OT-New York City Trip March 2012

[Jules123]

I am subscribing to this thread because we will be going to NYC in late May.

But all the hotel rates I'm finding (for 2 beds: 2 adults, 2 kids) are in the $300-$400 range, which is too much for us!

I have found a Hilton Garden Inn in the Soho/Tribeca area that is reasonable. Can anyone recommend this hotel and/or location?

If not, the best prices I've seen are in the Secaucus area, which as a previous poster said, would involve taking a bus or train in every day.

We are going in late May too and are looking at the Hilton Garden Inn at Times Square which we found for a little over $300 a night. Can anyone recommend this hotel and/or location?

 

[minnierocks]

Just avoid getting in and out of the city during rush hour - it can take up to an hour just to get through the tunnel.

Thanks for the tip!
We are hoping to arrive between 2-3 pm...

 

[Trixiezzz]

That's the time of year you're looking. I just looked where that is - fun location, right by Canal, right by Tribeca, very nice. I dunno from the hotel itself but nice location.

I would not not not stay in Jersey and certainly not in Secaucus - there's nothing in Secaucus but hotels and big box stores and outlets - it's not really walkable at all except within each little strip mally area and it's pretty desolate in general. The outlet strip malls are also not the cute little walkabout planned ones mostly, they're... let's call it industrial. There's a lot of office space in Secaucus too, so it's the strip mall things with like an Olive Garden, an office bldg, a hotel, and a little mallish area and after dark it's nothing but the hotel. Don't do it. Also not easy to get back from Secaucus, I *think* you have to do the bus to/from there.

Ok, I've taken your recommendation and changed to a hotel in the Times Square area. It's double what I was going to pay in Secaucus, but I figure it'll give us double the time to "be" in New York, since now we'll have the night times to go to plays, restaurants and such.

Southwest flies into both Neward and Laguardia, at about the same price, so which one would be easier to get to the Times Square area from?

 

[dcfromva]

Thanks to all for this thread (and other threads on this topic). We just returned last night from a weekend (Sat over Sun) train trip to NYC (from Washington DC). We had a blast.
We enjoyed doing a ton of walking in the unseasonably warm weather (I think the high on Sat was 62!).
We saw Memphis--it was an awesome show. We also enjoyed Wicked. In between shows, we visited the Intrepid, the 9/11 memorial, Castle Clinton, The Dead Sea Scrolls and Central Park.
In addition to walking, we used the subway. I found the MTA Trip Planner link very helpful in navigating the subways. (Having access to the web certainly makes getting around easier. )

Because we had such a short time, we bought the show tickets in advance and we also obtained the 9-11 memorial tickets in advance. Then, we had a list of other things we wished to see and filled them in around the pre-planned events. There are a lot of other things still on our list, but they will have to wait for next time.

 

[cornflake]

Ok, I've taken your recommendation and changed to a hotel in the Times Square area. It's double what I was going to pay in Secaucus, but I figure it'll give us double the time to "be" in New York, since now we'll have the night times to go to plays, restaurants and such.

Southwest flies into both Neward and Laguardia, at about the same price, so which one would be easier to get to the Times Square area from?

I personally much prefer LGA - but that one might depend on what time of day and how you're planning to get into the city - cab, Big Blue Bus thing, train, etc.?

I think you really won't regret switching the hotel. You wouldn't want to be spending your evenings in Secaucus -

 

[gk90]

As for safety, NYC is no worse that any other big city.

Not true! In terms of crime it's better!

New York City is not as safe as other cities, it is the safest large city in the nation, and has been for most of a decade now.

Thank you cornflake! People don't realize how much NYC has changed--every other big city has a higher crime rate. The suburbs have low crime rates too.

As for Newark vs. La Guardia, if you're a group of 3 or more I'd do car service, here are the going car service rates: (This was the 1st company that came up in a google search, I'm not endorsing them)
www.7starlimousine.com
LGA $35, JFK $45, EWR $45 new suv car or limo at 718-728-4915

However La Guardia can get really congested. It's closer to Manhattan but more crowded. Newark is a newer, more pleasant terminal but then the tunnel crossing to Manhattan can get really backed up with traffic. So it's a tradeoff, neither is ideal.

Here's a link to tkts discount ticket info:
http://www.tdf.org/TDF_ServicePage.aspx?id=56

 

[rthutchens]

I'm still trying to figure out the best hotel. What hotel is in the best location?

 

[rthutchens]

I think we have narrowed it down to Waldorf Astoria, Westin Times Square or Intercontinental New York Times Square. Any opinions? I want to be located to where we have easy access and cheap dining.

 

[gk90]

Ranking your 3 choices in terms of what you want:

1 Westin Times Square and 2 Intercontinental New York Times Square are almost equal, Westin is 2 short blocks closer to the subway. Just be aware that it's a super busy neighborhood, I walked past both those hotels last week and never knew they were there. If you enter their addresses on google maps and do a street view it will show the area from ground level.
Both are close to Times Square and cheap dining on 9th Ave. You may also enjoy looking at lunch specials on Restaurant Row, 46th between 7th and 8th, just walking along and looking at menus posted is fun

3 Waldorf Astoria: more expensive neighborhood in terms of dining, close to just 1 subway line, a little off the beaten track