new york hotels

Little_John

I went on January 1st for the 2nd time I love the place.

I wont tell you my hotel, Park Central as it isnt cheap at about £190 a night. Perfect position 10 minute walk north of times square and a few blocks down from the park.

As said before the Times square area is a rip off and very busy and noisy, but if you want to be there go for it. it isnt the be all and end all, most of the attactions or places to visit and better shops are not in Times square.

A few things I found out while there
Macys
Go to floor 1.5 (yes there is a floor one and a half) Go to the Visitors centre and get a discount card, I heard they vary in value but I recived 11% of everything I bought just show your non US passport to get the discount card. Use the lifts in the male half of the store as they are close to the Visitors centre. Also once you have spent $100 take your recipt to the Visitors centre and choose a freet backpack or tote bag. Another thing discounts are acumalative so you add the 50% off then take your 11% whatever they ar offering.

Bloomingdales
From my first visit go to the visitors centre again with a till recipt and get a free gift, a few to choose from 2 keyrings (both very nive) an umberrella, and the tote bag.

Staten Island Ferry
The best freeby of them all, Dont pay $12 I think it was for the Liberty island ferry jump on the free SIF to get your Skyline and Liberty shots. No one can go up Lady liberty since 9/11 so there is just the museum. The SIF takes 45 minutes each way.

Empire State Building.
Dont go on your first day, note what time it goes dark and try to get up about an hour before it goes dark. It is soo peacefull up there time flies, the reason for this is to get your daytime photos and also han arround till it is dark and get your night time shots. the city looks really good at night.

Good shops
JR www,jr.com for cheap electronic stuff, they sell everything electronic and are reasonably priced. This shop is about 2 minute walk south from the area everyone knows as the 5 points from Gangs of New York.
B and H Photo Video https://www.bhphotovideo.com, Cameras and audio equipment. The best place I found I save £15 on the camera I bought over Pixmania I also got an extra battery and a 5 year international warrenty in the price.
Data Vision https://www.datavis.com same as JR

Try to avoid the hundreds of electronic shops, they get you in sell you the camera/mp3 player what ever then try to sell every accessory to go with it and you can loose 2 hours easily. I also think they are all cordinated with each other as they all seem to sell at the same prices.

Make use of the City tour bus especially with your lack of mobility. They are hop on and hop off but I recomend you stay on and do the whole tour to see everything and then decide what you want to go and see, you can buy a 48 hour pass for all the tours the uptown tour is boring and I wouldnt do it again but it will get you up to the dakota building and Gugenheim musem on 5th Avenue. you can also use the express bus from times square to battery park.

When I think of more things I will post them

Have a good trip
LJ

tonys_3

The only one I could find in Times Square was the QT hotel-running at $165 per night.
Bookable thro' https://www.quikbook.com.It isn't one I am familiar with.Perhaps some of the others may know of it?

andrew_b6k

go to https://www.biddingfortravel.com

it educates you on how to use priceline, the strategies you shoud use when telling priceline how much you want to pay, and comments from other users about how much they've paid and what hotel they get at what date.

Most people who use priceline get the Hilton New York, which is a great location, 5 mins to times sq, 5 mins to central park. It's right near the rockafeller centre. I was more than satisfied when I got it for $90 per night over the new year period last year.

If I was going to the states again, I'd skip all of the expedias and travelocities and go straight to priceline. I guess the most offputting thing about priceline is the uncertainty and the fact that people dont' really know how to use it, but after an hour or two on biddingfortravel.com you'll be sorted!

christymm

Thank you all very much for the info and takeing the time to post i am very greatfull.Now i dont no weather to stay in times square or not,I thought it would be handy for me but now not sure.

gavhen

ive been 3 times to new york and loved it everytime. stayed in different hotels each time. the last time i booked i used an american website called www.hotwire.com and saved myself an absolute fortune - managed to get a room at the 5* Intercontinental The Barclay for only about £75 per room per night!! i think its best for last minute deals but its probably worth a look at.

it works by you selecting the regions of the city you want to stay in, and then shows you the cheapest prices it has for each star grade. you select which you want to take up and once confirmed it actually tells you the hotel you will be staying in. when i used it the 5* choice was actually cheaper than the 2* choice so well worth it.

For a good location for all round access to the tourist parts of manhatten staying midtown is definitely the best. if you want to stay in a more laid back, 'cool and trendy' area try around the greenwich/tribeca area. i wouldnt bother staying right down in lower manhatten near the finnancial district as most of the things you're likely to be doing, especially in the evening, are going to be further north plus i've found it to be more expensive when previously looking for hotels.