I have friends who have a large family and want to take all their kids to visit New York City. The problem is, they have very little money and will be driving from the Midwest in a large van which they will need to park somewhere. We were thinking they could stay on Staten Island and take the ferry over for day trips to the big city. What would you recommend.

It won't be any cheaper to stay at one of the handful of hotels or B&B's on Staten Island, and the commuting would eat up a LOT of time and energy.

You might find something cheaper in New Jersey, and it wouldn't take any longer to commute in to Manhattan than from Staten Island. But all in all, this is not a great plan.

I would think the time and money to commute in from either Staten Island or New Jersey - especially for a number of people would eat up any potential savings - even if there were any - in hotels. (They wouldn;t want to stay in the absolutely cheapest hotels - since they rent more or less by the hour.) Perhaps they might consider renting a couple of rooms in one of the inexpensive all suite hotels - and maybe get a volume discount. They can drop everyone off in the city and then have one adult go park the van at one of the NJ Transit stations (there have been a couple of threads on this) to save train fare for everyone coming into the city.

Agree with all the previous posters. After factoring in commute time, aggravation, and commute costs, they won't be saving any money and they won't get as much enjoyment out of their trip. And as everyone has said, you don't save THAT much money staying in New Jersey (at least if you have any standards vis-à-vis hotel quality).

How many people are we talking about? Do they have an absolute price limit on hotel rooms? nytraveler's ideas of checking into Manhattan suite hotels or multi-room discounts are good. NYC isn't cheap, but you can go there and not break the bank if you're smart.

Fisher, I'm not trying to be judgemental but...New York City isn't a trip to do on a shoestring with a lot of people. It is expensive.

It will cost them at least $25 per day to park the van. They would have to get two hotel rooms.

Even though there are cheaper options for eating, cheap in NYC is probably moderate in the midwest with the exception of some places.

Could they possibly save and come in next summer?

I'm just thinking that it wouldn't be a fun trip.

Well I think you can do New York modestly if you plan carefully. You can in fact park a car at some stations in NJ, you can eat very reasonably if you're careful (there are a bunch of goo ethnic choices outside of midtown that are barely more than McD's - and hotels can be managed if you ship carefully. Naturally New York isn;t free - but it doesn;t have to be $400 hotel rooms and & $100 per person dinners.

Thanks, all for your comments. Nytraveler, that is the kind of advice I am looking for, for them. It does not sound like my idea of a good time either, but they are determined to do this and I want to help them. I need more info for instance on where they can park their van (they said it is too tall to fit in parking garages). Which all suite hotels are inexpensive and safe in the Times Square area? There will be eight of them and need two adjoining rooms. They only want to spend two days in New York and want to spend two days within an easy drive where they can see the ocean. (That will be my next challenge.)

Fisher,

You might want to have them look into the La Quinta Inn in Midtown. The room rates are reasonable. They also might want to book a room on Priceline.com for Midtown.

http://www.lq.com/lq/reservations/pr...751&propId=751

If you search above there were several threads on parking in New York/New Jersey with exact info - I don;t live in NJ - so don;t know which stations are good options for parking.

For food - if they go outside of midtown - upper west side or village etc there are a lot of good ethnic options - where you can have dinner for $20 including drink (non-alcoholic) tax and tip. and for lunch there's always the street ot dog or a slice at the local pizza place - or even a take out salad from the salad bar at innumerable delis.

The only benefit for them staying in Staten Island is the fact that the ferry is free. But, the only real hotel options are the Hilton Gardens Hotel or the Staten Island Hotel. Staying at either would require a relatively long bus ride to the ferry terminal or parking there car near the ferry, which could get costly. Not sure the rates would even be that much cheaper than other, closer options.

There are numerous hotels just across the NJ side of the Lincoln Tunnel, in and around Secaucus (like the Meadowlands Hotel, the Red Roof Inn, Howard Johnson, Coutryard by Marriott). Certainly, those will be cheaper than many of the ones in the city. But, then you need to deal with getting into town. One of the cheapest options for them might be to drive to Hoboken and park in one of the garages near the Path train. The PATH is $1.50 each way, which is certainly cheaper than the $5 each way the NYWaterway Ferry. There are buses from Secaucus to NY, they'd just need to check the schedule as I don't think some of the NJ transit buses run on the weekend.

In terms of food, there are plenty of reasonable places for things like burgers and pizza, both in the city and on the NJ side.

There is a garage on 11th Ave up near 60th street that is an outdoor, park it yourself and keep the keys place. I have used it many times to park a high top van that does not fit in indoor garages.
This place charges about 12.00/day, and they will van you to mid town free (tip the driver)

I just researched budget hotels in NYC for some visitors who will be in town for a family event. My criteria was location (near specific subway lines), good feedback on tripadvisor and rooms that can accommodate 4.

I came up with:
Red Roof Inn ? 6 West 32nd St www.redroof.com
Super 8 New York Times Sq ? 59 West 46th St www.super8.com
Radio City Apartments ? 142 West 49th St www.radiocityapartments.com (also times sq area and has kitchenette)

There are other similar places but further west in midtown or in the central park west area (which is a very name neighborhood but not convenient for my needs).

Just a thought...I've never done this, but is it possible to put the van in long term parking somewhere (like newark airport), train into the city and stay in the city, while leaving the car parked in NJ.

Robinsen, that is the worst advice I have ever heard. There are 8 people in the family, NYC hotel rooms are notoriously small and you recommend priceline?

Fisher, go to Affina.com and see if they have any deals going on. This hotel group has all suite hotels. I got a 2 bedroom from them a couple of years ago with a sofa sleeper. We had two full kitchens, two full baths and four queen beds. I think it was around $350 per night over Memorial Weekend.

Boy. A lot of info here. I hope your head isn't spinning, Fisher! I think a lot depends on when (what month) they come & what 2 days of the week. There is FREE parking on Sundays in many areas of the city. That means they could possibly only have to pay for 1 day of parking. I like the sound of CyberUK's garage! Another option to check is the website iconparking.com. They have garages all over the city. You can pick a date, area & see what's available & for what price BUT, I think for a large van, you might have to email or contact them directly for prices & whether they can handle the van.

Now for hotel ideas. First, in all fairness, forget about picking Times Square-or any area for that matter. TS is very desirable now. If they were prepared to stay outside the city, why not find the best deal, wherever it is IN the city. (I tend to agree with the concept that staying outside the city, especially for just a 2 day trip, is not ideal) but I do think it might be worth checking in NJ-Hoboken, Meadowlands, Edgewater. These locations are all right near transport to NYC, have more hotels to choose from than Staten Island and may have free parking.

Decent Priceline rooms for 2 can often be gotten for $65-75/night. (MTE 2.5 star=Marriott Courtyard Midtown east or the Metropolitan) They'd need 4 rooms for a group of 8 (if they're willing to split up this way & if you can bid for 4 rooms at a time??). For 2 nights that's $520-600 plus tax. The 2 bedroom suite idea with Affinia.com while good, at $350 x 2 nights, is more money than trying PL. Yes you get a kitchen & more space in the suite, but not sure that's necessary for such a short stay.

Another option is to look at hotels that don't have all private baths. There are a few listed in the hotel section on Fodors downtown near NYU (in the village). One starts with an "L"-can't think of the name. There's also, in the village, the Minetta Lane suites & the Morton St. suites. I don't know these properties (haven't stayed there) but they're in decent Greenwich Village locations.

Staying down by the South Street Seaport is another idea. There's a newish suite hotel down there. There's parking I think & it's a "site" they might want to visit anyway.

More ideas, applecore.com-a group of low cost hotels (they're all part of national chains like Comfort Inn, but this group is evidently well maintained & some are in/near Times Square)I think some of the hotels MFNYC mentions may be in this group.

There are some hotels on 10th -12th avenues in the 40's-50s that are geared to families. They have parking & I think some have swimming pools on the roof. In summer this could be ideal. Can't remember if it's a HoJo, Days Inn etc. Worth checking.

Finally, there is a "Y"?? Or what about staying in University dorms if it's in the summer?? I think Columbia & NYU may bothoffer this. Good luck!

Since Bloomberg's been in office, free Sunday parking on the street is becoming history. Now it's mostly metered parking even on Sunday's.
Re: Affinia hotels, I booked some rooms for an upcoming event, through their website - special offers. I booked the 'Grandparent Package' at SHelburne Murray Hill. 1 bedroom suites (bedroom w/ 1 or 2 beds), living room with sofa bed and kitchen, for $178/night for memorial day weekend. I've recently checked their site, and this rate went up $50! By the way, no proof of being a grandparent was required.

As far as parking is concerned most indoor garages cannot accomodate a large van at all and outdoor spot are few - and would undoubedtly charge a premium - I would anticipate around $50 per day. that's why the leave at NJ train station proposal.

Also, public transportation in and out of the city for 8 people wold probably eat up any savings in hotel rooms - assuming you're doing just 2 suites for the 8 folks.

If they want to be really thrifty they might want to consider the hostel at 103/rd and Amsterdam. I know a lot of europeans use it - and not all young people. I'm not sure if they will take children or at what ages - but it might be worth checking out.

You people are so great! There is a lot to check out here. Earlier today I checked our their travel dates (June 20-21) at the Days Inn at 8th Ave and came up with a 4 person per room price at $135. For two rooms, two nights it came to between $500-600. How is that Days Inn, anyone know?

Fisher, check out The Travel Inn in Midtown. They have free parking and the hotel gets very decent reviews.