h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I need to find out who will be needing a hotel room in NYC for the meet. We're looking at November 10th or December 15th for the meeting. This will also be a good place for anyone wanting to "share" to meet up.

The rate I can get will depend on the final date chosen, the number of rooms needed, and the availability at the time I do it. I'm looking at the Washington Jefferson Hotel and the Southgate Hotel (part of Manhattan East Suites). Rates will hopefully be about $150.00 per night (will work for less) plus taxes.

Depending on what I can negotiate, a portion of the hotel rate may be donated to the September 11th Fund. To do this, I need to know how many hotel rooms are needed and the date that works for all/most.

As of now, I won't need a room. I'll just take the train from Long Island.

I would need a room but am up for sharing with someone to keep price down a little

How long would the meet go? If it's just the weekend, I can do fine without a room (provided I have something other than wandering the streets with which to occupy my evening time, that is!).

I don't think there's any length of time for this. We'll probably just meet for a day/evening but anyone wanting to stay over and do more while in the city can do so. I am looking at some things to do/see for those coming in and making a mini-vacation of it. Things like street fairs or the like... plus since I live in the city I can meet up with any staying over again the following day..

I guess I'm there as long as the other Boston peeps are.

Here is a list of hotels that I think would be worth looking into:

This is an interesting property. I have yet to inspect it though:
Washington-Jefferson Hotel, 318 West 51st St. wjhotel.com

These properties are all really nice (I've seen most of them) and IMHO offer the best value as they offer a suite for the price of a room. If 4 are bunking get a 1 bedroom suite w/ a sofa bed for the best per person price:
Manhattan East Suites (several properties) mesuite.com

This is the cheapest. I haven't inspected the property so I can't swear to it. Also their lowest price rooms may not have a private bathroom :
Thirty Thirty (30 E 30th St I think) thirtythirty-nyc.com

Since we don't have enough rooms to negotiate any deals the price you see is what you're going to get I'm afraid. For those staying at hotels, I'll make a point of meeting you at the hotel to go with you to Veselka's, where we're meeting.

Batty:

My sister often stays in Comfort Inn
when she's in N.Y. Do you have an opinion
on that. There's one at 42 W. 35th St,
with a room for up to 4 people for $174.

Would this present any problems?

I can't think it would present problems. I think you can possibly do better for that amount. IMHO anyway.

Manhattan East Suites (mesuite.com) offers similar rates except they have suites instead of just rooms, which will give you more room for a crowd of people. Also the Washington Jefferson (wjhotel.com) is a little nicer property for that price. It is in the same basic area as the Comfort Inn.

Wherever you want to stay in Manhattan it won't be too difficult to get around. And as promised I'll meet everyone at the hotel before the meeting so we'll all go there together.

Hi, Batty.

This is embarrassing. I asked my sister yesterday,
and she had never stayed in the Comfort Inn.
She prefers one of the hotels that you
recommended.

Thanks for all the help.

Oof. Bad news. I'm not so sure that I'll be able to go to the meet-up anymore. =/ Thing is, BU doesn't allow students to stay in campus housing over Thanksgiving, so they can let all the workers have their vacations, or something like that. This interferes with my ability to attend the meet-up because I'll have to rent a room in Boston for four days, so I don't know if I'll have cash for the meet-up. I'll see what kind of arrangements I can make. Maybe I can still come, but it's looking doubtful.

Hi, Furtim:

What I will probably do is reserve a room, and then
figure out who else will be coming. I'll check with
Courtney first, and see where she is at in this process.

Paul,

Let me know where you're planning on staying. If you're looking at Manhattan East Suites then the Benjamin is their nicest property. But I've also inspected the Shelburne and East Gate (and at least one other I'm forgetting). All of the above are nice.

The Washington-Jefferson was recently renovated, so it should be nice. I have yet to inspect it personally as none of the passenger ships are porting in NYC for the rest of the year. From what their person showed me it is quite nice though. If you choose it I can run and inspect it if needed (I probably need to do it anyway).

Hi, Batty:

I just reserved a room at the
Washington-Jefferson Hotel--their
special $109 room. Some of the
Manhattan-East hotels had available rooms,
but the cheapest was $254. This would
be tolerable if there were other
researchers to share the cost, but
as far as I know, I will be the only
one coming from Boston.

I have not reserved my Greyhound Bus
ticket yet. Wish me luck getting from
the PT Authority to the Washington-
Jefferson.

Paul (and any others attending the meet),

E-mail me at [email protected] so we can get our feces assembled on meeting and all that jazz. I'll give you my cell phone number so you can call when you get in.

I just email that to myself at home (I'm at work now). I'll send you my cell phone number also.

Anyone attending the meet please register with the discussion list I've set up on Yahoo Groups at groups.yahoo.com/group/h2g2NYC or email [email protected] to register. It's an open group so your subscription is automatically approved.

This is so everyone attending can finalize with those local suc... ermmm... researchers who are meeting attendees at GCT, Penn or local hotels.