Hey, it’s summer in the city and I don’t know what that means for you, but for me it means that friends, acquaintances and long lost relatives have started thinking that NYC would be a good place to visit in the next month or two (perhaps they haven’t been checking the humidex though). If you’re like most New Yorkers, you probably aren’t blessed with an overabundance of living space, but you don’t want to banish your best friend from college or your Great Aunt Gertie to one those “expensive” hotels in the city. Well, walking through Costco the other day, I think I managed to find a Manhattan hotel deal that even the most frugal traveller couldn’t pass up.
When searching for a room in Manhattan, one should generally be aware of two things, New York City hotels tend to be: a) expensive and b) small. For the most part, I tell people to stay at the Grand Hyatt New York for $165/night (including taxes). If you know anything about hotels in New York, then you know that’s a great deal for a nice hotel in a prime location. There is a bit of a “catch” though, in order to get this special rate, you need use a ” Hyatt Premier Stay Certficate” when making your reservation. Using a “Stay Certificate” requires a bit of preparation and it’s a bit of a commitment, but it’s not completely non-refundable as I believe a certificate can be reused at a later date if you decide to cancel. But wait, you said less than $165/night, how does one score that deal? Well, after walking through Costco the other day I noticed they had $100.00 Hyatt Hotel gift cards on the wall for $79.99. Though I didn’t think the GC was such a fantastic bargain by itself, it occurred to me to that if you bought one of those and combined with a Hyatt Stay Certificate you’d be able pick up an additional $20 in savings (per $100) on your already steeply discounted room. So, if you do the math, for two nights at $330, you’d only pay $270 (3 $100 gift cards + $30) or $135 per night, not too shabby indeed!
You can call Hyatt Hotels toll free at 1-800-555-9655 to inquire about Stay Certificate room availability.
PS In addition to what I’ve written above, I also always tell people to check the Flyertalk.com forums under “New York Hotels”, Tripadvisor.com and/or Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity.
PPS I realize that there is potential to have an amount left over on your gift card, thereby possibly negating some of your “savings”. When buying your gift cards, just make sure you buy less than or equal to the amount of your actual room bill and you should be OK.