Alcove Studio West
 

Do you know anything about Alcove Studio West (B&B) located at 436 W 49th St? We want more than 100sq but that's about all we'd get on our budget if we use a hotel. There's a B&B called IvyTerrace at 30 E 58th St that looks nicer, but they're booked. I'm really trying to stay under $200/nt. I'll try priceline when its closer to our dates, June 2-6. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

Am I allowed to respond to my own post? :) I just read an old post (someone asked about B&B's) so I checked out Jacks B&B at 130 W 81st St and Wyman House at 76th St and Riverside. Is anyone familiar with them? What are these neighborhoods like? I know I'll have to check out proximity to the subway. Thank you again. Oh, and what is Hell's Kitchen? Thanks.

Hell's Kitchen was the name for the resdidential and working area west of the Theatre District and included the old Madison Square garden. It is now called Clinton and beleive it or not south of Clinton is Chelsea.

It was an extremely tough area, where prostitutes plied their trade and was partially controlled by a gang called the Westies. In the 1970's it began to change but not as fast as everyone hoped.

There is federally subsidized housing on 9th and 43rd (I am not sure it is still subsidized) for theatre people. So many people died of AIDS who lived those buildings in the early 80's that the buildings had their own grief support groups.

Now it much different with many respectable neighbors and many, many restaurants.

New York until recently had very few B & B's. There are some scattered throughout the city but most stay at hotels.

I am not sure what the advatnage of staying at a B & B may be in the middle of all that cement.

Hi Aduchamp1. Thanks for the history of Hells Kitchen, I didn't know if it was a good area or not. We would like a B&B because they're bigger than a hotel and we can freeze our ice packs for our poor aching backs. :) We'll save money too, cereal for breakfast, if I can find a grocery store! Plus, a washing machine (we're coming off a cruise so I'm sure I'll need one).
Are you familiar with any of the areas that I am considering? Thanks once again.

By the way in NYC you are always close to some place where you either get a breakfast special for a couple of bucks or a bagel with a smear (cream cheese) with a cup of coffee for buck and a half.

Never, ever order room service breakfast unless you are rich, drunk or both.

Today, in fact, we had lunch with friends on 83rd Street. It is basically a residential area with Central Park on one side and the Hudson on the other. It is one of NYC great neighborhoods. (It does, however, have the highest concentration of psychiatrists in America.)

The only problem with the location is getting across town to see whatever you are going to see on the east side of the island. That will either require walking or some combination on buses and trains

I agree that you can get a quick, inexpensive and healthy breakfast almost anywhere in Manhattan - like $ 2.50 for coffe, juice and egg on a roll, or oatmeal or something like that. We have very few B & B's. There are some small boutique hotels. Nieghborhood is really important. Can make or break your impressions. 30 E 58 is a safe and pretty neighborhood, right off Central Park. Staying under $ 200-good luck. I've not priced them, but we're a pricy place.

I'd worry about the alcove studio place. I don't think it's really a b & b. (Where did you find it?) Vacation apt. rental scams in NYC are rampant.

Jacksbandb.com is a great budget place on the upper west side, a very popular area. Wymanhouse.com is also on the UWS and is even nicer but further from the subway stop. If you intend on trying Priceline, booking at a b & b is not as flexible as booking a hotel. Some may not be cancelable at the last minute.

The Park South is a nice, smaller hotel that can be booked on quikbook.com for $219/night plus tax. They include a continental breakfast. You could book that and cancel up to I think 24 hrs. in advance. Or... you might prefer staying in a b & b and have the feel more of an apt. with kitchen etc.

The Park South is available on hotels.com for $212/night (all these prices are plus tax which is another ~15%). Not sure of cancelation rules there though. I know quikbook is fully cancelable.

Mclaurie, I can't remember how I ran across Alcove Studio West but I booked it through Hotels.com. I plan to continue to search for better, but do you think that even booking with Hotels.com could be a scam? Do you know anything about the neighborhood and proximaty to subways? Just for fun... I told my mom about trying this website and that someone named Mclaurie seemed to know alot about NY and had even repremanded me on a post and that I was hoping to hear from him/her. :)

You've already booked it? It's apparently an illegal vacation rental. The building is not zoned as a hotel. I just can't understand after finding this forum and doing research why you'd be so foolish as to book something without any reviews or knowledge of what it is. You'll be lucky to be able to cancel.

Malaurie, I thought hotels.com was reputable. It says I can cancel without any penalty. There are not any reviews on it so I thought it might be new. That's why I asked on this forum if anyone had heard of it. So do you really think I made a bad dicision? I have since contacted Jacks and there is avaliability but it looks pretty far north. Is it a better location? Wymans is booked.

Hotels.com just takes money from whoever owns the alcove studio, they don't "vet" the places. It may be fine, but I wouldn't trust it. Jacks b & b in on the upper west side, a very popular area to stay. The Museum of Natural History is there along with lots of good local places to eat. It's the area that was featured in the movie "You've Got Mail".
http://youvegotmail.warnerbros.com/cmp/upperwest.html

A lot of people book illegal rentals in NYC. Basically, people who rent or own apartments in Manhattan but don't live in them can make a tidy living out of charge $200 per night for an apartment they probably pay $400 a month for.

The downside of doing this is that if something does go wrong, you have absolutely no legal recourse. I recommend NOT staying in an illegal rental because unless you have a personal recommendation from someone there is absolutely no way to know if it's a scam or not ... and such scams are known to exist in NYC.

If a room is 100 sf, it's probably not a "B&B" but rather a room in a single-occupancy hotel. These can be pretty dicey depending on the place (a lot cater to the homeless or have long-term tenants, but landlords make more money renting out the rooms nightly to tourists).

The general areas around each of these places is fine, but I just can't recommend that anyone stay in one of these places myself.

Good luck. I hope it works out.

FYI: I just found some pictures of "Alcove Studio West." It looks perfectly nice, but it's obvious that this is an illegally run hotel. The landlord has probably taken vacant apartments, renovated them, and is now running a hotel operation out of a residential building, which probably has long-term tentants in occupancy. It concerns me that companies like Expedia allow illegal operations to be advertised and offered on their sites, but what can you do.

One concern of an illgal rental would be liability. Usually, a residential indurance policy would only cover commercial use if it is incidental. Thus if someone happens there may be little or no recourse.

OK Mclaurie and Mr. Stallings. I agree, I goofed! I called the phone number listed on the site and was rewarded with "Alcove what, wrong number, wrong number". I cancelled. Hopefully, my MC is still intact. I plan on calling them during business hours to verify this. My hubby still wants a B&B though, so my quandry continues. Opinions please..Jacks @ 130 W 81st or Ivy Terrace at 30 E 58th? Which is the better location, especially on proximaty to subway (yes, I;ve ordered a subway map). There's a 414 Inn but it's booked. And I think 1291 B&B may be another shady one. Thanks guys.

I have a lot of knowledge of the neighborhood surrounding W. 81st as I used to live on W82nd (from 2004-2006). It's a very different neighborhood than E. 58th, but I prefer the UWS infinitely to the midtown area. There are lots of terrific restuarants and shopping, proximity to the park, proximity to the Museum of Natural History. It's a 15 minute walk directly across the park to get to the Met, or the crosstown bus picks you up right at 79th St. and takes you across to the Upper East Side. You can walk to MOMA in about 30 minutes...and it's a beautiful walk either along Central Park or Columbus Avenue. In terms of the subway, the 1, B, and C are all right there, and you can get pretty much anywhere you'd want to go in Manhattan via a transfer. Let me know if you pick the UWS so I can give you recommendations for restaurants!

Thanks Lizziea06. I have contacted both locations so I'm waiting for responses.I'll get back with you...

I don't want to be a stick in the mud, but these two are pretty much the same set-up. Jack's seems to be a privately owned brownstone that rents rooms (illegally, according to city and state statutes). Same with Ivy Terrace. However, I must say that the glowing reviews convince me that you're not going to be ripped off.

There are a few legitimate B&Bs in NYC if you want to go that route. The Union Square Inn has a nice location. The Larchmont (though with all shared baths) is in a great central Village location. The Chelsea Inn on 17th Street is also a real place. And there was a B&B in Harlem that was written about in the NY TImes a few months ago that seemed nice.

What makes a B&B legitimate is a properly licensed establishment that meets the city safety codes. Now that doesn't mean an illegal rental is necessarily dangerous, but as other posters have pointed out, you run certain risks if something goes wrong (unlikely, though possible).