bluemeansgo

This isn't a question about what to do in New York but rather WHEN to book for next May.

It seems that the inexpensive hotels in New York are all getting really nasty reviews.

Anyway, I'm just putting that out there. Now for my real question.

We arrive in New York on a Sunday afternoon in May, and leave Wednesday morning at 8:10am from Newark airport. Is it worth spending two nights in New York and 1 night close to the airport?

It seems like it's the more sensible choice... but I've heard really bad things about the area around EWR. Is it easy enough to get to Newark at that time in the morning that a Manhattan hotel makes sense, or save a $100-$200 and stay near the airport?

Any hotels good for 2 adults and 2 seniors?

J62

In my opinion you should stay in Manhattan the whole time. No packing up & moving. Getting to Newark at 5am is no issue. A car service for 4 of you would be the easiest.

SusieQQ

It is better to stay in Manhattan. Commuting from New Jersey is not only a pain but costly. You might have to raise your budget
Getting to Newark airport for an early morning flight is easy. There is a train from Penn Station to the airport on New Jersey Transit.

nytraveler

For 4 people, with 2 of them seniors, I would agree to head to EWR by car service (fixed fee when you arrange it - plus tip and toll) from Manhattan early in the am. You could stay in a Newark hotel but you would need to find one with a guaranteed shuttle that gets you to the airport on time (check on how frequently the shuttle actually runs) plus get a car service to take you to the hotel from Manhattan after dinner that night (airport hotels really don;t have anyplace to eat a decent meal - just set up for breakfast).

Try Carmel or Dial 7 car service and check the web sites for coupons before reserving.

If you prefer you can take NJ Transit to EWR in the morning, but for 4 people the cost of cab to Penn Station, train to Newark and then Airtrain to the airport won't be much less and you will have to haul your luggage up and down several different levels.

As for hotels, there are a number of well-regarded budget hotels in the city. Not sure where you are seeing really nasty reviews unless you are looking at the few "hotels" that were originally hostels and renamed themselves hotels with minimal changes.

You should realize that every hotel will have some negative reviews either because some people like to complain or they have a very unrealistic perception of prices in NYC and they are looking at places that are little more than homeless shelters and expecting an actual hotel.

There are a number of reliable budget properties - only searching the discount web sites for your dates can tell you what is available. One often recommended is the Hotel Newton on the upper west side, which has double queen rooms (2 queen beds) available for $211 per night with advance purchase discount. However, these tend to sell out early so you would need to reserve and pay as soon as your dates are confirmed.

But there are numerous other basic but clean/pleasant places all over the city. Unless you are looking for something more upscale and require specific amenities - then prices will be higher.

In any case, reserving as soon as possible/advance purchase is often the best bet for good rates.

If you provide your budget people can make specific recos.

bluemeansgo

Thanks J62, SusieQQ and nytraveler! Thanks for the advice about staying in Manhattan . That was my initial thought anyhow. Just was thinking about getting up that early for a 8:10. Just to clarify about this... we would have only planned to stay in Newark for the last night for the convenience of being close to the airport. I'll look into car service though. Seems more comfortable anyhow.

Yes, I was looking at hotels using my points portal. bmorewards.com so I figured I'd only find actual hotels... but places like The SunBright, New World Hotel, Windsor Hotel and others like those littered the bottom end. They were sub-150 USD hotels. Part of the problem comes from needing to lower my expectations or raise my thinking on prices as I'm looking at prices in Canadian dollars and the exchange rate has tanked in the past year.

Actually, The Hotel Newton DOES appear on the list as well. As for budget, we'd like to keep it under $230 USD ( which works out to be $300 CAD ).

Some of the places I have access to on my points site are:
~200 USD
The Hotel 91 (Lower East Side)
Travel Inn Hotel ( 515 W 42nd )
Morningside Inn ( Upper West Side )

200 - 240 USD
Hotel Newton
Blue Moon Boutique Hotel ( Lower East Side )
Chelsea Savoy ( Central /Chelsea )
Vacayo NYC East Apartments ( East Village )


I'm not tied to this list ( and I'm sure this list changes ). I'll either use points or if I find a place not on the list just book it with that site and pay for it.

nytraveler

The places on your first list are, I believe, not actual hotels, but serve other purposes.

Of the other you list The Travel Inn is reliable but is on the far west side so not the most convenient location.

Not sure if the Morningside Inn is legal. Check to see if they charge the 18% hotel tax - if they don't they are illegal.

The Newton is right on top of the 96th St (express) stop on the Broadway subway line - so convenient to getting around the city and 4 blocks from Central Park. It's a mid/upscale residential are with a ton of inexpensive/moderate hotels of every possible ethnicity.

I would caution you to make reservations as soon as your dates are set - since these rates can disappear at any time to be replaced by those $50 or more per night higher.

sf7307

I think nyt meant tons of restaurants of every ethnicity.

doug_stallings

Of the hotels on your list the Travel Inn and Newton are the best choices. Some may not be legal hotels and could be subject to closure, so I just wouldn't take a chance. (Strangely, a lot of illegal hotels show up at the lower end of the range.) Others at the low end may be SROs that have tried to remodel some rooms and offer them to tourists at nightly rates. These are long-term hotels for people who can't afford to live elsewhere and are often awful and unsafe, but some have spruced up their lobbies to make them look like normal hotels, taking out the bullet-proof plexiglass enclosures around the payment desks but doing nothing upstairs. You end up sharing with homeless people for the most part whose rooms are paid for by NYC. Hence the bad reviews.

$230 is a very low rate for Manhattan. If money is such an object, hotels in Long Island City Queens are usually a better option (almost all sub-$200 per night chain hotels near the subway). However, they aren't a good choice for you since you are flying from EWR. So I'd stick with the Travel Inn or the Newton. Both are very close to the subway (including now the Travel Inn, which is near the new terminus for the 7 Line) and are, thus, convenient for sightseeing.

bluemeansgo

Thanks everyone.

We were considering the Holiday Inn up on 57th near Central Park... but in the end booked the Travel Inn for the time being to lock in the rate for the time being.

Also, thanks for the recommendations regarding travel to/from the airport. I'll check out Carmel & Dial 7 car service.