Best value US city for hotel nights? (let’s call it a 6-7 night mattress run)

[Andrew.]

I’ve got the £250 rebate on £500 United rebate awaiting use on Amex. (Well, it’s on my brother’s card but he’s not going to use it).

It would be a real shame to let it go to waste. Trouble is US Hotel prices are eye-watering at the moment. NYC is a no-go with rooms in mediocre to average hotels going for $300-$400 a night, by the time you add tax that’s £300-£400 a night.

I’ve done Seattle, Minneapolis, Monterey, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose, Richmond, Annapolis, Orlando, DC, Boston, Providence, New Haven, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York.

Any suggestions?

[davefl]

None of them are cheap any more, but I’d say if you haven’t done Chicago you shouldn’t miss it. Although if you want cheap you need to stay outside the city and prepare to get public transit in and out. Which is largely excellent

[NorthernLass]

Have you got set dates? Also, are you actually doing a mattress run for a particular chain? Las Vegas can be good value at certain times, plenty of places for $200 or less in the hotter months or mid-week. Depends on what type of hotel you want.

[Andrew.]

davefl wrote:

None of them are cheap any more, but I’d say if you haven’t done Chicago you shouldn’t miss it. Although if you want cheap you need to stay outside the city and prepare to get public transit in and out. Which is largely excellent

Sorry, forgot Chicago from my list. Milwaukee and the beer caves were on the same trip too.

NorthernLass wrote:

Have you got set dates? Also, are you actually doing a mattress run for a particular chain? Las Vegas can be good value at certain times, plenty of places for $200 or less in the hotter months or mid-week. Depends on what type of hotel you want.

I keep active accounts with IHG, Marriott and Hilton. October and November really. Avoiding the English school holidays.

[NorthernLass]

You can get Hilton properties in October for under $200 pn if you don’t need anything fancy. October 20th-ish onwards is half term, though Vegas isn’t that much of a family destination as, say, NYC, so I wouldn’t have thought prices would be much affected by our term dates. Are you just trying to get value out of the United offer or collecting hotel nights?

[davefl]

It really depends what you like in terms of your interest s, and if you want to stick to one city or do some kind of road trip or even a train trip.

San Diego would be good but probably expensive.

You could kill a week around the Tucson/phoenix area if you’re prepared to drive the hotels near the airports can be much cheaper than downtown, especially Tucson.

There’s enough in and around Denver for a few days, but there’s no chains apart from best western at rocky mountain/Estes park

[The Savage Squirrel]

+1 that Vegas is the obvious city for lower cost hotel stays, with a huge selection of options at all price points. New Orleans or Atlanta if you want bigger. Plenty of cities in Florida are very easy to get to. A bit north of there, Raleigh and Savannah are smaller but interesting. Does it have to be a city break or are you open to other options, potentially with car hire?

[dougzz99]

Seems a really expensive way of earning £250 cash back.

[AnotherUser]

dougzz99 wrote:

Seems a really expensive way of earning £250 cash back.

I was going to say the same. £250 won’t make much of a dent in the cost of a week in the US!

If you want to go and want an excuse, go for it 🙂 New Orleans can have some cheaper hotels if you go off season, and I’d guess Washington may have some cheaper rooms next year if you go in hot and humid summer when Congress is out of session (but still great museums open ). This isn’t likely to be a ‘good value’ mattress run by any stretch, but that may not be a worry.