Anything & Everything New York (PART 2) - [please search thread before posting]

M4RKM

Iwork2shop wrote: »

Hi, I've just returned from a 5 night trip to New York and would like to thank everyone for all the shared tips and advice :T.

I went as part of a family of 4 to celebrate my son's 18th birthday :beer: and I'd like to share the following tips:

hang on, half of these tips i share on a weekly basis

6. There's loads of places to eat. Our favourites included the food court at Grand Central Station (try the cheesecake at Juniors), Macys Bar and Grill (a cheapish place to eat using proper plates and cutlery!) and an excellent food court we found at a place called Whole Foods in the shopping Mall at Columbus Circle (bottom left hand corner of Central Park). The food court was actually within a supermarket but the quality was fantastic (similar to Marks and Spencer's) and reasonably cheap. We found the cheapest beer at Grand Central Station - $10 for 3 cans of ice cold beer/lager

$10 for 3 cans only... that's still expensive! i'll stick to the deli opposite the cosmo, I get beer there for $2 a can...

9. Buy a daily newspaper. For 75c you'll find out what's going on and if you're lucky there'll be some discount vouchers in the paper (there was one for 15% off at Macy's on a couple of days)

free in the cosmo hotel for a newspaper every day, and the NY Post is only 25¢ anyway. The free village voice gives you loads of listings for the week too.

10. If you're struggling to get onto the internet go to the Apple Store on the bottom right hand corner of Central Park where you'll be able to get into the internet for free.

There is free internet in many many places, including some hotels.. why not go in the apple store in soho, and you can sit in the theater there, or the apple store on 9th avenue nr chelsea market, or lower manhattans parks...

It's nice to get feedback, though, so excuse my sarcasm, but there are plenty of ways to save money.. why spend money on a newspaper, when you can pick up someone elses on the subway... why spend $10 on 3 cans of beer in grand central, when it's cheaper in local deli's... yeah, the more you go to NYC, the more you know how to get things cheaper...

M

Kim_Possible

markymoo wrote: »

Aaah.. now we're talking.

When it comes to flights, the best bet is to get the cheapest. Delta seem to work out the cheapest for me each time now, and I've flown with them twice, and onto my third flight with them this coming September.

There are some offers on travel zoo which end on the 7th sept, so it might be worth nosying at those - http://hotels.travelzoo.com/new-york-hotels/ - so if i search for you, and we look at a 31st Aug departure, if you got the Delta flight.. so $1507.80 for a reasonable priced hotel in Manhattan ($170 a night, then add tax on), works out at £930 for 7 nights. This is the deal for the Hotel Roger Williams, and the offer ends TODAY

You don't say how many people are staying in a room, so if we assume there are 2 people, then you're looking at £465, plus £350 for your flight.. that's only £815, so under your budget.

Now, £1000 budget per person, if you want seperate rooms, is tight for staying in Manhattan, as you're getting into the peak season (anything anywhere near the first week in September the prices shoot up!). Also, rooms are double, and they really don't do twin beds in NYC..

hope that helps

M

Thank you for the reply. Ive looked at travel zoo offers, i saw one for sheraton although it was for a sunday only i went onto their website which quoted 1600 dollars for a twin room for 7 nights.

I looked at the hotel you mentioned also on different websites and will bear it in mind.
After a bit more research ive come to the conclusion for a twin room for 7 nights on thoese dates will be roughly 1500 dollars total stay.
I know its a cliche but i keep on thinking of branded hotels eg sheraton/ marriott/hilton/westin etc:rolleyes:.. i dont know why.

Any website suggestions apart from travelzoo?
tia

image3

markymoo wrote: »

so, its £800 for 2 people for 4 nights..

It's not that much of a bargain. You won't be able to stay out that late in Manhattan.. you're actually staying at the airport. However good it looks, I personally don't think it is a bargain. Let me explain why.

Your flights are probably CO or Delta, so you're looking at £600 for them, so yeah, you've only spent £50 a night on a hotel room, cos they charge per room, not per person.. so lets add that £50/$80 a night into the overall sum, remember that number...

it's $15 per person from Newark Airport, which looking at it, is the nearest train station, each way, so even though you might have a great price, you have to spend hell of a lot more, to get into manhattan, and think about when you want to relax, get showered, changed, and back out, that's another cost to add on there...

so, say you do 2 trips to the hotel and back, to drop off shopping, freshen up, and get changed for an evening out, rather than being in the same clothes, hot and sticky thanks to the new york weather they have.

So, $30 return, twice, is $60, which is then doubled as there are 2 of you.. that's $120 a day in travel alone, half that obviously if you only do one trip per day, but in the muggy new york heat, you'll probably want to get back to get changed and showered.
So, add that onto you $80 and you could have spent $200 a night on a hotel room in Manhattan itself!!!!!!

If you're going to walk the 5 miles to Newark Penn Station, then you will save some money, but it's still $16 a round trip, so that's still $64 a day for 2 of you to do 2 trips. so $64+80 = $144.

Thing is, if you're going to stay OUT of Manhattan, NEW JERSEY is NOT the place to be. Stay in Queens or Brooklyn, where there is actually the NYC Subway system, so it is cheap, and EASY to get back and forth to your place of stay.

When i'm visiting New York City, I want to stay in New York City... if i wanted to visit New Jersey, that's exactly where i'll stay.
This is just my opinion, and i'm sure you'll take the info on board, and not just think I'm whinging. I'm making you aware, that something too good to be true, is just exactly that..

Now, if the expedia website states Newark Penn Station, i'd complain straight away to them, and get them to refund you the full hotel portion, so you can book something else, in Manhattan. Yes, you'll pay more now, but think of the money you're going to save on them train fares!

M

Oh Dear it looks like we have a bit of a problem - I will take your advice Markymoo and speak with Expedia about alternative accomodation - post back in due course. :eek:

M4RKM

image3 wrote: »

Oh Dear it looks like we have a bit of a problem - I will take your advice Markymoo and speak with Expedia about alternative accomodation - post back in due course. :eek:

Expedia do have good offers on hotels in Manhattan, yes you will have to pay more, and make sure you make them aware of that when you call up... Hotel rates are normally cancelable, so keep the flights, you need them, just try change the hotel. Avoid Times Square if possible, and tell us here so we can comment before you agree to anything that expedia offer. You need to get some compo for the wrong website information!

You didn't give me your exact dates, so if you see this, let me know and i'll see what kinda prices I can find on hotels for you..

And trust me when I say about going back to the hotel during the day/early evening. You think the UK gets humid, NYC can beat that, but it is the greatest city in the world, so you need that rest/freshen up!

M

cas-kitt

Hi all, this is my first post so please be gentle with me, hubby and i are hoping to visit ny in late october, looking for mid price hotel and flight from bimingham,budget around £1100 or so for 5 or 6nights, any advice gratefully recieved.

M4RKM

Cheapest flights right now from BHX to NYC are £255 each, with a change in AMS, so you have £600 for 5 nights hotel in NYC.

hmm, that works out right now to be $960 or $192 a night inc tax, which probably is a bit tight for Manhattan.. on quikbook right now, you're looking at anything between $200 - $250 a night before tax, the Hotel Cosmopolitan works out at $189 before tax, which is $216 inc tax... $1083 all in, which is £676

so, that plus flights, £1226.

dates i used were 22nd october, for 5 nights.

To get 6 nights, you will have to increase your budget. If you want a different hotel in a different, more tourist trap area, then again, you'll have to increase your budget.


M

niceday999

Hi, going to new york 4th March 2010 for 5 nights. can anyone recommend a nice hotel. thinking somewhere central maybe midtown east ? if not why not ? and where to stay then ?.....want to be handy for the subway as plan to see as much as possible... and do the shops etc.... dont want to spend anymore than around £500 to £550 per room per couple for the 5 nights..... should i wait and just keep looking...even if i know what hotel to go for that would be half the battle. want somewhere nice....thanks
also transfers from New ark to nyc .how easy is it ? or should we just get a taxi for 4 of us ?

M4RKM

niceday999 wrote: »

Hi, going to new york 4th March 2010 for 5 nights. can anyone recommend a nice hotel. thinking somewhere central maybe midtown east ? if not why not ? and where to stay then ?.....want to be handy for the subway as plan to see as much as possible... and do the shops etc.... dont want to spend anymore than around £500 to £550 per room per couple for the 5 nights..... should i wait and just keep looking...even if i know what hotel to go for that would be half the battle. want somewhere nice....thanks
also transfers from New ark to nyc .how easy is it ? or should we just get a taxi for 4 of us ?

I'll be in NYC then, so i'm not even going to recommend you stay at the Cosmopolitan hotel, because I'll probably be there.

There is nothing to see in Midtown East. It is just big business after big business and hotel after hotel, or should I rephrase that, expensive hotel, after expensive hotel.

There ain't any offers around for hotels right now for March next year, so on such a small budget, I can't recommend anything at all right now. £100-£110 per night isn't going to get you much, you need to look IMO, a minimum of £170 a night (if we're talking in british money), even the Cosmopolitan Hotel, which i'm NOT recommending as I'll be there that week, is $149 a night, and I class the Cosmo as a cheap hotel, not a nice hotel... if you really want a nice hotel, double your budget and you MIGHT get something close on a special deal!

Transfers from Newark are detailed in the - GETTING INTO AND AROUND MANHATTAN - guide, which you can read if you click on PAGE 1 of this thread....

image3

markymoo wrote: »

Expedia do have good offers on hotels in Manhattan, yes you will have to pay more, and make sure you make them aware of that when you call up... Hotel rates are normally cancelable, so keep the flights, you need them, just try change the hotel. Avoid Times Square if possible, and tell us here so we can comment before you agree to anything that expedia offer. You need to get some compo for the wrong website information!

You didn't give me your exact dates, so if you see this, let me know and i'll see what kinda prices I can find on hotels for you..

And trust me when I say about going back to the hotel during the day/early evening. You think the UK gets humid, NYC can beat that, but it is the greatest city in the world, so you need that rest/freshen up!

M

Thanks Markymoo - we are travelling Wed 9th September ( Continental from Manchester )and staying 4nights. Called Expedia this morning and they are going to call the Crowne Plaza asap regarding the free shuttle to Penn station shuttle. Expedia advised that the hotel booking was non-cancellable but until they can confirm the duf info we have to wait.

In the meantime we have seen what seems like a reasonable deal at the Comfort Inn Central Park West, although the reviews are very mixed - what do you think ?

Your help is very much appreciated

red_pad

cas-kitt wrote: »

Hi all, this is my first post so please be gentle with me, hubby and i are hoping to visit ny in late october, looking for mid price hotel and flight from bimingham,budget around £1100 or so for 5 or 6nights, any advice gratefully recieved.

Hi,

I'm staying in NY at the end of October. After much changing of plans we're finally staying at the Salisbury http://www.nycsalisbury.com/ It's had good reviews and we got a very good deal on hotels.com, £103 per night plus quidco cashback.:money:

Can't help with the flights sorry.