Everything & Anything New York City

VintageToon

M4RKM wrote: »

Over on TripAdvisor, someone else has mentioned about their hotel now closing, since the law brought in on 1st May. This is surprising to the people who have booked obviously, but it does highlight the number of hotels and hostels that have been operating illegally in NYC.

This post will be updated with a list of hotels that have suddenly closed. Hopefully it won't get over the 2 that we have currently.

• Amsterdam Inn / 340 Amsterdam Avenue
• Broadway Hotel & Hostel / West 101st Street

I'm afraid i think we'll get over the two.

Thanks for all the info on your above posts (Been without net for past couple of days)
Our booking website has said the hotel will be offering us an alternative hotel for the same cost by monday. So we are going to see what they offer. If that looks no good. We'll book up some other place.

VintageToon

M4RKM wrote: »

One thing with the Grand Union Triple room is that the someone would still have to share a bed. You could go for the Quad room, which would give 2 twin beds and a double bed, gives you a cost of £1558.

For 10 days holiday though, you could easily split your time between Manhattan and Long Island City. I personally wouldn't want to spend 10 days sleeping on a twin bed, because for someone over 6ft tall, they're just too short, so comfort is something to consider too, rather than just price.

M

That's an idea. Split our time up between 2 hotels in different part of Manhattan. It'll be a hassle repacking etc but it is a good idea. I'll put it to my group haha!

bluethink

We're going to be in New York at the beginning of August for four nights, and for our family of four (kids aged 10 and 8) the prices are very high - even the youth hostel was going to be $170 a night!

So I did some research and stumbled across the Morningside Inn, on the Upper West Side. Cheaper than a hostel, with cooking and laundry facilities. Has anyone stayed there?

phatbear

Morningside appears to get some decent reviews on tripadvisor:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g60763-d249710-Reviews-Morningside_Inn-New_York_City_New_York.html

however it is waaaay up the island 107th street to be precise which is borderline harlem, so its always worth factoring in the area and how long it will take you to get to where you want to go

greenface

Not been up that way as it is fairly far up towards harlem. Trip advisor has recent good reports and recent is important as theyve seemed to turned a corner but still in the bottom third for hotels according to TA . I like the google earth streetview of the area it looks classic /good with some decent shops . Morningside heights& harlem used to be a bad bad bad part of town and a no go area esp white tourists but has got much better in the last 20 years and i would stay there in the are4a enjoy nyc

M4RKM

Morningside is classed as an elevator apartment building,

There are complaints of Illegal Hotel rooms in an Apartment building still open - http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/OverviewForComplaintServlet?requestid=2&vlcompdetlkey=0001407530

Finally, the certificate of occupancy is a Single Room Occupancy building. TripAdvisor don't vet the listings for legalities, as they're a commercial company who will take money for listings.

M4RKM

bluethink wrote: »

We're going to be in New York at the beginning of August for four nights, and for our family of four (kids aged 10 and 8) the prices are very high

New York is an expensive city to stay in. I'm assuming the kids should be able to share a bed, so getting a room with 2 double beds shouldn't be an issue. if you're price limit is $170 per night per room, then maybe considering staying in Long Island City in Queens is the answer.

There is a brand new starwood hotel opening in LIC, and that's coming up at USD 179.00 per night before taxes for a room with 2 double beds in.

The Comfort Inn LIC is coming up at $192.24 USD for 2 double beds.

Looking at other hotels via quikbook, the Best Western Convention Centre is coming up at $144 per night, and then the prices do go up to over $200 per night for anything else in NYC.

If you have a bit more of a budget to spend, and want some more room, it might be worth considering the Eastgate Tower, normal bed, plus sofa bed and full kitchen, and this is coming up at $244 a night.

IMO it is still early for a decent bargain rate for NYC for August, (though they are creeping in, because the Starwood is available for $129 for a room with 1 bed in) In the past the prices have dropped, and should this happen again, you should be able to get a decent price. However, booking something cancellable now, will give you the peace of mind to be able to shop around accordingly.

I personally would not want to stay in a place such as the Morningside Inn, that is supposed to be an SRO Building. For those that don't know. SRO buildings stands for single room occupancy, and should be for local citizens, and not transient tourists. Certain places are closing down (as detailed above) because they've fallen foul of the laws introduced on 1st May.
I would think that you're booking that place at your own risk, regardless of what reviews state. What would happen if it were closed while you were staying there, or was boarded up when you arrived, as the NYC Housing Department shut it down. This is all hypothetical, but could happen, as has already been demonstrated with VintageToon and their hotel no longer taking bookings.

Hope that helps.

Mark

Nobjocki

bluethink wrote: »

We're going to be in New York at the beginning of August for four nights, and for our family of four (kids aged 10 and 8) the prices are very high - even the youth hostel was going to be $170 a night!

So I did some research and stumbled across the Morningside Inn, on the Upper West Side. Cheaper than a hostel, with cooking and laundry facilities. Has anyone stayed there?

This is just an opinion you might want to consider - I took my kids to New York for two days when they were about a year older than yours and it was hard work.Very hard work.

Fact is New York is a fantastic city to visit if it's planned properly but even as an adult it can be tiring and it's important to take time out to get your breath back - be it a lie down in the hotel or an hour in a bar sinking a few.

New York is also not kids holiday orientated - it's a frenetic,working city which doesn't have the time or space to devote to amusing children and you'll spent your entire day constantly worrying about them because of traffic,crowds,subways,beggars etc

I took my boys to Ground Zero, Central Park and the Statue of Liberty and whilst they registered a degree of interest for a while sight-seeing is not really what kids want to do at that age.

Plus it's August. If it's hot you can multiply by ten how frazzled and fractious the kids will be.

Plus if you can't afford a really good hotel with at least a swimming pool and are looking at hostel-type accommodation you really are making it difficult for yourself.

I understand what you're trying to do because I wanted my kids to experience the world as much as possible at that age too - but take a tip and if you haven't already been do the theme parks with them at that age and wait till they're older and you can enjoy a night out at the theatre and a meal in a decent restaurant with them.

greenface

M4RKM wrote: »

Morningside is classed as an elevator apartment building,

There are complaints of Illegal Hotel rooms in an Apartment building still open - http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/OverviewForComplaintServlet?requestid=2&vlcompdetlkey=0001407530

Finally, the certificate of occupancy is a Single Room Occupancy building. TripAdvisor don't vet the listings for legalities, as they're a commercial company who will take money for listings.

Thanks so the morningside is potentially a illegal let as many others soon to be issued with a closing order

bluethink

Thanks to those of you who commented on my earlier post.

I have canceled our room at the Morningside Inn and am looking for another hotel (unfortunately there were no more family rooms available for our dates at the HI hostel).

We would like to stay in the Upper West Side as I've heard that it is a quieter location, plus we would like to be close to Central Park so that we can head over there to chill out.

We are actually going to be travelling around the US for five weeks by train and are very aware that we need to schedule in time to relax. We are planning to do things that the whole family will enjoy rather than dragging them around lots of museums so that complaining is kept to a minimum!!

If anyone knows a hotel on the Upper West Side that they can recommend (or another quieter location, preferably close to Central Park), please let me know.

Thanks!