Although I am taking off for Russia next month, I've also now booked two trips to NYC, one in September and one in December, and a one week trip to Sonoma County California in November.
With my Russia trip plans in order (well, there is the Visa issue to contend with), I have turned my sights to booking accommodations for the rest of my trips this year. Some may think it's a bit too early to book for the fall, but for the travel planner I am, it's not. Well, at least in my mind it's not too early!
For the December NYC trip I turned to my Intercontinental connection and got a Friends & Family rate at the new-ish Intercontinental near Times Square in NYC, for a not too bad price of $220 per night.
For the Sonoma County trip in November I turned to a California friend for a hotel recommendation. She whole-heartedly advised Healdsburg is a terrific town to use as a base location in the area and gave me a great lead on the Healdsburg Inn. When I contacted the inn directly, they couldn't have been nicer and since I'm traveling with my mom, I was able to secure the senior citizen discount for our 6 night stay. So for about $275 per night we will be staying right in the heart of Healdsburg where we can walk to wine tasting rooms and a variety of restaurants without having to deal with who drives after enjoying wine with dinner!
My last hurdle was finding a NYC hotel for the September trip. It's a quick weekend trip and I was looking for 2 nights accommodation. I'm pretty sure at this point at least one Broadway show will be on the agenda that weekend and I wanted to stay somewhere with easy access to mid-town Manhattan and specifically close to Times Square, but not necessarily in Times Square.
I went back to my trusty Friends & Family option with Intercontinental and either the rates for the locations I wanted were no bargain, or the rate was good but the location was farther than where I wanted to be. So, I started trolling the websites Hotwire, Room Key and TravelZoo for any great deals that might pop up.
For about a week I was not having much luck, rates were not super astronomical by NYC standards, but in the back of my mind I knew something better would pop-up. Then it did, a TravelZoo deal for the Paramount Hotel on West 46th street. I could book the first night for $220 and the second night for $189 and free wi-fi was thrown into the deal. So I booked it, knowing if I found something even better that the cancellation policy allowed me to cancel without a penalty.
The Paramount deal was good, but after reading some of the comments on Trip Advisor I started having misgivings. It's an older property which can mean "wonky" issues with rooms (size, lighting, bathroom issues).
Zoom forward one week from when I booked the Paramount deal and I receive a new TravelZoo email deal for the Millennium Broadway Hotel, a hotel I've stayed at before, which is significantly more modern than The Paramount, and I liked (alot!). And the Millennium Hotel deal was even better! I quickly booked the two nights I needed for $189 per night. A slight savings over The Paramount Hotel deal. With the new hotel booked I cancelled The Paramount reservation and now I am set for an autumn full of fun and travel adventures!
Now I can start looking for restaurants, sites and activities to occupy my time in these terrific destinations!
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