5 Places to Stay in New York City on a Budget

Hotel rooms can be fairly pricey no matter where you are, and the ones in NYC can go from anywhere to around $600 to around $1,200 per night. That being said, many a Kardashian affair has taken place in The Mercer Hotel in SoHo, which goes for over $600 a night. Let’s leave those high priced options to the parade of celebrities living in or visiting The Big Apple, shall we? For the rest of us looking for a bargain, here are 5 places to stay in New York City on a budget. 

1. The Holiday Inn (Book by Travel Website)

There are reasonable hotels in NYC to be found if you know the right way to go about finding them. And, one way to go about reserving an inexpensive hotel is by using travel websites such as booking.com, kayak.com and expedia.com. These sites allow you to narrow down price and location preferences, and you can usually filter by budget, too.

A search on booking.com at the end of March shows that you can book a room at the Holiday Inn with plenty of amenities for a steal. Once the room is booked online, the example shows you can get a room at the Manhattan Holiday Inn on West 26th Street, Chelsea, at a price starting at around $79. Cheaper still, is the Holiday Inn at Hell’s Kitchen that starts at around $59. As you can see, the Hell’s Kitchen Holiday Inn is around 1 mile from center. It is also right next to the subway access point – and that’s not too shabby. 

2. The Holiday Inn (Book through their Website)

You can bypass the travel websites and simply book a reservation on the hotel’s website to get budget-friendly hotel options. In the example below, we just Googled “Holiday Inn NYC” (of course, other hotels can be searched this way). You can see from the results that the rates are about the same on the Holiday Inn’s website as they are on the travel sites. You can call them about coupon codes to apply while you are booking online, too. What you don’t want to do is show up in the hotel lobby with your bags and book a room onsite. By then, they know you really need a room, so you can sort of lose your advantage to bargain. 

3. A Luxury Hotel (Use Virtual Coupons)

If you are savvy at using virtual coupons, you know that you can use them to get some excellent savings on anything from food and retail products to travel and services. Groupon is one of the more well-known companies that offer virtual coupons, and you can use them to get up to 70% off a variety of things, including hotels.  Much like going through a physical coupon book, you can scour their website for NYC hotels to see what they offer. We did it and look at all the swanky hotels they list, including Citadines Connect 5th Avenue for $66/night. That’s over half off! 

4. The Westside YMCA or a Hostel (Use Eurocheapo)

Eli Roth hasn’t given hostels the best reputation in his popular Hostel horror movie franchise. That’s fiction, however. In reality hostels really epitomize the best of New York City on a budget, while still providing a fun and cheap stay. Hostels are additionally a popular choice among college students who live on campus and have been primed for the dorm-like hostel experience already. They are usually best for social people, too, since you often share a room and amenities with other guests. One of the greatest things about hosteling, though, is that you get to meet people from all over the world. This adds an element of excitement that would be hard to achieve if you’re holed up alone in a hotel room outisde NYC. Besides the usual travel sites, eurocheapo.com can help you find cheap hostels in New York City.

5. Find a Host in NYC (Use CouchSurfing)

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of finding where to stay in New York City, you can create a profile and use couchsurfing.com to find a host who will let you sleep on their couch. The website pairs you with NYC locals and lets you meet travelers. It’s an excellent way to travel on the cheap, especially if you are doing it alone. After the stay, both the host and the traveler can write a review on the site so future travelers can plan their stay. And, as an added bonus, the host can give guests tips on what to do and where to go in the Big Apple.

Book a NYC Jet Ski Tour

There are plenty of ways you can score places to stay in NYC when you are on a budget besides what we’ve listed here. For instance, you can join a loyalty program, use a temporary rental or stay at a bed & breakfast. Just get creative, and you are bound to save some money that can go toward having some good times instead. Speaking of good times, if you are interested in finding out about Manhattan Jet Ski Tours & Rentals during your stay, you can contact Sea the City at 201-335-2732. Alternatively, you can fill out our online form, and we can quickly contact you back.