103 replies to this topic

[Tartan Sheep]

Thinking of maybe going to NYC in late August but don't really have much of a clue about where are the best areas to stay. Would want to be nearish at least some of the main attractions (Empire State Building, Central Park, Times Square etc) and maybe somewhere with a few bars, restaurants etc. Can anyone recommend areas to me? Not sure yet whether we'd be looking at a hotel or maybe an apartment for a week - might get more for our money with an apartment - but any recommendations on accommodation would also be great

[chaff]

I stayed at a hotel called "On the avenue", upper west side, right beside broadway and a 5 minute walk to central park, strawberry fields entrance, 5 minutes from the natural history museum.

http://www.ontheave-nyc.com/

It was the wifes birthday and we got upgraded to the penthouse suite, balcony overlooking the skyscrapers at 2 am, the place buzzing and stated to snow, a memory that will live with me forever.


new York is cool as f*ck

[TA Ealing]

Last time I was there we stayed at The Mansfield Hotel on West 44th Street. Was 2 blocks from Times Sq, and walking distance from Central Park, etc. Great location, but the room we had was kinda pokey

[Rossy]

Hi Lindsay....how's life ??

Good to see you're still travelling...

we were in NYC a couple of years ago and stayed at the Empire hotel near Columbus Circle. It's lower upper west side which as Chaff pointed out is a reallly nice area.

TBH, you can't go wrong almost anywhere in Manhattan....it's pretty small, transport links are good, and each area will hold lots of interest.

Personally, I wouldn't choose a hotel in the tourist central area (Times square, midtown) and when we go back again we'll head towards Soho, Tribeca or Greenwich Village....there's loads of character there and some really cool new hotels are springing up.

But you'll be moving around so much that location in Manhattan isn't vital.

Good luck, let me know what you choose....

P.S. We went to visit Patrice and Denis when we were last in SA, only to find that they've split up and Denis is back in France. Patrice has a new partner and is as enthusiastic as ever....he says 'hi'.

Vuitton is still nuts of course.

[TAM1]

Unless you have to go in August, I'd avoid it, far too hot & humid. Go at the end of September / beginning of October, weather should still be good but not as humid.

As for areas, they've all been mentioned and as Manhattan is so small it's easy to get around without any hassle. We stayed at W Times Square in March - great location, cool hotel, really nice room only gripe was the wi-fi charge for each iPhone that we used rather than there being a room fee.

Who's travelling and what's your hotel budget as they can be really expensive?

As an aside, if anyone is going to NYC with kids, we took our son (almost 3) and visited the Manhattan Children's Museum (83rd between Broadway & Amsterdam) and it was a really good fun, we also walked back down to Columbus Circle stopping off at EJ's diner on Amsterdam (between 81st & 82nd), cracking NYC diner

[Tartan Sheep]

P.S. We went to visit Patrice and Denis when we were last in SA, only to find that they've split up and Denis is back in France. Patrice has a new partner and is as enthusiastic as ever....he says 'hi'.

Vuitton is still nuts of course.

Ah but Vuitton makes up for his nuttiness by being absolutely adorable Can't believe it's over a year since we were there...

Thanks for the NY advice, btw

Edited by Tartan Sheep, 05 June 2011 - 01:41 PM.

[Tartan Sheep]

Unless you have to go in August, I'd avoid it, far too hot & humid. Go at the end of September / beginning of October, weather should still be good but not as humid.

As for areas, they've all been mentioned and as Manhattan is so small it's easy to get around without any hassle. We stayed at W Times Square in March - great location, cool hotel, really nice room only gripe was the wi-fi charge for each iPhone that we used rather than there being a room fee.

Who's travelling and what's your hotel budget as they can be really expensive?

As an aside, if anyone is going to NYC with kids, we took our son (almost 3) and visited the Manhattan Children's Museum (83rd between Broadway & Amsterdam) and it was a really good fun, we also walked back down to Columbus Circle stopping off at EJ's diner on Amsterdam (between 81st & 82nd), cracking NYC diner

Late August is really our only option this year, to be honest - the small matter of a double header in Liechtenstein and Spain makes late September/early October impossible!

As for who's travelling - just me and my other half - and our budget, well, we don't mind paying for somewhere nice and central (within reason, of course). I have noticed the price of hotels already...but he has quite a large number of Hilton points, so that might help!

[new hugh]

I'm there twice a year for work and I usually stay at the Park South Hotel, which is on 28th Street and Park Avenue, around the Murray Hill area of Manhattan, which is in mid-town and slightly to the east of the main touristy bits). About 5-10 mins walk from Empire State, Macy's, Herald Square etc., and about 15 mins from Times Square. It's also close to Bluesmoke - amazing restaurant on 26th Street which does outstanding ribs and pulled pork. You've also got the 28th Street station about thirty seconds away, which is on the 4, 5, 6 subway lines.

Have also stayed at the Hotel Chandler (which is on 31st and Fifth; very handy for the Empire State, but far enough to be not as touristy as Times Square hotels), The Roosevelt (around 45th Street and Sixth; amazing hotel foyer and cool piano bar); and various Club Quarters hotels (Wall Street, 46th Street, Rockerfeller Centre). The Hotel Radisson on 51st and Lexington is really nice too.

I'd also echo other posters who said that it's good to venture out of the main touristy areas - the East Village is amazing, as is Greenwich Village, Little Italy (although a bit touristy), Union Square and Soho all have great bars and restaurants around.

[qos_75]

Me an my good lady are heading to New York on 14th of August, before heading to San Francisco and then Las vegas. We're back home the day before the Czech match (much to her disappointment), so I'm hoping the jet lag is not too bad.

Anyway, we booked the Distrikt Hotel in New York , at just over £100 per night it seems fairly reasonable and it has received decent reviews on trip advisor (rated 6 out of 435 hotels). It looks fairly central with it's 40th Street location too. We have booked up things to do in SF and Vegas, although we are now looking at things to do in New York. Obviously the Empire State building, the WTC site, Central Park and a bus tour on the cards. However, we realise we will not even see a quarter of the city in the four nights we are there. My head is hurting with all the books I have read on the topic since last November but any recommendations for bars and restaurants would be good and appreciated.

Edited by qos_75, 05 June 2011 - 05:55 PM.

[new hugh]

Mexican food in NYC is excellent, Indian food is pretty disappointing compared to the U.K. Most pizza in NY is pretty good as well - there are SBarro branches on practically every corner, but some of the Italian family-run places further downtown are probably a better bet (though Little Italy is a bit of a tourist trap).

Murray Hill / Gramercy / Union Square is the part of Manhattan I'm most familiar with, so here are my recommendations.....

Blue Smoke on 27th and Park is simply outstanding. Loads of beers from all over the world on tap, amazing steaks, burgers, pulled pork, as well as probably the best buffalo wings I've ever had. There's also live jazz club next door. Seriously cannot recommend this place highly enough.

Rosa Mexicano on 18th & Broadway (near Union Square) does superb Mexican food. There are a few branches round the city, but we always go to the Union Square branch.

Dos Caminos on Park Avenue between 26th and 27th Street is also pretty good upmarket Mexican fare as well.

Rodeo on 3rd Avenue between 27th and 28th is great for pulled pork, ribs, burgers and general Tex-Mex (for want of a better term). Lovely chimichangas!

Turkish Kitchen on 3rd Avenue (just across the street from Rodeo) is great Turkish food.

One Indian place that was actually quite nice was The Copper Chimney on 28th Street. Generally Indian restaurants cater to bland U.S. tastes so you should ask them to put in extra chilli in your curry to bring it up to our standards.

Dinosaur is a great wee burrito cafe around 9th street, just off Union Square - if you're walking around and are quite hungry, this is pretty good to grab something on the go.

Avoid most of the places around Times Square (Olive Garden, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., all the naff 'O'Connolly's'-type Irish bars etc.) It's not that they are particularly bad, just a bit of a rip-off for what you're getting. You'll end up queuing for a table for ages anyway, and will be surrounded by lots of old people from the midwest saying 'Gee!' a lot.

Having said that, the Heartland Brewery chain, dotted round the city, including one on the ground floor of the Empire State Building, does nice burgers and amazing deserts. Equally, St. Andrews Bar & Restaurant, a Scottish themed place on 46th Street near Times Square, is quite funny with old posters of the Forth Bridge, lion rampant napkins and reviews from the Daily Record pinned up on the wall. Surprisingly they do actually have one or two Scots working there, and to be fair, their turkey club sandwich is actually excellent. The ESPN Zone is good if you're looking for sports and they do nice milkshakes.

A wee bit out, Monaco on Amsterdam Avenue near 80th Street (up towards Central Park) does nice Mediterranean food too.

There are great bars all over the city, but I'd recommend heading to the East Village (the area around 1st Avenue and 14th down to 6th streets). Full of classic NY dive bars like Hi-Fi, Mona's and Professor Thom's.

Old Town on 18th Street and McSorley's on East 7th Street are two great old school NY pubs (McSorley's is apparently the oldest pub in the City).

Edited by new hugh, 05 June 2011 - 07:13 PM.

[qos_75]

Thanks for taking the time to list them New Hugh, I have printed your post and will certainly vist a couple of them. A trip to Blue Smoke is certainly on the cards.

[Tartan Sheep]

Anyway, we booked the Distrikt Hotel in New York , at just over £100 per night it seems fairly reasonable and it has received decent reviews on trip advisor (rated 6 out of 435 hotels). It looks fairly central with it's 40th Street location too.

Out of interest, where did you book that? I just looked at their website and the quote is considerably higher than "just over £100 a night"....

[TAM1]

On the room cost, I'd make sure that the price you've been quoted as the price you'll pay inclusive of all taxes, as there are quite a number of taxes that are added to your final bill.

If you like Sushi, I'd recommend Natsumi on W50th (7 & 8).

[Jie Bie]

We stayed at Club Quarters next to the Rockefeller Centre when we were there for New Year. Was a great location (51st street) and a very nice hotel.

We were there for six nights, and made very good use out of our 7 days subway passes to get around. Make sure you get the subway to Brooklyn and walk across the Bridge to Manhattan one of the days.

[perthTam]

Thinking of maybe going to NYC in late August but don't really have much of a clue about where are the best areas to stay. Would want to be nearish at least some of the main attractions (Empire State Building, Central Park, Times Square etc) and maybe somewhere with a few bars, restaurants etc. Can anyone recommend areas to me? Not sure yet whether we'd be looking at a hotel or maybe an apartment for a week - might get more for our money with an apartment - but any recommendations on accommodation would also be great

Apartment rentals for less than 31 days are illegal in New York. Read a lot about this when planning my NYC trip earlier this year. Loads of stories about people paying up front and getting there to find addresses didn't exist etc..