Everything & Anything New York City

phatbear

bb69 wrote: »

Phatbear - How did you get on?

I got on ok ta.

Flew out virgin upper and it was good but not life changing, food on board was amazing though and the service was top notch but not worth the price tag, which luckily I didn't pay as i used my virgin miles to upgrade

I stayed at the hotel st james which was 45th and 6th hotel was ok rooms were dated and the wifi was awful also the temp in the room was boiling also found it odd it was the 1st hotel ive stayed in the states and they didnt supply shower gel, and of course i didnt have any on me. also they charge for baggage storage at the end of the trip $5 per locker and their local rate phone calls are on the high side.However it was cheap and an easy walk to bryant park and the subway.

went to the parade on thanks giving and thought it was tacky and seriously dated, but if you are there it would be a shame to miss it.

i ate in
The spotted pig, really nice pub on the LWS, amazing food too
Clinton St Baking Co, fab pancakes but an hour and a half wait
Patzeria Family and Friends, huge tasty calzone's in a family atmosphere
Murrays Cheese for a fab tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwhich
Shake Shack (Grand Central) I still love the shack but it does seem to be taking over NY
Dallas BBQ, tried getting in virgils but huuuuuge waiting time so went to dallas bbq and the food was good and the drinks huge and the bill reasonable.
Magnolia Bakery, over hyped if you ask me

Done a bit of shopping but found the crowds a tad over whelming, thought a riot was gonna start over some bearpaw(?) boots however managed to get some levis so im a happy boy.

highlight of the trip was getting a big apple greeter, called chuck, and he was fab. He took me on a tour of the LWS, greenwhich village, the meat packing district, the highline, soho and noho. I cant recommend their service highly enough.

Flew back premium economy with virgin and had to put up with two kids screaming and crying all the way home, personally i reckon kids should be placed in the luggage hold.

Sadly this was probably my last trip to NY as its time to go and spend sometime elsewhere and start making some new memories

scottishlass

So its getting a bit real and I'll be heading to New York this Sunday...so first question...

Would I still be best to Use Train/Subway to get to Tribecca Blu on Canal Street if there are 4 of us travelling together? Is that still the cheapest...one of the party wants to use the Shuttle bus...


Second question...does our itneray sound ok (I know we have Empire and ToR - I only wanted to do one but lost out on the majority vote)

sunday
arrive at the hotel between 2-3, either checkin or leave bags in hold. subway to block beautiful. unison square looking at the flatirion building and then up to time square for food and a nosey around.

Monday
up early and head empire state building.
maceys and 5th avenue
the public library
grand central station
Chrysler building
passed st patricks to the rockerfeller centre and to timesquare.

Tuesday
up early and get down to the port to go to ellis island and to see the statue of liberty. booking tickets to get into ground zero on the way down. tour approx. 3 hrs.
look around the wall street area, walk past trinity church and st pauls back to ground zero. have a look at city hall. spend some time in the afternoon shopping. tiffanies

Wednesday
central park look at the ice rink, maybe a carriage ride around it,
john lennons strawberry fields
fao scharz huge toy store
time warner food store massive,

on way to theatre go for a look at the Lincoln centre in the dark

thursday
head down to the Stanton island ferry, looking at the south street sea port. huge food mall. take the ferry there and back
head up to the brooklyn bridge and walk across to dumbo
head to the court house .

Friday
breakfast and possibly a tour of china town or little Italy back to hotel to collect bags at 11 think we need to be at the airport for 12.45 so could go for an early lunch before heading off

Any other advice appreciated...thank you in advance

bb69

scottishlass wrote: »

So its getting a bit real and I'll be heading to New York this Sunday...so first question...

Would I still be best to Use Train/Subway to get to Tribecca Blu on Canal Street if there are 4 of us travelling together? Is that still the cheapest...one of the party wants to use the Shuttle bus...


Second question...does our itneray sound ok (I know we have Empire and ToR - I only wanted to do one but lost out on the majority vote)

sunday
arrive at the hotel between 2-3, either checkin or leave bags in hold. subway to block beautiful. unison square looking at the flatirion building and then up to time square for food and a nosey around.

Monday
up early and head empire state building.
maceys and 5th avenue
the public library
grand central station
Chrysler building
passed st patricks to the rockerfeller centre and to timesquare.

Tuesday
up early and get down to the port to go to ellis island and to see the statue of liberty. booking tickets to get into ground zero on the way down. tour approx. 3 hrs.
look around the wall street area, walk past trinity church and st pauls back to ground zero. have a look at city hall. spend some time in the afternoon shopping. tiffanies

Wednesday
central park look at the ice rink, maybe a carriage ride around it,
john lennons strawberry fields
fao scharz huge toy store
time warner food store massive,

on way to theatre go for a look at the Lincoln centre in the dark

thursday
head down to the Stanton island ferry, looking at the south street sea port. huge food mall. take the ferry there and back
head up to the brooklyn bridge and walk across to dumbo
head to the court house .

Friday
breakfast and possibly a tour of china town or little Italy back to hotel to collect bags at 11 think we need to be at the airport for 12.45 so could go for an early lunch before heading off

Any other advice appreciated...thank you in advance

Hello
I bet you are looking forward to it

Don't forget Soho and Greenwich village for shopping you could maybe do that on Tuesday after you have been downtown?

I'd move Tiffany's to the Monday as you will be on Fifth Avenue

What time is your flight back?

Savvy_Sue

scottishlass wrote: »

Would I still be best to Use Train/Subway to get to Tribecca Blu on Canal Street if there are 4 of us travelling together? Is that still the cheapest...one of the party wants to use the Shuttle bus...

Why not let them use the shuttle bus and the rest of you take the subway?

Seriously, the shuttle bus isn't generally recommended, because it's a bit hit and miss. You might get whisked off quickly and dropped at your hotel fairly promptly. Or you might wait around for an hour while they fill the shuttle bus. And then they find out which hotel everyone wants, and with yours being at the bottom (I think) they may drop everyone else off first.

wake6

bb69 wrote: »

I'd move Tiffany's to the Monday as you will be on Fifth Avenue

There is a branch of Tiffany's on Wall Street. The fifth Avenue store is billed on their website as the flagship store though.

wake6

scottishlass wrote: »

Second question...does our itneray sound ok (I know we have Empire and ToR - I only wanted to do one but lost out on the majority vote)

I have done both and thoroughly enjoyed them both in different ways. You get different views. ToTR has good views of Central Park. Empire State Building has good views of downtown and the Flatiron (and the roof of Macy's!). You do right to go to the ESB first thing - much shorter queues.

scottishlass wrote: »

unison square looking at the flatirion building

I expect this was a fault created by predictive texting. I expect you realise that you mean Madison Square Park, not Union Square?

bb69

wake6 wrote: »

There is a branch of Tiffany's on Wall Street. The fifth Avenue store is billed on their website as the flagship store though.

There is also a store in Soho, stumbled upon it this time.

scottishlass

wake6 wrote: »

I expect this was a fault created by predictive texting. I expect you realise that you mean Madison Square Park, not Union Square?

Thank you had no idea what friend meant...but now much clearer.

scottishlass

bb69 wrote: »

Hello
I bet you are looking forward to it

Don't forget Soho and Greenwich village for shopping you could maybe do that on Tuesday after you have been downtown?

I'd move Tiffany's to the Monday as you will be on Fifth Avenue

What time is your flight back?

Cheers

Flight back is at 14:42 (Newark to Washington)

Goldust

Hi!

Going to NYC for a week on New Years Day - can't wait!

Only thing is I'm trying to get a great deal on hotels and when I normally go to the states I use Priceline to get something decent. However I have no clue which of these areas are best for tourism or which to avoid.

Can anyone help? Or are there any other booking strategies which are recommended besides Priceline? Would like something 3.5 stars or above if possible and trying to keep the budget around $100 per night but if that's not realistic I could increase it...