Everything & Anything New York City

melancholly

i have relatives who use vrbo for a US listing - obviously not in NY though! it's a really annoying law and could apply to any city in any country but apparently only NY seems to think giving accommodation options is a bad thing. i'd much sooner spend my holiday in an apartment than in a hotel. it's almost always cheaper plus you get to cook at home if needed to save money on going out. i'm certainly aware of all the pitfalls, but it seems like apart from one bed apartments, there aren't many options..... very annoying. i don't want to lodge; i want a separate private apartment.

but if anyone has links to companies that do offer legal apartments, that would be great. it's a minefield and there seems no easy way of accessing this info. which indicates a really poorly implemented law! if there was at least an official website listing all legal options, people could go there. trying to find out which of the hundreds is legal is pretty near impossible for most tourists.

M4RKM

So you're saying that pushing out residents from their homes because greedy landlords want to make more money from tourists is a good thing? The law is there for a very good reason because there is such a limited amount of affordable accommodation for people living in New York City.

If you want so stay somewhere with a kitchen, then book an apartment hotel, which are designed for tourists, and fit your needs. You can get a living room area, bedroom, and kitchen, and it is a studio or apartment as you want.

The NYC Official website lists all 100% legal options, which if you look does not include anything from vrbo etc.

Other cities do have laws against apartment rentals include, including Barcelona, so it isn't just NYC.

melancholly

fine, i really didn't want a rant about why it's acceptable only for big companies to offer apartment rentals. they are convenient and useful and quite frankly, the best choice in most cities. i've also rented a private apartment in barcelona so had no idea it was illegal there.

i'd like suggestions, not a lecture. i'm well aware of all the info (thanks to useful posts on trip advisor which explain everything very clearly). a guilt trip about my holiday pushing residents out is quite frankly, quite irritating and doesn't help find accommodation. perhaps a link to the official site would be more useful than a lecture. (for anyone who is interested, i assume this is the correct one which i found earlier - it doesn't format particularly well in firefox, so i assumed when i first found it that it couldn't be the official one, but via a link from the nyc.gov site, it appears to be the main one. http://www.nycgo.com/hotels/)

apart from being told off, has anyone any recommendations of apartments where they've stayed (apart from the excessively priced apartment hotels which seem to almost entirely have only one beds available, which doesn't suit our needs)

M4RKM

It's difficult to be able to recommend anything without knowing what your budget it, or what dates you're looking for or how many beds you want. NYC is an expensive city, and even a hotel without a kitchen can run to $200 a night during the higher seasons. Maybe opting for somewhere in the outer boroughs, such as areas of Queens (Long Island City), or certain areas of Brooklyn will do the trick. Most of the legal (though still grey area) apartment rentals that I've seen are designed for 2 people, so offer 1 bed. If you need more than 1 bed (which it sounds like), then again, you might be stuck.

Sorry if you didn't like what I said, but all I've said is what is said day in, day out over on TripAdvisor, so I apologise if you think you're being lectured. I'm just repeating what has been said before, and if you asked this question over on TripAdvisor, you'll probably end up with posts full of vitriol, rather than an explanation, which I wasn't telling you off in or lecturing you, just trying to help you understand why the law has been brought in.

Feel free to rent an apartment rental, just be aware of the risks, and the legality of it. Thing is, you're not going to get arrested or anything, but you could end up without accommodation. The safest way is airbnb, because if you pay through their system, and you come into problems checking in, the money is held in escrow, so the landlord won't get it, and they will help you find accommodation even at a very short notice. Be careful of the scams that want things paid by Western Union etc.

Eastgate tower is the cheapest apartment rental hotel around, and does offer rooms with multiple beds too.

M

greenface

I would be uncomfortable advising on any NYC apartments due to my little knowledge and changing laws but please beware there are lots of scams aswell as illegal lets in lots of towns but NYC have a good lump of both. Dont get bitten by "good deals" enjoy nyc

sherbie28

I must admit my sister was seriously considering an apartment but after trawling the internet and finding that some of the places advertised seemed to have the same bathroom pics etc it does make you very suspicious. There might be genuine people but when you think about it you could grab any picture from the internet and say it's your bedroom, bathroom etc. It's such a shame that NYC have this law because the hotels are so overpriced and you can't do anything about it. They've booked the hotel that's within their budget but it doesn't look fantastic and appears very basic, I just hope after all the money they've spent going over there that it will be ok for them (fingers crossed).

M4RKM

I dislike the term "overpriced". What are they overpriced against? There really isn't another city that can compare to NYC, and if they sell at that price, then they're the right price. If you book it at the right time, and choose the right hotel (ignore star ratings for a start, which really only make sense in continental europe), it is around the same price as London. What I do find that people want is either a high class of hotel, at a totally unrealistic budget (say £50 a night), which even 10 years ago you would have struggled to get, or just don't understand NYC, and think they must stay bang in the middle of Times Square, and the hotels there know that, and are more expensive than places, say in the Financial District, Soho, Tribeca, or even other areas of Midtown, all of which are great areas to stay.

Now, recently (in the past 18 months) prices have crept up in price, and there are numerous new hotels opening in NYC. however, hotel occupancy is still over 80%, and therefore the demand is there at the prices that have been set, and hotels see no reason to make the prices cheaper. The other thing why we are seeing the drastic increase in Hotel prices, is that as they've put their prices up in dollars (2 years ago in September I got a hotel for $140 a night, last year it was $170 a night, and this year it's $200 a night), but also, the exchange rate has dropped from $2 = £1, down to $1.60 = £. So, we're bearing the brunt of the economic crisis with a double hit on the hotel room costs.

This is where not staying in Manhattan comes in. Long Island City in Queens has a number of new hotels that have popped up, and these are still much much cheaper than Manhattan, and give you a great place to stay. If you're wanting a budget accommodation, then this is really a good idea to stay here. It's near the subway, and you can easily get into Manhattan in less than 20 minutes. Other areas that are up and coming are places like Downtown Brooklyn. There are 2 new hotels there that currently have some good offers on, and a few more being built.

There are always hotel rooms (basic, shared bathroom) available at under $200 a night, and are good quality, even at the most expensive times of year, just hopefully no one books the Carter Hotel though, which is the worst in NYC.

I don't see it as a shame that they have a law to protect places for residents to stay. It isn't cheap NYC as we're well aware, but would it be the same place to visit, if every apartment block was rented out to tourists, and there are no locals around, because they have nowhere to live.

I'm going to NYC in September for what will be last time in at least 12 months. There are plenty of other places to visit in the world, so after spreading my wings and going to San Francisco in March, I'm leaving NYC to everyone else for a while. It's seen me well for 10 years of holidays, and I want to venture to other areas of the world anyway, which, it happens, are cheaper!

London is more expensive, not only because of the hotel costs, but the overall costs. Transportation has always been expensive. Food is more expensive here too. So what you have to do is look at the overall cost of a package deal. I travel solo, so my costs are always considerably higher, as there is 1 person in a hotel room, so if you factor in the cost of the hotel room being around £1000 for 7 nights, if there is a couple, you half the cost of the hotel between you both.

Finally, One thing with NYC is, that as it's a city break, and flights are multiple times daily, you're not really tied to the package holiday rules of 7 or 10 days, and can do shorter trips. 4 nights is in my opinion the bear minimum. Also, travel out of season. It's cold, but it's NYC, it is awesome any time of year, so go in January / February, when you can get an awesome hotel for under $200 a night. I had the Hotel on Rivington, got a room upgrade a few levels, for $200 a night at the beginning of March. For September the same room is $575 a night. You can still get a bargain, you just have to be flexible.

M

Jazzy_B

Dear m4rkm
Thanks so much for all your helpful advice. We had a fab holiday, thanks to you
Have fab times in your new holiday spots x :T

Lady_S

melancholly wrote: »

fine, i really didn't want a rant about why it's acceptable only for big companies to offer apartment rentals. they are convenient and useful and quite frankly, the best choice in most cities. i've also rented a private apartment in barcelona so had no idea it was illegal there.

i'd like suggestions, not a lecture. i'm well aware of all the info (thanks to useful posts on trip advisor which explain everything very clearly). a guilt trip about my holiday pushing residents out is quite frankly, quite irritating and doesn't help find accommodation. perhaps a link to the official site would be more useful than a lecture. (for anyone who is interested, i assume this is the correct one which i found earlier - it doesn't format particularly well in firefox, so i assumed when i first found it that it couldn't be the official one, but via a link from the nyc.gov site, it appears to be the main one. http://www.nycgo.com/hotels/)

apart from being told off, has anyone any recommendations of apartments where they've stayed (apart from the excessively priced apartment hotels which seem to almost entirely have only one beds available, which doesn't suit our needs)

Hiya,

I have stayed at Holiday Inn 6th Ave which was came out at about £108 per night for 5 nights in November last year.

Also consider Radio City Apartments, I know people who swear by them, although I have never stopped there myself. Also, Belleclaire Hotel, which a friend has stayed in.

katies_mum

Hi

I`m after a little advice please, I`ve been reading up lots but its all becoming a blurr. We have decided we would like to try and manage about week in New York 22 Aug - 29th or 30th. We are 2 adults and a 14 year old. Here goes:
I know we have left it late for any decent flight deals but have been looking today and from Manchester seem to be about £1600 - 1800 for indirect for us all - some via Heathrow some via Schipol etc is this a good price or do I need to search further (would prefer direct but maybe now its not an option)
There seem to be different airports in NY which is the best one to fly into (also have noticed that some flights go into one and out of another!!)
We would like to do all the touristy things but havn`t a clue which area to stay. Would like a nice clean hotel, that is modern`ish and not too pricey, I see that some of them even provide breakfast, please can anyone recommend an area / hotels to look at so we can get around easily to see all the sights.
Are we best trying to book transfers from the airport to the hotel - don`t think they are as close as I thought (we have stayed at the end of the runway on some holidays!) have been reading up that transfers can be quite expensive.
Any websites I should be looking at for flights / hotels / or am I best booking both together?
Think this might be about it to begin with but if I have forgotten anyting important please let me know. I`ll be very grateful for any advice / info you experts can help me with.
Many thanks