As I prepare for my trip to New York this week, I am re-reading the reviews of the Novotel, where we will be staying. The reviews are positive, but one reviewer made an interesting point. He pointed out that it should be noted that the positive reports on the Novotel were written by Europeans and, therefore,should be taken with a grain of salt, since Americans have higher standards for grading nice hotels. He said the Novotel is badly in need of updating.

Anyway...I'm not really concerned, just thought it was an interesting observation. What do ya'll think?

p.s. If I have bunions and Morton's neuromas on my feet, should I really attempt to walk from the Novotel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Probably not. *sigh* I hope I can hail a cab without my daughter. If the cab driver says anything to me, I will not understand, since he will have his back to me, and also will probably be Slavic (remember, I am hearing impaired). When my daughter and I take a cab, I give the driver the address as we get in, and then I turn to my daughter and say "what did he say?" and she says "he said ok." Another time the driver said something which I didn't understand, and thankfully, daughter could relay the information that he was telling us he would drop us off one block from our destination rather than right at the door.

Do cabbies usually respond when you give them your destination address, or do they just grunt? Or say nothing?

Thanks.
Vicki

Slavic? I don't think I have had a slavic cabbie in NYC.
Morton's neuromas? Sounds painful!!!

Europeans usually have more weeks of vacation time than do Americans. When Americans finally get that one week off (and I'm generalizing here) they want to go first class. Yes, brake the bank!! Hosteling came from Europe. Visit the site, www.hostelz.com and count the number of hostels in the United States and then compare it to Europe or Australia.

Hi vickib2, regarding the taxi driver. I would write out the address you want to go to and I would also note on the paper that you are hearing impaired (or maybe it would be better in case the taxi driver's English is not very good to write something like "I am deaf, I cannot hear". I think that would let the driver know he needs to turn his head and nod or something to let you know that he can take you to your desitination. Although I have never had a taxi driver have a problem getting me to my required destination..but maybe in NYC that is sometimes a problem?

Regarding Europeans and hotels. It has been my experience both with friends from Italy visiting here and touring Italy with friends in Italy that they are not as "fussy" so to speak regarding hotels. I don't mean that they want to stay in dumps..but they don't seem to need as much luxery etc. as some Americans do. They do all have lovely homes so it isn't that they are not use to nice accomodations.
And of course we can never say all Americans or all Italians etc. But I am just speaking in general and what my experiences have been.

Of course they are use to older buildings, sometimes small bathrooms and those "funny" showers, lol etc. And they are not use to having the type of a/c that we have etc.

I also saw that review, vicki. I think Americans are more used to things being "new" and updated. I think the reviewer was also coming from a really nice room at another hotel and bemoaning having made the decision to switch.

I wouldn't walk to the Met from the Novotel b/c you'll do plenty of walking once you get to the Met. Save your feet. You should also not expect the cab driver to know where the Met is (sad to say). Tell him you want to go to Fifth ave. & 81 st. at the Met Museum. He may not respond. He might ask how you want to go (ie through the park or not). Have him go through the park. He'll probably take you up the west side and go through the park on 86 st.

Most Americans spend a lot of time traveling in lower cost areas - and so have come to expect a lot for their dollar (new hotel, every thing fresh and updated, best TV, high-speed internet connections etc.)

Most hotels in europe are older and frequently don;t have many of these amenities - except at the highest price range.

So - yes - I think Ameicans expect more hotel for the money. And the crunch comes in NYC - where prices are much higher. Europeans get what they expect and are happy - many Americans are comparing prices to those in Orlando etc - and are not.

As far as taxis are concerned, if you have a hearing problem write down your address clearly. Most drivers will respond in some way - and many are quite talkative. However - they are not speaking slavic languages. It is far more likely to be english accented by hindi or urdu.

I agree with nytraveler; Americans expect more for our money. We expect a private bath not consider it a luxury.

We were traveling through Kentucky one time. My kids were about 9 and 10 at the time. We stayed in a lovely Marriott resort in Lexington. It had a few pools and the rooms were nicely appointed. We then went to Louisville and stayed at an Amerisuites. It was more of a budget hotel. My kids turned to me and said "This place is a dump. Can we go back to the other one?. I mean look at the pool mom, it is the size of the hot tub at the other hotel." Ah the spoiled well-traveled children
We spoil them young here!!!

Cabbies will be plenty used to giving rides to people who don't speak English so you won't need to communicate other than giving the address.

I definitely will write down the address where I want to go and add "I cannot hear" to the note. (But, I will feel like Elaine in that Seinfeld episode when she told the cab driver she had lost her hearing so she wouldn't have to chat with him -- one of my favorite episodes!) : )

For those who doubt my "Slavic cabdrivers" observation -- I've been in a NYC cab only four times, but each time, the cabbie's name was something like "Ivan Ivankovich". Really!
Well. Maybe not all four times.

But, today I was making small talk with a neighbor (I live in a condo complex, and I mentioned my upcoming trip, and the fact that I wanted to see the MMOA, and she said "oh -- just take the Fifth Avenue bus from Times Square to the upper East side. That's the best way."

Does that sound like a reasonable suggestion?

Vicki

Except that Times Square isn't on 5th Avenue. It's going to be a bit of a walk to Fifth Avenue. And I am going to assume that a cab driver in NYC is going to know where the Met is, for heaven's sake.

No - you can;t take the Fifth Avenue bus from times Square (which is not near Fifth Avenue) up anywhere. Fifth Avenue is one way - goes downtown only. Most NYC Avenues are only one direction - either up or downtown.

And since Times Square is on the West side and the Met is on the East side you'll need to take one subway or bus uptown and then change to the 79th street crosstown bus - getting off at Fifth avenue.

If you're willing to do a little walking you can get almost anywhere in NYC by subway or bus - but you'll need detailed maps to do so. So - if you're already going to be doing a lot of walking IN the museum do you want to add walking to/fo subway and buses to it?

well, jeez...she seemed so sure that the Fifth Avenue bus was the way to go. Well...she WAS kind of elderly. Maybe she is thinking of something else.

Well, how about taking a bus up 8th Avenue (which appears to turn into "Central Park West" ??) and getting off around West 80th and walking across the park to the MMOA?

Vicki

I'm going to say yes, Americans are hard(er?) to impress. That is because I'm American and I don't impress easily. I'm particularly unimpressed by most of the posts (and posters)on the Europe boards.....

On our first visit to NYC (and the US) we found the subway easy, and faster than buses and cabs. You may have to change lines, but if you get off at Lexington Ave near E.79th you'll only have 3 short crosstown blocks to walk.

Well Americans voted for George Bush Jr they can't be too hard to impress.

lol, Stephanie!
I do think we Americans expect our rooms to be larger, assume we'll have a/c and modern baths, so yes, we're harder to impress.
But those European rooms have plenty of charm!

Yes- that's possible - but get off at 79th street - since you can get a free transfer to the 79th street crosstown bus which stops across the street from the museum.

Now THAT would be a new kind of thrill ride! Taking a bus UP Fifth Avenue! LOL!

Sort of a suicidal version of Frogger.

Frank:

I'm a big Motel 6, Motel 8, Econo and Travelodge fan. I'm more European like than American. In fact when I visited S FL in the past the kind of family run motel in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, FL was mostly occupied by Europeans from Belgium, Ireland and Germany.