We just spent a month in the USA back in June, and went for expensive if it was a good deal, and inexpensive but out of the centre of town - but with easy access to public transport. I judged the expensive but good deal hotels by comparing the Booking.com price with the quotes given by a travel agent using Helloworld. We got a great deal on that basis on a hotel in San Diego - and when we got there, the deal got incredibly better, as for no reason they upgraded us to the best hotel room we've ever stayed in (two rooms, two TVs, two toilets etc). And a very good deal for Washington.
In New York, staying in Manhattan was over A$500 a night in 3 star places, and I didn't think it would be worth it (which subsequently was the opinion of both my wife and I). So I stayed in Queens at The Sleep Inn (which is owned by Best Western right behind it), which was less than half the typical Manhattan price per night. It was only a five minute walk to the Subway on the F-line, which takes you either to or to very near numerous places of interest in NY. I was very happy at The Sleep Inn, which has a supermarket right next to it and gave us free breakfast every day, though the rooms were just okay (but king size bed was great). But it was in a somewhat run-down looking, almost industrial area and my wife really didn't like the area at all and kept asking why I'd picked it (though the hotel itself was fine). Our taxi driver taking us there was telling us places not to walk in at night, but when he got to our hotel's area, he said it was very safe. I met many other tourists out the front of the hotel in the smoking area, and they had done the same calculation as me about where to stay - and we formed a tiny group that was fun to chat with for the entire stay.
If you are driving into places in major cities, hotel car parking is very expensive at around US$40 to US$51 a night. Thus the car parking fees very often cost more than the car hire fee of a big car from Hertz at US$37 a day (as a Gold Club member).
In Los Angeles, since I was getting a car and would be driving all around the place, I couldn't see the point of staying in an expensive area, so I stayed at Best Western Suites near LAX. At a bit over AUD$220 a night, the price wasn't anywhere near as dear as staying in Beverly Hills or Downton LA, and car parking was only US$12 a night, the hotel room was fabulous, breakfast was provided and again my wife hated the location because it looked very run-down - though I was happy having 711 and lots of eateries across the road. On our return from our road trip we stayed at the Marriot LAX (where I had picked up the Hertz hire car) and my wife loved the place. It too was only a bit over AUD$220 a night, but car parking was US$31 a night, there were no eateries around, and their three restaurants were pretty expensive e.g. US$30 for a sit down hamburger meal with coleslaw as an extra and a can of Coke Zero. I said to my wife "I'm glad you love this place, but eating here is sending me broke".
In San Francisco, hotel prices near the town centre were through the roof, including overnight car parking of US$41 a night at Fisherman's Wharf. So I looked around Booking.com for something less expensive and found Beck's Motor Lodge - at just under AUD$400 a night (yes - that's not a typo) and with free car parking. The place was nothing flash - just a motel - but we loved it. We discovered that we were near the Castro Street Gay precinct, and most everyone around where we were staying were gay and lesbian - and it was a very safe place to be in a very nice environment that wasn't so crowded. The F tram was across the road, and it was 10 to 15 minutes into the city centre. And a subway was about 500m walk to take us to Golden Gate park and other places. We saw everything we had wanted to see in San Francisco using them and the occasional bus.
In Las Vegas we took the Helloworld deal for the Mirage Casino - AUD$165 a night plus a US$30 a day resort fee. The Booking.com price was much higher when we took the Helloworld deal, but the price on Booking.com dropped to about our price by a week before we got there. Food at the Mirage was ridiculously expensive. A small cup of StarBuck's coffee in the Mirage cost US$4.50, when that same cup ordered from a Starbucks in Macy's department store like in NY cost US$1.69. The room we got was very good, but unlike every other hotel we stayed at, it had no coffee making facility nor a bar fridge that we could put our stuff in. So every morning I had to catch the elevator and go down 10 floors, then walk for 5 minutes across the gaming floor, then line up at Starbucks for 15 minutes to buy a big canister of coffee, then make my way back to my room to share the coffee with my wife. That was half an hour wasted every morning for something we could do in a couple of minutes in every other hotel room. Valet parking at the Mirage was only US$19 a night, though you could self park for I think US$8 a night. One good thing about the Mirage Casino was that it was surrounded by shops - both on the street at the front, and the amazing shops at the Venetian Casino across the road and to the left, and the equally amazing Forum shops to the right (both have artifical skies that turn night into early evening).
The high prices of hotels in the major US cities surprised me, because the prices are significantly higher than what I had been paying when staying in four star places in major European cities. When I booked the trip I started asking for advice from friends, and they all told me where they had stayed a few years back for around AUD$200 a night. When I looked those same places up on the internet, they now ranged from AUD$545 to $580 a night - it was as if our dollar had fallen to US30 cents instead of US75cents.
So you have a choice to make - spend really big to stay in the centre of town, or find that bargain in the centre of town without huge car parking fees, or find places outside of town with easy public transport into town.
Good luck.
Regards,
Renato
