Spec me...a quote for a trip to NYC

[TrixiBuG]

Hi guys

I know there are a few forum members who have been to New York so I thought I would ask on here for advice

I want to go to New York next year sometime...here is the spec:

• For me and my boyfriend
• For approx 5 days
• Would like to go in either Spring but more likely Autumn - otherwise when is it the cheapest time of the year to go?
• Looking to stay either quiet central OR with good transport links to the centre
• Hotel HAS to be min of 3 stars and would like B&B
• Would like a place that has good personal and/or trip advisor reviews

The reason why the hotel has to have a min of 3 stars (ideally 4 stars but I don't think our budget would stretch that far) is that I have been rather spoiled with Hotels having worked in the Hotel Industry for a few years

After having a quick look on booking.com and trip advisor it looks like for the hotel we would be looking at around £650-£800 for the 5 nights So budget would be somewhere in the middle (£700ish) or of course less if possible

I have found flights for early April for around the £500 mark direct from Manchester...which I don't think is too bad?

/in before any references to Super Storm Sandy etc etc

 

[smokedog]

After having a quick look on booking.com and trip advisor it looks like for the hotel we would be looking at around £650-£800 for the 5 nights So budget would be somewhere in the middle (£700ish) or of course less if possible

Just came back from NY last week. I stayed at the Pod39 which is on 39th street and 5 minutes walk to Times Square. Hotel was very nice but tiny and paid about £650 for 5 nights. I personally don't think you will find cheaper than that for a decent hotel.

Most people will probably prefer to stay further out but I didn't notice any huge saving by doing so. Also having all the main attractions/good transport links on your doorstep is big plus.

 

[oOYoDaOo]

We are going for New Year. 4 star hotel and flights, ~£2000 all told for the two of us. Probably could have saved a couple of hundred quid by shopping around and booking hotels and flights separately but it was easier to book together.

 

[oOYoDaOo]

Thats 5 nights as well, forgot to mention.

 

[meh?]

We stayed in Comfort Inn Manhattan 42 West 35th Street, New York City, NY when we went in July last year. The hotel I felt was fantastic, its right next to Macy's, and it offers breakfast which I think not a lot of hotels do in america.

It cost us £790 each for flights with Virgin and traveling from Heathrow airport that was 5 days.

 

[territt]

[*]Would like to go in either Spring but more likely Autumn - otherwise when is it the cheapest time of the year to go? (We Went at the end of Feb/Start of march, had sun some days and Snow the next)


[*]Looking to stay either quiet central OR with good transport links to the centre
(anywhere in manhattan has good transport links)
[*]Hotel HAS to be min of 3 stars and would like B&B
(We were at the distrikt Hotel which was great)

 

[MickeyFinns]

Just a tip. If you fly with Iceland Air you can arrange a stopover in Iceland for no extra charge. Meaning you can get a day or two there on the way there or back for not much money at al.

Otherwise just look at SkyScanner.net for flights.

If you end up using Hotels.com for your accommodation remember that you can get 10% cash back with them through quidco.com.

 

[County]

I am off next year as part of my trip around the east coast(ish)

I am using http://www.airbnb.com

Get an apartment. Much cheaper

 

[TrixiBuG]

ooooh thanks for the info guys

I have found this hotel. Not in the centre but seems to have very good links to Manhattan and you get the added bonus of the Manhattan skyline for a view

I have noticed however that hotels in the State of NY are subject to city taxes and all sorts, where as if you stay over the state border in New Jersey you dont have these fee's to pay...

Keep the info going guys!

 

[Raymond Lin]

I stayed in TRYP in NYC a few weeks ago, 5 nights came to $1750, about £1200. Got upgraded to the premium room and it was HUGE, could fit a pool table in the empty space.

I don't think £800 would go very far if you have high standards in manhattan.

And yes, tax is like 14.5%.

Flight, i paid £550 (flew out of Atlanta though), honestly I didn't really mind of the costs since its not like I do this every day or even every year.

I like the walk back in the evening, could even bar hop on the way back, it is more expensive than Fox's suggestion but its upto you whether it is worth it.

 

[[TW]Fox]

ooooh thanks for the info guys

I have found this hotel. Not in the centre but seems to have very good links to Manhattan and you get the added bonus of the Manhattan skyline for a view

I have noticed however that hotels in the State of NY are subject to city taxes and all sorts, where as if you stay over the state border in New Jersey you dont have these fee's to pay...

Keep the info going guys!

I looked at that particular hotel myself but ruled it out due to transport links.

In the end I stayed at the Hilton Newark, above Penn Station in Newark, NJ. It is linked to the station itself where you can catch either NJ Transit direct to New York Penn Station - this takes 11 minutes - or save a few dollars and get a PATH subway train direct to World Trade Centre. This takes 25 minutes. Breakfast, being a Hilton, costs a fortune but there are numerous bakeries in the station - we'd get up, grab some food from a bakery and soon after we were standing at Ground Zero. Job done. Beats paying more money for a crapper hotel thats probably just as far from the sights on the Subway anyway just because its on Manhatten.

It was about £90 a night. Nice enough hotel and half the price of anything on Manhattan itself.

As for flights, £500 is expensive. A good value flight to NYC starts with a 3 not a 5. You might have better luck going from Heathrow and getting a couple of cheap Advance train tickets down to London instead.

 

[TrixiBuG]

I looked at that particular hotel myself but ruled it out due to transport links.

In the end I stayed at the Hilton Newark, above Penn Station in Newark, NJ. It is linked to the station itself where you can catch either NJ Transit direct to New York Penn Station - this takes 11 minutes - or save a few dollars and get a PATH subway train direct to World Trade Centre. This takes 25 minutes. Breakfast, being a Hilton, costs a fortune but there are numerous bakeries in the station - we'd get up, grab some food from a bakery and soon after we were standing at Ground Zero. Job done. Beats paying more money for a crapper hotel thats probably just as far from the sights on the Subway anyway just because its on Manhatten.

It was about £90 a night. Nice enough hotel and half the price of anything on Manhattan itself.

As for flights, £500 is expensive. A good value flight to NYC starts with a 3 not a 5. You might have better luck going from Heathrow and getting a couple of cheap Advance train tickets down to London instead.

Nice info there Fox - thanks! I figured you cant really go wrong with a Hilton Hotel, but the one I quoted has reviews saying that breakfast options were limited. The one you mentioned sounded good too

Take it there are flights a plenty from Heathrow to Newark? Defo thinking of stopping outside of the city now.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Personally though, if you can get from Manchester for £500, vs £400 from Heathrow, I would go from Manchester.

The cost of travel plus time to get there to me is negligble. Unless the difference is so hugh one cannot resist. When I landed back I just wanted to get home, hated the train back, I paid an extra £13.50 at the train station just to get an earlier train, only for that to backfire! Not to mention you put yourself at the risk of the rail network on the day, I personally wouldn't take that risk on a journey that far.

NYC is an expensive place though, remember to tip 20% if the service is good, although if you just tip at least something then people generalyl don't mind. Tip nothing they might get angry. I even left a few dollars every morning on the side of the bedside table with a note "For Housekeeping". I find it odd that some places where you buy coffee to go and the receipt where you sign has a line for tip....at times I felt bad writing 0 on it.

Remember to take your camera, Rockerfella centre is really busy so if you can buy a ticket in advance, do so, go by during the day to get your ticket or the queue in the ticket office can be huge nearer sunset time.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Nice info there Fox - thanks! I figured you cant really go wrong with a Hilton Hotel, but the one I quoted has reviews saying that breakfast options were limited. The one you mentioned sounded good too

The one I suggested is a full service Hilton - perversely the more you pay for a Hilton the less you'll get - the value range has free breakfast, free wifi etc but the normal more expensive ones charge for everything. The one I recommended charges for Wifi, breakfast, etc etc - but these are easily overcomable as I mentioned.

It's strength its location - you can walk into the station in the middle of Manhattan and the next time you go outside will be the next day when you return from your hotel

Take it there are flights a plenty from Heathrow to Newark? Defo thinking of stopping outside of the city now.

Yes - Virgin fly to Newark several times a day. Heathrow to NYC is one of the worlds busiest air routes and competition is high so prices can be quite good.

Top tip - never book if the airline isn't advertising a flight sale. They'll do it 4-5 times a year, sufficient to make sure you can always wait for one.

Last year I paid £399 from Heathrow to NYC and return from Miami. It would have been about £360 had I done a straight forward return from NYC. That was with Virgin Atlantic.

If you are going to do Newark/NJ instead of Manhattan make sure your travel plans don't rely on taxi's to get back to the hotel incase you are happy to pay big money. Manhattan licensed cabs cannot pick up fares from New Jersey so if you take a cab from Manhattan to NJ you have to pay the return tolls etc for the cab, making it quite expensive.

 

[HangTime]

Disclaimer: Largely based on out of date info from a visit in March 2008 when exchange rate was 2:1

-5 days is a good length of time to go for, we could have spend longer but it wasn't massively expensive and means you get some recovery time for jetlag when you come back before returning to work, and did all the main things we wanted to do
-We went in early March and it was good value but cold. Bear in mind due to jet lag you will probably be getting up early, one morning was really chilly so we went into the tropical zoo in Central Park to warm up! One plus point was they seem to have a lot of good sales on at that time of year (Macy's etc)
-Personally I found staying in Manhattan brilliant, we just walked nearly everywhere, that's not to say other options should be discounted, but I couldn't fault the location (Affinia Manhattan hotel, 7th Avenue, opposite Madison Square Garden, literally like 2mins walk to Penn station for easy access to JFK - hotel itself was OK but not great, I'll try a different hotel if I go back, but will definitely look for something in that area)
-£500 flights sounds expensive, prices have gone up a lot since we went but I would keep eyes peeled for a sale, would have thought under £400 should be achievable.

For reference on how prices have changed, we paid £1111 in total for two people including flights and hotel, so the big hike is putting me off going back, if I judged it on merit at current prices it probably isn't that bad really.

 

[Crafty]

I went for 4 days in January this year.

B&B is a waste of time, there are delis and coffee shops all over to grab breakfast in... I'm not sure you will find B&B ?

Subway is very good and dead easy to get around.

I stayed at Hotel Wellington on 7th and 56th, 5 mins walk to central park, a few more to Times Square. Subway stations right outside.

Flights from LHR -> JFK. Flight & hotel was £620 each. Regardless of which airport you fly in to get in to a yellow cab for the ride in to Manhattan - the fee is fixed, you just pay road tolls and tips on top, IIRC the fee is $45 or so.. we gave our guy $60 to cover tip and tolls. Do expect to tip - thats the culture there, as much as 20%.

From what I read most hotels have small rooms, the Wellington was fairly good in that respect I think. With bars and restaurants all over the place the hotel is only a place to crash really, I personally wouldn't be paying loads, not really worth it.

If you want to ground zero book online - its free but you need a ticket. It will cost if you want to go in to the museum.
Federal Reserve Bank has a tour, I didn't do it but would do if I went back.
USS Intrepid is definitely worth a walk around, GF may not agree though
Do both Empire State and Top Of The Rock, worth it. For TOTR we got dawn/dusk tickets which basically lets you go up twice in the same day.
When I went Statue of Liberty was closed, but its open now. The ferry that takes you there also goes to Ellis Island which is quite interesting.
Subway you can buy a card that you can top up, each trip is a little cheaper when you use this card.
I think its generally best to walk about a bit and get a feel for the city rather than shuttle about on trains.
That said it can save you time - e.g. we jumped on the subway and went over to Brooklyn and then walked the bridge back in to Manhattan and into the Financial District.

If you want to see a show there are TKTS booths - they sell at pretty large discounts, you just go there on the day you want to see a show and buy for that evening. The main booth is in Times Square but there is another one (forgotten where it is) that is apparently quieter (you may queue for some time).
Don't buy anything from street touts - tours/show tickets etc.
The place to go for nightlife / bars / restaurants is The Village and Meatpacking districts.

Felt perfectly safe all the time. Times Square is the tourist trap and you'll see a cop every block or so, they are pretty serious about having no trouble there. I would get away from the touristy bits if you can.. we went and found the Ghostbusters firehouse (corner of Varick St & N Moore St ) and it was good just to wander around and see stuff you'd miss by sticking to 5th & times square.

We went end of January and it was bloody cold, but was all worth it to wander around in Central Park in the snow

NYC Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hotrods/sets/72157629058938023/
USS Intrepid Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hotrods/sets/72157629070450429/

 

[[TW]Fox]

The taxi fare is $52 which is frankly ridiculous when you can just get the Long Island Railroad straight into Penn Station from JFK for about $7 instead. It's quicker too by the time you factor in traffic.

 

[Crafty]

Yep, but if you want door to door service its the easiest way.

The advice I got was: If anyone approaches you at the airport asking if you need a taxi do not go with them, they are private hire and will cost more. Always to go to the taxi rank (at JFK exit the terminal and go left).

For our return trip to the airport we got the hotel to quote and book a private car which cost the same, obviously picking us up when we wanted etc. Our flight was late afternoon/early evening so although we needed to check out of the hotel they were happy to store our bags for the day on production of a tip for the porter guys.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Yep, but if you want door to door service its the easiest way.

Sure but it's not as if using the train is particularly difficult. And it is significantly cheaper.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Remember to ask for a flat rate from JFK if you take the cab.

Although we took the bus service, $16 each and takes you to anywhere you want on Manhattan.