Everything & Anything New York City

josie

MiraculousM wrote: »

thanks.. but i was looking for a double bed accomodation and this doesnt provide that..

im still looking

Have you tried the Edison or the Wellington? We've booked these for 5 nights before for around £675 each inc flights from LHR.

vanilla8

Heading back to NYC for our 6th time in January.
Cannot decide on where to stay! Want to stay in a new area, can anyone recommend somewhere? Tempted by Brooklyn or Long Island City.
Where we have stayed before:

UWS(Marrakesh)
Times Square (Apartment)
Midtown (Affinia Shelburne, Jolly Madison)
Tribeca (Cosmopolitan)

michelleb2b39

Awesome thanks, i had a hard time in central park once asking for directions mainly as some people ignored me

becominganobsessivesaver

I think I've sorted our itinerary for next summer. We're going to get the explorer passes, 7 attractions for the adults, 5 for our 7 year old and 3 for the 2 year old (due to some attractions being free for kids),

Our first day we're going to head to the Empire State Building early, then go to the AMNH, explore Central Park followed by an early night!

Day 2 we'll do the open top bus round Manhattan to see the site of the world trade centre, Chinatown and a bit of shopping (I can't cope with more than 30 minute stints of shopping)

Day 3 the intrepid museum followed by a circle line cruise

Day 4 general exploring, toys r us,M&Ms store, MOMA

We also need to squeeze TOTR in one evening.

Day 5 - Mexico!!!

Has anyone used the explorer pass. Any comments or suggestions?

SW17

becominganobsessivesaver wrote: »

I think I've sorted our itinerary for next summer. We're going to get the explorer passes, 7 attractions for the adults, 5 for our 7 year old and 3 for the 2 year old (due to some attractions being free for kids),

Our first day we're going to head to the Empire State Building early, then go to the AMNH, explore Central Park followed by an early night!

Day 2 we'll do the open top bus round Manhattan to see the site of the world trade centre, Chinatown and a bit of shopping (I can't cope with more than 30 minute stints of shopping)

Day 3 the intrepid museum followed by a circle line cruise

Day 4 general exploring, toys r us,M&Ms store, MOMA

We also need to squeeze TOTR in one evening.

Day 5 - Mexico!!!

Has anyone used the explorer pass. Any comments or suggestions?

Haven't used the Explorer pass, but if you haven't got them yet, Smart Destinations have a Cyber Monday deal with an extra 10% off

http://www.smartdestinations.com/new-york-attractions-and-tours/_d_Nyc-p1.html?pass=Nyc_Prod_Exp

Haven't compared the price to other outlets, just FYI. If you don't end up using it, you can get a combi ticket for TOTR and MoMA which saves $10 per adult, though with the things you want to do, a pass probably makes sense. BTW, you can use your smartphone or tablet with headphones as an audio guide in MoMA via their wifi. No money saving, but it is convenient.

Itinerary looks good, if a little hectic (but hey, it's NYC, they only have one speed), would only say to leave a little flex in it for the outdoor things depending on the weather forecast. Maybe take a stroll on the High Line if you have time.

Good luck limiting shopping to 30 mins...

SW17

vanilla8 wrote: »

Heading back to NYC for our 6th time in January.
Cannot decide on where to stay! Want to stay in a new area, can anyone recommend somewhere? Tempted by Brooklyn or Long Island City.
Where we have stayed before:

UWS(Marrakesh)
Times Square (Apartment)
Midtown (Affinia Shelburne, Jolly Madison)
Tribeca (Cosmopolitan)

Don't know Brooklyn or LIC well enough to give opinion, but if you decide to go for Manhattan again, how about Meatpacking District? I think it's a good area for someone who isn't a first time visitor...I also like the Refinery Hotel, though it is Midtown and perhaps better when the weather is warmer, to enjoy the rooftop bar at its best. Don't know what your budget is, but NYC hotels are usually crying out for business in January, so maybe the best time to upgrade at a decent price.

becominganobsessivesaver

SW17 wrote: »

Haven't used the Explorer pass, but if you haven't got them yet, Smart Destinations have a Cyber Monday deal with an extra 10% off

http://www.smartdestinations.com/new-york-attractions-and-tours/_d_Nyc-p1.html?pass=Nyc_Prod_Exp

Haven't compared the price to other outlets, just FYI. If you don't end up using it, you can get a combi ticket for TOTR and MoMA which saves $10 per adult, though with the things you want to do, a pass probably makes sense. BTW, you can use your smartphone or tablet with headphones as an audio guide in MoMA via their wifi. No money saving, but it is convenient.

Itinerary looks good, if a little hectic (but hey, it's NYC, they only have one speed), would only say to leave a little flex in it for the outdoor things depending on the weather forecast. Maybe take a stroll on the High Line if you have time.

Good luck limiting shopping to 30 mins...

Thanks, I did grab the cyber Monday deal, about $380 for the four of us, which seems quite reasonable. With the shopping it'll be more like 30 minute stints, rather than a full day going round the shops.
Thanks for the tip about MOMA, although this may be the one attraction where we'll probably find it harder to keep the 3 year old engaged (our eldest will love it).
We'll probably avoid eating out too much, grabbing take out back to the room (we have a one bed apartment with breakfast included). Luckily we have 2 weeks in Mexico afterwards, so should get chance to recover!

vanilla8

Cyber Monday Deals for booking hotels (today only)
Email from Yotel with $99 Rooms for dates up till March 2015

Strand Hotel also have rates from $149
http://www.thestrandnyc.com/default-en.html

http://sale.triumphhotels.com/
http://www.affinia.com/special-offers

vanilla8

SW17 wrote: »

Don't know Brooklyn or LIC well enough to give opinion, but if you decide to go for Manhattan again, how about Meatpacking District? I think it's a good area for someone who isn't a first time visitor...I also like the Refinery Hotel, though it is Midtown and perhaps better when the weather is warmer, to enjoy the rooftop bar at its best. Don't know what your budget is, but NYC hotels are usually crying out for business in January, so maybe the best time to upgrade at a decent price.

Thanks, think we may plump for the yotel($585 for 5 nights!) and explore meatpacking district more :beer:

kizkiz

Got back a couple of days ago from our trip.
Thoroughly enjoyed it, and many thanks to everyone who has ever posted in this thread, as many tips were useful!


For anyone still planning...
1.I used a Halifax Clarity credit card. This has NO Fees!! for any cash withdrawal or card transaction anywhere abroad. Having checked my statement, I did indeed avoid any fees (The only fee I paid was $3 to use an ATM, which the ATM owner charges everyone). A decent exchange rate too.
We had our spending money saved in a UK account, so just paid off the card on our return to avoid interest.


2. The 7 day unlimited MTA card was invaluable. $30 each to travel on bus or subway all week was cheap as chips. Buses and subways run everywhere and are very regular. Mostly pretty quiet too.


3. The grid system for Manhattan is so well designed that we didn't need anything more than a subway map to get around. Once you suss that streets go up in number as they go north it is simple as pie.


4. Trip from airport to hotel was simple. Airtrain from JFK to Jamaica, the E train into town. Took about an hour and cost only $6 for the airtrain, plus the above unlimited MTA card.
Taxi is about the same time and 10 times the price.


5. Can highly recommend the Highline. Brilliant idea that. Much busier than I expected too.

Also, not sure how or why, but we got a free upgrade on the way home! Bumped up to world traveller plus at the gate. Bonus