Check Out These Deals Before You Check In

John Lieberman, a displaced Battery Park City resident living at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan since the terrorist attacks, negotiated a nightly rate of $100, down from the hotel's usual $400 fee.

With occupancy rates at hotels across the nation dropping to as low as 37% from 63% since Sept. 11, such bargaining no longer might be necessary. Indeed, the $93 billion U.S. lodging industry is in trouble, losing $700 million in the first two weeks after the attack. To counter the steep drop-off in business, many hotels are offering big deals.

Le Parker Meridien on 57th Street in New York, for instance, is offering rooms for as little as $75 a night to New Yorkers who have been displaced from their homes, while through Dec. 14, the Marriott in Times Square is renting rooms for $44 a night. ...