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

M4RKM

myk wrote: »

I dont know if anyone has tried this place but we will be there for a week next month.

Kings Hotel, Brooklyn.

The marathon goes past very close to it also early on so it will be good for my OH to try and spot me.
Also I am near to the start so get a lie in, as they close the bridge to staten Island at 7am:eek:

Average price £75 per night.

http://www.hotels.co.uk/ho278784/kings-hotel-brooklyn-united-states/

I've looked at that hotel, and it's a bit out of the way... Near a subway station, and directly next to the tracks (and the cemetery), but not in the heart of Brooklyn for what I'd class as a good choice for a Manhattan holiday.Also, it takes about 40 mins on the subway to get into Manhattan, and then you're at City Hall, which is in Lower Manhattan and will have to change to get up into SoHo, Greenwich Village, Midtown etc.

It's a great price, and if you don't mind the travelling it's probably a much better choice than staying in NJ, as it's only $2.25 on the subway, which runs 24 hours!!!


M

Queen_B_3

Lady_S wrote: »

I have only ever booked hotels and flights seperate, but, BA's deals do seem to rock at the moment. I love Virgin's PE product, but, this is even tempting me to move across. I am a bit useless as I like day flights back, I can't sleep on a plane and it makes me really sick

Just found this on there

Flying on 18th January, if you have a late flight and stay at the Metro it is £798 for the pair of you, but if you switch this to the early flight it is £854 for both of you.

A friend stopped at the Metro earlier this year and said it was proper lovely.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g60763-d99392-Reviews-Hotel_Metro-New_York_City_New_York.html

Reviews look good for the hotel tooxx

Thank you for this, this was the hotel i originally wanted to stay at but there was no availabiltiy on Virgin for the dates we wanted to go.

Originally we did want to fly out of Manchester for convience but given the £200 we could save if we got a deal like this then I'm sure it wouldn't cost us that to get down there from where we live.

Thanks for all the responeses, really helpful :T

gregg1

Queen_B wrote: »

Thank you for this, this was the hotel i originally wanted to stay at but there was no availabiltiy on Virgin for the dates we wanted to go.

Originally we did want to fly out of Manchester for convience but given the £200 we could save if we got a deal like this then I'm sure it wouldn't cost us that to get down there from where we live.

Thanks for all the responeses, really helpful :T

You my have had a lucky escape - we stayed at the metro and were not impressed at all. Surly, unhelpful staff, shabby room, toilets overflowing and not being fixed - i could go on !!!

cas-kitt

2 weeks and 3 days till our 1st trip to nyc, cannot wait
we are staying at the Beacon hotel, anyone stayed there?
our flight is not direct but with a stop in amsterdam, do we have to collect our luggage an re check in for the onward flight to nyc ?

hearts

Hi, I'm off to NY for 5 days next week. Thanks for all the great tips. With regard to The Boathouse, I'm taking the OH and daughter there for a meal. Do we/should we book in advance? Also I notice they have an 18% service charge for parties of 6, is this then the recommende tip 18-20% and should I use this as a norm when eating out etc.
Thanks

M4RKM

Meh to the Boathouse.... it's not THAT amazing from what I've heard, however yes, you would need to reserve, or you could be waiting 2 - 3 hours, even for lunch.

Whenever in an NYC restaurant, the tip should be minimum double the tax.. You might not get what I mean, but when you see your bill, you'll have your food and drinks, then a line saying tax, and then a total. You hand over the "total" and work out what double the tax is, and add that on the plate as well.. double the tax works out to be around 17%.

When in a bar, you tip min - $1 per drink, taxi drivers min 10% (and that's if he shouted, used his horn, and still got you there in one piece!)

Tipping is a culture in NYC, don't be branded as one of the tourists who doesn't tip..

M

phatbear

Meh to tipping.

You should tip what you want not what you feel obliged too.

Im not down with this whole tipping culture where someone should feel they have to tip regardless of service just because they dont earn much money and they rely on the tip to pay their rent etc, if you dont like the job get another job, consider you tip taxi drivers but not bus drivers you tip a server in a restaurant but not in mcdonalds or starbucks odd eh.

Dont get me wrong im a generous tipper when the service is good, i will happily give 15%-20%, in any country, however if the service is not good, ie below average ie the waitress has not been attentive etc then they will get a smaller or no tip at all.

Recently i was in Johns pizzeria just off of times square for lunch and the only time we saw our waiter was when he took our order and when he brought us our bill, now correct me if im wrong but does such service rate a 15%+ tip? Hell the chap did'nt even bring us our food. If I had been paying he would have stood no chance alas because Mrs Phatbear was paying for it she left a tip because she has a fear of being chased down the street by waiters, odd eh.

Another issue to be aware of is the slow creeping in of "service charge included" virgils BBQ on the last trip, which by the way the waiting staff area always on the ball and polite so they always get 20%, have started to include service charge in the bill so be wary of double tipping.

Just my two penneth.

phatbear

markymoo wrote: »

Tipping is a culture in NYC, don't be branded as one of the tourists who doesn't tip..

M

And for anyone whos interested they dont actually brand you

And the whole "tipping is a culture" is only there because tight employers dont want to pay their waiting staff proper wages, and by tipping heavily it takes the pressure off the employers to pay people what they deserve/need, therefore by tipping you are just facilitating these peoples actions.

M4RKM

Mr Bear, I think we'll agree to disagree on this one. It boils down to local customs though, and as the phrase goes "when in rome" (you know what i mean!). If the local tips $1 a drink, I'll tip $1 a drink, the local will get a buy back, I'll get a buy back.

Think about it though, if an american tourist comes to the UK, and breaks british customs (customs, culture), then we'd sure as hell let them know.

If the hospitality industry in NYC isn't to your liking, where waitstaff get paid according to how much they get in tips, and the price on the menu is for food, and not for someone bringing it to you, then there are places that you can visit where tipping is frowned upon.

Afterall, TIPS stands for To Insure Proper Service, and if you don't tip, in some places you sure as hell won't get good service the next time you go there... and that's some tourists mindset, because they ain't going back, they don't need to tip.

Admittedly, when service is bad, you should tip accordingly, but you should also complain, and state WHY...and not just tip nothing or a small amount.

BTW.. the service I got at John's on Bleeker was outstanding, and the waitstaff that I got couldn't do enough really, checking we were ok, that the food was good etc etc..

M

phatbear

markymoo wrote: »

Mr Bear, I think we'll agree to disagree on this one.

Not a prob dont wana come across as some tight old sod, which im not im stupidly generous at times, but well y'know its just a different perspective on the same subject.

Oooh and one more thing I know what the Romans do and it aint pretty!!!