| "New York City is a lot of things, but cheap is not one | | | | to guests. It might have had something to do with |
| of them," was my standard line back in the days when | | | | corporate alliances, too. That's what the cynic in me |
| I worked in a luxury hotel in Manhattan. It was sort of a | | | | says, anyway. |
| lie. There are a lot of bargains in the Big Apple, | | | | Here's the funny thing: A lot of those people could |
| incredible bargains if you know where to look. Just | | | | have saved themselves hundreds or even thousands |
| today I bought a 4 gigabyte SD card for $10, basically | | | | of dollars by hiring an independent tour guide -- not the |
| a wholesale price. It's made by a manufacturer you | | | | big red bus kind, but one who works for themselves. |
| would know, and I bought it at the most famous | | | | There are literally hundreds of us in the City That |
| high-end electronics store on the planet, which you | | | | Never Sleeps. A tour guide can key you in on |
| might not even know if you're not a professional. But I | | | | everything from the best (truly the best, not corporate |
| digress. | | | | approved) places to eat and shop, to the most |
| Back when I was working at the hotel, people would | | | | interesting attractions to how to navigate public |
| constantly complain about the high cost of doing | | | | transportation. Plus, a guide can keep you from |
| business or visiting New York. Partially out of spite that | | | | wasting valuable time by designing a tour that fits your |
| people who could afford a $500 a night hotel would | | | | schedule, interests, and budget. The fact that tour |
| complain about paying $20 for a pizza, I didn't mind -- I | | | | guides can point out all kinds of interesting architectural |
| admit -- sometimes sending them to expensive places | | | | and historical details is just a bonus. Our real worth |
| when I knew that cheaper and better alternatives | | | | shows itself in the mobile concierge services we |
| existed. Actually, hotel management directed me to do | | | | provide. |
| this because if someone got sick at my favorite little | | | | You wouldn't travel into the wilderness without a guide, |
| pizza place on 3rd Avenue, they would sue the hotel. If | | | | I would hope, at least without basic knowledge of |
| they got sick at Pizzeria Uno, a chain, they would sue | | | | maps and wilderness survival. Why would you travel |
| Pizzeria Uno. I'm pretty sure that sort of liability | | | | to a big city without a guide? You're almost certain to |
| factored in with hotel management's decisions | | | | get eaten by the wolves if you do, especially in New |
| regarding what we were and were not to recommend | | | | York. |