4/5 BR Rental Apartment in New York City?
 

We are a family of 3 generations and 8 adults and are looking for a large apartment (at least 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms) in New York City, preferably in Manhattan, for April 1 to 11, 2010. The budget limit would be 800$ per night.

I already checked VRBO, but the selection is limited, and many apartments are already booked.

Maybe some Fodorite has a good recommendation? Thank you so much.

BTW, how is Easter in NYC? Any specials going on? Any restrictions to consider?

Most apartments in NYC canot be legally rented for the short term.
Your best bet would be to get two 2-bedroom suites at one of the Affinia Properties:
affinia.com

Thank you Susie (that's also DW's name!), but when I submitted my booking request to Affinia, I got the response "You are not authorized to view this page"!

Okay, finally Affinia's website worked. They charge 549$ for a 2 BR suite, that makes 1,098$ for us all per night - that's pretty steep. I still hope to find something considerably below that rate.

Try these:
San Carlos
Best Western Hospitality
the Blakely
the Belvedere
Radio City apts.
Murray Hill East Suites
Milburn
Beacon
Lucerne
the Manhattan Club
Elysee
the Buckingham
http://www.nycsalisbury.com/
Doubletree Guest Suites Times Square
Embassy Suites

You could also search for bed and breakfast's in Manhattan. There are many to choose from with different amenities available.

Thank you again, Susie, for your effort. But we have not thought of a hotel, more of real apartment. Finally, I have found two offers which seem to be suited for us.

One is located at West 105th street, off Central Park West, the other one at West 123rd Street / Mount Morris Park West (5th Avenue).

What do you think of these locations? (I have located both with Google Earth, so I know they are somewhat remote but have access to public transport - but what about safety, neighborhood etc.?)

It is my understanding that most short-term apartment rentals are illegal and/or scams. I would research carefully and hopefully some of the New Yorkers on the board will chime in.

>>>It is my understanding that most short-term apartment rentals are illegal and/or scams.<<<

Both are VRBO rentals:

http://www.vrbo.com/220405
http://www.vrbo.com/224212

In other cities (Savannah, San Antonio, Santa Fe), we have made excellent experiences with rentals from VRBO. Do you you think VRBO rentals in New York are illegal?

Many, many apartments in NYC - esp larger and more upscael ones are either co-ops or condos - which have very different legal circumstances than rentals. Typically the owners are fined if it's found that they have sublet the apartments at all without prior approval - and vetting of the tenants - of the board.

There are very few apartments that large in NYC - a 3-bedroom is considered large. And the ones that are that big would be mostly luxury buildings - no short-term rentals allowed - and not within the budget you're talking about. (People with a multi-million dollar co-op or condo don't rent it out on a short-term basis - even if the co-op allowed it, which they don't.) And even if they are, the landlord won;t want transients wandering in and out of the building. Nor will they appreciated complaints from their very upscale tenants.

You could look for buildings that specialize in corporate rentals - but would have to probably take 2 2 -bedroom apartments - and again - not sure your price range will cover it - but you can try.

As for easter - it can be early spring or it can still be winter. You should know that the grass may still be brown and the trees won;t have leaves yet (that happens end April or early May) and only the earliest flowers will be out.

The major sight is the Ester parade on Fifth Ave - people parading wearing their best, their worst, their oddest. Many people dress their pets to match. I remember one woman in a bright yellow "southern belle" organdie outfit with a huge picture hat - on which sat her pet iguana - dressed in identical clothing.

traveller1959, Please listen to what nytraveler has posted. That is important information.
Just because they are listed with VRBO does not mean they are legal. VRBO is just a place for people to list their properties, nothing more. The cost per night on those two is so low that I would be suspicous.
All the places I listed are hotels with suites. That is the best way for you to go. You budget of only $100 per night per person is totally unrealistic for NYC.

As for the first rental - it says that renters have access to the entire brownstone - not that there is no one else there - I would assume the owner or tenants are also using the house. Second, although much of Harlem has been gentrified - you are nowhere near major tourist sights and would need to be comfortable in a primarily ethnic neighborhood.

As for the second apartment, again you would be sharing the house with the owners.

And I don;t see a mention of an elevator in either one (very few brownstones have one) - which can mean walking up 4 or fights of stairs with your luggage.

Sorry, Traveler1959 - I should have said "It is my understanding that most short-term apartment rentals IN NYC are illegal and/or scams." We've used VRBO is other cities as well with no problems.

I would also worry that even if advertised on vrbo [or anywhere else as 4 or 5 bedrooms], you may be very surprised [and NOT in a good way] when you actually got to the property to find it doesn't have that many bedrooms. A dining nook may have a bed in it, that doesn't make a bedroom in my book.
Deb

Four points are worth repeating:

1. It's likely an illegal short-term rental, if in fact, it's not an outright scam.

2. 4-5 bedrooms is almost unheard of in NY.

3. $800 a night for 4-5 bedrooms is not a realistic budget for NY, so if it exists, it's likely crappy.

4. The fact that it's listed on VRBO is meaningless, as far as quality goes, since VRBO is not an agency that checks quality.

Since they are not "apartments" but brownstones it's possible that they are privately owned. If so, the owner is not constrained by co-op regulations or landlord rules. But - you would be sharing the house with strangers (either owner or tenants), are not in the most convenient areas, and will have the aggravation of climbing all those stairs.

And they are still illegal, since the city has given them a COO for an apartment, not a hotel - which requires meeting all sorts of additional safety measures.

After looking at the first more closely is does say it has an elevator - but makes it clear that you have "access" to the kitchen - meaning it belongs to the residents but you can also use it.

That is, assuming that the properties actually exist - and aren;t just photos of someone else's building.

In terms of pricing, a genuine 4- or 5-bedroom apartment would be more like $2500 per night if one existed, and they are few and far between in NYC. It sounds to me as if this is a brownstone building (possibly privately owned), but it may not offer the kind of security and comfort that the posters are looking for.

As everyone else has said, virtually all short-term apartment rentals in NYC are illegal. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say they are scams, but since they are illegal, you have absolutely no recourse if something goes wrong. And trying to find alternative lodging for 8 people would cost considerably more than $800 per night, not to mention lost money on an apartment that didn't work out. The price on the two Affinia apartments is a really good one (REALLY GOOD), and since those apartments have full kitchens, I'd jump on that in a minute if it were still available. You don't say which Affinia property offered that type of apartment, but they are all better located than the Harlem apartments.

FYI: Central Park West in the lower 100s can be kind of scary, especially the subway station there, though I'm not sure about that specific block. A friend lived on west 105th Street a few years ago, and I didn't really feel comfortable visiting after dark. But then NYC is much more gentrified these days. However, not sure I'd want to stay in that immediate vicinity.

Check bedandbreakfast.com. There are several places there that call themselves bed and breakfasts that offer large apartments in NYC. IN particular, look at "Homeinthebigcity" property on that site. It is a 5 bedrm, 3.5 bath triplex apartment, sleeps 12 (3 kings, 6 twins). Rents for $600-750 a night.

try Club Quarters good locations and may have what you are looking for.

http://www.clubquarters.com/

I know this apt. is legitimate and the owners live in the building so it should be legal. It's not fancy though but in a nice upper east side residential location. http://www.vrbo.com/115235

If you're willing to commute from outside Manhattan, this house in Maplewood, NJ is supposed to be nice. http://www.vrbo.com/183905