Trip to New York

[foraloysius]

At the moment I am planning my trip in June across the big pond. Before flying to the Midwest I would love to visit New York City for one to two weeks. I noticed hotels are very expensive so I could use a good tip for a hostel or a bed and breakfast. Any ideas <br
Louis

 

[kenmore1978]

New York trip

The trick is not to stay in New York proper (Manhattan) but in the suburubs. Getting into and out of NYC is very easy because of it's extensive public transportation system and the farther away from Manhattan, the cheaper things are.

 

[launderess]

By "surburbs" you mean Westchester, New Jersey,Long Island and Conn, it is NOT that easy to take "public" transportation to hotels in those areas into Manhattan, nor inexpensive. <br
Yes, hotel rates near the airports or highways are probably much cheaper than staying in mid-town or SoHo, but neither the subways, Metro-North, or LIRR run past those areas into Manhtttan <br
I for one wouldn't want to spend an evening in Manhattan and end up travelling on a train or bus at some late hour to get out into the surburbs <br
For the original poster, there are several options for inexpensive hotel/hostel stays in Manhattan. There are several hostels, you can find them easily on the Internet, as well as YMCA's. After that there are B&B's and Inn's also found the same way. <br
In terms of hotels, there are options ranging from "fleabag" to tourist and levels in between and above. Have you tried using a good travel search engine like "Travel.com" or "Hotel.com"? While not the "surburbs" there are hotels in the outer borourghs like Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island which offer access to Manhattan via subway or bus. You can also try parts of New Jersey that are close to NYC and served by public transportation, including near Newark Airport <br
Mid-town,Soho, and hotels uptown near Central Park tend to be the most expensive. Try searching for rooms uptown in Harlem, or other less expensive parts of Manhattan. IIRC there is a hostel popular with Europeans somewhere in Harlem, but not sure where it is or of the name <br
Launderess <br <br <br <br <br

 

[kenmore1978]

Suburbs

By "suburbs", I was referring to Brooklyn, Queens, & Staten Island, basically someplace that is close to, but not actually on, Manhattan. I still would include New Jersey, but as you said, not Connecticut, Long Island, or Westchester.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Oh goodness no Louis, if you going to New York for just a few days, spend a little extra and stay in Manhattan. I lived in NYC for 11 years mostly in Mahattan, but I did live in both Queens and Staten Island for a bit and the commute is not fun to say the least. <br
As others said do try Hotels.com, it might be able to come up with a package deal.

 

[jetcone]

Louis Great little hotel on east side

Louis there is a great little hotel on the East Side just above the U.N. You can walk to mid town from there. They run weekend specials all the time. Last time I was there you got a room with full kitchen! for $139/night for the weekend <br
Robert is right NY is so large you will spend most of your time commuting and not seeing anything <br
Check them out and see if they are still doing specials on weekends, it is a very small hotel and is very well appointed but they offer super deals, why I don't know
Here is the link

http://www.affinia.com/NYC-Hotel/Beekman-Tower/Overview.cfm

 

[foraloysius]

Thanks!!!!

Thanks for the advice. It won't be easy since I plan to stay two weeks in NYC, but I think there is a chance I will spend those two weeks in Manhattan.

New York City, here I come!!!

 

[48bencix]

New York, New York

When I stayed in New York for 6 weeks in 1978, I was lucky enough to stay with a friend who lived in a 5 story walk up in Greenwich Village. I would recommend that area as being central, convenient and fun.

One of my friends advised me before going to New York "When you are in New York, you must do 7 things every day." Those "things" can be going out for a meal, for a drink, to a movie, etc. You must go to the museums, galleries, and, my favorite, the buildings. The Empire State Building is still magnificent and you can go to the top to see the view. Manhattan is a great walking city, but they move fast, just below a jog.

Have a great time in what is argueably still the world's greatest city.

Martin

 

[retromom]

More NYC Hotels

Louis:

Our Sunday travel section had an article on "Cheap sleeps in NYC". Here are a few web sites.

affinia.com - Shelburne Murry Hill $189 (w/kitchenettes)

milburnhotel.com - Milburn Hotel $189 (w/kitchenettes)

larchmonthotel.com - $109 (4 blocks from subway in Greenwich Village, share a bath, queen room)

excelsiorhotelny.com - Excelsior Hotel $159 queen room

jollymadison.com - Jolly Hotel Madison Towers $179 queen room

hotelrogerwilliams.com - Roger Williams Hotel $180 queen room

Hope some of these sites help

 

[foraloysius]

Oh Venus,

Thank you very much for those links. Silly me forgot to report that I booked a room in a gay hostel in Chelsea near Greenwich Village. This ho(s)tel is called the Chelsea Pines Inn and was recommended to me by a friend of a friend who stayed there.

Thank you very much for thinking of me!

Louis

http://www.chelseapinesinn.org/pages/14/index.htm

 

[retromom]

Chelsea Hostel

Louis:

This looks like a great place. Love Charlie the cat and the greenhouse with all day cookies and coffee. Since you'll be there in the summer, the gardens should be green and lush!

Beautiful landscape, cookies, and kitties....what more could you ask for? Ok, maybe they'll let you see their laundry facilities! ;-)

Venus

 

[JerseyMike]

I live in New Jersey, directly across the Hudson River fromNew York City.

There's a Court Yard by Marriott in the Newport section of Jersey City. It's opposite the Pavonia Newport Path station. Path is a subway that connects New York and New Jersey. A friend just stayed there. He paid $89 US for one night. He was able to get that rate by calling the hotel directly. Here's a link to the some additional information about the hotel: http://marriott.com/property/propertypage.mi?marshaCode=EWRNW

Newport used to be a warehouse district, but it's now been developed into a luxury housing/office/retail complex. It has several restaurants (all different price ranges), a mall that has a food court and is anchored by a Macy's, Sears and JC Penny and several high rise office buidings, etc.

Path trains going to the World Trade Center (the station is still called World Trade Center and is actually located on Ground Zero) and midtown serve the Pavonia Newport Path Station. The midtown stations are Christopher Street (at Hudson St) and 9th St, 14th, 23rd St and 33rd Street. The numbered stations are on 6th Avenue (which is officially called Avenue of the Americas). 9th Street and 14th Street are in Greenwich Village. Depending upon your destination, you can be in the City about 15 minutes. Path trains run 24/7, but trains run every half hour after midnight. The hotel is located several blocks from the Holland Tunnel, but the Neighborhood is isolated from it. Path connects to the New York City subway (for an additional fare) at 14th St, 23rd, and 33rd St. Path fare is $1.50 US. The New York City subway is $2.00 US. Multiple trip discounted tickets are available.

The 33rd Street Path station is located one very long block from New York Penn Station. You can take a train from Kennedy Airport to Penn Station (AirTrain to the Long Island Railroad Station and then the Long Island Railroad to Penn Station.) The Marriott is actually located very close to Newark Airport. (I took a cab home from Newark Airport on Superbowl Sunday and it cost $40 US with a tip.) I live about a mile north of the Court Yard.

Hope this helps.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Mike

http://marriott.com/property/propertypage.mi?marshaCode=EWRNW

 

[toggleswitch]

Need a tour-guide?

Hi Louis-

If you'd like a guided tour of NYC, please feel free to write to me... (My E-mail address is in my profile.) I would be my pleasure to meet you, and take you around.

I grew up in Queens which is in NYC but is one county away from "Downtown" otherwise known as Manhattan Island. I now live next to Queens on Long Island. [No jokes, girls! LOL, ROFL]

I also worked in Manhattan for 20 years and went to high- school and college there.

So I guess I'm saying I know Manhattan (NYC) very well.
WELCOME and hope to see you.

 

[foraloysius]

Hello Steve,

Thanks for your offer. I will mail you. I would love to get a tour, perhaps we could even visit some appliance stores, I have three years of new American appliances to catch up!

Looking forward to meeting you.

Louis

 

[toggleswitch]

Catching up

FANTASTIC!

US federal law changes soon (2007?) that will make new top-loaders illegal to sell to consumers...due to being water-hogs.

The market believes that "we" (Americans) got used to the speed and convenience and capacity of T/L-ers and that "we" won't go for a euro-style front-loader.

There are all kinds of "new" machines out now. Some are putting into practice stuff that was patented in the 50's.

So Maytag has a machine now with two "spirals" on the side of a top-load tub (like an old Hoover two-tub non-automatic with the fan/impeller at the back. General Electric (GE) has a machine with the impeller/fan at the bottom like an Asian Sanyo. The Maytag neptune (no window in door) is F/L with a huge port-hole, but the tub tilts back like a Hoover keymatic (UK/Australian?) or like the Westinghouse slant-front. Gee maytag.... this design was dropped by Europe 40+ years ago (too much weight on the rear bearings)

You will be happy to know (ALERT ALERT sarcasm coming..)
that US manufacturers have discovered ...drum-roll please... stainless steel tubs/drums..... Except whirlpool which still insist even on its F/L series to have a painted steel dryer drum. And with this you can be sure these will become green and blue from the laundry. With glass doors the whole world can see the tub begin to look like Heck. I actually bought a GE dryer because they now can be had with a SS drum, it sorta matches my FRIDgeMORE F/L washer, they last a long time and they have a safety switch such that when the belt pops in two decades... it wont run!

Finally we have my favorite newcomer the unknown "Staber" brand (click on link, please) top-load horizontal axis. (I love this and would have bought it but.. a) no window.... and when it decides to commit suicide b) who is gonna service/fix it? Aren't these like the real-skinny 40cm (18-20 inches) wide top-load horizontal-axis machine across the pond?

It really is an exciting time here to see what will live, and what will die. Also a good time to collect these "inovations"

Still.. I am not used to the idea of imported major appliances. But on the plus side, competition will improve quality and still even further reduce prices.

A decent Sears Kenmore machine is US$400 (and there are other T/L now less expensive.) but relative to income/salary levels this has become very affordable. [I used to sell appliances for Sears after my full-time day job as an accountant.]

Sorry if I am rambling on and on......

http://www.staber.com