JFKbuff

My wife and I will be celebrating our 30th anniversary in Sept and have a cruise booked out of New York. we will have 3 nights in NYC before the cruise and 3 nights after the cruise.

I would be grateful for any advice on where to stay as the possibilities seem never ending.

We would, of course like to see all the famous tourist attractions:- Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Empire State Building, Central Park,Times Square etc....

In addition we would like to get in at least one broadway show and/or letterman if possible.

It looks like our cruise is from Liberty Port, NJ and I am not sure how easy it would be to get there from NYC?

From all that I've seen it looks like the hotels are far more expensive in NYC than any other USA cities. I accept that I will probably need to pay upward of $200 to get a quality hotel.

If possible I would like our hotel to be in an area where we could feel safe and be able to walk to (or catch a cab to) nearby restaurants at night while providing easy access to all the major areas of interest.

Finally, any tips on how to get letterman tickets? We would be coming from the UK and have no fixed address in the USA for ticket delivery at short notice.

All advice gratefully appreciated.

IR

nytraveler

Any of the major tourist areas in New York is safe - and you will have no trouble with either a cab or public transport (subway for preference) in almost any area. Since the major tourist attractions are located all over Manhattan, where you stay is really a function of your preferences and budget.

Times Square - very loud, bright and busy and packed with tourists
Midtown East or West - central locations that are somewhat quiter, more sophisticated and more business oriented - but most restaurants are quite pricy
Upper East or West side - middle/upper middle class residential but most hotels still have good transport (esp on the upper west a great restaurant neighborhood)
Gramercy/village/other downtown - similar to upper west but a bit more trendy/funky
Financial district - very quiet - almost deserted streets on nights and weekends - but can get great rates on off days

If you use Priceline you should have no problem getting a very pleasant hotel for less than $200. However, you might have trouble getting the same hotel before and after the cruise - but perhaps not a bad thing giving you the chance to try a couple of different places/areas. You might want to do one hotel upper west or midtown and do mid/uptown things for 3 days (Met Museum, Frick, Natural History, Central Park, Broadway show plus a ton of other options) and then do a more downtown hotel for the other 3 (Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Tenement Museum,Brooklyn bridge, chinatown, etc.).

If you look at bidding for travel you will find all the info on how to bid priceline.

For Letterman I would do a search above - I remember several threads with details on this - but did not pay attention since I am not a fan.

The key to New York is to remember that it is in some ways more similar to a european city then to many in the US - walk everywhere to get a flavor of things , great public transport 24/7, but hotel rooms are generally small with only 1 queen bed and restaurants are generally very good - with every possible ethnic option, but pricey.

Have a geat trip!

djkbooks

Folks on the Cruise forum can help with transportation to the cruise ship terminal. Post an inquiry there for assistance.

Most first-time visitors choose a hotel in the Times Square/Midtown West area.

We weekend in NYC several times a year and prefer Midtown as well, especially since we usually have Broadway show tickets.

If you are thinking of using Priceline for booking hotels, be sure to visit www.biddingfortravel.com and study the hotel FAQ's along with recent winning bids.

I've used both Hotwire and Priceline for NYC hotels and have been very pleased. In the overall, we've liked the Hotwire hotels better, though we've gotten much lower rates with Priceline and the hotels have been just fine.

Cicerone

First, congratulations on your wedding anniversary! This sounds like a great trip.

I have a few comments:

1. Port Liberty NJ - To the best of my knowledge there is no place called Port Liberty in New Jersey. There is a Port Liberte and a Liberty Harbour. I assume your ship leaves from one of them, check with your cruise lie. Both are located on the water in Jersey City, which is across the Hudson River from Manhattan. To get to either place, you could do one of the following:

Shuttle: it is possible that your cruise line offers a car or van shuttle service from a point in Manhattan to the embarkation pier for the ship. Call or send them an e-mail to confirm if they do; you might also ask for their suggestions on the best/fastest/cheapest or easiest way to get from Manhattan to the pier.

Taxi: obviously the easiest and the fastest. I am guessing that a taxi would cost you somewhere between $25-40 plus the toll for the tunnel, which is about $4.50. Others here can probably have provide specific cost info. A taxi ride door to pier in the morning hours (I assume you depart in the morning) should take no more than 30 minutes, probably closer to 20 minutes, esp from the mid-town Manhattan area.

Ferry: There is a ferry service which goes from various points in Manhattan to both Port Liberte and Liberty Harbour. This would be a fun and fast way to get there, the actual river crossing takes about 10 minutes, but you would need add time to get to the pier in Manhattan and then on the New Jersey side to get to the cruise ship pier. However, with any amount of luggage this might be more of a pain than it is worth, and you may end up taking taxis to get to and from the piers which will add to the expense and trouble. If you are interested, take a look at the following:

New York Waterway
1-800-53-FERRY
www.nywaterway.com

2. Hotels ? September is a popular month so hotel prices will be up. If you have any credit card or hotel chain points (like Marriott Rewards) considering using them for a NYC hotel stay. I agree with the above about priceline.com for hotels, I also have had good results with hotwire.com. Neither service lets you know the actual hotel you are getting, but if you go to biddingfortravel.com people have posted info on how to make a best guess based on number of stars, amenities, general location, etc. My experience with hotwire is that if you pick a 4 star or higher hotel, you will get a very nice hotel indeed, anything below that and you risk a dodgy one.

Another option since you have 6 nights in total is to look into renting a short-term apartment. There have been numerous threads on doing this in NYC, run a search or hopefully someone will post a response with specific information. Drawbacks here is that you will have to do some grocery shopping for basic supplies (no mini-bar), but advantages are cost and you can get more of a feel for the neighborhoods of Manhattan rather than the mid-town hotel/office areas.

Mid-town Manhattan will be the most expensive as it is the most popular. The Upper West side and the downtown Wall Street area are cheaper, Wall Street is esp cheaper over weekends as the hotels are primarily business hotels and are empty on weekends. The Wall Street area is quiet at night and is within walking distance of Street, South Street Seaport, the lovely Trinity Church, the huge discount store Century 21 and the former World Trade Center. Close by taxi to China Town. You can take the subway up to midtown in about 15 minutes for $1.50.

The Affinia Group has a collection of hotels in Manhattan, some of which have kitchenettes (small kitchens). I don't know them personally, but they get good reviews on this site, they might be worth a look at affinia.com. They are quoting $219 per night for various hotels in September.

Remember that room prices DO NOT include room tax, which in NYC is something on the order of 14%,and room prices generally do not include breakfast. Breakfast in a NYC hotel could easily cost you $20 per person, better to head outside to a coffee shop or make your own.

3. For Letterman tickets, look at the info at http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow, here is some of it:

To request 2 tickets to the LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, send a postcard with your name, address and daytime & evening phone numbers to:

Late Show Tickets
The Ed Sullivan Theater
1697 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

Two (2) tickets per postcard. Please send in only one postcard--multiple requests will be discarded. The minimum age to attend the LATE SHOW is 18. Due to the volume of ticket requests, it may not be possible to award tickets to everyone. Please be aware that the waiting time might be in excess of 9 months. LATE SHOW tapings are Monday thru Thursday.

It does not appear that you need a US address to receive tickets, but you might call
Stand-by Tickets
Stand-by tickets are available on the day of the show only by calling (212) 247-6497 at 11:00am. The phones will be answered until the allocation is gone, at which time you will receive a recording. Only 2 tickets will be issued per caller and the recipient must have identification to match the name given when calling in. Ticketing may be subject to answering a trivia question about the LATE SHOW.

You might also try to win a pair of tickets, I think you have a good shot because (i) you are a foreigner, and (2) it is your wedding anniversary. Take a look at "Win Tickets" on the website.

JFKbuff

Thanks very much to all for the extremely useful information.

Could you please confirm that cabs would be able to drop off right at hotel door for hotels in Times Square (don't wish to carry luggage along streets)? Also, I am assuming hotels should be able to organise cabs to pick up guests from the hotel?

I had thought about the Doubletree (Suite) for the first part of the trip and a more luxurious hotel for the second part.

This leads to me my second question. Although I would like to go for a luxurious/romantic hotel (hopefully with great views - Central Park?),for our second part of the trip, I don't want to select a hotel where we would have to dress formally. Most of all we would want a really great room with terrific views (Central Park?) good service (including room service) and the ability to dress casually. Any suggestions for hotels - we would still like to be able to walk to restaurants/entertainment if possible?

Finally, what entertainment tickets would you recommend should be purchased before arriving in NYC. We are coming from Scotland.

Thanks again.

BudgetQueen

Finally, what entertainment tickets would you recommend should be purchased before arriving in NYC. We are coming from Scotland


If you have a certain show you would like to see or only the most "popular" ones- purchase your tickets in advance.

Anonymous

Re: hotels/cabs/Times Square: Yes, your cab will be able to drop you off right at your hotel door even if it's in Times Square: Times Square is merely a busy, major intersection of several roadways, there are no pedestrian or closed-off roads. And likewise, securing a cab for departure is easy, with the possble exception of the hours when the shift changes (4-6 PM) or perhaps when theaters let out (late evening).

FYI, the Statue of Liberty is not open to visitors -- you can visit hte island and the gift shop, but cannot enter the statue itself.

nytraveler

There really aren't any hotels in New York that require you to dress formally. But in some of the more luxurious hotels around Central Park you are more likely be treated well if you go for sophisticated casual rather than tourist ratty. I don't wish to be cruel - but we unfortunately see lots of tourists who seem to think that what they wear to mow the lawn is appropriate attire for visiting a major city (shredded cut-off jean shorts and shrunken, misshapen T-shirts with "cute" sayings on them.) As long as you stick to pressed khakis and stylish polo shirts for day time you'll be fine!

emd

Regarding hotels on the park for after the cruise, look into the hotels on Central Park West, like the Essex, Helmsley Park, the Plaza (I think there is a Ritz Carlton also). All of those (and others) offer rooms on the Park (when you check in, try to get one on a high floor to reduce street noise and get the best view). If you can spring for it, check out a GREAT hotel on the Park is the St Regis Club at the Essex House. This is attached to the Essex house but it is a smaller upscale hotel, each floor has it's own butler who will personally take care of whatever you need during yoru stay (brings you coffee on a silver tray w/flowers in the morning, cookies and mild at night, whatever you want) Oooolalala, it is romantic for a 30th anniversary. The regular hotel Essex House next door is my personal favorite hotel on Central Park- it is art deco style w/good service and nice rooms on the park also. (re the St Regis- Do not get this ST Regis Club at the Essex confused w/the St Regis Hotel, which although run by the same company (Starwood) is a completely different hotel and is NOT on the park.) Check the Starwood website for info- and if you stay at Essex or St Regis Club at the Essex, join the Starwood program and get the perks (late check out, etc) and points for that stay.
BTW- little known fact is that the Essex House has a nice small spa w/great service. If your sife is interested, I can recommend a woman there (she is from Columbia, I think her name is Rosalba) who gives the absolute best body wraps/treatments and facials I have ever had anywhere.
From the Central Park West area you can walk to alot of shopping, the Park, theaters, greaat dining.

mp

Not to nitpick- but emd - all those hotels are located on Central Park South not West. And yes, there is a new Ritz Carlton there also.

cyberUK

also not to nitpick, but I don't believe that any of those hotels on CPS can be had for 200US/night

cyberUK

JFKbuff,
You might be more comfortable at the Mayflower on Central Park West. It is not trendy, but it is very tourist friendly, casual clothing is common, and they have park view doubles in your price range.
The new vertical shopping center is just a couple of blocks downtown across Columbus circle. You can get a quick bite at Whole foods, or eat at any one of the local restaurants.
You can walk to the Ed Sullivan Theater (Letterman)in about 10-15 minutes, and the area is very safe, busy with foot traffic 24 hours a day. The 59street subway stop is just on the corner, with trains going everywhere. 1 or 2 stops downtown on the Broadway local (1 or 9)gets you to the Theater district, stay on to get to lower Manhattan, (Ground Zero, Staten Island Ferry, Ellis Island, Liberty Island)
The noise level is much lower that the Times Square area, and you will not be bothered by the "touts",shills, watch salesmen, 3 card monty games, etc. that make Times Square Times Square.

sallymed

I've stayed at the Mayflower and other than being a little old, it was fine. We had a park view room and i don't remember it breaking the bank.

MFNYC

Why don't you try 2 different nieghborhoods, since you have 2 different time frame. Mayeb the first stay should be in Midtown west (which is the theater district and times sq area). While in that area, catch a play since you'll be closest to that. You're 2nd stay, you can choose another neighborhood, possibly central park west, midtown West or midtown south (murray hill area). As already said, any of these area are safe with good access to transportation. Midtown west is more touristy, where the other neighborhoods are more residential. Probably restaurant choices overall are better in these reidential neighborhood than times sq but good places can be found there too (more chance of overpaying in touristy area).

emd1

oops, i meant south, not west. You aren't nitpicking, I'm sure I could have confused him w/the slip up. That is what i get for hurrying thru a post while trying to get out to go to work.
I was focused on his second post about the luxurious romantic hotel on the park for the second part of his trip, didn't realize he only wanted to pay $200 for that too. That's rougher. But I have gotten rooms at the Essex for $225.

nytraveler

For an overall strategy you may want to do a more modest hotel - for $150 or so for the first 3-night stay and then splurge a litle - $250 or so for the final 3-nights in a Park locations. With priceline there are often some surprisingly good prices.

JFKbuff

I cannot thank you all enough for the valuable information.

In reading the posts I realise I may have misled you. I realise that in order to get a 'luxurious hotel' in the central park area I may have to pay quite a bit more than $200 a night.

Quite honestly, I would be willing to pay quite a bit more if I thought we could get the luxury without feeling "out-of-place".

Please feel free to suggest hotels which would provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience while making us "feel at home".

Thanks again.

missjanna

You might want to consider using Priceline for your first stay and then used to money you saved for your second stay.

You can find a hotel for under $200 a night, prices fluctuate throughout the year. It also depends on if you will be in NY on Labor Day or 9/11. (Labor Day being the 1st Monday in Sept). Prices for Labor Day weekend and 9/11 may be high.

Also you will be safe anywhere in NYC, however getting a taxi is relatively easy depending on time of day and location. (I usually have bad luck with cabs, including an accident.)

Don't rule out any area of Manhattan when checking hotels. Most people stay in Midtown East or Times Square. It's well known that the 2.5* in Midtown East on Priceline is the Marriott.

Anonymous

To clarify that last comment re Priceline: The Marriott in question is the Courtyard by Marriot Midtown East. I've stayed there thanks to Priceline and thought it was the best hotel buy ever.

Unfortunately, another hotel has recently shown up on Biddingfortravel's list of 2.5* hotels in MTE: The Metropolitan Hotel, which was demoted from 3* to 2.5*. The reviews are truly horrifying. The Courtyard still comes up more often, but be warned that the bid carries some risk.

grantop

Don't let the addition of the Metropolitan to the inventory influence you use of PL and a bid for the mid town east zone. We stayed there in November and had absolutely NO problems - clean rooms, clean baths, fast elevators, great staff, fantastic location and check in was a breeze. The hotel is currently undergoing a huge renovation, if you should "win" the hotel you can always politely ask for one of the renovated rooms (yes, I know you are paying via PL, but it certainly can not hurt). Anyway I didn't want you to dismiss PL because of some of the reviews of the Metropolitan, I would stay there again.