Everything & Anything New York City

Philippa36

We stayed in the Affinia Manhattan last time - a really nice hotel, lovely large and very clean rooms and we were given free breakfast vouchers for the week too. It wasn't too close to Times Square but a short walk up to everything and close to the subway. I definitely recommend it.

karenlyth25

Hi guys

I am looking to book a break to NY with BA on 24 March 2010. The hotel is called Wyndham Garden City and for four nights plus flights, BA want £580.60 each....I have tried a "build your own" but am a bit worried that if something goes wrong with one, I will lose out on the other.....can anyone tell me if this price is any good please?

Many Thanks

greenface

Where from ?? Price isnt too bad but BAQ have been a bit cheeky in how they price things . Try seperate Ba flights and hotel and it will work out more i bet but break down a BA flight from London with Wyndam or similar as hotels are priced per room not per person . IMO good price dont know much about the Wyndham but check out Trip Advisor and Hotel Websites etcs but also check which Wyndham you are staying because there is one in Times Square ( pretty much the middle of Manhattan)Ranked #22# in TA from over 400 and one by LaGuardia Airport (a fair distance from NYC and not the greatest place in the world to stay) IMO .... PS my spelling is getting worse im off back to skool soon 4 sure

karenlyth25

Thanks Greenface.

It will be from Heathrow and its the the times square one. I have tried pricing up separately and its slightly cheaper but worried about companies going bust and not being cover ATOL because of booking separate.

Think for piece of mind I will go with the BA one. Thanks for your help

dmg24

Quick hello - I'm on a bus to New York! Not really sure where I am, but I'm sure the driver knows where he is going?!

I need something to do this afternoon, tomorrow I am spending the day in Central Park, and Sunday I'll no doubt do the Statue of Liberty. I'm not shopping, will do that in Boston. Any ideas?!

KK22_2

I loved the NYPD museum when i was there but the weather wasn't nice outside which justified an afternoon indoors.

cooking-mama

I cannot believe my week in NYC has been and gone. , we got home Tuesday 13th after a fantastic weeks holiday.
Thanks to everyone on here who provided help and advice,and recommendation of The New Yorker hotel,which we thoroughly enjoyed...ive posted a review on trip advisor under the name Annecalscotland,16th July.Entitled "Great 1 week stay at this hotel", Hope this link works.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g60763-d122005-r71122345-The_New_Yorker_Hotel-New_York_City_New_York.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT
Flight from Glasgow to London Heathrow was very good,comfy plane with complimentary tea/biscuits pretzels on the way there,and a full cooked breakfast on the way back...Transatlantic flights werent so good,seemed to be less leg room than on the internal flight...not helped by the family of 3 who totaly reclined their seats into our space for the whole flight..felt very squashed!!!,In flight entertainment was good(tho OH's TV didnt work on return)meals and drinks were more than adequate.All 4 of our flights were delayed,(from 30mins,to 1.5hrs)but all pilots made up time in transit.
We arrived in JFK around 8pm at night,but didnt get out of the stifling airport until after 10pm,security took forever,massive long que,no seats,only 2 big fans to cool the air,Taxi outside was quick and hassle free,the heat was unbearable,once at the hotel we had a quick smooth check in,only took minets,we dumped our bags and ventured out,my initial reaction was OMG,this place stinks.!!,We didnt realise we had arrived in the middle of a heatwave,because of the heat/humidity and the amount of binbags waiting for collection there was a definate pong in the air..2 scurrying rats didnt make me feel much better either!!,however that was the last we saw of them,in daylight hours things looked a lot better,tho at 103.0c,they didnt feel much better,it was sooooo hot.
Altho there for a week,we didnt do half the things we wouldve liked to have done, we went to Empire state building,statue of liberty,Ellis island(fantastic),central park,including a horse n cart ride,museum of new york(very small,not recommended)Bloomingdales,Macy's,(both have sales on,up to 40% off)Times square, Harlem tour,brooklyn night tour,downtown- uptown tours,Broadway show(Chigago)got 50%off tickets at TKTS Times Square,started queing at 2,20pm,got served at 3.15pm,Rockefeller center at 6.30 am (along with 20 000 others),to catch Lady Ga Ga's free concert,could hear her realy well,but only got a fleeting glance of the lady herself.,we also went to a fantastic free concert in central park where Jimmy Cliff(The harder they come,and theme tune to cool running etc etc)was headlining,what an atmosphere,and all for the price of a donation,,again we had to que for around 1 hour to ensure entry,but well worth it,anyone into music should check out Summer stage for free weekend concerts over the next few months,Public Image are playing Aug 15th and The Specials Aug.22nd.

http://www.summerstage.org/mainstage.html?m=07&y=2010&b=

We bought the open top Hop on Hop off bus tour tickets(Blue and yellow buses,seem better value than the Red ones),
$86 each for 4 days bus pass,that included boat trip and entry to Statue of liberty,and Ellis island,Empire state building/Museum of New York and a 75min river cruise(we never got to use these tickets,ran out of time)we felt the Hop on Hop off buses were very good for us during our first visit to NYC,and as well as being convenient for travelling,they were very informative and interesting,also altho the bus tickets only last 4days,the sightseeing tickets(empire state building,statue of liberty etc)last longer,we used our E.S.B ticket on the last day,7days after we bought it.Next time(very much hoping there will be a next time. )we wouldnt use the Hop on Hop off buses,but we would use the Subway more.
One of the guides advised us that when tipping,if its a food bill we should "double the tax" and give that amount as a tip,and for Taxis we should Tip 1dollar for every 6,Taxi from JFK we gave $60 as recommended on here,but on the way back we paid $90(our choice,wouldve gave him more if we'd had more cash on us),we left waaaay too late to catch our flight,we had arrived at night so transfer from JFK to New Yorker was relatively quick,(maybe slightly under 1 hour)but we were leaving during "rush hour" for a late evening flight, and totaly underestimated the amount of traffic,and the complete standstill in traffic jams at times,!!!, we knew we were in trouble when the taxi driver said "Hi,what times your flight?,is it around 9pm??.I was like "Eh No,its at 7.30pm,yikes.!!!,I was literaly sweating blood,we hadnt even checked in online for our return flight.lucky for us we had a very experienced taxi driver(who also drove like a maniac,honking at anything in his way,creating 4 lanes of traffic where only 3 existed,and im sure breaking the speed limit on several occassions,just to get us to the airport on time)apparantly we shouldve left a good 1.5 to 2hrs earlier!!,however we got there with only 20mins to spare.Thankfully the selfserve check in computers were working,cos there was nobody at our check in desk(only at BA club class,and they werent interested in us mere Economy travelers,and sent us to the empty desk anyway,by the time we checked in tho a woman appeared and we managed to get our baggage checked in and just made it within the 1hour to reach security deadline.
sorry if this has been a bit longwinded,but hopefully there will be something usefull to somebody in amongst it all,for everyone still to go,hope you have a fantastic time., we did.

lisadolphin

Hi cooking mama thanks for a fantastic review! Very informative. I'm curious, what was the time you left the hotel for JFK?

cooking-mama

lisadolphin wrote: »

Hi cooking mama thanks for a fantastic review! Very informative. I'm curious, what was the time you left the hotel for JFK?

Glad you found it useful Lisadolphin,
we left the hotel at 4.40pm,,flight was at 7.30pm,.we thought this was plenty of time,..But apparantly it was advisable we checked in 3hrs before at the earliest.!..(didnt notice that on our Etickets:o,),and we had to be at security 1hr at the latest before our flight,therefore 6.30...Tho after check in we made it to security at 6.20.pm.And as i mentioned we totaly underestimated the difference in traffic and lenghth of time to airport due to going at 5pm instead of 10pm.:oDriver got us there in 1hr30mins,still amazed he did it.
The first part of the Taxi ride was the most worrying,because it was almost 5pm,we had been in the car for 35mins and had only travelled a couple of miles up the road, we were still in the city center..after getting out the city centre the driver took a different route because the Highways were at a complete standstill at times,he bypassed them,the traffic was still heavy but at least continualy moving,until just outside JFK where we had to join the Highway to get to the airport,traffic slowed down again cos it was so busy,but thankfully we made it on time.Taxi driver said we shouldve left around 3pm for a less stressful transfer:eek:,

*pinkie*

cooking-mama wrote: »

we left the hotel at 4.40pm,,flight was at 7.30pm

Eeeek! You like to cut things fine! I normally leave the hotel 4 to 5 hours before my flight when i m in New York and i travel on the subway rather than taxi.