brianm804

Our family of 5 is planning a visit to New York City as part of a New England vacation. Rather than drive into the city, we are thinking of staying at a hotel outside the city and then taking the train for a couple day stay in the city. Any suggestions on where we should stay with convenient access to a train route into the city? We will be coming from the Boston area.

donnae_b

Brian-
You could contact Penn Station, that is where trains come into NYC from outside of NYC area, like Boston, Conn., etc.

ziggydoo

Are you planning on staying at a hotel "outside the city" and taking a train into NYC "for a couple of days" as in each day going into the city or staying in a hotel "outside the city" and then going into the city and staying at a hotel in the city for a couple of days?

The New Jersey Transit has stations as close at Newark Airport and Elizabeth where you can take a 20 - 25 minute into Penn Station. Commuter trains from Connecticut and New York suburbs also go into the city and stop at Grand Central. Prices are very reasonable

In May I took the New Jersey Northeast Corridore line from Princeton, NJ (actually Princeton Junction) - trip was about an hour and 5 or 10 minutes. Very easy way to get into the city.

rkkwan

If you have to do this, then I suggest Stamford, CT.

Metro-North commuter rail has very frequent trains, and it takes about 50minutes to Grand Central. There're quite a few hotels in Stamford, some within walking distance from the train station. No need to take the more expensive Amtrak.

But the train is not that cheap. $12.25 one-way during peak, $9.25 off-peak. A family of 5 means something like $100 per day roundtrip.

mclaurie

I think until we understand whether you plan on training into the city daily or whether you're looking for a place to leave the car, we can't really reply. But rkkwan's point is most suburban places north of the city that have commuter train service will not be cheap to do daily trips for 5. Various spots in New Jersey (Jersey City, Secaucus, Weehawken) have somwhat more affordable transit (path trains or buses).

I will mention the Travel Inn is a hotel in Manhattan with free parking and an outdoor pool. Both rare in NYC. It's not fancy but gets decent reviews on tripadvisor.

nytraveler

If your goal is to save money on parking this strategy won;t work. Training in and out of the city every day for 5 people can definitely cost more than parking in a less expenive garage - or even on the street outside of midtown.

Also - you are losing valuable vacation time just sitting on a crowded commuter train (by staying in Stamford you woud loose like 3 hours per day).

If you do this I would stay much closer - you can get in/out from Tarrytown or White Plains in 30 minutes or so each way - and there are a couple of hotels not too far away.

But you are still loosing all the benefits of staying in the city - and if you want to do anything in the evening - theater etc - the trains can get quite scarce late at night.

There are ways to park relatively cheaply in Manhattan - if that is your concern.

You really need to provide more info.

Gekko

Family of five? Stay in Manhattan. The hassle of commuting in & out will be absolutely miserable, not to mention the expense.

Owen_ONeill

Yes - the price adds up quickly and durign the summer in NYC it gets so hot that it's a relief to be able to stop back at your hotel to freshen up during the day or before dinner. Prior to living int he NYC area for a few years I tried it both ways. It was always worth the extra expense ot stay int he city. Now, when I go to visit I either stay in Manhattan if I'm there for fun or no further way than the Jersey City Waterfront (a $1.50 PATH train ride into the city) if I'm there for business.

capxxx

Well I don't think its such a bad idea if you are daunted by NYC traffic.

There are downtown hotels in New Haven that have (free) gated parking lots and free shuttles to the train station. And there is a nice parking garage at the station if you choose to use it.

If you can travel off-peak, you can probably do this conveniently. You won't save much money, but you will save the driving hassle.

nytraveler

First - there is no reason to be daunted by NYC traffic if all you are doing is putting the car in a garage. There are wasy ways to do this and aavoid almost all city traffic.

And staying in New Haven - half your day will be spent just sitting on a train- a total waste of time.

KathrynT

Are you renting a car for this trip? What we plan on doing is renting a car for other portions of our trip but dropping it off as soon as we arrive in NYC. We found a car rental location two blocks from our hotel. After our NYC stay, we plan on re-renting a car to continue our trip. Just a thought...

Also, I don't know if you'll need a car in Boston. You could drop off a rental car there and take a train into NYC from Boston.

Margie

Owen, haven't seen you here in a while - nice to have you back!

Brian, have you looked at Radio City Apartments in NYC? They have a 2 bedroom apartment with 2 bathrooms that is reasonable and would save you the hassel of commuting. Take a look at www.radiocityapartments.com

brianm804

Clarification of my request. We were thinking of staying in a hotel outside the city then taking a train in, sightseeing for the day, staying over one night in Manhatten (Using points for a free stay at the Holiday Inn Martinique) and then taking the train out again the next day. I'm not too exicited about driving into the city on a weekday morning and our van will have a topper on it which makes parking garages difficult. But it sounds like checking out parking options in that area might be a good alternative to the time and expense involved in commuting. Thanks.

mclaurie

The HI Martinique gets pretty poor reviews on tripadvisor. The HI on west 57 st might be a better option.

For the original request, check the Grand Hyatt in Jersey City.

chanle51

I stay in the city regularly, and the best deal going for a room is the Cosmopolitan Hotel Tribeca - $150 plus taxes for two double beds, and it's in the middle of Tribeca (good neighborhood.) The subway (1 and 9) are steps away. Taking PATH/Metro North will be a major hassle and you'll burn a lot of time that (and staying in NJ, Westchester or CT will not save you all that much unless you stay in a nicer hotel (e.g midtown.)

FWIW, the Boston to NY (or Washington) Acela train (Amtrak) is a misnomer. It's not much faster than plain vanilla Amtrak service (b/c of speed restrictions and lots of stops.)

Personally, I'd do the drive and stay in the city.

wantsomesun

If you are coming to NYC for a visit, I would strongly recommend STAYING IN MANHATTAN, instead of outside and commuting into the city. That way at the end of a long day of siteseeing you can easily get back to your hotel. Later in the evening, buses and trains run infrequently, so it will take much longer to get back to a hotel outside Manhattan.

I would second the suggestion of the Travel Inn, which is on the West Side on 42nd St and a short walk to Times Square, but not right in TS so at night it will have less traffic and noise.

If you decide to drive into the city, it's a hotel that offers free parking to guests and my cousin was driving an SUV and it was no problem. There is also a pool on top of the hotel for the kids to relax.

Amtrack is the service that runs from Boston to NYC, out of South Station and it's about a 4 hour ride, and part of the ride you are right on the coast, very pretty views of the ocean.

There is so much to see and do here, you might get a book for the kids to look through and find some things that would be on interest to them.

You might also stop at St. Paul Chapel for the 9/11 memorial there. It was the location where the workers went for food and to sleep and return to work as quickly as possible.

Have a wonderful holiday and please let us know if you have any more questions.