SenecaGirl

Went to NYC last week, 2nd week of Jan. It was a business trip, so a lot of the things I did were on the company dime. For the most part, I went along with the group, or we asked the concierge were to go. Everything I did shocked me on price – I know NYC is expensive, but wow! Oh, and we totally lucked out with great weather!

Hotel: Westin Essex House on Central Park South. Really nice place, $340/night. I had a big room for NYC standards, however I my view consisted of other hotel room windows, and a little bit of sky. Some of my coworkers had a Central Park view – really, really, nice. Heavenly bed and heavenly shower did not disappoint. Our meeting was in the hotel, and we had all of breakfasts and lunches buffet style and one dinner – great food and very attentive staff. There were a few pregnant women in the group and they were waited on hand and foot.

Bar: The Whiskey Park, down the street from the hotel on the corner. Nice place, lots of seating, quick service, good drink menu with strong drinks. We ended up there every night either before or after dinner (or both!).

Restaurants:
The Shelly steak & oyster bar. mid-town (big neon sign): great food, we all got a steak at ~$40 per steak, no sides included in that price. I got the filet, and it was the biggest cut of a filet I’ve ever seen. Our table felt we had a whole cow for dinner (but what a great cow it was!). We had very yummy salads, soups, sides, and dessert – everything was great. The waitress brought over free white port with dessert for the “out-of-towners.” Nice touch. Oh, and someone in our group was picky on where we sat, we asked to be reseated twice (didn’t want to be in front of heat ventilators), and they were very accommodating.

21 Club: group dinner in the upstairs. Stuffy atmosphere, but very attentive staff and great food – the mashed potatoes were outstanding (my favorite food!). Someone saw Donald Trump come in downstairs, but I didn’t go to look.

Bella Vita – after 2 days of intense, heavy eating, a few of us just couldn’t handle another night of fancy food. So, we went to Bella Vita, a pizza place across the street on the backside of the hotel. YUMMY!!! Really nice guys, gourmet style pizza. We went back there later that night (of course, after the bar… and they were already closing down. A bunch of us wanted pizza, so they started back up just for us and made us a few pies to take to the hotel. We tipped very well, and were very happy for the late night snack!

Angelo’s: Little Italy. It was Thursday lunch (we got the afternoon off). The place was barely half full, and the service was s…l…o…w. Really old guy attending to us at first, then we got switched to a younger guy. We were all starving, so we ordered way too much food, but it was great. The only thing that upset me was when we asked if the Raviolis were big enough to share – they said no, there were only a few on the plate. Well, the dish came, and we could have easily split it between 2-3 people.

Club: The W Hotel in Times Square has a club downstairs (separate from the hotel entrance). Great music, no cover for us on Mon or Thur night!

Shopping:
Canal street – a little scary but fun
Rockefeller center – H&M, Banana Republic, and GAP are huge with great selections.

Broadway show:
Mama Mia – a bunch of coworkers were going and I tagged along last minute. I thought it was cheesy/corny, but fun at the end. The aisle attendant was very mean to me when it came to a confusion among our seats, but I was right and she backed off.

Glad to be home! SenecaGirl

travelgirl_67

Thanks for the report! I always love reading reports of NYC...it is one of my most favorite towns! I think we had the same waiter at Angelo's when I was there on my last visit but the food was tasty. I do love shopping on Canal Street...I have many CoCo Canal bags But you are right, it can be a little overwhelming at times...was there one time the day after Thanksgiving...BIG MISTAKE!! Thanks again for the report!

nytraveler

Glad you enjoyed NYC.

And yes - it is more expensive than a small town - but prices aren't different than any other world capitol - and probably less than London and Tokyo.

Gekko

Supply and demand -- New York is expensive because plenty of successful people are willing to pay for it.

And it's worth every penny!

SenecaGirl

Not only do I live in a small town, but I'm a huge bargain hunter, so it was hard for me to get used to it -- but being on my Corporate card made it so much easier!!!!! It is addictive being there - I can see why so many do!

I used to go to NYC all the time in my early 20's, but of course we experienced the city on a different budget!

I will be back! (Have to add to my handbag collection, can't just have one Prada!) SG

SenecaGirl

Oh just remembered -- the bar at the W Hotel was called The Whiskey Bar. Don't actually know if its affiliated with the W Hotel, or if it just happened to be right next to it.

mclaurie

Sounds like a great time SG.

Just so we don't confuse everyone, the bar near your hotel is called Whisky Park at 100 Central Park South. The Whisky Bar is at the W Times Square Hotel.

mclaurie

In rereading your report, I was the only one confused. Sorry. quot;>

SenecaGirl

mclaurie -- thanks for clearing that up..I was mistaken by calling the Whiskey Bar by W Hotel a bar (it is a club & bar). Our whole group kept getting confused too -- one person would say Whiskey Bar when they meant Park and vice-versa.