New York New York

[Buzzsgramma]

DH,DS 38, D-Gr kids 10 & 11 are planning a trip to NY...kids want to site see, you know Empire State, and Statue of Liberty.. .i have the book New York with Kids and while its helpful...i still dont know where to get a hotel for these 2 guys and 2 kids.. ..some friends thought the Warwick and another rather fancy one ...I am hoing to keep it around $260 a night (with any discounts ) do i do Midtown or what.....HELP.......... got a great air fare...dates 7/16-7/20.....thanks for any suggestions

 

[a1tinkfans]

Just wanted to drop in and say
HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME IN NEW YORK!

I live on Long Island and still feel like a tourist when I go into the city, LOL! It is exhilerating and fun and the museums are wonderful as are the other sites and smells and sounds.

You may want to take a look at nycvisit.com
as it may help with things to do, see, etc.

Have Fun!!!!

 

[WeRblam]

DH,DS 38, D-Gr kids 10 & 11 are planning a trip to NY...kids want to site see, you know Empire State, and Statue of Liberty.. .i have the book New York with Kids and while its helpful...i still dont know where to get a hotel for these 2 guys and 2 kids.. ..some friends thought the Warwick and another rather fancy one ...I am hoing to keep it around $260 a night (with any discounts ) do i do Midtown or what.....HELP.......... got a great air fare...dates 7/16-7/20.....thanks for any suggestions

Will there be 5 in a room? NY Hotel rooms are notoriously small and most do not allow 5 in a room. Your best bet is to search on hotels.com and get something probably mid to lower manhatten... But let me warn you - it will be expensive!! Good Luck.

 

[crazyme5kids]

I can recommend the Marriott 3rd Ave. (Courtyard). You can get a room with two queen beds and a sofa bed. The rooms are big and roomy, the one we were in could have had two roll aways in it and still would have had room to move around. I've also stayed in the rooms with just two queens and there is plenty ofroom.

The Marriott Time Square is also a good choice.

 

[jackdis]

We've stayed at eh Doubletree Suites in Times Square. That was nice. Don't know the price though.

 

[MrMarv]

Given the sky-high hotel rates in NYC, would it make sense to stay in either Jersey City NJ (I believe there's a Courtyard by Marriott there), Secaucus (tons of hotels) or Stamford, Ct. and utilize the various trains/light rail lines which service NYC?

 

[mzliza3]

DH,DS 38, D-Gr kids 10 & 11 are planning a trip to NY...kids want to site see, you know Empire State, and Statue of Liberty.. .i have the book New York with Kids and while its helpful...i still dont know where to get a hotel for these 2 guys and 2 kids.. ..some friends thought the Warwick and another rather fancy one ...I am hoing to keep it around $260 a night (with any discounts ) do i do Midtown or what.....HELP.......... got a great air fare...dates 7/16-7/20.....thanks for any suggestions

My hubby travels alot to NYC on business & to see family. We just returned from NYC 2 weeks ago & we stayed at a very nice place called the Holtel Wellington on 7th & 58th(I think that's the address!). It's a budget hotel; the rooms are average for NYC, but it was clean & the service was impeccable. We paid $180 per night. They always run specials; just google "Wellington Hotel New York" & then go to the page. It's centrally located, near Carnegie Hall, Central Park, Rockefeller Center & so many other places. If this is your first trip to NYC, you know what to expect. A great & less expensive alternative to the Empire State Building is Top of the Rock @ Rockefeller Center. It cost $17 for adults (don't know kids rate) & the view from the 80th floor is UNBELIEVABLE! Much better than the Empire State Bldg., less crowded, & if you buy an advance ticket, you zoom straight to the top. The observation deck & the chandeliers in the foyer are amazing. Another great option for kids are the double decker site-seeing buses. For $48 p/adult & $38 per child, you get an unlimited hop-on/hop-off ticket fro 2 days, with stops at all the major attractions, a night tour (which takes you to Brooklyn where you can photograph the skyline), a Brooklyn tour, a harbor cruise, plus some other add-ons for xtra $. NYCtourist.com should have links to the bus companies. Last year, we took our 2 nieces (8 & 11) & they just loved it. My teen son actually prefers NYC to Disney now that he's older. Another great place for kids is the Natural History Museum- lots of dinosaurs & Hayden Planetarium. Serendipty 3, on the Upper East side, is a fabulous, kid friendly old fashioned ice cream parlour that serves amazing sundaes. But be prepared, NYC is very expensive. But if you're looking for cheap souvenirs & a lot of atmosphere, head to Chinatown. With kids, we always stick to the neighborhood delis. They're inexpensive (for New York) & serve foods for picky kids & adventurous adults. Good luck!

 

[bamor]

For lodging and lots of great tips on staying in the city, you have to check the NYC forum in tripadvisor.com.
Some hotels you should look into for reasonable rates in Midtown.
The Belvedere
Radio City Apartments
The Travel Inn
Hotel Newton
The San Carlos (summer special/one bedroom suite, stay 2 nights, get 3rd free from their website.
Any of the Affinia properties
There are some good specials under travelzoo.com and check quikbook.com for some really good rates, too.
Before booking, please be sure to read hotel reviews under tripadvisor...they are very helpful.
For restaurant help, go to menupages.com. Midtown would be west 40's and 50's. For subway, walking directions, go to hopstop.com. The staten island ferry is free and is a nice relaxing way to have a nice look at the statue.
Have fun planning.

 

[Maybelle]

We had 4 of us in a room at the Hampton inn in the theater district a month or so ago. The room was quite large and might accommodate a roll-away. You could inquire. The staff was wonderful, and the hotel provides a hot breakfast!

 

[lila]

Given the sky-high hotel rates in NYC, would it make sense to stay in either Jersey City NJ (I believe there's a Courtyard by Marriott there), Secaucus (tons of hotels) or Stamford, Ct. and utilize the various trains/light rail lines which service NYC?

Ugh, I wouldn't recommend that. Maybe Jersey City, but definitely not Stamford. That's 45 minutes each way in/out of the city.

 

[bamor]

Forgot to mention, for broadway discounts, go to www.broadwaybox.com and for discount admission to top of the rock, to to www.theatermania.com.
The hotel prices in summer are pretty good in the city. I cannot stress enough, trip advisor for planning and hotels to AVOID also. There are numerous discussions in the forum about where to stay with a family.
BTW, some of the one bedroom suites at the San Carlos have two double beds and a sofa bed plus a kitchenette and free breakfast. Just google their website for the summer special.
B

 

[eliza61]

I can recommend the Marriott 3rd Ave. (Courtyard). You can get a room with two queen beds and a sofa bed. The rooms are big and roomy, the one we were in could have had two roll aways in it and still would have had room to move around. I've also stayed in the rooms with just two queens and there is plenty ofroom.

The Marriott Time Square is also a good choice.

The Marriott T.S is nice but it may blow her $260/night budget, if their going in the summer. I stayed there the 4th-9th of June and the cheapest I got was 297.00 but I didn't have coupons.

 

[bamor]

Travelzoo has a great special on the Affinia Manhattan (near Macy's)
A one bedroom suite with tax comes to $1091.00 (that's $275/ night av with tax). Rooms have a kitchen also and there is a Whole Foods market just down 7th for supplies (water and breakfast stuff).

 

[Ciao Mickey]

Given the sky-high hotel rates in NYC, would it make sense to stay in either Jersey City NJ (I believe there's a Courtyard by Marriott there), Secaucus (tons of hotels) or Stamford, Ct. and utilize the various trains/light rail lines which service NYC?

I would not recommend this.

 

[crazyme5kids]

Travelzoo has a great special on the Affinia Manhattan (near Macy's)
A one bedroom suite with tax comes to $1091.00 (that's $275/ night av with tax). Rooms have a kitchen also and there is a Whole Foods market just down 7th for supplies (water and breakfast stuff).

This place was the Southgate Towers right? If so, my husband stays there once in a while when he does work at MSG. He likes it.

 

[Crazy Hakim]

No hotel suggestion but when me and son Michael went last year to the Stephen King/JK Rowling/John Irving Show, we got this:
http://www.newyorkpass.com/
And had one full day of tours that was the best. We did Empire State Building, Madison Square, Radio City, Rockefeller Center, NBC Tour and we would have done more, but we got tickets for a second night at the show. It took a lot of planning, and I know the subway system, but we maximized our tours and squeezed out the most for the one day pass.

 

[Buzzsgramma]

Hey ...thanks for all the info...am going to read when i return from dropping D-GD to basketball camp.......That would be 4 in a rm 2 adults and 2 kids boys under 12......They are flying into LaGuardia....do we use a shuttle to the hotel in stead of a taxi......they have never been there...well except when my DH was in the Navy.......loooon time ago.....I could do more than $260 a nite................but we just returned from 7 days at Disney.,.....SR and i need to budget a bit....

 

[crazee4disney]

HAVE FUN - first and foremost!

We went the past Thanksgiving - just my MIL, DD8, and I for the Macy's Day Parade. We stayed at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square and it was WONDERFUL!

You can try Radio City Apartments - they are really reasonable and they have a little kitchen area, etc. You may get lucky if they have an opening.

We just couldn't fit in a day for going to the Statue of Liberty. We did do a Night Lights Tour with New York Party Shuttles that was great. We actually still keep in contact with our tour guide!

We also did lunch at American Girl Place, dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner, Rockettes, Mary Poppins, Top of the Rock, the Today Show... I highly recommend Top of the Rock at Rockefeller - the views are absolutely amazing. I liked going there better than the Empire State Building and if you go right before sunset you can get great daytime pictures as well as the sunset, and nighttime pictures. I got some great pics of the Empire State Building from there.

Have a great time! We had no problems getting cabs too.

 

[goobsmom]

DH and I and our 2 boys stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Chelsea Thanksgiving weekend for $164/night, including breakfast. Clean, new hotel, walking distance to subway, Madison Sq Garden, Macy's, etc. The rooms were small, but we were hardly in them at all, and that's the norm for NYC. We were very satisfied with that hotel.

 

[majimikate]

Just want to agree that Top of the Rock is not to be missed...it's just fabulous!! We had an Irish exchange student last summer and brouht him there, he never wanted to leave!! We went at sunset, an amazing view and well worth the $17 admission. Also, try to eat off the beaten path a little bit. Try the pizza places on the side streets, go to Jo Allen's in the theater district and avoid the chains. The food is better and more reasonable off the beaten path and you'll have much more of a New York experience if you look around a little. Also, ask the hotel staff where they eat locally. Sometimes they direct you to a place you never would have found or tried...enjoy your trip!!

Chris