We'll Take Manhattan -- for Less Than $200 a Night

2 BEST WESTERN SEAPORT INN DOWNTOWN

33 Peck Slip at Front Street

Price we found: $195 (Quikbook)

Details: An unobtrusive Best Western shingle hanging above the doorway is the only indication that this 72-room, seven-floor property is part of a limited-service chain. The rooms are quite large, the atmosphere quiet and reserved; chocolate chip cookies and breakfast are complimentary. Paintings showing Old New York hang on textured wallpaper, and the lobby sports a decommissioned old-fashioned telephone switchboard. It's in South Street Seaport, a 12-square-block historic district in Lower Manhattan with shops, cobblestone streets and a TKTS ticket booth (just as at Times Square, you can purchase discount theater and performance tickets). Ship buffs should head to the South Street Seaport Museum (purportedly home to the nation's largest fleet of privately maintained historic vessels) and board the four-masted barque Peking or the Ambrose lightship. At night, the area is quiet (the desk can help with taxis; the closest subway is a good eight to 10-minute walk away), though there is a restaurant on the same block.

Info: 212-766-6600, http://www.seaportinn.com .

3 CROWNE PLAZA AT THE UNITED NATIONS

304 E. 42nd St. at Second Avenue

Price we found: $194 (SideStep)

Details: This 20-floor hotel offers beautiful white linens, tasteful window treatments (some framing sliver views of the East River, two blocks away), generous bathrooms, the occasional framed poster featuring cancan girls and a trouser press. The lobby is filled with folks in suits looking awfully intent (earpieces seem a popular accessory, perhaps security for those here on U.N. business), though we saw not one but two men with lip piercings and dreads check in, and two other travelers who made themselves quite at home in one of the lounges, with luggage but sans shoes. There are 300 rooms and suites, a bar, bistro and lounge on-site, and the fitness center has free weights, machines and saunas. Across the street is the peaceful indoor garden at the Ford Foundation; it's also near Tudor City, an exclusive, elevated residential enclave that boasts some marvelous architecture, a few small parks and a pleasant descent to the U.N. complex.

Info: 877-227-6963, http://www.unitednationsarea.crowneplaza.com .