New York Hotels

[Maritime Q-Scout]

I was looking last night, does Priceline still have the name your price feature?

[Mull]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

I was looking last night, does Priceline still have the name your price feature?

Aw sorry, it appears I sent you down a wild goose chase - its no longer offered.



https://www.groupon.com/coupons/blog...-pricebreakers

If you’re wondering what happened to Priceline’s Name Your Own Price tool, you’re not alone. Priceline discontinued their well-known tool without much fanfare. With the recent uptick in travel prices—and with 70% of Americans expected to travel in 2021—it comes at a time when people could really use those extra savings. But there is good news. Priceline recently released a new savings tool called Pricebreakers. Though Pricebreakers doesn’t allow you to name your own price, you can still save a decent amount of money with it.

If you do go with priceline and only get a decent deal, remember to account for whatever fees they have vs directly booking the hotel.


Sorry about that!

[curves2000]

I just came back from NY for a wedding with a bunch of friends and I have been before. A few words of advice.

Financial district can offer some really good value for a lot of things. It's close to a lot of tourist things downtown like the 9/11 Memorial, Wall Street area, Battery Park for going to Statue of Liberty, Little Italy etc.

I stayed at the Fairfield Inn by Marriot Financial District. A newer hotel, with breakfast for $158 USD with an AMA Discount. Walking distance to a ton of things, subway very close by, the port to take the ferry to places like Brooklyn, Queens, midtown etc is literally a 2 minute walk and the ferry is $2.75.

Cabs and subway are a great way to get around. Taxi's are cheaper than Uber and a lot of people just don't take them very often but they are cheaper.

A lot of people like to be right next to Times Sq but that is somewhat a waste of time in my opinion. It's a sq with lots of people and a lot of massive billboards and ad's, tourist shops etc. See it once or see it quick but don't plan your hotel so that you can see a massive Coca-Cola sign and I Luv NY shirts.

If you can find a great flight into NYC like JFK and than leave from Newark it can sometimes be a little cheaper. Flying into Newark and you incur the toll going into NYC from Uber, taxi, bus etc.

PM me and I can give you some real gem's for dinner that will be great!

[Maritime Q-Scout]

If this trip comes together, it'll be booked the beginning of next month.

Flights don't appear to be an issue. Points will cover everything.

Having never been I don't have any concept of a good place to stay.

Long Island City seems to have reasonably priced hotels on the subway. But is that a hassle?

I would have thought Times Square area would be central, but maybe not?

Financial District seemed to be far an away the most expensive. Would I be paying a premium just to be there, where a subway ride would save me hundreds?

I randomly met a member of the Devils this week. Felt like it was a sign.

But... I also need to clear the trip with work (a formality really), line up child care, and ensure my wife will be willing to go. I had a Toronto trip planned about the same time after my last child was born and she didn't feel comfortable leaving. But maybe if all the ducks are in a row a second time, a trip away will work.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

If this trip comes together, it'll be booked the beginning of next month.

Flights don't appear to be an issue. Points will cover everything.

Having never been I don't have any concept of a good place to stay.

Long Island City seems to have reasonably priced hotels on the subway. But is that a hassle?

I would have thought Times Square area would be central, but maybe not?

Financial District seemed to be far an away the most expensive. Would I be paying a premium just to be there, where a subway ride would save me hundreds?

I randomly met a member of the Devils this week. Felt like it was a sign.

But... I also need to clear the trip with work (a formality really), line up child care, and ensure my wife will be willing to go. I had a Toronto trip planned about the same time after my last child was born and she didn't feel comfortable leaving. But maybe if all the ducks are in a row a second time, a trip away will work.

Times Square sucks and is very crowded but outside of its few core blocks it quiets down significantly. Worth going to but not staying in or too close around.

We like being in mid south of Midtown as we like walking everywhere. We’ll walk north to Central Park and Upper West Side for Zabars one day. South through Union Square, Chelsea, Soho, and Tribeca one day. Then it’s pretty short distances to Bryant Park, Broadway, Lincoln Center, Rockefeller, Grand Central, Empire State, The Met, MOMA etc. Surrounded by food options but not heavily focused on touristy places like in Times Square.

Penn Station is super close if you need to get to Newark. We subway to Brooklyn although someday I should walk over the bridge. If it’s too hot or too much we’ll subway down to the Financial District and you don’t miss much in between if you make a separate trip over to Chelsea and the High Line. I haven’t been there since the Hudson Yards stuff has been completed though. That spiral lookout staircase thing…

Murray Hill is a great locals neighbourhood so we often head there for smaller mom & pop type grocery, shops and restaurants.

[curves2000]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

If this trip comes together, it'll be booked the beginning of next month.

Flights don't appear to be an issue. Points will cover everything.

Having never been I don't have any concept of a good place to stay.

Long Island City seems to have reasonably priced hotels on the subway. But is that a hassle?

I would have thought Times Square area would be central, but maybe not?

Financial District seemed to be far an away the most expensive. Would I be paying a premium just to be there, where a subway ride would save me hundreds?

I randomly met a member of the Devils this week. Felt like it was a sign.

But... I also need to clear the trip with work (a formality really), line up child care, and ensure my wife will be willing to go. I had a Toronto trip planned about the same time after my last child was born and she didn't feel comfortable leaving. But maybe if all the ducks are in a row a second time, a trip away will work.

Perhaps I didn't clarify very well in my post. Times Square and area is very central in Midtown, it's not out of the way or anything. I do find tourists and first time visitors are all excited about getting a place near or next to Times Square and pay a significant premium as a result. Times Square for me is mostly just a large area with a ton of tourists and a lot of billboards, screens etc.


Generally I have found Financial District to be better overall value than midtown but I am not some regular NY visitor either, been a few times. Some people like to go to Jersey City and save on costs and than just go into the city for everything but for me, half the fun is being right in the city.

Regardless if you have never been, you will have an incredible time and it will be an amazing experience overall. Hopefully you can go!

[tvp2003]

1) Just go. If you can get the time off work and some of the other details like childcare are taken care of, then just make it happen. Heck if your flight is covered by points then why not?

2) I don’t know if you travel a lot or spend a lot of time in bigger cities like NYC but I wouldn’t get too stressed about where to stay. Figure out your rough itinerary (including where you want to go in the evenings) and go from there — honestly the hotel will probably be the most boring part of your trip and there will be lots of options in various price ranges for a comfortable place to rest your head before the next day’s adventure. Subway will be the cheapest and often the quickest way to get around (especially once you get the hang of it).

3) You mentioned your wife will be going with you; if so consider taking in a Broadway show on a night the Flames aren’t playing. I think TKTS still offers discounted tickets; when we went I had zero expectations but at the end was pretty blown away by the performance.

4) There are probably a ton of videos on YouTube if you’re wanting to do some research beforehand; from getting around, to places to see, places to eat, etc.

[bax]

I moved to New York from Alberta last summer. I can’t help with hotels much but feel free to dm with any questions you have about anything else! I’m happy to help anyway I can.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

At this point I think it boils down to two things:

(1) a major client who is behind on payment catching up and getting back payments made; and

(2) my wife being comfortable enough to leave the (what will be 3.5 month old) at home.

My brother and his fiance are in New York at the moment. Gonna chat with him when he gets back.

I often search for trips to book. Once in a blue moon something comes up that makes me go "wait a second, that could work!" This is one of those. These trips are so few and far between I spent half the planning time trying to figure out why NOT to go.

Really the biggest reason not to, if the above things oan out, is that I'd be using points on a November trip. I'd much prefer to travel in the summer. But I anticipate this November to be unseasonably warm, plus New York is gon a be warmer than Northern Nova Scotia regardless.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

Really the biggest reason not to, if the above things oan out, is that I'd be using points on a November trip. I'd much prefer to travel in the summer. But I anticipate this November to be unseasonably warm, plus New York is gon a be warmer than Northern Nova Scotia regardless.

Nah, give me the off-peak time when events aren’t as crowded and hotels aren’t charging peak rates (when we went it was in late October). Especially if your kids aren’t school aged yet. Just my opinion though, unless watching a Yankees game is on your bucket list, I think NY is pretty amazing any time of year.

PS if your kid will be 3.5 months old that must mean they were born a couple of weeks ago? If so, congrats and I hope you and mom are managing okay. And yes leaving a 3.5 month old at home will bring its own set of logistics to navigate (hopefully they sleep well and don’t mind bottle feeding). Good luck!

[Maritime Q-Scout]

We're in the booking window, and my wife seems on board given the cost.

We'd fly out of LGA in the morning. Was thinking of maybe using AirMiles for the last night for a hotel by the airport. Which would save about $300,and make leaving in the morning a bit easier.

Any Queens reccomendations for the evening?

[Party Elephant]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

We're in the booking window, and my wife seems on board given the cost.

We'd fly out of LGA in the morning. Was thinking of maybe using AirMiles for the last night for a hotel by the airport. Which would save about $300,and make leaving in the morning a bit easier.

Any Queens reccomendations for the evening?

Moma (museum of modern art) ps1!

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Anyone familiar with Sonder at Battery Park? Decent location? Not Times Square but financial district. Seems close to the PATH and Highline plus 9/11, Wall St etc.

Is Long Island City just as good in terms of location as the Financial District?

[Party Elephant]

Originally Posted by Party Elephant

Moma (museum of modern art) ps1!

I'll elaborate on this a bit.

I visited both the main MoMA in Manhattan and MoMA PS1 in Queens on consecutive days this week. Both have amazing collections of art and both kept me engaged and entertained. The main difference between the two is that the main gallery is gigantic, polished and expectedly full of tourists. Long lines and crowded rooms made this one a little less fun, but it was cool to see Picasso, Warhol, Monet etc all in one building. Woth 6 very large floors I found the sheer amount of art overwhelming at times, like there's too much to see so you can't spend time engaging with every piece unless you want to be there for like 10 hours.

MoMA PS1 doesn't have the same touristy polish or the crowds, and costs less to get into. It has some really cool installations and exhibits by local and lower profile artists. There is a good variety but also not an overwhelming amount of art so you have time to digest each piece (also the lack of crowds helps with this). And the building is super cool, it is a repurposed old public school.

I stayed in Queens for a whole week and this is the only thing I did in Queens specifically that I'd call a must do!

Edit: it's also in a really accessible area, Long Island City. Directly across from Manhattan and Brooklyn-adjacent. 4 different subway lines have stops in walking distance.

[troutman]

https://www.jameshotels.com/

[Winsor_Pilates]

Roxy Hotel is where we stayed about 5 years ago.
It's between Soho & Tribeca and we enjoyed being a little outside the busiest areas when we got back at the end of the night.
Easy train access into town, good pricing, nice bar & coffee shop in the lobby
They do have live music as lot though, so can be a little noisy for some people.

[Samonadreau]

We stayed at doubletree on time square. Got a liller deal on a suite on expedia. This was also 11 years ago.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

It occured to me yesterday to check to see how many RBC Rewards points I have.

Booking through that I could book either the Sonder Battery Park, or Washington Jefferson Hotel for about $100 Canadian per night all in. (That's price after using points).

Roxy and James hotels look nice. I was talking to one of my high school teachers and his wife a few weeks ago, we were chatting about NYC and where to stay. His wife reccomended the Park Lane Hotel. Seems like everyone likes to reccomend places thinking I'm a millionaire

What's the commute from New Jersey like? I'm thinking a bit of a hassle, but I've never been. Man, why can't there be like a Hampton around Times Square for like $150 a night? That'd make my life easier, haha

[getbak]

The first time I went, I stayed at the Hilton across the street from the Penn Station in Newark. It's a couple blocks away from the Prudential Center, so it would be perfect for going to the Devils game. The hotel is connected to the train station via an overhead walkway, so you don't even need to go outside if you don't want to.

From the station, there are a few options to get into Manhattan. There's a PATH train that goes to the WTC site in about a half an hour and you can buy a weeklong pass that allows you to travel back and forth an unlimited number of times. There are also other routes that will take you into the Penn Station in Manhattan (under MSG).



Staying in Newark isn't too bad and can be quite a bit cheaper, but there is that minimum 30 minute train ride each way you have to account for, which can be a long ride after a long day when you just want to go to sleep... and it's not a very scenic route.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

I've been watching YouTube videos of hotels, talking to as many folks as I can.

If we book, it looks like it'll be the Sonder Battery Park.

Not centrally located but next to a subway station and by a few things we'd want to do (Wall St, 9/11 Memorial, Staten Island Ferry, PATH train to Flames @ Devils game).

Washington Jefferson hotel was just too small. We don't want to sleep in a closet.

Now the question is do we want to travel during COVID with a 4 month old at home?