First trip in January - top early to book hotel?

Hello everyone,

My husband and I are planning a trip to New York in January 2009 for 4 nights (4th - 8th). I have been trying to find the best hotel for us but am kind of overwhelmed by the choice! The only rates I can seem to find are through the hotels own websites - when doing a search through tripadvisor (on expedia etc), they all come back saying rooms not available - is this because the date is too far away? Surely they can%26#39;t all be booked?

We are both mid twenties and after something centrally located so that we can explore (we would prefer to walk to most places but happy to get the subway too). Budget of $200-$300 per night.

I like the look of the following hotels, I would be grateful of peoples opinions on them? Which one would you pick? Location is most important, it would be great to have places to eat close by too:

Casablanca Hotel

Wingate by Wyndham Manhatton

Radio City Appartments

The Salisbury Hotel

Think I am leaning towards the Casablanca due to the reviews on here but that comes out most expensive.

I would be very grateful of any advice, especially the best time to book. I was trying to do this early to make sure we got a decent place but maybe I am too early.

Thank you, sorry this has turned out so long!

First trip in January - top early to book hotel?

Really there%26#39;s no need to book until at least late summer / autumn - prices are always going up and down and you will have a better choice of hotels %26amp; airlines to choose from (most do not take bookings that far ahead).

First trip in January - top early to book hotel?

When I was organising my holiday that I%26#39;m taking next month the furthest ahead hotels were happy to book was six months ahead, others (that I didn%26#39;t use) would only books maybe 4 months ahead.

I found myself in the same situation. I wanted to book something way in advance - but the likes of Expedia don%26#39;t seem to show availability too far in advance. I found that 11 to 12 months was the most you could book in advance on most hotel websites.

If you do want to book way in advance you can either:

- pre-pay, and usually get a discount, although you are committed to that hotel. You%26#39;d also be taking advantage of the current exchange rate which is in our favour

- book something that can be cancelled at a later date if you change your mind or see a better deal

Everyone will have their own opinion - only you can decide which way is right for you (personally I like to plan well ahead!)

Check out the Affinia hotels - they seemed to get some great reviews when I was looking to book (I know it%26#39;s not easy choosing a hotel), and a couple of their hotels are in good locations

www.affinia.com

Good luck!

Thank you all for your help, maybe I am being a bit early! I spoke to trailfinders and I fell for the line %26#39;New York gets booked up really quickly, you need to book in the next few days to secure a hotel you like%26#39; - good salesman!

Thanks for the tip about the Affina hotels too, I will check them out. I think I will contact a few hotels directly to see what they offer and maybe wait a few months before booking.

I booked with Trailfinders and well in advance but that was my choice.

They did actually tell me that it was too early to be booking when I was asking (For April but this was at the end of August) and I had provisional bookings for a bit then got them at the earliest opportunity as thats what I wanted (first big holiday abroad and I wanted someone else to organise it all for me and have it all done at the earliest opportunity!)

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