whineparty

Hi All:
I am not familiar with the Bronx. Would it be a good area to stay in for a few nights? I need good mass transit to Manhattan and NYC. The hotel I found has a Sheridan Expressway address and the price is under $100/night. It sounds good, but I can't really tell too much from a picture.
Thanks.

J62

I'm not familiar with that area of the Bronx, so I'll let others chime in.

The Bronx is in NYC, so I'm not sure what you mean by access to Manhattan & NYC. I take it your primary purpose is business or pleasure in the Bronx, or are you really visiting Manhattan and looking for a cheaper hotel?

If you look up the address on google maps you can find out how far you are from a subway line, then look at schedules to estimate your travel time. You can also use google maps street view to 'walk' from the hotel to the subway and see the area you'd walk through.

whineparty

Yes, I am very confused when it comes to New York cities. Apparently, there are districts, then there are cities and towns. Maybe the Bronx is a district and not a town. And I don't know where anything is! I will have a car for side trips, but would like to see a some theatre and other sights in NY. And I certainly don't want to drive in New York. Please help!

nyer

NYC has 5 boroughs--Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Most of what you want to see is in Manhattan (sometimes called "the city" by locals)If you are planning a visit, you should really get map or guidebook and get oriented before you come. It will make your trip so much easier and safer.

You were looking at Bronxville, right? It's a more upscale suburban town outside NYC. Not the same as "the Bronx"

I don't know the specific area but large parts of the Bronx and the hotels there are really just not safe. If a hotel is less than $100 per night when others are $300, there has to be some differences, right?

I know we sound discouraging on some of the threads you are posting, but we are trying to offer realistic suggestins and advice. As a New Yorker who travels to other places that I consider expensive (or with bad transportation, or some other thing I'm not happy with) I also learn to make compromises, Safety is not something I would scrimp on, I may have to up my budget, or decrease the number of days per trip, or something like that. Please consider the big picture we are trying to offer you on all the threads you post

vjpblovesitaly

NYC is comprised of five boroughs
Manhattan (smallest)
Staten Island
Queens
Brooklyn
The Bronx

Each of those boroughs comprises a county of the state
Manhattan is New York County
Staten Island is Richmond County
Queens is Queens County
Brooklyn is Kings County
The Bronx is Bronx County

Have you looked at a map?

whineparty

Thanks, that does help. Yes I have a map, but not a very good one. It doesn't really define the boroughs. My tour books are old so I might have to make another trip to AAA. So you say the Bronx are not safe. Seems like the majority of opinions are leaning toward Manhattan. But when I go on hotels.com or similar sites, it comes up with cities I have not heard of and have no idea where they are. Maybe if I could get the names of specific hotels in the Manhattan area, I could look up their web sites.
Thanks so much and this REALLY DOES HELP!

vjpblovesitaly

New York, NY is what I would use if using a site like that. If you actually know where Manhattan is, it should be pretty easy to determine whether a hotel is in or no in Manhattan.
What cities are coming up that you have not heard of? Isn't there a map element to what you are using?

yeadonite

I would stay clear of the Bronx. LIC Queens might have some cheaper safer options. IF you want to stay in the Bronx, Riverdale would be the only place I would stay

sf7307

When you go into hotels.com search for New York, NY. Once on the hotels page, under "neighborhoods", look ONLY at Broadway, Central Park, Chelsea, East Village, Midtown East, Midtown West, SoHo, Union Square, Upper East Side, Upper West Side, and Wall Street. All the others are NOT in Manhattan.

nyer

If you type NYC into hotels.com, it lets you choose "New York NY, USA". You can also use a zip code like 10001 which is midtown Manhattan. But both of those options might still pick up hotels "near" NYC.
Manhattan hotels will always have New York NY (not "Manhattan") as part of the address. Hotels in other boroughs or cities in New Jersey will have an address that does NOT say "New York NY"

J62

Within each borough of NYC there are many different neighborhoods. If you look at google maps you'll see many of the different names. They are too numerous to list here.

nyer

For persepctive,I checked some dates in Late October for 3 nights using Kayak.com
You can choose "New York City hotels only" to avoid nearby New Jersey.
Sorting from lowest price to highest,
just about everything under $150 per night is either a hostel (either a legal one or some that are sketchy) or hotels that are well known to be be illegally or unsafely operating.

From 150 -$200 are some lower end hotels like the Jane (tiny rooms, but I think well reviewed by someone here recently)

$200-250 is where legitimate budget hotels (Days Inn, Comfort Inn, Ramada) come in --all in Manhattan.Some are better than others, but locations are all OK. Taxed are about another 15%

The slightly less expensive budget hotels in "Long Island City" (part of Queen's which is part of NYC) have been recommended here as some of your better options. If you are planning a trip in the next few weeks,your options will only shrink the longer you wait.

nytraveler

No - you do not want to stay in the Bronx. It is primarily a residential borough (county) with some parts quite pleasant, some very modest, and some places yu don;t want to go out n the street.

It is not near any of the major sights and you will be spending a lot of time on the subway and/or bus to get anywhere - an hour or more.

New York City is mostly islands.

Manhattan (Manhattan Island/New York County)- with most of the major sights - is a quite small island.

Queens (Queens county) and Brooklyn (Kings county) are 2 of the 5 boroughs (counties) of NYC. They are situated on Long Island and are also primarily residential with neighborhoods that range from upscale to moderate to modest to high crime.

Staten Island (Richmond County) is a fairly large island in the harbor - also primarily residential - reached by a ferry or a very long bridge (not from Manhattan).

The Bronx (Bronx county) is the 5th borough of New York city, mostly residential, partly industrial - with some nice areas, some gentrifying and some not places you want to be.

You should be looking for a hotel in Manhattan (but less than about $300 per night is not realistic). If you can't afford that - try Long Island City - a neighborhood in Queens but very near Manhattan - which will have hotels for about half that. Pick one near the subway and you will be in Manhattan in about 15 minutes (versus an hour or more from the Bronx).

The hotel you have selected is very inconvenient. To get to the nearest subway is about a 15 minute walk that takes you under a couple of major highways - along streets that will probably be fairly deserted. If you look at the hotel web site you can see that they only show the upper portions of the hotel - not the street. Have a look at the street on google maps and you can see the hotel is in a semi-industrial area.

My guess is that this hotel used to rent by the hour and/or house welfare families. It is not a place you want to stay.

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en

When you get to the picture of the parking lot/dumpster insert subway in the "search nearby" and you will see what I mean. You can also click on the aerial view to see what I mean about the highways.

And this is nothing like Bronxville - which is a pleasant town in Westchester county - a suburban area north of New York City

nytraveler

I'm sorry if this is discouraging - but frankly - except in Jan or Feb $100 a night just does not get you a decent hotel in a safe area of NYC.

(My garage - not a single garage - but one with about 90 cars in which the cars are parked 4 deep, nose to tail and moved constantly by the attendant to get cars in and out costs $600 per month. If you want a single spot where you park the car yourself - it's much higher than that.)

Taxes are high, wages are high, nothing is cheap. That's just life.

whineparty

Okay - What about Glen Cove Mansion. Would transportation into the city be good from there?

vjpblovesitaly

You didnt say where there is.

janisj

You are certainly persistent (one might say stubborn )

I'm not from NY but I know enough to realize Glen Cove would NOT be convenient for visiting NYC.

To get into Manhattan would require two trains and more than an hour each way.

Just accept it - NY is not an inexpensive place to visit -- ESPECIALLY in the Fall. One can stay in an upscale place in Kansas or Alabama for $100 a night. $100 a night in NYC pays for a dive, and maybe not even that.

If you can't up the budget, shorten your visit so you can afford to pay more per night.

(Have you checked Long Island City like several have recommended???)

Lookin_Glass

Adding a smile emoticon does not make one less abrasive.

janisj

LG: And you are helping the OP how??

The Lounge is calling you . . . .

mztery

AND why will you have a car -= are you driving to NYC? Parking is NOT free at hotels there. You do need to check out Long Island City or MAYBE one of the close in NJ cities.
But first off buy a good map and then come back w/ questions