So you say you've got to snag a New York hotel room for under $250 a night, well clear of Times Square and yet somewhat luxurious? That's a toughy, but thankfully there are options should you care to venture south to the very tip of Manhattan.

Recently, while babysitting our family during their visit, we had the chance to stay at the Millenium Hilton in the Financial District for the paltry price of $220 a night. What the hotel's location lacks in nightlife and culture, it more than makes up for with a killer view and gratuitous amenities.

]]> JetSetCD 2008-10-13T13:31:01-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/10/13/114845/84 <![CDATA[<p> <p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/4040_VIP.png" class="imgborder"><p> Ok, so here's something we just don't understand. According to the <a href="http://www.lvrj.com/business/27591454.html">Las Vegas Review Journal</a>, 50% of <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Jay-Z"><b>Jay Z's</b></a> <b>40/40 Club Las Vegas</b> inside the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Palazzo+Hotel+and+Casino/local/927"><b>Palazzo</b></a> was bought out by the hotel-casino's owner, Las Vegas Sands. In return, LVS closed the 40/40 Club at the Palazzo and replaced it with a sports book. <p> The Las Vegas 40/40 Club was rumored to be closing for months, even though it opened only eight months ago. But apparently this deal will allow the 40/40 Club to expand internationally, with the first location being in one of LVS's Macau Casinos as well as in London. <p>Wait, back up. So even though 40/40 crapped out in Las AndrewC 2008-10-13T12:41:34-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/10/13/111933/45 <![CDATA[<p><img align="right" src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/icon_small_hell.gif">A few years back we wrote about the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/7/20/0855/45306/hotels/Aston_Maui_Lu_Resort_is_Scary">scary</a> <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Aston+Maui+Lu+Resort/ian/123358"><b>Aston Maui Lu hotel</b></a> in which we cited a guest review calling the place, "an old hotel that needs to be taken down, it has outlived it's life, which is obvious because half of it is boarded up and falling down."<p>A year later, our Hawaii expert <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/7/7/124310/1429/hotels/Bad_Hawaii_Hotel_Deal_Aston_Maui_Lu">Alex Salkever</a> called this place a bad rate and cited another guest review which called the place "unsafe."<p>Yikes. But fortunately, the hotel is closing down its operation as of <b>November 10th.</b> <a href="http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/509579.html?nav=10">Maui News</a> reports that the hotel will be leveled and in its place, time-shares will be built. <p>Actually, we started to feel bad for the Aston Maui Lu juliana 2008-10-13T11:30:44-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/10/13/101928/16

Alright, we know South Beach can get kinda skanky. It's known by many as a Spring Break destination and -- admit it -- parts of it are just kind of gross.

But for the most part, we'd figured the Delano Hotel was immune to falling down into the vortex of SoBe skankocity. It's super swanky -- and since it's charging in the $500+ range for basic rooms, one might assume a certain element of "class" to be present.

And by "class", our standards are not very high, people. All we mean is that we expect it would, you know, not be the location of a casting call for a porno movie.

But no.]]> Jenna 2008-10-13T11:23:15-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/10/13/101228/06 <![CDATA[<p><i>All this week we will be running <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/escape%20the%20economy%20hotels"><b>Escape the Economy</b></a> hotel packages. We doubt this will make you feel better about your dwindling stash of money but you might actually have a good time.</i><p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/colonnadedow.jpg" class="imgborder"><p>Hotels will seize on any major event in life to make a <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/hotel%20packages">room package</a> out of it. Aside from the usual holiday packages--Christmas, Valentine's Day, Labor Day, New Year's, etc.--we also have BabyMoons, ConceptionMoons, PostNatalMoons, Divorce and Proposal Packages, American Girl Packages, NFL Packages, and more. In fact, you could probably live the entire circle of life through a hotel package. And the downturn in the economy is no different.<p>Several emails have been showing up in our in-box as of late encouraging people juliana 2008-10-13T10:45:43-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/