When business travel happens on your own dime, business travel becomes budget travel. Bargain travel offers abound, but most of them are geared to the average pleasure traveler. What singer has a vacation budget to spend on audition trips? As mentioned in Part One of this series, (Flying Cheap—Singer Cheap, November 2007), there’s cheap, and then there’s Singer Cheap. These are the Singer Cheap maxims:
1. A bargain is only a bargain if it’s affordable.
2. A bargain is only affordable if it fits not only your money budget, but your time and energy budgets. In other words, it’s not worth it to wear yourself out on money-saving measures if you’re too tuckered to sing well when the time to sing rolls around.
Comfort and relaxation are important to any singer preparing for auditions or performances, and that’s why it’s crucial to have decent lodgings. When you’ve worn out your welcome on friends’ couches, check out travel websites for the best deals on hotels. Some of my favorites include:
• www.expedia.com
• www.orbitz.com
• www.kayak.com
• www.priceline.com
• www.hotwire.com
• www.travelocity.com
Some of the best deals can be had if you’re willing to go the name-your-own price route. The trick here is that you don’t find out where you’re staying until after you buy, though you do get to choose the part of town you’ll be in. To help avoid unpleasant surprises, make sure you’re familiar with the part of town you choose, and be sure to factor in its convenience to the airport and the places you’ll need to go. (More on that in the next article of the series.) If you end up spending a lot of money on cab fare just to get around, if you get lost on the subway en route to your audition, or if you spend so much time making transfers that you’re worn out and frustrated by the time you finally reach your coaching, you may have done better to spend the $30 per night you saved with your discounted accommodations on a hotel closer to your destinations.
Big city hotel prices can be outrageous, especially in the high season. Personally, I consider anything over $100 per night outrageous, but for places such as New York City, I’m willing to extend the Singer Cheap Seal of Approval to any hotel that’s $140 or under, as long as the room comes with a private bath. For NYC, that is dirt cheap. You can find rooms in NYC cheaper, but they usually involve sharing your bath and maybe your room with complete strangers, or else the hotels aren’t in Manhattan proper and may or may not be convenient to public transportation. (By the way, I may be a snob about sharing a bath, but you needn’t be. After all, it’s the norm in Europe and the rooms will definitely be cheaper!) I usually find the cheapest inhabitable hotels on www.expedia.com or www.priceline.com, but when these fail the Singer Cheap test, try one of the following options.
Share your room
Travel with friends whose personal habits you can live with, and split the cost of a hotel room.
Membership discounts
Roadside auto services, frequent flier programs, credit unions, labor unions, organizations, and reward programs of all types offer discounted stays at hotels. Check with any memberships you have to see what discounts you might be eligible for.
Package deals
If you book your flight and hotel together, you can often get a discount. All the travel websites and airline sites offer packages. Generally speaking, the more services you combine, the better the discount.
Youth Hostels
These no-frills establishments offer basic dormitory-style rooms on the cheap. Despite the name, many don’t have age limits. The downside? They can be noisy, lacking in privacy, and you’ll want to take care to secure your belongings. Try www.hostels.com for information about youth hostels worldwide.
The YMCA
Many big city YMCAs offer basic, no-frills rooms at a reasonable price. New York’s West Side Y is convenient to Lincoln Center and many audition sites, coaches, and attractions. Visit www.ymcany.org for New York YMCAs, and www.ymca.org for YMCAs across the nation. For a listing of YMCA rooms to rent in other cities, see www.ymca.net/about_the_ymca/rooms_for_travelers.html.
Religious houses
Convents and other religious establishments sometimes rent rooms to travelers as part of their service to the community. Rules vary from house to house, so you must inquire. Some are quite strict, with dress codes, curfews, and rules about who can stay and under what circumstances. Others are more relaxed. In New York City, try the Community of the Holy Spirit, an Episcopalian convent located close to Columbus University on the Upper West Side. CHS offers plain, quiet rooms with shared baths, free (and very good) meals, and excellent free laundry service for stays over a week in length. Men and women both may stay. The community does keep silence in the house, so you’ll have to find another place to warm up. Visit their website at www.chssisters.org.
Another place to try is Leo House on West 23rd St., a hostel run by the Catholic diocese. Call (212) 929-1010. For other parts of the country and Canada, check out A Guide to Monastic Guest Houses by Robert J. Realbuto.
Cooperative Housing (Co-ops)
Co-ops are houses or apartment buildings operated by a group of tenants who pool financial resources to cover rent and maintenance and who contribute a set number of hours of labor to the upkeep of the home. They are often found around college campuses, and some will allow guests. If you are now or have been a member of a co-op, you may be eligible to guest at co-ops around the nation. For more information, check out the following sites:
• North American Students of Cooperation: www.nasco.coop/
• National Association of Housing Cooperatives: www.coophousing.org
• Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada: www.chfc.ca/.
Bed and Breakfasts
While the name evokes quaint historic inns surrounded by English gardens and gourmet breakfasts prepared by your personable hosts, in big cities what you are likely going to be paying for is the extra bedroom in someone’s apartment, perhaps with some do-it-yourself basic eats provided. Traditional B&Bs usually don’t cost less than hotels; but there are some out there run by singers for singers. Try Singer’s B&B in Washington Heights (New York City). Contact Valkyrie_NYC@yahoo.com for information and booking. B&B listing services include www.bbonline.com and www.bnbfinder.com.
Dorm rooms, college apartments, and university-affiliated hotels
Some universities rent out extra dorm rooms or apartments, and some (especially those that offer courses in hotel management or offer conference facilities) have their own on-campus hotels. Check college websites, or call the college directly for information. Also, try Internet booksellers to lay your hands on a copy of the out-of-print U.S. and Worldwide Travel Accommodations Guide, published by Campus Travel Service, for listings.
Sublets
If you’re going to be in town for a few weeks or a few months, consider subletting an apartment. You can find plenty of sublets for any number of cities on www.craigslist.com, but be careful: You’re going to be renting from a complete stranger, and you don’t know what condition the apartment is going to be in. You’ll have little redress if something goes wrong. One singer I know did this—the pictures posted on Craigslist looked perfectly nice—but when he arrived, he found the place was filthy and roach-infested, and the renter was (to put it mildly) uncooperative about addressing the situation.
I have sublet before, but only from singers I “know” from one of the bulletin boards. Sublets (usually for New York City) are often posted on www.nfcs.net. Your best bet is to let all the singers and coaches of your acquaintance know that you’re looking for space. This way, you’re renting from a friend of a friend, and less likely to run into trouble.
Landing Your Lodging
A few final words about booking discount lodgings: the budget places tend to fill up first, especially in high season or around holidays (which is often precisely when singers need them). Book as early as you can.
Hotels release a limited number of rooms to the discount sites, but if the discounted rooms are all taken, call the hotel directly and inquire about availability. Ask for their Internet rate, which is usually a little better than the rack rate.
Last but not least, while you’re sitting around waiting to sing at your next audition, talk to the singers around you. Ask for their recommendations. The best bets are very often to be found only on the singer grapevine.
Next time, we’ll explore the (unintentionally) exciting world of ground transportation in a strange city.
