New York

[The Subbie]

My other half surprised me for Christmas with a trip to New York/Toronto around the Paddys Day - Easter school holidays. I have however been tasked with getting the hotel in New York for the 4 days we're there, everything else is already sorted :-). As she lived in NY for 16 years and still gets back to it 1/2 times a year and I've been multiple times myself its not somewhere we're unfamiliar with so I'm trying to think out of the box a bit for somewhere to stay. Anyone got any wild or wonderful suggestions?

Boycey, have a look on Airbnb and see what it throws up, there's a million and 1 options there for NYC, one of them must be able to do the job for a few nights.

[gallsman]

Booked flights today for 5 nights in mid December. €790 return for two of us. Admittedly into Newark which isn't ideal, but no NYC airports are what you'd call "convenient" as I'd understand it.

[J70]

Looking to go back to New York for the gf's 30th in December. Direct flights at the minute are 430 return which is hard to beat.

Only time I was there was with lads on a piss up, so will be much more interested in looking at going to shows etc this time. Is there a cheap(er), Vegas-style way to get tickets? Some of the prices on the official site are terrifying!

TKTS has a couple of locations including one in Times Square that offer day of show half price tickets. The most popular shows are probably not available.

If it was earlier in the season, you might have a chance with preview shows, always an easier ticket before the hype starts, but that's not much use around xmas time.

[J70]

Booked flights today for 5 nights in mid December. €790 return for two of us. Admittedly into Newark which isn't ideal, but no NYC airports are what you'd call "convenient" as I'd understand it.

If you're staying in Manhattan, Newark is fine, especially if you take the train. Not much difference to Kennedy in terms of time. Taxi, JFK is probably a bit quicker, depending on the time of day.

[gallsman]

Yeah, we'll be in Manhattan, probably Midtown. She's never been so will probably want to stay there. I'd prefer Lower Manhattan/East Village.

[gallsman]

Yeah, we'll be in Manhattan, probably Midtown. She's never been so will probably want to stay there. I'd prefer Lower Manhattan/East Village.

With respect to the above, does anyone have personal recommendations or tips for good but comparitively affordable hotels? I appreciate it's New York at Christmas I'm talking about, but some of the prices the aggregator sites are throwing up are taking the piss. Anywhere that looks nice in a decent location is €300 a night. For five nights, that's a serious wedge.

Some of the 3 star hotels getting thrown up are more affordable, but quality varies wildly, so could do with a few pointers if anyone has stayed in a decent hotel that didn't break the bank. ABnB very expensive too.

[Rois]

We got the Sheraton 7th Avenue for a song (in December) by booking on hotwire.com where you don't know the name of the hotel before you book it.
My friend stayed in the yotel - may not be your type of thing but it did the job for her.

[gallsman]

We got the Sheraton 7th Avenue for a song (in December) by booking on hotwire.com where you don't know the name of the hotel before you book it.
My friend stayed in the yotel - may not be your type of thing but it did the job for her.

Great, thanks!

Out of curiosity, what defines a steal in your book?!

[Rois]

Three nights Mon - Thurs in middle of Dec for £337.  Location-wise it was fab, between Central Park and Times Square.

[gallsman]

Three nights Mon - Thurs in middle of Dec for £337.  Location-wise it was fab, between Central Park and Times Square.

Great, thanks. We have 5 nights including a Fri and Sat so difficult to know what a good deal is!

[The Iceman]

Yeah, we'll be in Manhattan, probably Midtown. She's never been so will probably want to stay there. I'd prefer Lower Manhattan/East Village.

With respect to the above, does anyone have personal recommendations or tips for good but comparitively affordable hotels? I appreciate it's New York at Christmas I'm talking about, but some of the prices the aggregator sites are throwing up are taking the piss. Anywhere that looks nice in a decent location is €300 a night. For five nights, that's a serious wedge.

Some of the 3 star hotels getting thrown up are more affordable, but quality varies wildly, so could do with a few pointers if anyone has stayed in a decent hotel that didn't break the bank. ABnB very expensive too.

See what you can get in Hoboken NJ Gallsman - it's a short PATH ride in to Manhattan and a fun town with spectacular views of Manhattan.
I'd also try VRBO as a lot of people rent out their apartments at that time while they're off visiting family - might be worth a shot...

[gallsman]

I've looked at Jersey before. Would it be fine you think? Not too much of a pain? Flying to Newark so it would be handy.

[The Iceman]

I've looked at Jersey before. Would it be fine you think? Not too much of a pain? Flying to Newark so it would be handy.

Jersey City has only one really nice and safe spot - if you stay near transportation its grand
Hoboken is great.  Worked there for 6 years. It's 10 mins in to downtown manhattan - 5 to south street seaport. Will cost you $2 each time.  You'll want a break from the hussle and bussle of manhattan and its the perfect spot....

[5 Sams]

I was here the other day.....http://www.911memorial.org/museum

Unreal. Allow a good half day to see it.

[gallsman]

I've looked at Jersey before. Would it be fine you think? Not too much of a pain? Flying to Newark so it would be handy.

Jersey City has only one really nice and safe spot - if you stay near transportation its grand
Hoboken is great.  Worked there for 6 years. It's 10 mins in to downtown manhattan - 5 to south street seaport. Will cost you $2 each time.  You'll want a break from the hussle and bussle of manhattan and its the perfect spot....

Just booked at last for a spot in Hoboken with Air BnB for six nights. It's right beside an apparently famous place called Carlo's Bake Shop that my host is already telling me I have to visit asap. Booked it using my Revolut card which saved me 30 euro compared to Air BnB's crappy FX rate so it works out at €125 a night including all the taxes and fees. About as good as I could have hoped for for somewhere decent based on the prices I saw!