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Checking In With NYC's Chain Gang
The $89.99 Room
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At the vanguard is Apple Core, which introduced several limited-service brands to Manhattan; its Super 8 (which opened in 2002), Red Roof Inn (2000) and La Quinta Inn (2002) are currently those chains' only locations on the island.
At the same time, it raised expectations for this class of hotel. All five locations, which have more than a 90 percent occupancy rate, offer rooms with hair dryers, coffeepots, irons, business and fitness centers (albeit hamster-size ones at two hotels), continental breakfasts and Internet access. Four are within one subway stop of the Port Authority bus terminal or Penn Station, the city's public transportation entry points from the south. (The Ramada Inn Eastside is a subway stop from Grand Central train station.)
Tempted by a news release claiming that "If you think an $89 hotel rate in New York City is an urban myth, you've never stayed with Apple Core Hotels," we tried to find that tariff online ( http:/
A few weeks later, we again searched the Web site for a room for one night for two people, at any Apple Core location. Looking from two weeks to three months out, the cheapest we found was an August weeknight at the La Quinta for $139.99 (before tax); the most expensive was a weeknight at the Comfort Inn, for $219.99. Then we tried an earlier date, and came closest with a weeknight just six days away at the Ramada for $99.99.
We asked Apple Core to find us a room using the same criteria. According to Dandapani, rates can change hourly. "I wish I could say there was a particular algorithm" to the process, he said. "It depends on availability and the season -- book in January and you will get it." The same day we were searching, he said, Apple Core booked 30 rooms at the Super 8 and 20 at the La Quinta for $89.99, albeit for a variety of different dates. Frontera, the Upstate New Yorker, got his online that day.
"Usually it's through calling in that you get a better rate," said Kara Schnabel, account supervisor at Apple Core Hotels' public relations firm. "$89, you can't find that all the time." Future news releases, according to Schnabel, will list a $99 starting rate.
Rates for these and other limited-service hotels do vary widely. As with any chain, while calling directly won't always result in a cheaper fare -- we were given a phone quote that matched the Internet price when booking the Super 8 -- there may be rooms available at locations that, according to the Web site, are completely booked. And don't forget to ask about AAA discounts, government rates and current promotions.
Times Square Test
The quality of hotels in the low-frills realm can vary dramatically from one location to the next. In other words, not all HoJos, Best Westerns and Super 8s are created equal.
With that in mind, we visited limited-service chain hotels within a seven-block radius of the TKTS booth at 47th Street and Seventh Avenue, in the heart of Times Square. We examined lobbies and inspected rooms, weeding out the not-so-hot properties in favor of hotels we'd feel comfortable staying in. (See above chart for our low-frills picks.)
Among others, we checked out the Best Western President (234 W. 48th St.), recently listed for $142 on hotel booking site Quikbook.com; we'd happily stay at this 360-room offering. Then there was the sawdust-filled-yet-somehow-still-occupied Howard Johnson Plaza (851 Eighth Ave., with doubles from $149 on Hojo.com). It's midway through its transformation into a Hampton Inn, and we'd hold off before booking. Though its Web site had noted that renovations were ongoing, we weren't prepared for the musty smell or the hard hats in the lobby.
Our room at the Super 8 (59 W. 46th St., $179.99 plus tax) was spotless and comfortable, if snug. When you're staying on the 12th floor of a hotel with a small elevator -- a reminder that this 206-room hotel is on the island of Manhattan and not a roadside split-level -- you get to know your fellow guests very well. On the multiple rides up and down, we shared the skinny space with two European backpackers, a father and his two kids, and an older Korean couple.
For a full hotel with narrow hallways, we were surprised not to hear more commotion during the night. After oatmeal and cappuccino the next morning, we shared the elevator with a ponytailed woman and her young daughter who were breaking the hotel's cardinal rule ("Help keep your hotel #1 for hygiene. Please do not take breakfast items to your room"). For the record, our room was shipshape.
For more information on the hotel chains mentioned in this story: Apple Core Hotels (800-567-7720,http:/
