Our best advice on making your hotel reservations is not to hesitate. Cities like NYC don’t really experience a down time and the early fall can be a high season for tourism. Places will book up and prices will increase. That being said, there is no shortage of accommodations to choose.
We’ve arranged a discounted room block right at The Desmond Tutu Center, which, in addition to being our ceremony and reception site, is also a full-service conference center with luxury accommodations. Their guest rooms are beautiful and the location, aside from being incomparably convenient for our event, is a really charming and lovely neighborhood with loads of great restaurants, art galleries and unique city attractions nearby. They have quoted us a room rate of $199/night for single rooms, and they also have some large, double-rooms at $279/night. (More details below) We’ve researched the dates among comparable area hotels and have indeed found this is the best deal in town. We hope you’ll find this a great choice, not only for the cost, but also for the convenience and experience. More info on their rooms at The Desmond Tutu Center site.
Booking Details: The Tutu Center
When guests call in, they just need to reference the Gorodetzky/Neer Room Block. Guests can call Chacoya Price directly: 646-717-9717. She is a reservation specialist who administers the room block discount. You should also be able to contact Jenny Vergara, the planning manager, to assist with guest room reservations: 646-717-9721.
They have let us know that roll-away beds can be arranged if needed, and you can also make special requests – big suite, garden view, low floor, etc. – and they will try to accommodate as long as they have these rooms available. The rate is $199/night (single room, queen bed) or $279/night (double, two queens, limited # of these rooms). The discount rate is for Saturday, Sept. 8 and Sunday, Sept. 9, and also up to two days before and after. Check in is at 3:00pm and check out is at 12:00pm. All of the guest rooms are non smoking.
We’ve found regular business hours are the best time to reach both Chacoya and Jenny, or you can certainly leave a message. The font desk at The Tutu center is 212-929-3888, and then dial ext. 0. They are not able to help book from the room block, as this is a special arrangement, but they could likely answer any other questions or connect you to Chacoya, at ext. 385. We’ve also been told you can send a request with the room block referenced to reservations@gts.edu.
The greater Chelsea neighborhood also has a number of boutique hotels to research – Hotel Indigo, Chelsea Lodge, and Verite Hotel to name a few – as well as several large chain hotels, including a Hilton, Four Points by Sheraton, Hampton Inn, DoubleTree, and Hilton Garden Inn. Some of these are closer to The Desmond Tutu Center than others, but regardless of which accommodations you choose, we’d recommend carefully researching the immediate area and walking distances to your plans.
