mrsJuiceS

We will be driving from Boston to Philly in June and would like to stop at NYC for 2 nites (thurs 6/17-fri 6.18). We have two small children ( 1yr and 3yr)
We will arrive in the afternoon, spend the first night, spend some time in NYC the next day and then spend the second nite and be on our way. I'm in the beginning stages of planning so only know that we will be visiting the big Toys R Us at times square with indoor ferris wheel for my 3 year old. I'm not going to be unrealistic and expect to do too much since our kids are young but thought we could walk around times square, etc for one day.

My husband really wants to stay someplace with an indoor pool and I know many hotels in NYC do not have pools. So I started looking into hotels in Jersey City since I thought it would be less expensive to stay there, they would have a pool, and it might be fun for my three year old to take the ferry to the city (? have no idea if this is in fact fun at all, i've never done it), I'm not finding very good rates. I've also read a lot of posts here where people say don't bother staying jersey city, stay in manhattan.

So I'm torn, where to stay? Is it even possible to do this on 150/nite? I have a Chase credit card with the choose my rewards program and lots of points that can buy a nite using a 'flex reward' at the Hyatt or Marriott but of course neither of these hotels in jersey city accept these rewards. grr. anyone who has a tip about this would be really appreciated!

Thanks in advance for the advice!

sf7307

Unfortunately, it's probably not too realistic a budget in Manhattan for June. Even on Hotwire, the best you could do is a 2* (not highly recommended in NY) boutique hotel near Central Park for $154 a night.

mclaurie

The first issue is staying in Manhattan or not. You will absolutely not find a hotel in Manhattan with or without pool on those dates for $150/night. But I don't think you'll find one in Jersey City either for that price. The Westin Jersey City has a pool but has no rooms for your dates. The Sheraton in Weehawken has a pool and is across from midtown so actually more convenient than Jersey City but it's not that up to date and a room will be $229/night plus tax and parking will be extra. You have the option of the ferry to midtown (and then they have a free bus in Manhattan nywaterway.com) or a cheaper bus that goes to Port Authority.

With kids that young, I really think staying in Manhattan will be a lot easier for you. You can easily go back to the room midday for naps, dropping packages, snacks etc. If you can, I'd get a 1 bedroom suite so the kids can go to bed earlier while you can stay up. Milburnhotel.com on the upper west side would put you near the Children's Museum and Central Park in a neighborhood with lots of kids. They give you free use of a pool at a health club a block away. For parking, look on bestparking.com for a nearby lot.

mclaurie

What I neglected to say is for $255/night plus tax you can get a 1 bedroom suite at the Milburn with free cont. b/f vs the $229 at the Sheraton in Weehawken which is a jr. suite (not completely separate living room) without b/f but it does include parking. I also see they have renovated some rooms.

travelbuff

I just checked and The Travel Inn IS available for your dates here in NYC. The hotel has recently been redone and for a hotel on the lower end of bugets is quite nice. My cousin and family stayed there a couple of years ago and really liked it for service, location and amenities and price too.

THe rate I saw was $160nt. but you might want to call and see if they can do a bit better.


It' quite close to Times Square, walkable even for the smallones. On W42nd St and 9th AVe.

It's the ONLY hotel in the city offering FREE PARKING to guests which will save you about $75 in parking fees.

OH and for the Hubby there is a POOL, outdoor on the roof, but in June should be very welcome. I'll bet the kids will love it too.

Have a GREAT time while you are here.

nytraveler

With kids that small I would avoid Times Square. It is neither stroller nor toddler friendly - but much too busy for kids that young. If you want to stay at the Travel Inn, fine - but kids that age would enjoy Central Park (small zoo with kids section, lake, carousel and playgrounds) as well as classic kid's museums (Childhood and Natural History)much more than mobs of tour buses and office workers rushing around Times Square and mobbing the pavements.

mclaurie

I have to agree, that rate of $160 at the Travel Inn for 2 double beds (or $175 for a king) including free parking is hard to beat.

mrsJuiceS

Thank you all so much for your fast replies. My husband and I have decided that our budget just doesn't allow for enjoying NYC the way we want to so we are going to stop elsewhere on our trip from Boston to Philly (most likely Mystic, CT - I know it's not the same at all, but we will be able to stay at a much nicer place for less and it will be a more enjoyable environment with young kids). I appreciate this forum so much.
Thanks!

mclaurie

I think that's not a bad decision since NYC with small kids is a lot of work. But I'm not sure I'd pick Mystic. I think Mystic is also better for older children. Otherwise, I think it's pretty touristy with not much to offer small kids. Why not post a new thread asking for advice?

Ryan

Are you by chance planning on Sesame Place while in Philadelphia? If so, please let me know, I have strong words of advice based on past experience at that place.

mrsJuiceS

Well we talked about it again last nite and we are thinking of NYC again. Re: Ryan's post we are not going to sesame place. we are visiting friends in philly that live near the arboretum in Devon so may just do that or are considering the please touch museum if it's rainy.

This is our itinerary as of now:
Thurs 6/17 leave Boston, drive to Mystic. spend nite
Fri 6/18 spend day/nite in Mystic.
Sat 6/19 drive to Philly
Sunday 6/20 stay with friends in Philly
Monday 6/21 drive to NYC (stay at sheraton in weehawken?)
Tues 6/22 stay in NYC
Wed 6/23 drive back to Boston

We are still at the beginning stages of the planning so this is up for change. The only thing is, I really want to use my flex rewards thru my chase CC to pay for some of the hotel rooms. I have already ordered the two Hyatt certificates and they accept them at the Hyatt Place in Mystic which looks really nice and people have given it good reviews.

I know Mystic isn't exactly hopping with activities ( I went to college near there) but I figure we'll do the Aquarium, Seaport area and maybe Old Mystic Village. My husband is into history so he'll enjoy that.

My son (will be almost 4) will enjoy seeing all the boats. I also went to Connecticut College in New London so we could stop in there and I can reminisce. I think we'll fill the time.

My daughter will be 14 mos and isn't that great in the car so when we do the 4 hr drive from Mystic to philly on saturday we'll stop somewhere for a lunch break on the way.

Monday morning we'll leave Philly and drive to NYC. We're now thinking of staying at the Sheraton in Weehawken. The rate online is 224/nite plus tax, etc. Since we're getting the Hyatt nites for free we could splurge a little on the Sheraton room. Unless you all have a better suggestion? My husband is a bit of a hotel snob and does not like the looks of the travelinn in NYC.

I realize this is NYC and everything is expensive so it's hard to find something nice for less than $300! But regardless of that my husband wants to stay somewhere nice with with a pool for the kids and close to activities for my son.

We had originally planned to go home via PVD so we could go to the Roger Williams Zoo and would spend a nite there but it seems like a lot of work to stop in NYC for one nite, race around there and then drive to PVD for one nite. Esp since we are only 45 min from PVD and could just go anytime from Boston.

So if we stay in NYC for two nites, we could do the Central Park Zoo and carousel one day. and Times Square/Toys R Us the other day. My son does not take naps anymore and my daughter can sleep easily in the stroller or on me in a carrier so naps are not really a concern.

From the Sheraton, taking the ferry, will it be easy to get to the Central Park Zoo? We have a double stroller for the kids so if my son gets tired he can ride.

Thanks again for the help. I really appreciate it!

mclaurie

Wow. This sounds like an enormous amount of driving for you two and a LOT of time in the car for the kids.

As far as hotel pool for the kids, many hotels won't allow small kids in the pool at all so before you book something for the pool, you'd better double check they'll be allowed in. Even the 4 yr old may not work at some hotels or hrs. of access may be limited.

The Sheraton in Weehawken is not a fancy hotel. It looks like they've renovated, but I'd still say don't expect anything fancy. I haven't checked the days of the week you'd be there, but know the ferry right in front of the hotel only runs Mon-Fri. On the weekend you need to use the hotel shuttle to go down the road to another ferry terminal which people say is a big pain. The ferry service nywaterway.com has a free bus on the Manhattan side that takes you to various places. You can look at the bus map on their website.

The W Hoboken and the Westin & the Hyatt in Jersey City are much nicer. Not sure which have pools.

In Manhattan, Le Parker Meridien, Millenium UN Plaza and the Crowne Plaza are sometimes moderately priced, all with pool, but I repeat, check access for kids. I really think NYC is not a place where you want to worry about pools for kids. The Travel Inn outdoor pool is probably more kid friendly and the Skyline hotel near it (and also not fancy) has an indoor pool that may be more kid friendly. They charge $10/day for parking.

Here's another thought. What about going to Tarrytown, NY from Philadelphia? There's a Sheraton there with indoor pool. There's train service to Manhattan on Metro North. Maybe spend one day in NYC and another near Tarrytown or go to the Bronx zoo.

Ryan

We had an awful experience the one-time we took our kids to Sesame Place. Just wanted to warn you off in case you were heading there on a weekend. (Roving bands of teenagers in the kiddie pools, daughter nearly trampled but for my well placed body block, woman told my wife she was going to stab her. Loads of family fun!)

sf7307

As far as Day 2 goes, I can't imagine you'd want to spend more than an hour or two in Times Square (and I'm not one of the many Times Square haters on this board). All you're going to do is walk through Times Square to see all the lights and signs, go to Toys R Us, then leave -- it's just not a place to linger.

mrsJuiceS

mclaurie: Thanks very much for your advice. We are driving from Boston to Philly regardless of how long it takes to get there because we are visiting close friends. We go anually and typically fly but decided to christen our new minivan with a road trip this year.

The first day we will drive 1hr 45 min to Mystic. Day2: no driving. Day3: 4 hours to philly. Day4: no driving. Day 5: 2hrs to NYC Day6: no driving. Day7:4 hours home to Boston. Does it seem like too much? I don't know how else to do it other than putting the kids in the car at bedtime and driving until midnight. But then we wouldn't see anything along the way.

Anyway, I will look into your tip about Tarrytown. And also thanks for the heads up about the Sheraton at Weehawken. We will be there on Monday/Tuesday so the ferry could be an option. And thanks for the tip about the pools re:kids.

Ryan: Thanks for the info about Seseame Place. I have friends who have been but I have not. I will keep your story in mind!

nytraveler

Not sure where in Philly you are going but I think your drive times may actually be longer -esp with little kids - and allowing for traffic (more or less depending on your times).

Mystic to Philly will be more like 5 hours - assuming 1 10 minute stop. It can be 2 hour Philly TO NYC, assuming no traffic or construction, but getting into Manhattan and a hotel will be more like 3 hours.

And NYC to Boston at 4 hours is good only if there is no traffic or construction on the way, you are starting from the north end of the city and not going into central Boston.

Traveler_A

I understand why you would want a pool for the kids but I think that for your short stay in NYC you'll find plenty of things to do other than let the kids swim. If it were me I wouldn't limit myself to a hotel with a pool since it will be easy to keep the kids entertained without one.

Central Park is great for kids since there are some good playgrounds scattered around the park. I'd recommend staying on the Upper West Side and visiting the Park, the Central Park Zoo, and the Children's Museum (and Toys R Us if you have time or are really into it). NYC is a lot of walking so you'll want to factor in the time it takes to get to places.

I don't have a lot of info about hotels but last month we stayed at The Lucerne on the Upper West Side and were very happy with it. For June 17 & 18th the rates there would be about $240 for a Superior Double Double. The Belnord is owned by the same company and has a rate for about $195 per night for two double beds (it's about four blocks from the Children's Museum).