More Q's on staying in NYC -hotel?

[scottmandue]

Going to the east coast and my first time to NYC (wife lived there for about a year long time ago).

I seem to remember on a previous thread about NYC someone recommending staying outside of the city and catching the train into the city to see the sites, anyone remember where that might be?

Planing on seeing all the touristy stuff, statue of liberty, 9/11 memorial, empire state building, etc.

TIA

[jwasbury]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Going to the east coast and my first time to NYC (wife lived there for about a year long time ago).

I seem to remember on a previous thread about NYC someone recommending staying outside of the city and catching the train into the city to see the sites, anyone remember where that might be?

Planing on seeing all the touristy stuff, statue of liberty, 9/11 memorial, empire state building, etc.

TIA

Lots of choices for hotels inside and outside of Manhattan...all depends on how much you want to spend. Easiest access to Manhattan will be somewhere along MTA Subway lines (which connects Manhattan with outer boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Bronx). http://web.mta.info/nyct/maps/subway_map.pdf

You could also look for hotels in New Jersey that are convenient to the PATH train system: https://www.panynj.gov/path/maps.html

[Scott Douglas]

When we went for a wedding way back before the kids were born (35 yrs ago?) we stayed at the Algonquin(sp?) Hotel just off Times Square.
Why waste time riding a train to get to all the places you want to see?
You HAVE to take an express subway ride.
We took it up town to the Met Art Museum. What an 'E' ticket ride that was.

[MRM]

My family and I have done several long weekends and short weeks in the City over the past couple of years. We did all the touristy stuff and got to know the city as tourists pretty well. It was our experience that staying as close to the center of Mid Town was the best option. Hotel prices can be pretty comparable if you look carefully and you save a lot in time and hassle. If you're in the City for a vacation you really want to maximize your time. We've stayed in Queens, which was an easy subway ride direct to downtown, but even that was a hassle compared to being in Manhattan.

If you join one of the major hotel chain loyalty programs you get as good of rates as you can get and if you get one of their credit cards you'll get enough points for a couple of free nights.

My favorite location is the New York Hilton Midtown because it is within walking distance of almost everything. It's just south of Central Park and almost half way between Times Square and Rockefeller Plaza. It's an easy walk as far north as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and you can walk all the way down Broadway to the theater district without breaking a sweat. The Midtown Hilton gets mixed reviews because it's so big, but we found it to be excellent. We're Hilton Gold status through the Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card so we got free breakfast. Other than being very busy, the food was great. I'd strongly recommend staying in the City somewhere like that.

[mreid]

I’m in NYC monthly. The wife and I started staying at the Hyatt Union Square. Very reasonable for NYC with a great bar and location.

[motion]

If you're visiting NYC, why would you stay outside of the city???

If you must, you could stay on Staten Island and take the free ferry to Battery Park. From there you can take the subway easily to any destination.

Check out Priceline Express Deals for really affordable options in the city. Unless there's a huge event going on, I've found NYC to have extremely reasonable hotel rates.

+1 for Algonquin. A great little hotel with a lot of history in an excellent location.

I've seen the Waldorf Astoria for $100 a night in the not too distant past

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by motion

If you're visiting NYC, why would you stay outside of the city???

If you must, you could stay on Staten Island and take the free ferry to Battery Park. From there you can take the subway easily to any destination.

Check out Priceline Express Deals for really affordable options in the city. Unless there's a huge event going on, I've found NYC to have extremely reasonable hotel rates.

+1 for Algonquin. A great little hotel with a lot of history in an excellent location.

I've seen the Waldorf Astoria for $100 a night in the not too distant past

Okay, thanks... just presumed NYC was big money because I hear rent is crazy expensive.

We are traveling in October and are going to take the train to DC to check out all the monuments & museums... hotels right in DC are +/- $500 a night... and yes that is too rich for our blood. Fortunately Alexandria is just a 15 minute train ride away.

[motion]

What are your dates for NYC and DC?

[scottmandue]

Maybe October 12-25 is a busy time because everything right in town is $300-$700 I guess I should have said our budget is $100-$250ish.

And I don't want to be in the 'hood' so presume to get something reasonably nice in our price range we will have to get a hotel out of town near public transportation we can take into town.

NYC 12-16 DC 20-24

Staten Island looks doable.

[motion]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Maybe October 12-25 is a busy time because everything right in town is $300-$700 I guess I should have said our budget is $100-$250ish.

And I don't want to be in the 'hood' so presume to get something reasonably nice in our price range we will have to get a hotel out of town near public transportation we can take into town.

NYC 12-16 DC 20-24

Staten Island looks doable.

[motion]

[pwd72s]

Bed Bug Registry—Check Apartments and Hotels Across North America

[scottmandue]

Thanks Motion!!!



Uploaded subway and transit maps so we can book something close to transportation.

[Otter74]

If you're makin a tourist visit to NYC I can't imagine why you would stay outside of the city. As someone else recommended, given your list of interests, I'd find a hotel in midtown or nearby. You will have enough to do that you won't want to spend an extra hour or two every day getting to where you want to be and back. If midtown isn't in your budget, I'd consider Brooklyn. E.g. the Pod hotel in Williamsburg; I find Brooklyn more interesting than Manhattan and I'd suggest exploring it some if you have time after seeing the touristy things you're interested in. Also, don't discount walking. New York is a great city for walking. I've walked from, for instance, Greenpoint to park Slope and from the financial district to Harlem, and you get a lot more out of your travel than taking the subway, though of course it takes a lot longer.

[speeder]

Same as everyone else said. Stay in Manhattan. Furthermore, stay in the neighborhood where you will be spending most of your time. Use Priceline or similar for hotel deals but make sure to book enough nights. If you love your Priceline hotel and want to extend your stay, the price will quadruple.

[MRM]

There are several Hilton properties that are south of Central park and between Times Square and Rockefeller Plaza, which is roughly the area I recommend. Hilton just sent me an email advertising the Midtown at $250 a night. The Waldorf-Astoria is in the most perfect location for tourists but it’s been closed for a year or so while it goes through a three year renovation. It needed it. I do like Hilton Honors because their points program is pretty generous and just having the credit card gives you gold status which gets you free breakfast. That’s a pretty valuable perk in an expensive place like NYC.

All of New York is quite safe now so feel free to stay anywhere. I walked my son through Hell’s Kitchen and Times Square, trying to explain to him that the expensive boutiques and restaurants used to be strip clubs and head shops.

[Gogar]

+1

If you're being a tourist stay in Manhattan and deal with the extra cost.

If you have any Credit Card or airline points built up see if you can find a deal on a fun hotel like the Standard or the Waldorf or the Ritz or something!

IMO staying by Times Square isn't really something to do though.

[rcooled]

While on a visit to NYC last summer, we stayed right across the Hudson River at a Hyatt Regency in Jersey City, NJ. It's built out on a pier and has spectacular views of lower Manhattan. Access to NYC is a breeze. There's a PATH (subway) station just a 5-minute walk from the hotel that'll take you right to Freedom Plaza and One World Trade Cntr. in 10 minutes. It's also easy to connect to other subway lines from there that can take you all over Manhattan. You can also take a ferry across to NY if you like...the terminal is also right near the hotel. There's a great promenade along the Hudson on the NJ side which is great for walking and biking. You can rent bikes right outside the hotel.

https://jerseycity.regency.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html

While in NYC, be sure to visit the observation deck on the 102nd floor of the Freedom Tower. Incredible views...and the elevator ride alone is worth the price of admission.

View from our hotel room balcony ↓

[Jims5543]

We just booked for a long weekend the first weekend of June at a Four Points Sheraton in the Chelsea area. We had enough points to book for free.

Hotels dot com, Trip Adviser and google all are good for checking reviews.

In the end, it is a place to keep our luggage and sleep at night. We have no plans on being in the room any longer than to sleep, shower and get dressed for the next day.

We are taking the 15 year old to see the tourist sites, plus have have family in the city and out on the Island we hope to see.

I echo get in the middle of everything, immerse yourself in it, Manhattan has a really cool vibe to it, the city does indeed never sleep. We prefer to be in the middle of it all and be able to walk out the hotel into it all.