Check It Out! Even Established Manhattan Hotels Offering Low Rates

Travel site Newyorkology [via HotelChatter] is reporting that Chelsea's new Gem Hotel has opened this week at 300 West 22nd Street, offering introductory nightly rates starting at $189 -- a veritable steal during the city's usually pricey peak travel season.

Yet, a check of tonight's rates on Expedia.com shows a number of other lodges around town offering reduced rates as low or even lower than the new Gem, another potential indicator of softening demand for rooms in the city.

A basic room at the Hotel Pennsylvania tonight would also cost $189, down from $222. The price of a superior queen at the Philippe Stark-designed Paramount Hotel Times Square, meanwhile, has dropped from $209 to $167. The Theater District's Milford Plaza is pricing rooms as low as $159, down from $199.

The average daily rate last November was $378, according to figures compiled by PKF Consulting.