Thanks, guys. Legal vacation apartments in New York aren't the same thing as in, say, London or Paris (where I have rented apartments), so I'm looking for a managed vacation rental where the parents can sleep in a separate room for kids.

Luckily, I just learned that web sites such as hotels.com and booking.com can have valid inventory even when the hotels themselves don't. I'm a pretty experienced traveler, so this was fun to learn something new. It was even better that it meant I got a reservation at one of the hotels I wanted.

Hmmm, the next week thing is tricky...look up the AKA properties, have not stayed in them myself, but they are all suite and friends of ours have recommended them. The courtyard Marriott in soho gets really good reviews, not suites, but you could call and ask about adjoining rooms.

This is where we stayed recently:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/nycme-courtyard-new-york-manhattan-midtown-east/

It is around 53rd and 3rd, in Midtown East. We paid about 450/night a few months ago for five people. It was a room with two queen beds and a pullout.

Embassy Suites?

How about trying an apartment rental through craigslist or vrbo.com? You can easily get in your price range. For example:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/vac/2761024942.html

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/vac/2728870246.html

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/vac/2761043569.html

Vrbo.com has a helpful feature that you can search by availabilty and read reviews.

So, obviously there are a lot of hotels in New York and I'm not going to phone them all. But I don't see any way to search for connecting rooms as a criterion on Travelocity or Expedia.

Do you have any advice on how to find out if hotels offer connecting rooms, short of spending all week on the phone?

Just in case I'm getting lucky today, here's our wish list:

Manhattan.
Not Times Square.
South of 92d St.
Near subway.
Not a low-rent chain. High-rent chain fine, but probably out of our price range.
Under $700/night either for a one-bedroom suite with a pull-out couch or two connecting rooms.
Would love a kitchen, but have struck out at Affinia, Benjamin, Beacon, and one other place I can't remember now.

Kimberly has rooms but somehow the photos make my skin crawl a little. That, and maybe the one bedbug report.

And just in case you need a nice laugh today, this is for next week.

Thanks!