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

bleepandbooster

Yep...........13+ visits to Macys ! and the other shops that NY has !

Maybe a visit to "O Lunneys" Irish/Celtic Pub is a place you can visit in the evening, it's just across Times Square down the street with Swatch on one corner and Planet Holywood on the other. Hugh or Mr O the owner is in most nights and is a very good host. Either go for a stool at the bar or sit down and have a meal. We end up in there most nights for at least a drink or two/three/four/five etc. But it is handy as the walk home is not far !

Take a look at Frommers.com for more help with NYC. Register on the forums and you can question local NY'ers !

David

bb69

Does anyone on this board shop in Kiehl's when in NYC?

cooking-mama

Well,we have almost booked,undecided between the New Yorker and Holiday Inn 57th.....I know the New Yorker is recommended but has anyone been to the Holiday Inn one?..thinking of that 1 due to the rooftop pool(going in July)
Another question...what options are there for evening entertainment with a 12year old?

Savvy_Sue

There's a part of me which thinks that a Holiday Inn is a Holiday Inn is a Holiday Inn ... and having stayed in a Holiday Inn in NJ on our trip, I wouldn't be rushing back for the breakfast!

bleepandbooster

For most of our trips to NYC we have stayed at the "Best Western President Hotel" which is just off Times Square down the street with Hersheys on the corner ! For some reason alot of people moan about this hotel..........but we have found it clean,tidy,safe and the location for us is spot on. We have made friends with the staff who look out for us and have even refused to take a tip for their services. A big plus is that it has just been refurbed. Might not be everybodies cup of tea, but has certainly floated our boat.

David

greenface

although good a holiday inn are the same worldwide basically . but there not bad i have stayed in a few and often in the bloomsbury london one (great for wheelchairs)
new yorker is a iconic building art deco in its finest. You love nyc for its history i do history is the new yorker google it

but its your choice

pcg2001

dmg24 wrote: »

Quick heads up if anybody is looking for a bargain hotel in NY over the next few months - I have just got the Holiday Inn Downtown for less than £60 per night (bid amount £47)! It is on Priceline, from looking on BetterBidding there seem to be lots of dates available. It is only 3* but gets pretty decent reviews.

I'll post more info later if anybody needs it - just need to sleep off my hangover first! :-)

This is an amazing price!! I see you also posted this on the Priceline thread as well (thanks for this as well). I don't know the NY areas in priceline so cannot see if you were lucky or extremely skillful (I already know way too much about priceline and hotels for someone who does not work in the hospitality business - should think of doing a degree on this :rotfl:), but either way Congrats on your priceline skills, I am soooo envious. and thinking, if I get a cheap deal on flights...

pcg2001

niceday999 wrote: »

bearing in mind Times Sqaure is a no no to stay, can anyone advise me ?
first timers in New york and want to do the shops, sight seeing and see central park, T.o.t.r. and ground zero.
what area or zone should i be looking at ? want to be near a tube station for easy travel. Is that "Penn station" then i should be looking at ?

Greenface said it: there is nothing wrong with Times Square. Some people will advise against, mostly because they have been to NY before and prefer a hipper area like the LES or staying closer to the locals. IN Times Square it might be overpriced, but some people love the hustle and bustle and there never is a problem of loneliness when going back at night. Around Times Square, in my opinion, is actually advisable if you are a first timer. we stayed at the hampton Inn times square north, which was on Eighth Avenue @ 51st Street. This was 1/2 block from Times Square and was extremely central for ... what we as first timers wanted to do! We walked to Central Park, to the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, to the intrepid, Macys, top of the rock, port authority, the theatre, iconic restaurants such as carnegie deli and john pizzeria, 5th avenue, etc. There is a subway station right next to the hotel that took us down to Downtown, which we used extensively with a Metrocard. We used the bus north to the museum of Natural History. The transport network is very simple to use if you get a free map and study it: contrary to London's, the subway lines are drawn on the map of manhattan so it is easy to signal the attractions and see how to get there. Then the buses will cross the city left to right (vice versa) and top to down (to the sides of the park), so you are never really far from a transport hub. Which is why people will advise that anywhere in manhattan is fine. However we valued always being within a walking distance from our hotel, since after a long day it was nice to simply walk to the hotel after diner - or after a few hours shopping, it was nice to drop the bags, grab a free apple or a free coffee from the hotel lobby and head back outside. Not counting the couple of naps on the first days!!

By the way, and this is advice I would like to share with everyone: We also did the 2 day bus tours to get our bearings in NY and do the Harlem, Brooklin and night loops. We never go on these tours when on holiday since we find them overpriced and for those people who cannot survive on their own (we make fun of the tourists on the open top buses in london when it is pouring rain - they could simply take the 23 or 15 buses, which are cheap and covered!! LOL), but I read someone on Tripadvisor saying that the first couple of days in Ny spent with those buses were invaluable just to have a feel for Manhattan and how to get around. This was timely adice for us. Our other 8 days went a lot easier after our NY loops, so I think it was money well spent. And we loved the night loop with the view of Mnahattan from Brooklyn.

niceday999

pcg2001 wrote: »

Greenface said it: there is nothing wrong with Times Square. Some people will advise against, mostly because they have been to NY before and prefer a hipper area like the LES or staying closer to the locals. IN Times Square it might be overpriced, but some people love the hustle and bustle and there never is a problem of loneliness when going back at night. Around Times Square, in my opinion, is actually advisable if you are a first timer. we stayed at the hampton Inn times square north, which was on Eighth Avenue @ 51st Street. This was 1/2 block from Times Square and was extremely central for ... what we as first timers wanted to do! We walked to Central Park, to the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, to the intrepid, Macys, top of the rock, port authority, the theatre, iconic restaurants such as carnegie deli and john pizzeria, 5th avenue, etc. There is a subway station right next to the hotel that took us down to Downtown, which we used extensively with a Metrocard. We used the bus north to the museum of Natural History. The transport network is very simple to use if you get a free map and study it: contrary to London's, the subway lines are drawn on the map of manhattan so it is easy to signal the attractions and see how to get there. Then the buses will cross the city left to right (vice versa) and top to down (to the sides of the park), so you are never really far from a transport hub. Which is why people will advise that anywhere in manhattan is fine. However we valued always being within a walking distance from our hotel, since after a long day it was nice to simply walk to the hotel after diner - or after a few hours shopping, it was nice to drop the bags, grab a free apple or a free coffee from the hotel lobby and head back outside. Not counting the couple of naps on the first days!!

By the way, and this is advice I would like to share with everyone: We also did the 2 day bus tours to get our bearings in NY and do the Harlem, Brooklin and night loops. We never go on these tours when on holiday since we find them overpriced and for those people who cannot survive on their own (we make fun of the tourists on the open top buses in london when it is pouring rain - they could simply take the 23 or 15 buses, which are cheap and covered!! LOL), but I read someone on Tripadvisor saying that the first couple of days in Ny spent with those buses were invaluable just to have a feel for Manhattan and how to get around. This was timely adice for us. Our other 8 days went a lot easier after our NY loops, so I think it was money well spent. And we loved the night loop with the view of Mnahattan from Brooklyn.

The hampton Inn times square north looks brilliant...have read the reviews on Trip Advisor and it seems just what we are looking for....
i have checked www.hotelscombined and its coming in at £686 through booking.com...
my dates are 4th mARCH TO 9TH MAR - 5 NIGHTS....
can anyone suggest any other sites to get this cheaper......?

pcg2001

niceday999 wrote: »

The hampton Inn times square north looks brilliant...have read the reviews on Trip Advisor and it seems just what we are looking for....
i have checked www.hotelscombined and its coming in at £686 through booking.com...
my dates are 4th mARCH TO 9TH MAR - 5 NIGHTS....
can anyone suggest any other sites to get this cheaper......?

via the hilton.com website, which is what we used (there is quidco as well), I see a 161usd rate per night. 5 nights is 1014usd with taxes which is approx 620£. This seems to be refundable. You will find my review on tripadvisor under the username xanapeq. I think the hilton is supposed to have a sale on weekends now on, not sure if this is reflected on the price.

The hampton inn times square south is brand new but I think the area is not as good from the reviews I read. I see an advance rate of 135usd plus taxes but this is non-refundable.

I have just written in another post about the hampton inn, which I honestly think was a great value chain, so I will copy it here:

In NY we stayed at the Hampton Inn Times Square North for 135 USD in August - this was booked direct with Hilton and via quidco (though I still have not been paid). HI is a 2.5 star hotel but was brilliant. Everything looked refurbished, free breakfast and in room wifi internet, central for the touristy NY since it was a couple of block from Times Square, the room was big (even compared to other Hiltons in Europe and the US) with a desk and ergonomic chair, as well as an armchair and table. I already mentioned the hot drinks available 24h from the lobby as well as the apples and cookies in the afternoon.
You can look for a similar type of hotel by another brand: Holiday inn express. Check out the Friends and Family deal (and others) in here (it is normally found in the first couple of pages). This is non-refundable though.

Anyway, regardless of this the usual advice of booking refundable rates applies, in case you see a better deal in the mean time or if your flights gets cancelled or delayed. That way you minimize your losses. But that will depend on how much savings you can get.

Happy planning!