A Place to Rest Your Head
Coming from out of town to attend WordCamp NYC but appalled by the price of New York hotels? We can’t lie to to you, NYC is expensive. Like really expensive. (Related: still looking for sponsors — good karma!)
For those of you that need to rent a place to lay your head, we’re happy to announce that the Gershwin Hotel has extended us a 15% discount off their regular rate for the superior queen room. The Gershwin is a very cool, artsy, historic hotel in the neighborhood of the venue (walking distance), and the discount drops the rate to $210 per night (I know, I know, but that’s cheap for NYC!). If you would like to take advantage of the discount, simply use the coupon code “CAMP” when you make your reservation. NOTE: You must reserve by phone: 212-545-8000. Online reservations will not incorporate the discount. They have a couple dozen rooms available right now, so I’d suggest acting fast if you want to grab one of them.
If that’s still too rich for your blood, I’d like to suggest something most people don’t think of when they think of NYC hotels: hostels. There are a lot of great, really really cheap hostels in the city, and you can lay your head somewhere for significantly less cash. I just did a search for hostel rooms in NYC from Nov 13-16 and found dozens of hostels with availability, and rates as low as $20 per night for shared dorms and $40 per night for private rooms. When choosing a hostel, try to get something near the subway… the venue is closest to the 4-5-6 line, but is easily walkable from Union Square, where most lines stop.
I know there are also people for whom even $20/night is too much since they’re already paying for travel, and would be happy just borrowing a couch. We can’t really do much for those people without entering a liability nightmare, but as savvy bloggers who recognize the connection-building power of blog comments, you can figure out how to connect with each other. Oh look, comments for this post are open!
Just to let everyone know, the coupon code will not work on their website. You must call to get the discount on your reservation. Apparently the coupon code also doesn’t mean anything to the person I talked to and I had to let them know this was for WordCamp NYC.
@Matt: Weird! Other people have used the CAMP code with no trouble. I sent an email to the group discount person at the hotel and asked her to make sure all the staff were aware of the code. I also asked about the online reservation issue, will update this comment when I get a reply.
If you’re ok with staying a little closer (well, in) midtown, I’ve stayed in The Americana Inn ( http://www.theamericanainn.com ). The have rooms from $115 a night. The rooms are very small and the bathroom is down the hall, but then, you won’t be spending much time in your room anyway, will you? If you need cheap, they’re the way to go. (Unless you want to spend the night in a hostel for about $30-40 a night. I’ve done that too, and the experience isn’t bad for the price.)
Jane, any thoughts on putting together a spot for those who would be willing to host out-of-towners on their couches?
@Andrew: Bear in mind that many of the hostels have private rooms as well, including some with private bathrooms. If people want to use the comments on this post to connect with each other, that’s fine, but as for setting up an official roommate matching service, I think that would be outside the scope of what we can really do, mainly for liability reasons. Maybe a forum over on WPTavern or something?
Don’t forget the fine folks at The Roger Smith Hotel – “New York’s Social Media Hotel”
http://rogersmithlife.com
http://www.rogersmith.com
Please @ us on Twitter for special rates !!!!
If you’re driving to NYC and need a place to rest Saturday night, don’t forget to look just outside the city. There are plenty of hotels around Newark airport for under $100/night such as the Hilton Newark Airport for about $70. It’s about a 20-25 min drive from Baruch College but is an amazing hotel room for the rate. Here’s a quick search at Hotels.com to get you started http://bit.ly/2mX1nm
I suggest using http://www.hoteldiscount.com. I’ve gotten good deals with their site in other cities
better than priceline because you can see exactly Where and what you are getting.
Just wanted to throw this out there – I live in the Lower East Side and when friends visit, I usually tell them to check Craigslist for apartments which rent by the day. They usually end up paying about $150/day for a nice 2-bedroom place with a full kitchen. The subway ride to Baruch is pretty easy too.
A couple of related questions:
Does anyone know the parking situation near Baruch College and what you can expect to pay in NYC for parking? I’m considering as an option the recommendation above to stay overnight in Newark
Does anyone know the approximate hours of the camp on Saturday and Sunday, specifically start and end time. Another option I’m considering is taking the train or bus to NYC from Philadelphia and would want to see if that is practical without missing any sessions.
Hi Ilene,
Hours for WordCamp will be approx 9am-6pm Saturday and Sunday. Registration will start an hour before.
Steve
Ilene: The Acela will get you there in plenty of time from Philadelphia, I’ve taken it many times myself early in the morning. If you decide to stay in Newark, you can also hop on the PATH train into the city rather than driving.
@Ilene, If you end up going with the bus option (much cheaper and it still lets you off @ penn station) MegaBus, BoltBus, etc all run 24/7. I’d plan on arriving the night before, though, so your’e not arriving in the middle of the night or early Saturday morning and worrying about the bus being late. Of course you’d have to worry about that with the train, too.