Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Where to stay in New York City?

Hi all. I have a question and you are the best source of information I've ever found. (Wikipedia has nothing on this bunch, LOL.)

I'm planning to visit New York City at the end of May with a couple friends, and we're trying to figure out where to stay. On one hand, it would be great to stay in the city itself, and be flexible enough to come back to the hotel during the day, etc., but on the other hand, it would also be nice to stay somewhere out of town and take public transportation in each day to both save money and be able to park our cars somewhere safe and leave them there for the duration of the trip. (I grew up in a big city, but the idea of driving in NYC -- especially alone, when I first get into town to meet my friends at the hotel -- makes me a bit nervous.)

So does anyone have any suggestions as to accomodations or, even better, recommendations of specific places? In the past, I've either been on a corporate spending account (in which case we stayed at places I couldn't afford now, LOL) or stayed with friends who lived there, so I'm flying blind on this trip. All tips and suggestions would be appreciated!

Kathy

Have you tried Hotels.com or similar sites? And when you say NYC, you mean Manhattan? Or . . . ? Any particular area?

I recommend NOT staying at any WooGo locations. While their prices are better than most of the competition, and the room I got was quite nice, getting INTO the room was a huge headache. (It was not available until 3+ hours after it was supposed to be, and other people were still waiting at that time. As well as at least one person whose room simply was not available AT ALL.)

Have fun!

Depends what you're looking to do. Staying in the city has huge advantages. You're closer to everything. There's a lot of traffic not just in the city, but around it.*

Public transportation in the city will get you around most places (except that crosstown subway service is non-existant between 42nd street and something like 150th) for $2/ride. Driving isn't as scary as you might think, though it does take some getting used to.

http://newyork.citysearch.com might well help you find what you need.

One good option to look into is a B&B. Strange to think of them in Manhattan, but they do exist. If you only need a couple of rooms, a B&B can save you a lot of money. Citysearch can help you there.A quick web search for "new york city bed and breakfast hotel" or something along those lines will also turn up a variety of helpful sites. Sorry to say that I don't have much experience with any of them, so I can't recommend one over the others

There's also the possibility that you may have a friend who lives not too far from the city (an hour or so, perhaps) in a house with a couple of nice empty rooms (maybe, I don't know, a couple of siblings grew up and moved out or something) who just might have room for you (and/or your car) for a few days, depending on the circumstances. It could be worth investigating, anyway.

Really, it depends on what you need. Like any place, New York has a wide range of hotels and accomodations. Price vs comfort and security...

Something else to look into would be staying in one of the other boros. Brooklyn and Queens are a lot cheaper than Manhattan, and public transportation (I'd suggest subway over bus -- traffic in Queens is worse than Manhattan) will still get you into the city proper.

Sorry I can't give you more specific help off the top of my head. It's not often that I need to find a hotel in the city. I'll try to remember to see if I can find out about the hotel we used for that one wedding a couple of years back...

Hope this helps at least get you started, anyway. Feel free to email me if there's anything more I can do.

Paul

*My favorite official question on the NJ State driver's test:

Q: NJ has one of the lowest rates of fatal car accidents of any state in the country. Why is this?

A: NJ traffic is so dense that it's very difficult to get your car up to fatal speeds.

I think your biggest problem is going to be your vehicle. I recently was in New York to help out some friends at a big Comic Con there. My buddy and I flew in and so we didn't have to worry about a car. Our hotel (which was resonably priced) was only a few blocks from Times Square and we were able to walk nearly everywhere. Public transportation is also readily available.

The other two guys had vans full of product for the show booth so they stayed in New Jersey and only drove in for unloading and loading. They rest of the time they just rode the ferry over and left the vans at their motel.

Unlike my buddy, I find New York a fun place to visit but I certainly wouldn't want to live there.

Tank (who didn't have time to do much 'touristy stuff' while there but did manage to check out three music stores nearby)

Thanks for the responses so far. Yes, we're planning on spending most of time in Manhattan; the question is just whether to find a place right on the island or to stay outside and take the subway in each day. My main concern, as Tank said, is what to do with my car. Ideally, I'll be able to get to wherever I stay, park it, and not get in again until it's time to leave. The problem is, where to stay in NYC where you can park your car safely, without it costing more than the rest of the trip.

The other thing I was wondering was if there was somewhere in New Jersey that might be fairly easy to get to, where we could safely park our cars for the 3-4 days we'll be staying, take the subway in to a Manhattan hotel for the rest of the visit, then come back to get the car when we leave. Has anyone ever done this, or have suggestions on what might be a good place?

I have been to Manhatten before, but it was years ago, and I was there on business. We stayed at a fabulous place in mid-town (on 42nd Street, I think it was) but no where we could afford now, without those wonderful corporate spending accounts.

If anyone has any other experience or recommendations they'd be able to share, I'd apprecate it!

Kathy

Well... There's Avistar . You park in NJ, close to Newark Airport. They have a shuttle to take you to the airport, which has a monorail system that takes you right to the local train station, which in turn takes you very quickly into NYC.

Unlike the lot near, say, New Brunswick train station (now a major stop thanks to Rutgers University), they'll keep your car for days without a problem. When you're ready, you call them. The shuttle comes around to pick you up, and (most of the time), they have your car cleaned, started, and ready to go when you arrive. A heck of a lot cheaper than parking in the city, but then, what isn't?

You'll have to put up with airport traffic, though, and the monorail and train (not necessarily easy with luggage).

There might be cheaper/better, but I'm not sure offhand. It's not something I usually have to worry about...

Alternatively, you might have a friend in the area who might have a driveway big enough to hold a couple of extra cars. Which, really, is not a big imposition. Although said friend might live 15-20 minutes away from the train station, this is also not a big problem (and, at the worst, cabs aren't too bad...).

Hope this helps.

Paul

Any place along the NJ Metro stations should have longer term parking. There's information, phone numbers, and line maps at http://www.njtransit.com . When we visited relatives in New Jersey a few years ago, we drove up to the MetroPark station. We only used hourly parking, but I'm sure they should have some long-term-ish parking. The train ride itself was about an hour-ish, and ended at Penn Station. But definitely call and ask first