8 of us will be traveling to New York for Presidents Day Weekend (Feb. 13-16, 2004)for the first time from Chicago. We are all 28-30 years old and looking to see the sights such as Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Times Square, Empire State Building during the day and dine and good resturants and go to the clubs at night.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where we should fly into? Which hotels would be good options (around $200 a night or less)? And local resturants/clubs to those hotels? We are not going to be renting a car so we would like to travel by foot or cab most of the time.

Thanks in advance!!

LaGuardia Airport is most convenient to the city. I would guess there are non-stop flights from Chicago. I always recommend the Gorham Hotel on West 55th Street. It's a lovely boutique style hotel with very nice rooms and amenities. Check out their website. You can't beat the location either. You can walk to Central Park, 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center, you name it. You will also be within walking distance of many good restaurants and the theater district.

Definitely fly into Laguardia. There is frequent service from O'Hare.
Questions:
1. Are you male, female or both?
2. How much do you want to spend for meals and why type(s) of food?
You're wise is not renting a car. But, consider the subways for getting around, along with cabs and feet!

Definitely do not rent a car - it's very expensisve to park in Manhattan and subways are much faster. You can try cabs - but it may be hard getting two together (max 4 passengers). I recommend walking if short distances or subway if a mile or longer. LaGuardia is most convenient and I think there's a flight from Chicago almost every hour.

the gorham is a good hotel choice but don't stick to restaurants just in that area - explore the various neighborhoods and their different cuisines. I'm not aware of any clubs in that area they're mostly downtown. Also, need to clarify what kind - dance? jazz? ??

Check out the VV or Time Out New York for options.

Check American Airlines. I constantly have to book flights for my boss to Chicago, and the cheapest rates are always from O'Hare to LaGuardia. Plus LaGuardia is the most convenient into Manhattan.

As for hotels, almost all will be within blocks of a subway and restaurants. Best areas to check are in midtown, but avoid the Hotel Pennsylvania. You can do a search here on NYC and find a lot of info.

As for clubs, it also depends on your tastes. I live here in NY, and I'm 29, so I can give you some ideas on where to go, especially if you want to avoid the teeny bopper crowd.

Please note that the Statue of Liberty is not (yet) open to visitors. And I know we've beaten this dead horse but please don't refer to Ground Zero as a "site". I lost people very close to me there and it still makes me cringe when people say that...

Just a follow up to the prior post, the Statue of Liberty itself is not open, but you can get onto Liberty Island for a close up look at it.
American does have flights about every hour from Chicago to LaGuardia, and United has frequent service as well.
As others have said, if you give an idea of the type of food you like, we can give many recommendations.

I second the Gorham on 55th. Great place. Comfy beds, wonderful location. We paid $139 (3 of us) in a room in August, from their website. I think you can find the best rates at quickbook.com

Have any of you ever traveled in a group of 8 before?? It would seem to make even the simplest things (like getting a quick bite or grabbing a taxi) an ordeal.

Go to a bookstore. TIME OUT has a great guide to NYC it gives you restaurants by neighborhood, type of cuisine, bars & clubs, etc. Figure you can take 2 cabs (4 per cab) you will do great. Actually it will probably be cheaper than trying to do it on the subway.
Check travelzoo.com for hotel deals...they are out there, especially on weekends.

Get your hotel through Priceline. Check biddingfortravel before going to Priceline to get an idea of what the hotels are and what they are going for.

You can get a subway pass at the visitor's center in Time Square. You can also sent free postcard e-mails to your friends from there.

Fly into which ever airport is cheaper. There are public transportation options from all the airports.

Unless you are booking suites, don't put more than three people in a room. Manhattan hotel rooms are infamously small.

Presidents weekend will be very busy. Book a cancelable backup for your hotel and then start stalking hotel discount sites.

Doesn't Spirit Airlines fly direct Midway to LaGuardia? Cheap airfare.

Public transportation is unbeatable in NYC. Cabs, foot, subway, and bus are easy and cheap.