Big Apple Hoteliers Accommodating Budget Watchers

<B> Big Apple Hoteliers Accommodating Budget Watchers</B>

By Robert Selwitz

Facing scant chances that New York City hotel rates will shrink significantly any time soon, seekers of moderate-price lodgings face a truly challenging task. Fortunately, however, challenging does not mean impossible. Indeed, for those wanting to sleep comfortably and safely and still spend less than $200 per night, there are a surprisingly large number of Manhattan choices.

Among the hoteliers with such lodging options is Empire Hotel Group, with seven AAA-approved properties "offering all the amenities and luxuries of full-service hotels at 35 percent to 40 percent less than current luxury rates," said Empire's general manager Glenn Isaacs.

Isaacs, adding that his hotels "offer Cadillac quality at Hyundai prices," said the company's busiest location is the 160-room Travel Inn Hotel, located at 515 W. 42nd Street, between 10th and 11th avenues, which primarily caters to Javits Center convention attendees. "Since it's just four blocks from the Center, it's the nearest quality property," he said. The property enjoys 94 percent occupancy, and rates for show attendees are $102, plus tax. Rack rates range between $125 and $165.

Incidentally, another under-$200 per night hotel with relatively easy access to the Javits Center is the 1,005-room New Yorker at 34th Street and 8th Avenue.

Closer to Midtown is the 400-room Belvedere Hotel at 319 W 48th Street, between 8th and 9th avenues. It features an onsite restaurant, plus kitchenettes in every room, with nightly rates starting at $150.

Another Midtown choice is the 48-room Americana Hotel, 69 W. 38th Street, in the heart of Manhattan's fashion district. Its very low prices, starting at $90, are due in part to its three-rooms-share-a-bathroom design. Nevertheless, Isaacs said, "while there's a 'youth hostel' feel to the Americana, it's great for young executives coming to New York who really need to be right where the action is."

Back in the land of solo bathrooms, but still offering very low rates and a fast subway or taxi ride north of Times Square, are two other Empire locations: The 102-room Newton Hotel at 2528 Broadway and 94th Street and the extended-stay 160-room Hotel Riverside at 350 West 88th Street. A room at the Newton costs $90 nightly and primarily caters to "European travelers looking for a homey New York-style hotel," Isaacs said. The nearby Hotel Riverside also costs $90 per night, with a seven-night minimum stay.

Then, there is the star of the Empire pantheon: the 178-room Lucerne on 201 West 79th Street at Amsterdam Avenue. Rates start at $180 for full luxury treatment, including room service, nightly turndowns and an onsite concierge. Cited by Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel Magazine as New York's top-rated moderately priced hotel for 1999, the Lucerne is a block from Broadway and the trendy Columbus Avenue, and is "ideal for women executives wanting to relax in a hotel that looks after their needs, and those who would enjoy being out of the hustle and bustle of Midtown, yet just five minutes from any number of appealing restaurants, including the currently hot Ruby Foo's," said Isaacs.

Next summer, Empire also will debut a 90-room property, including 50 suites, at 229 West 49th Street, between Broadway and 8th avenues. Nightly rates should be just under $200.

"With 1998 chainwide occupancy rates of 94 percent, we know we're doing something right," Isaacs said. "But it's really not surprising since we are providing the same service and amenities you'd find at chain hotels in and around Midtown, but at significant savings."

<B>Bargains At The Core</B>

Bargain lodging also is the raison d'etre at four mid-Manhattan properties now operated by Apple Core Hotels. Chainwide rates range between $89 and $189, and each site offers a gym, small meeting spaces (see story, page 30) and free continental breakfast. Indeed, "business travelers get everything they really need without having to pay for frills that they generally neither care for or use," said COO Vijay Dandapani.

Coming in March, Apple Core will open its fifth hotel, a Red Roof Inn at 32nd Street and 5th Avenue. Present locations include the 197-room Quality Hotel & Suites Midtown, the 200-room Best Western Manhattan, the 95-room Quality Hotel East Side and the Comfort Inn Midtown. Dandapani said there are plans to acquire other properties, though no details were available at press time.

Enjoying occupancy rates of 98 percent, Dandapani said, "we are the answer for corporate travelers needing to keep costs down without sacrificing location. For rates that some assume are only available in New Jersey, near New York's La Guardia or JFK airports, or in Westchester, we can provide excellent accommodations at or very close to addresses most executives need to reach."

Dandapani added that "since all our hotels are surrounded by dozens of intriguing dining options, we decided not to include any restaurants. But we know that providing a fast, free breakfast and a bar so people can relax are business traveler priorities, so those we definitely offer."

Citylife Hotel Group, a now-two and soon-to-be-three moderate-priced-property enterprise, also is catering to the low-end traveler. The company's best-located and least expensive property is the 300-room Habitat Hotel, where rates dip as low as $75 per night. At 130 East 57th Street, between Lexington and Park avenues, the hotel's only major caveat is that to achieve those rates, most guests must share bathrooms with occupants of two or three other rooms. However, there are rooms with private baths starting at $105 per night.

Rooms at Habitat feature Internet access, voicemail and cable television. And, spokesperson Pamela Tully noted, in addition to upscale design and a fabulous location, the property "is perfect for the entrepreneur or junior associate who is accountable for every nickel spent on a business trip."

Twenty blocks and a hundred dollars to the north (for standard rooms), Citylife's On the Avenue Hotel enjoys a heart-of-the-upper Westside location. Featuring 195 rooms, the six-month-old option at 2178 Broadway and 77th Street provides stylish decor and au courant in-room entertainment.

Also on the Citylife docket, and scheduled to debut early next year, is Thirty Thirty, aptly named for its 30 East 30th Street address between Park and Madison avenues. The property will have 400 rooms.

Yet another low-priced option is the 158-room Malibu Studios Hotel at 2688 Broadway and 103rd Street. Seemingly distant from Midtown, but actually quite close due to a local subway stop steps from the entrance, the property is in the midst of modestly tabbed restaurants and boutiques. Via taxi, Malibu Studios is just 15 minutes to Midtown and offers double rooms for $159, while quartets can bunk into larger spaces for a total of $189.

<B>New And Improved</B>

Among the many new entries to the New York hotel roster, the 189-room Clarion Hotel Fifth Avenue is one of the most recent. However, with rates between $159 and $350, this may not be a viable option for the budget watcher.

Located just off 40th Street, the Clarion's rooms feature dataports, voicemail and unlimited free calls, as well as large work areas, which makes the rooms an office away from the office. Also on hand is a business center with a computer, printer, fax and photocopier, with no usage fees for guests.

Turning to renovations, the 196-room Salisbury Hotel on 123 West 57th Street has just wrapped up an extensive facelift. Redecorated guest rooms feature new furniture, carpets, voicemail and in-room safes. "Corporate rooms," equipped with oversized desks, executive desk chairs, computer hookups, desktop speaker phones and dual phone lines, also are available. Standard room rates are substantially higher than the aforementioned lower-cost hotels and start at $259 per night.

The Hilton New York, meanwhile, now is in the homestretch of an $85 million, property-wide renovation that should be complete by next spring. Project highlights include a reconfigured lobby, two new dining venues, two lounges, an 8,000-sq.-ft. spa and fitness center and more than 15,000 square feet of additional meeting facilities. The property bills itself as New York's largest hotel, with more than 2,000 guest rooms and suites.

Regarding future projects, Mandarin Oriental officially has announced it will be part of a joint venture that, for $200 million, will build a 250-room property on the Columbus Circle site now occupied by the New York Coliseum. Long-rumored, the recently announced go-ahead will bring the company's 13th overall and fourth U.S. property to a location across the street from the southwest corner of Central Park.

The hotel will be part of a huge mixed-use development that will include the new Time Warner headquarters, and luxury retail, entertainment, restaurant, office and residential components. Also on hand will be a 135,000-sq.-ft. performance hall.

Preliminary plans for the Mandarin Oriental include a full-service spa and health club, a signature restaurant, meetings and conference space and a 5,500-sq.-ft. ballroom.