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Yvonne van Dongen discovers cheap sleeps in the city that never does.
I HAD always sworn that the older I got the bigger my travel budget would be. Better still, the better the hotel.No more sharing suspect toilets and scum-coloured bathrooms with half-clad deranged men. No more doing without a concierge/elevator/phone/room big enough for me and my suitcase.
I'd cater for my more refined tastes because when I'm older I shall be richer. Right? Well, right maybe if you're visiting a country whose economy has recently collapsed. But when it comes to the economic powerhouse of the world, I'm afraid it's back to those nifty little penny-pinching ways that got you round the world and back when you were but a child. Worse than that, given the state of the New Zealand dollar, you need to be rich even to do that.
So it was finding accommodation in New York. I had been warned of course. Someone suggested I stay at the YMCA. I replied "Hmm" politely feeling this was somewhat beneath me until I got there until I got there and discovered I could go no lower. My budget was the bottom. But I looked around anyway and though I did unearth a few gems, at the end of my exhaustive research the YM was looking pretty good.
I started with the Official NYC Guide put out by the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau. The free 168-page guide lists hotels, their addresses, amenities and cost. The cheapest in the book was the Hotel Riverview on 113 Jane St, in Greenwich Village at $US33 ($NZ66) per...