The hottest ticket in town this week isn’t a Broadway show — it’s a hotel room.
Hotels around the five boroughs were packed to capacity yesterday, stuffed with city residents who had lost power, employees who were trying to stay close to work, and tourists who came to town to see the sights or run in Sunday’s New York City Marathon.
“We’re slammed,” said a desk employee at the Waldorf-Astoria.
The St. Regis, where rooms can run over $1,000 a night, was totally booked.
At the San Carlos Hotel on East 50th Street, front-desk clerk Qurin Oliver said business had been “hectic — almost chaotic.”
Still, he said, “it was even worse Tuesday. People were coming in nonstop.”
Popular travel sites such as Travelocity, Hotels.com and Priceline.com were referring customers looking to stay in Manhattan to hotels in Edison, NJ — 24 miles away.
At the Kimberly Hotel in Midtown, the front-desk clerk said “we’re all booked up, but the phone has been ringing off the hook.”
Still, he said, “it’s kind of balanced out by the people who haven’t been able to fly in.”
There were still a few “deals” to be found early last night — the Riviera Motor Inn in the East New York section of Brooklyn had one room left for $250.
The nearby Galaxy Motel — which had been offering rooms on Hotels.com for $599 — was also booked, although the front-desk clerk said the astronomical listed price was a “mistake.”
“A room’s $110,” said the clerk, who declined to give his name.