Exclamation marks abound on Hotel Kingdom.com's excitable site (www.discounthotelsamerica.com), but it offers a good selection of discounted hotel rooms across the United States. Search by price and holiday dates, it provides detailed information and pictures of accommodation. For New York, it is offering promotions at the four-star Wellington Hotel in Midtown (from US$100 or HK$788) and the three-star On The Ave (from US$165.90), on Broadway and 77th Street. The Washington Jefferson Hotel (from US$195.90) gets the site's vote for the hippest location, in Hell's Kitchen. Best luxury hotel honours go to Ian Schrager's new four-star Hudson Hotel (from US$130 a night), designed by Philippe Starck, which is uber-hip but has miniscule bedrooms. Or go native at the Greenwich Village Apartments, which has one-bedroom apartments that can sleep a family of four for US$195.90 a night (studios sleep two for US$175.90). Prices were quoted in mid-December.

Most guidebooks say the best way to get your bearings is to take the three-hour Circle Line boat tour around Manhattan island. Find all you need to know about the tour, as well as trips to the Statue of Liberty (currently closed), sunset cruises and the Beast Speed Boat (currently hibernating for the winter) and buy your tickets at www.circleline.com. Another great way to work out exactly where you are is to join the usually lengthy queues at the Empire State Building (www.esbnyc.com): the view from the 86th-floor observatory is worth the wait and you can relive all those Sleepless In Seattle and An Affair To Remember moments. There are Web-cams showing the view from the top and you can pre-book tickets online.

Broadway is sticking to its dictum that the show must go on. For listings and reviews of Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway shows, visit www.nytheatre.com, which covers everything from musicals (Cabaret, Chicago, Rent, Beauty And The Beast, Forbidden Broadway 2001) to off-the-wall shows (Puppetry Of The Penis) and one-night-only performances. There is a family-friendly section, Just For Kids, and theatre details include essential information such as whether booster seats are available. Visit the non-profit-making New York Theatre Experience. It is easy to navigate and full of helpful information about how to find the theatres, seating plans, how to buy tickets on the Internet and where to score them in New York itself. Also worth visiting are www.tonys.org, for information on Tony Award-winning and nominated productions, and www.broadway.org for more news and reviews of the big shows.

New York is jam-packed with excellent stores and there are many Web sites devoted to the art of shopping. New York Citysearch (www. newyork.citysearch.com) splits its shopping section into three categories: Sample Sales (two words to warm the cockles of any shopper's heart), Shopping Districts (including SoHo, Jackson Heights and the Lower East Side) and The City's Best Shopping, as voted by readers (check out the rest of the Best of Citysearch for everything from the best day-trip to the best small museum). Each is subdivided further, but one that grabs the attention is the Sex And The City section, which gives details on the real-life restaurants, bars and shops where Carrie and co knock back the Cosmopolitans and buy their Manolo Blahniks in the ultimate New York series. Finally, search for Flea Market and Manhattan to get a list and links to the best markets in the city. For 10 floors of gorgeous home furnishings, much of it one-of-a-kind, antique or made specially for the store, visit ABC Carpet & Home (www.abchome.com). For a listing of shops, go to www.manhattanusersguide.com/shopping.htm.

Fancy chowing down on a 'dog' and cheering on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden? Several sites offer guides to New York sporting events. Click on Visiting New York, then Sports at the city's official site, www.home.nyc.gov, for links to major events and activities (including in-line skating tours at www.empireskate.org) and famous local sports teams such as the Giants, the Knicks and the Jets. New York Citysearch's (www.newyork.citysearch.com) Sports & Recreation section has a diary of coming events, conveniently split by category - such as NBA games, NHL games, major league baseball, recreation events - with maps and links for ticket sales.