New York

[Batch]

New York was one of those places I never wanted to go. But we stopped off for a few days there on the way to Toronto a few years ago and I loved it.

If its just you and the Mrs, and you are on a budget and have the nerve something like http://www.hotwire.com can (usually but not always) save you money on hotels. I guess you'd need the cash up front though, but I'll describe it for future reference anyway.

What it is is you state your destination and checkin/leaving date and it returns a number of hotels, star rating and their facilities. BUT they don't tell you the hotel name. So its a gamble of sorts.

However sites like http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showforum=254& give help tracking down which hotel is which. Research, research, research. See what the travel agent price/direct price would be. Once the hotel is booked and paid for you are committed and the hotel name is revealed. No money back. So make sure you put the right dates in and have a bloody good idea that its a good deal/hotel. I would assume the cheaper prices are had a bit closer to departure, who knows.

Sounds a lot of faffing but can be rewarding.

[Dazzza]

There is a sales on with BA at the moment.  

I find expedia is pretty good for packages but the hotels are the real expense.  Best bet is cost it all up off a number of sights for a package with and without a hotel.  Then try contacting the hotels you like the look of seperately for a deal.

If you have time to spare and know your location use Priceline:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-priceline-hotel-deals

You select the area you want to stay, the hotel rating and effectively make an offer for a room.  The upside is ther are some real bargains the downside is you don't know the hotels name although if you scour the forums in the link above you can get a good idea of what hotels are on offer.

[Dazzza]

Oh and if you're on a bit of a budget but want something reasonable try the Washington Square Hotel in Greenwich Village.  Nice medium sized hotel, friendly staff and a decent loacation away from the noise and traffic.

http://www.washingtonsquarehotel.com/

[RobertT]

I'm in the process of pricing up an August trip myself.  Virgin are also doing a flight sale right now, so you can get the last week in August for around £350, which is pretty good for that carrier (paying more this time to avoid the "delights" of using a US carrier).

The Affinia Manhattan is offering pretty good discounts right now through most booking sites - around £90 per room per night for a 3.5 star hotel 2 blocks from Macy's/Empire State Building.  If you sign up to a cashback site like quidco.com, you can get up to 10% knocked off by virtue of getting the cashback in 3 months, or you can find discount vouchers from sites like hotels.com which give you 10% off upfront but you risk them checking your booking and disovering you didin't get the e-mail with the offer etc.

I think you can get cheaper flights but the accomodation is very similar on all sites.  It's working out around £990 per adult for a week mid August for us including flight upgrades to Premium Economy.

[iffy]

To follow Batch's point, we booked a place to stay in NY using hotwire.com

They tell you the price, star rating and general location, but not the exact hotel. (Though you can normally work it out using Tripadvisor). You only find out the hotel after you've paid. So it's a gamble, but quite fun.

We ended up staying at the Embassy Suites near the WTC site (we had a proper suite: bedroom, living room, small kitchen) and the Four Seasons in Boston, both for B&B prices.

[donkey]

We stayed at the Best Western Hambee Bowery (just outside/inside Chinatown).  Good location, nice hotel.  The wife is extremely fussy about hotels and liked this one a lot.  Trust me that's good.  Enjoy NY.

[pumbaa]

To follow Batch's point, we booked a place to stay in NY using hotwire.com

They tell you the price, star rating and general location, but not the exact hotel. (Though you can normally work it out using Tripadvisor). You only find out the hotel after you've paid. So it's a gamble, but quite fun.

We ended up staying at the Embassy Suites near the WTC site (we had a proper suite: bedroom, living room, small kitchen) and the Four Seasons in Boston, both for B&B prices.

Embassy Suites are ace. They (normally) have a two hour happy hour from 5 to 7 pm - all booze free.......beer, wine, spirits the lot......

[Luci]

This just came into my inbox in case its any use?

£71 -- New York: All-Suite Hotel near Times Square
http://uk.travelzoo.com/top20/78859868-723603/
Source: Candlewood Suites