Priceline Hotel: 1st time NYC, advise on location and safety.

[tonikeys]

I live in the UK, it'll be my 1st time in NYC. I'm a serious amature photographer and I'll be travelling alone and capturing images of Manhattan, Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge etc.

My budget is approx $100inc per night.

I don't mind staying out of town, as long as the transport links are good.

Here is my requirements/wish-list.

Am going on my own, no wife, no kids.

Stay duration, 7 days in oct/nov.

Within 30mins of Times Square and/or Brooklyn Bridge.

A lot of my shooting will be in the evening, so hotel and transport links must be safe at night as well as in the day. My understanding is that some areas are fine during the day, but no-go areas at night for tourists. (is this true, or garbage spouted by people who watch too many movies?)

Hotel must be within walking distance of eating places, no "fine dining", just fast food, cafes, deli, pizza, hotdog, steak house etc. This is very important, I love my food. It would be great if I could stay somewhere within walking distance of several cheap eating places.

Place doesn't have to be fancy, 2star is fine as long as it's clean/safe.

I'll be carrying a couple of thousand dollars worth of camera equipment around with me, although, when not being used (travelling etc) it will be kept in an inconspicuous camera bag that looks like a backpack. Still, the though of using public transport at midnight carrying this stuff makes me very nervous. Should I be?

I'm sure I've got another 100 questions floating around my head, but I'll start off light. :)

Any help/advise you guys could give would be a great help.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Stay duration, 7 days in oct/nov.

Generally speaking your budget is probably going to be a bit light for this time of year, but did you have specific dates in mind?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[tonikeys]

I've seen places for approx $70 per night, but with pretty terrible reviews. I'm totally flexible on the dates, any 7 days in Oct/Nov is fine.

[thereuare]

I've seen places for approx $70 per night, but with pretty terrible reviews.

Sometimes there is a correlation between quality and price. :)

It is very rare that we see wins at under $100/nite this time of year, and when we do, it is less common that it is for a full one week stay. to continue the price discussion, to come at $100 all-in you'd need to be closer to $85/nite, which makes things even more difficult.

As well, as you get into the lower rated hotels they will often tend to be in more outlying areas of the zone which would likely involve a further walk to/from the subway, which is something which doesn't sound very favorable given the expensive camera equipment you'll be carrying.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.