going!

If you really want a cheap and authentic New Amsterdam experience, why not try:

(1) The Aladdin, 317 West 45th Street?
(2) Hotel Carter on West 43rd Street?

Both contain roaches, near-death junkies, dead bodies and fresh linens.

Hi Pink ... I used to live just outside NYC and we used this website a lot for info on heaps of things .... have a great time! J

let us know how you get on, looking to go in jan for wifes 40th cheers.

Thanks everyone for the replies - it is much appreciated.

The Belle Claire looks amazing, but unfortunately fully booked for two of the nights we need.

I think i may just avoid those with the cockroaches and dead bodies!

Having a plough through the other sites just now - thanks for that.

Will let you know how I get on.

Thanks again, and keep the suggestions coming!

The Milford Plaza is great! it's right by Broadway and just around the corner from Times Square. We found it to be really clean and the staff were very helpful!

LiffyB

We have stayed at the Skyline Hotel a couple of times. It is pretty central for most things and has a pool which was great for the kids after a long day sightseeing. Don't remember what is cost but if we stayed there it must have been pretty cheap!

Hi

I've stayed here several times - excellent value, lovely rooms, very friendly staff (not always the case in NY!), good central location and scrummy, complimentary buffet breakfast...if you search on expedia, they often do stay three nights and get one night free offers. Enjoy!

Helmsley Middletowne Hotel

148 E 48th St
New York, NY 10017
USA

:curse:We just got back from a long weekend in New York. We stayed at the Empire Hotel (44 W 63rd Street), which would normally be way out of our price range but saw that they had a 50% off weekend through Expedia. Gorgeous hotel, rooms were clean - traffic noise was pretty awful, even on the 7th floor. Take earplugs!

Word of warning though - be prepared that you could be in for a long wait at airports, and security is TIGHT.

We were scheduled to fly on Friday morning, arriving at noon, returning Sunday early evening. Due to a ton of flight cancellations we finally got to the hotel at around 8pm on Friday night. Apparently there had been some rain earlier in the day that caused some delays, and with 3 airports in such close proximity they then have to fight for airspace for the rest of the day, leading to long delays.

Sunday we got to the airport and went on standby for an earlier flight which we didn't get, so had to exit security, go to a different gate, then go through security again. OH was flagged for secondary security checking in EVERY airport, and the woman checking passports and boarding passes prior to security (who could barely speak English) decided that she wasn't going to let me through because my passport was issued in my maiden name and my ticket was in my married name. I sent my passport off when we got married and was told they don't issue new ones for name changes, they put a certified change of information thing in it (which I had). I showed it to the woman and she still refused and told me to go back and get a ticket reissued that matches my identification. Back and forth for about 5 minutes, finally she said she'd let me through security but there was no way I'd be allowed on a plane. No issues at the gate, they asked the normal question about the name change, I pointed the stamp out, I was waived through. Thank goodness I can renew my passport next year, I've had the same problem since 2004!

Anyway...our trip was a bit of a bust, we spent more time awake in airports than we did in NYC and had to cancel half of our plans due to flight problems, but we did happen to be in Times Square when Will Smith showed up to film a scene for his new movie

I can recommend Hotel 31! I stayed there last November from Friday through to Monday.

It's within walking distance of Times Square and the Empire State Building, and there are two subway stations within one street's saunter. It's very clean, the staff were really helpful and the lift is soooo cool. It's one of the sort where you manually pull the gates across, and it really adds character to the place.

It's really reasonably priced and there's the option for shared bathrooms or ensuite. Hubby and I went for shared, but they were always clean and we never had to wait - even in the mornings.

The room was a little cozy, and the view out the window was of an alley way and an air conditioning unit, but really you don't go to NYC to sit in your room the whole time. :P It fitted two of us, our luggage, the bed, the sink and the TV...and really that was all we needed.

I liked W. Didn't like the Waldorf. Thought the Sheraton horribly bland for the location.

Thanks again everybody for your help. Unfortunately, a few of the hotels are fully booked for out dates, but i am comparing the remainder to their score on the tripadvisor site, adding in price and going to come up with a winner that way!

Cov-canuck - what bad luck with your flights etc. Really hope we don't have any problems as the friend we are meeting is a nervous flyer anyway - will not cope well with any problems/delays!

Final piece of advice needed - any suggestions for places to eat. We will have a 9 year old girl with us, so nothing too upmarket. Read something about a pizza place on Bleeker, with an ice-cream place nearby?