NYC hotels/hostels

[metallicat]

Does anyone here have experience in staying at a shared bathroom hotel/hostel in NYC, or anywhere for that matter? I've been planning a trip to Manhattan for quite awhile now, and it's either I stay in NJ somewhere and take a PATH train into Manhattan, or I stay in an economy type place like a hostel or at least somewhere that offers shared bathrooms, right in Manhattan.

The whole idea of sharing these facilities sort of creeps me out to be honest, but it's the only economical way of staying in Manhattan. What is the security like? Can you just leave all of your possessions laying around your room without worrying about theft? Are the washrooms generally clean and available when you need them?

Further, if you have stayed in any place specifically and would like to recommend it, I'm all ears. Thanks.

[Engine09]

Travelling with a woman? If so you'll need to grab a hotel, but if not you'll save over $100 a day by doing the hostel thing. Yeah they kinda suck but it's not like you're hanging out there during the day, too much to see and do in that city.

I stayed at this place in the Spring, had a whole room to myself, would have been busier during May-Sep. It was old school, hardwood and bunkbeds nothing like the pic on the site.

http://www.hostels.com/en/availabili...telNumber.7993

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

First of all, forget the PATH trains and if you're staying in NJ take NJ Transit from Newark Penn right into New York Penn Station. PATH only gets you to the World Trade Center (unless you transfer which is a pain). There's not a whole lot going on in that area.

The difference in fares for a round trip is $3 vs. $7. In the grand scheme of things it's not a big hit.

There are some very decent hotels in Newark and Elizabeth. I just stayed at the Marriott Courtyard in Elizabeth and it was about $80 CDN a night for a pretty decent hotel. It also offered free shuttles to the airport every half hour for 24 hours so we would hop on the shuttle to Newark Airport then take a 5 minute bus ride to Newark Penn. The NJ Transit rail also goes to Newark Penn directly from the airport but the price goes way up to $15 ONE WAY as they hammer the incoming travellers.

We also went to Boston on the trip and one of the nights stayed at a hostel because it was close to Fenway Park. That was probably the biggest mistake of our trip. There's lockers available but depending on the size of your suitcase you might have to keep it in the room and the showers weren't really very clean. Our next night we ended up staying in the South Bay area at a Doubletree Hotel and it was so much better albeit $50 more per night.