HotelChatter

Hotel Deals / Manhattan Hotels / Quikbook / → All Tags

Here's A Snazzy Room For Under $120 In NYC

Where: 29 East 29th Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10016

Having already been open for about two months now, Hotel Lola is an unusually low-profile hotel for having such a big personality. Rather than paying homage to anyone specific, the name Lola embodies the spirit of "women ahead of their time." Just to back up a second: the building originally went up in 1903 as a women's-only residence, so its heritage now plays into its super-chic design and playful concept.

But the best part about Lola? She comes cheap.

While we were trolling the pages of Quikbook yesterday, we stumbled upon this deal going on right now at Lola. $114 is all you'll pay for a Cozy Single (what they call a Standard), though if you feel like upgrading yourself, a Superior Queen (shown above) will only set you back $144. Nothing we don't like about Lola so far!

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Hotel Booking Sites / Quikbook / Hotel Websites / → All Tags

Quikbook's New Website Pulls Up Hotel Deals Quiker

There's been a steady slew of hotel booking sites that have launched in the past few years but our tried and true fave is still Quikbook.com which has long been offering cool, boutique hotels that you would actually at for great rates. And now Quikbook's gotten even better, thanks to a site redesign.

Don't worry, nothing has drastically changed. Quikbook is still offering its secret sales, invitation-only rates and its standard policy of not charging any booking fees or requiring pre-payment or even cancellation/change penalty fees. But the site is easier to navigate--the buttons are bigger, the photos are more plentiful and there's even video tours of select hotels.

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Halloween Hotels / HotelChatter Questions / Hotel Deals / Quikbook / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags

Get Close(ish) To The Halloween Parade In NYC

If you're one of those people whose Halloween costume was planned way back in June, then you're probably eager to book your NYC hotel stay waaay ahead of time. In which case, we thought we'd do you a favor and scout some low rates for the month ahead. By then, September madness will have petered out, and rates will have dropped back down to more reasonable (relatively speaking) numbers.

Now, since the infamous Village Halloween Parade (happening on Monday October 31) starts on Sixth Avenue in the West Village, our first thought was to simply find some deals nearby. Not as easy as you might think! Four Points Sheraton Soho, Hampton Inn Soho and Courtyard By Marriott Soho all failed to impress. So we took matters into our own hands and explored some other neighborhoods.

Like? Like, how about the Hudson Hotel for $237 a night? Or the Pod Hotel for $169? We certainly know the latter is a social place—useful when you need help with that zombie makeup...

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Hotel Deals / Quikbook / Hotel Indigo / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags

Next Year, Do The Weekend in NYC at the Hotel Indigo Chelsea for $140 a Night

While visiting NYC for the holidays is going to cost you some extra dough, if you can hold off until January you can get some killer deals.

Quikbook is currently offering an additional 10 percent off at the Hotel Indigo Chelsea which lowers the rate to $140 a night. (Regular rates start around $209 a night.)

We found that rate available for January 7-9. Actually, we found that rate available every weekend through February 28. These rates are fully pre-paid advance purchase rates so if you're not comfortable with paying up front, the regular rates are not that much more at $155 a night.

Remember, the WiFi is free at the Indigo. There's also 32-inch flat-screen TVs, hard wood floors, Aveda toiletries and spa-style showers to enjoy.

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Hotel Deals / San Francisco Hotels / Quikbook / → All Tags

Thank The Giants for The Latest Round of San Francisco Hotel Deals

We love scoping out the hotel scene in San Francisco because there's a ton of hotels there, particularly around the Union Square area. And these (most often small and boutique) hotels always have doable prices. We can't wait to put together our rankings list for San Fran--you may actually be able to book rooms there!

But if you've left your heart in San Francisco on a past trip and want to return to retrieve it, then check out some of the low rates going on at Quikbook.

The booking site, which we use frequently for NYC, has slashed rates in honor of the World Series champs, The Giants and we are liking what we see.

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Hotel Sales / Private Sales / Quikbook / Manhattan Hotels / Thompson Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags

Quikbook Delivers the Deals with Its New Invite-Only Sale

We've long been fans of Quikbook's secret sales which are open to anyone and work very much like a Hotwire or Priceline in that you don't know what hotel you're booking until after you've made the reservation, typically at a steep discount. But now, Quikbook has introduced another secret element--Invitation Only Sales.

Invitees will receive dedicated emails that allow them access to unpublished Quikbook hotel deals and which can only be accessed through the email. The deals are limited, usually lasting for about 72 hours and are first come, first serve. So if you see a cheapie rate at a cool boutique hotel, you better jump on it.

In the inaugural email today, Quikbook has some great deals on NYC Hotels like the The Strand Hotel for $295 a night, the new Cassa Hotel for $296 a night, a studio king suite at 6 Columbus for $376 a night and the just-opened Gansevoort Park Avenue for $395 a night. The deals are valid for stays from October 5 through November 30 and you must book by 5pm EST this Friday, October 10.

But are these really deals that Quikbook is offering? Come along with us as we find out.

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Labor Day Hotels / Hotel Deals / San Francisco Hotels / Quikbook / Luxury Collection Hotels / → All Tags

The Palace in San Francisco for $135 over Labor Day Weekend

Where: 2 New Montgomery Street [map], San Francisco, CA, United States, 94105

Labor Day Weekend is just a few weeks away and if you're still unsure of where to go, we've actually found some decent rates all weekend long in San Francisco.

Looking on Quikbook for September 3-6, we found the historic Palace Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel from Starwood in Union Square, for an average of $135 a night. That's for a superior king room and the offer requires a prepayment at the time of booking. It's also non-refundable so your San Fran plans need to be set in stone.

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Adventures in Blind Booking: The Flatotel for $189

Where: 135 W. 52nd Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10019

Guess The Hotel Revealed!

After our "mysterious" upgrade situation at The Hudson Hotel a few weeks ago, we decided we needed to give Quikbook's secret sales option in New York City another try. We were also in need of a respectable hotel for under $200 but May is practically high season for hotels in NYC. Everything we were looking at had a starting room rate of $350.

But over on Quikbook, we found a secret hotel in the Times Square/Theater District for $189 a night. The theater district location had us a bit concerned but when we checked out the hotel's Q ratings, Quikbook's internal rating system, we felt confident this hotel would suffice. After all, it was just for one night.

We took the plunge and about 12 hours after paying for our room, Quikbook emailed to say we would be spending the night at The Flatotel.

Cross-checking the rates on the hotel's site with what we paid, we found that we saved $156 by booking through Quikbook. Um, amazing.

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Adventures in Blind Booking / Quikbook / Morgans Hotels / Hotel Video Tours / → All Tags

Adventures in Blind Hotel Booking: The Hudson for $139

Where: 356 West 58th Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10019

GUESS THE HOTEL REVEALED!

Quikbook got into the blind booking game back in early March so after having done Hotwire in Hollywood and Travelocity in Las Vegas with reasonable success, we hit up QB for our trip last week to New York.

We settled on a deal for $139 in the Central Park area for a superior room with a queen bed (it's just us traveling.) Looking around at what else Quikbook was offering in that area we guessed it would be either Six Columbus or The Hudson Hotel.

Quikbook emailed us immediately with a confirmation saying that we had booked the room for $139 but it took a few more hours until we received the actual email telling us which hotel it was (Travelocity and Hotwire do this instantaneously.) And for everyone who guessed the hotel on Friday, you were right! It was The Hudson. And it was certainly a deal. Room rates were going for over $200 that night on various other sites.

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Private Sales / Quikbook / Hotel Deals / Hotel Booking Sites / → All Tags

Quikbook Gets Into the Private Sale Game with its 'Secret Sale'

The Private Sale trend continues to be hot for hotel booking sites! We can now add Quikbook.com to the list of booking sites giving folk a chance to book further discounted rooms by keeping the hotel names secret until the sale day. It's called...Secret Sale.

But Quikbook is changing it up ever so slightly. If you book a hotel today, within 24 hours Quikbook will email you the hotel's name and details. You can see the hotel's location and the type (deluxe, modern, budget, etc.) but not the name. So it's a bit like Hotwire but with a time-delay.

Here's how Quikbook describes it:

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Hotel News Briefs / Muammar Qaddafi / Bad Celebrity Behavior / Starwood Hotels / Bliss Spas / Quikbook / Film Festival Hotels / → All Tags

Beyonce Sings for The Worst Hotel Guest Ever

Wow, we are only a few days into the new decade and already Bad Boy hotel guest Dennis Rodman has been usurped by the son of Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy, whose name is Hannibel. Yet this guy should get credit for nothing other than being a terrible human being, let alone a hotel guest from hell.

Page Six had a little ditty today about how Beyonce snagged a cool $1 million for performing at Hannibel's New Year's Eve party at Nikki Beach club on St. Barts.

But also in the item (shame on you Beyonce) is a laundry list of Hannibel's horrendous behavior at hotels. They are:

1. Attacking his wife at Claridges:

Hannibal, 33 -- also known as Moutassim -- allegedly attacked his wife, Aline Skaf, in his suite at Claridge's in London. Three of his security staff were arrested for obstructing police. Skaf was reportedly hospitalized with a broken nose while Hannibal was whisked away in a diplomatic car.

2. Attacking servants in a Geneva hotel:

In July 2008, he and his then-pregnant wife were arrested on charges of beating their servants in a Geneva hotel. They denied the charges, which were dropped after the servants received compensation.

3. Again, attacking his wife:

Hannibal was also arrested in 2005 in a Paris hotel for allegedly punching Skaf. He then allegedly brandished a 9mm handgun and went on a furniture-smashing rampage in his hotel suite. No charges were brought.

Ugh. Luxury hotels around the world need to man up and ban this man from staying at their hotels. Put him on the hotel blacklists straightaway!

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Hotel Opening Rates / 10 Hot NYC Hotel Openings / Quikbook / Booking Tips / → All Tags

Book The Strand Hotel For $249 on Quikbook For Stays After November 16th

Where: 33 West 37th Street [map], New York, ny, United States, 10018

Last week when we checked in on The Strand Hotel we learned the place was opening either "any day now" or on November 16. But having just received our latest Quikbook.com newsletter advertising rates of $249 for the new hotel, we assumed it was open now. But we must have pulled out our "Jump to Conclusions" mat by accident.

Rooms were not available for tomorrow night on Quikbook.com. However, November 16th was open for $249 a night for a standard king with complimentary breakfast. The hotel's website is also not showing rooms open until November 16th. So we think you can guess what we recommend for booking this hotel--wait until November 16th. But book through Quikbook.com. Their rates are $40 cheaper per night than the hotel's website.