Everything & Anything New York City

M4RKM

angandjim wrote: »

Haven't booked the hotel yet, but getting very very nervous, may I ask when you think the hotels will (if they do?) drop their prices please? Do I need to wait till a couple of days before? (don't know if I'm brave enough!) I was thinking of using the bidding site mentioned on the main site, have you used this?

I'm not a fan of priceline, mainly because the areas they use are kinda vague. I use sites like travelzoo, and quikbook.com to get ideas of the bargains.

See what you can find on hotwire, and cross check it against better bidding. If it comes to it, Priceline will work, but it only guarantees you 1 bed to sleep 2 people. It really depends on what your budget is.

M

M4RKM

BTW... DOH!. I thought you were going in August.. Re reading, you're going in April.. OK.. hotels.. I've done a bit of looking, and there is a SECRET SALE on quikbook. Gives you a "4*" for $159 per night before taxes (about £115 all in per night), that is a bit of a bargain. It is near Times Square, subway lines, etc, so not bad for a first time base. (I'm not keen on Times Square, other people are), A bit like priceline as you have no idea what hotel you're getting til it's booked.

M

Impius

Good morning all

I've booked flights for me and my mate to head to New York for the first time in August. We only have 3 nights so am looking for some advice on which part we should be looking to stay in. We would like to be near to some sort of nightlife and also close to as many of the tourist spots as possible but the budget is the problem as we are really only looking to spend a maximum of $150 per night and I'm struggling to find anything! We arrive on the 26th August.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

angandjim

M4RKM wrote: »

BTW... DOH!. I thought you were going in August.. Re reading, you're going in April.. OK.. hotels.. I've done a bit of looking, and there is a SECRET SALE on quikbook. Gives you a "4*" for $159 per night before taxes (about £115 all in per night), that is a bit of a bargain. It is near Times Square, subway lines, etc, so not bad for a first time base. (I'm not keen on Times Square, other people are), A bit like priceline as you have no idea what hotel you're getting til it's booked.

M

Sorry about all these questions, you really are exceptionally polite and gracious. The hotel, according to someone who's booked it on Trip Adviser, is the Mela, apparently the rooms are small, but I'm probably ok with that, have you any experience of it? Thank you, it does seem like a very good price doesn't it?

M4RKM

angandjim wrote: »

Sorry about all these questions, you really are exceptionally polite and gracious. The hotel, according to someone who's booked it on Trip Adviser, is the Mela, apparently the rooms are small, but I'm probably ok with that, have you any experience of it? Thank you, it does seem like a very good price doesn't it?

Who you chatting to on TA? I'm, (unsurprisingly), M4RKM over there too!!

I haven't any experience with the Mela, however, Oyster, a travel site who love to take photos, have loads of photos of the hotel, so you can make your own judgement call on it. It is a bit of a bargain though,

http://www.oyster.com/new-york-city/hotels/hotel-mela/

phatbear

Cant give you a review but im staying in the Mela in Aug, good reviews so far on TA.

Only downside I can see is the closeness to Times Sq, i.e could be a tad noisy at night

M4RKM

Impius wrote: »

Good morning all

I've booked flights for me and my mate to head to New York for the first time in August. We only have 3 nights so am looking for some advice on which part we should be looking to stay in. We would like to be near to some sort of nightlife and also close to as many of the tourist spots as possible but the budget is the problem as we are really only looking to spend a maximum of $150 per night and I'm struggling to find anything! We arrive on the 26th August.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I sense youth in your post. Mainly because you say you want some night life. Well, (and bear with me here), there is no better place for plenty of restaurants and bars, and 20something hipsters, than Williamsburg, in Brooklyn.

You're 1 hop on the subway to Manhattan and many many tourist attractions are only 20 minutes away, but for the nightlife, it is on your doorstep there.

Now, there is only 1 hotel in this area, and as you've used terminology "mate" I'm assuming you need 2 beds. However $150 is a LOW amount of money, even in the cheap time of year that August is. The Hotel Le Jolie, is showing rates for their twin room of over $220 a night (ouch!), but that could come down.

Looking at other hotels, There is a Secret Hotel on quikbook. Upper East Side is $129 - but it's only 1 bed. Also, the UES, is great for museums, and residentail, it ain't really a party neighbourhood. Looking at the cheapest option with 2 beds is a prepaid rate at the Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Chelsea. Better for nightlife, good subway links. Average nightly rate of $159 before tax (that's $182 ish inc tax).

I have this inkling that rates should be cheaper. it is only March, and you're looking for August. I went to NYC just a few weeks ago, ended up booking for the 2nd week in March, around the last week in December. That's when the deals started creeping in, just about 2-3 months before.

Also, your budget is kinda low. If you could stretch that budget up to $200 inc tax then you're onto a winner. Also, the subway is your friend, so stop thinking about being close to the tourist attractions, when the subway will take you there. $2.25 per ride, is cheap to get around NYC.

Impius

M4RKM - thanks so much for your reply. You were right in all of your assumptions there about needing two beds and the youthfulness! I like the sound of Williamsburg from your post - is it a safe neighbourhood? What sort of nightlife is there?

M4RKM

phatbear wrote: »

Cant give you a review but im staying in the Mela in Aug, good reviews so far on TA.

Only downside I can see is the closeness to Times Sq, i.e could be a tad noisy at night

hey... how was San Francisco mr bear?

phatbear

I think i can sum san fran up in a few words:

golden gate bridge
alcatraz
cable cars
bums/homeless people
rain

dont think i'll be going back as I found it about a tenth as pleasurable as NY, whenever I get back from NY I start thinking about my next trip with san fran I was pleased to be home. However one thing good about SF that I found over NY is how pleasent everyone is, always get a please and thank you from everyone as opposed to a "get out of my way" from NY

Im sure it would have been better if it had'nt rained so much, think at a push I would go there as a stop over for a drive to vegas/L.A but I found no real positives about the place