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

cloudy_nines

Hellllooooo all!!

Well, i have just spent the last week or so reading the thread from start to finish, but I have some questions...

We are coming to the states in May 2010 for a 9 day trip to Las Vegas, followed by a 5 day trip to New York.

Booked my Las Vegas hotel so all sorted, now looking at flights & NYC hotel.

I have been recommended a website called airbab.com, where you can stay in someones apartment for a fraction of the cost of a hotel. However, I have read throughout this thread that most sublets are illegal in New York. If an apartment has had good reviews and all seems ligit, how can I tell whether its legal or now? What impact can it have? To be honest I am now thinking of staying in a hotel and I think I have narrowed it down to 2 choices (two completely different choices I may add) The Cosmopolitan, currently offering rates at $169 a night via coneXions OR I am thinking of staying in Long Island at the Country Inn & Suites. This is very close to a subway (10 min ride to mid town), the hotel has a pretty good review & the price is good (£442 for 5 nights, city view room). Was wondering whether anyone has stayed in Long Island before, whether its worth it for the slightly lower cost? The other thing I must point out when considering hotel rooms is that I am a VERY light sleeper.....is the Cosmo quiet? Is it worth going a bit further out for a bit of quiet?

Flights - best I have found is £416 via Kayak for a multi stop flight (LHR - LAS via ATL & then LAS - JFK and finally JFK - LHR). This is with Delta. Does this sound reasonable? I have checked Delta direct and they are charging £432 so slightly more. Main concern is that the Delta flight information states there is NO INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT between LHR - ATL & ATL - LAS - seriously?!? No movies, no nothing? The flight numbers are Delta 9 Boeing 767-400ER for the first leg & Delta 1093 Boeing 767-300ER for the second. So no movies, no nothing? This would seriously put me off flying with them!

Lastly, I am a mad Sex and The City fan and I am really interested in the tour....has anyone done it and if so what is it like?

So excited, got so much to plan and organise, love it!!!

Lady_S

Sublets are illegal and they are strongly recommended against.

Hotels depend on what you want from your stay. For me, I couldn't go and not stay in the thick of things. I like the ability to pop back to the hotel in the middle of the day if I want, or get back late at night easily. But this being said it is horses for courses and I am sure some people much prefer staying outside the city.

Hotels will normally be cheaper closer to the time you are travelling. I would suggest reading the reviews on trip advisor and making a decision about where abouts you want to be. Then, keep searching the usual suspects for the best deal.

I have stayed in two different hotels. The higher the floor generally the quieter it will be. We stayed in the doubletree last time we went, right in the middle of times square, but we were so high you wouldn't have known it. It was very quiet. The Affinia Dumont was nosier, but it was on a main cross street and at times there were alot of sirens. But it never woke me up, only during the day/early evening.

wept

cloudy_nines wrote: »

Hellllooooo all!!

The Cosmopolitan, currently offering rates at $169 a night via coneXions OR I am thinking of staying in Long Island at the Country Inn & Suites. This is very close to a subway (10 min ride to mid town), the hotel has a pretty good review & the price is good (£442 for 5 nights, city view room). Was wondering whether anyone has stayed in Long Island before, whether its worth it for the slightly lower cost? The other thing I must point out when considering hotel rooms is that I am a VERY light sleeper.....is the Cosmo quiet? Is it worth going a bit further out for a bit of quiet?


So excited, got so much to plan and organise, love it!!!

The Cosmo is fine...can't believe its a year tomorrow since we stayed there!!
There is a subway right outside the hotel and you can be in Times Sq in 15 minutes!!!
There is a great Deli across the road called Morgans, opposite that Deli is a pub called Reade St that do great beer and food.
Next door to the hotel is aplace called The Soda Shop that does great breakfast - the pancakes and fruit is superb.
Ther is another bar across the road from the hotel that does at least 99 different beers although I only tried about 10!! I preferred Read St Pub..
The Cosmo in Tribeca is a brilliant place to be based as you can walk to loads of attractions in 15 minutes...Battery Park, Ground Zero, South St Seaport, Financial district, Century 21(hated it though).
We even walked to Little Italy and Chinatown from the Cosmo.
Its not luxurious and rooms can be small but you will not fine a cleaner place in the whole of NY.

This knowledge was gained with a lot of help from the old poster MarkyMoo.

twinkler

Hi Everyone

Im just putting the finishing touches to our first ever trip to NYC next month.

I was looking at getting a city pass but most of the places i plan to visit do not need a pass at all (grand central station, ESB, Times Square etc)

The only 'must see' i have is the TOTR both during the day and at night. Ive been on there site and they have a sunset - sunrise ticket at $30 each - does that sound good?
Im not sure wether to book now before i go or leave it until im there. As it will be freezing i want to try to avoid waiting in large quees (i believe i will be able to jump to the front with this ticket?)

becky_rtw

I've never had to queue at TOTR to be honest but you do save a small amount by pre-booking on their site so its up to you...

greenface

ToTR is much better than ESB IMO AFAIK IYKWIM . Sorry
$30 for two trips isnt bad value Daytime gives you a better idea on just how bloody high you are. Nighttime should be done second so you know what and where you're looking great views both.
Grand Central is fantastic to just sit on the sides with a coffee and people watch look at the ceiling and the constilations look at the corners and the straights the colors (colours) Because its a usable train station you get the hustle and bustle of people with their head down trying to get to work on time next to the tourists open mouthed with cameras flashing

twinkler

Thanks for getting back to me.

Ive heard that TOTR is better than the ESB quite a bit on this site. Definetely want to go to the observatory on the TOTR and then will fit it the ESB if have time (only there for 3 days)

I think i will get those tickets and then its one less thing to have to think about.

Thanks again

greenface

ESB is a good idea fo the experiance and because you can say "youve done it" and its not like you have to look at a map to find it

thatsfabulous

greenface wrote: »

ESB is a good idea fo the experiance and because you can say "youve done it" and its not like you have to look at a map to find it

Very true, I went up ESB on my first visit- just to say i'd been up it really.
Went up TOTR on this visit and the view was amazing, better than ESB however still glad i done ESB first.

I think if your doing TOTR, ESB or Liberty I think best time to go is in the morning. There all places you want to take lots of pictues so best to go when not as busy to get best pictures also it will save you lots of time No queues in the mornings. We got on our ferry to Liberty island straight away at 9am, when we left island about 12pm there was an hour 1.5hour wait for ferry.

Stew68

twinkler wrote: »

Hi Everyone

Im just putting the finishing touches to our first ever trip to NYC next month.

I was looking at getting a city pass but most of the places i plan to visit do not need a pass at all (grand central station, ESB, Times Square etc)

The only 'must see' i have is the TOTR both during the day and at night. Ive been on there site and they have a sunset - sunrise ticket at $30 each - does that sound good?
Im not sure wether to book now before i go or leave it until im there. As it will be freezing i want to try to avoid waiting in large quees (i believe i will be able to jump to the front with this ticket?)

We were there three weeks ago and bought the ticket at the counter, we were there just after it opened and bought the two visit ticket for $30, we were surprised to be told that the second visit could be done that day or the day after, very useful if the weather closes in later in the first day.