New York at the Holidays — Splurge at the Better Price

December in New York is a splurge no matter how you book it — the tree, the window displays, the skating rinks, the whole postcard. Manhattan knows exactly what it's selling, and the hotels price accordingly: the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's are the most expensive of the year, with the blocks around Midtown and Central Park leading the charge. You can't make holiday New York cheap, but you can make it smarter. Book by early fall, stay Sunday through Thursday if you can, and check member rates against the public price before you commit — in a market where rooms start high, even a modest gap is real money over four nights. One more honest tip from our Travel Editor: the first two weeks of December have everything the week of Christmas has, at noticeably better rates and with shorter lines for everything.

— Our Travel Editor