First Timer in NY from California
 

Hi, I am a California native, living midway between LA and SF, and my fiance and I are traveling to NY for a getaway during the end of June. I've been perusing the various emails/info on these boards and am utterly shocked by prices! Gee whiz, I thought SF was an expensive stay and eat! PLEASE, someone must know how two stay "cheapo but safe" in the City. We don't mind doing some walking, or, of course, using the subways; plus, we don't plan to hang-out in the room except to sleep and shower. We'd like to spend a pretty good amount of time in museums and a broadway show. NO SHOPPING! Culture and the arts are preferable...but we do want to see the Empire State Bldg, Statue of Liberty, and the World Trade Center memorial site. Thanks for any advice you may have.

I honestly feel there is little difference between the two cities in terms of price. The mistake is that you look at prices people quote for eating at Le Bernadin or Le Cirque in New York. Do you eat at Boulevard or Farallon or Masa every night in SF? Don't compare little hole in the wall restaurants available in both cities to the big name places. And although theatre tickets will cost you a bit more, I really don't think there is a whole lot of difference in prices otherwise. Perhaps you know the cheap places in SF, and don't know them in New York, so maybe you'll get some help here or you'll just have to seek them out. Sorry, I don't know many really cheap ones. There have been tons of threads here on bargain accomodations in New York. Just do a search here and you'll find lots of suggestions including prices.

For hotels, use Priceline or Hotwire, and you'll likely get a 4* hotel in NYC for under $100/nite. Check out www.BetterBidding.com for hotels others have received and what they paid. You can post any questions there and get specific help for what zones to use for your needs.

I agree that Priceline.com and Hotwire.com can offer you the best prices, and they will only use name brand hotels. While BetterBidding.com is newer they do offer priceline and hotwire rates that people have received. Another website to look at is biddingfortravel.com. This is a more established website BUT only gives Priceline rates. Do your research, and as a native New Yorker it really does not matter what part of the city you stay in because subways will get you everywhere and anywhere very quickly. If you have any other questions, just let me know...

Apart from the cost of hotels, I find NYC to be about the same in costs as a tourist or perhaps a trifle cheaper than SF. Key factor is getting a good deal on a hotel and Priceline or Hotwire are worth exploring. Check www.betterbidding.com and www.biddingfortravel.com <BR><BR>The former has bidding tips and results for both PL and HW, the latter has that info for PL.<BR><BR>I've been charged $12 for a small OJ, two coffees and a hard roll in a NYC hotel coffee shop (hey - I was on business and the customer wanted to eat there!), yet I went arounf the corner to Le Croissant for a great ham and cheese croissant and a large cup of French Roast the next morning and paid less than $3 total. If you get out of major tourist areas, choose the right days to visit museums and explore the free/cheap options that are so abundant in NYC (especially in the June - August time frame), you'll have a fantastic time without breaking the bank.

Not everything is expensive and many things are free, especially in the warm weather when there are outdoor events. My favorite area for inexpensive dining is the E. Village. There are tons of restarants of a huge variety (thai, italian, french, Veg., tex mex, etc.). Most are reasonable prices and some have phenominal Prix Fix deals. In that area there's little india, on 6th st between 1st and 2nd av where you can easily eat for under $15pp. Breakfast (bagel and coffee) could be picked up at at most delis for under $2. <BR><BR>For a good deal on a hotel, I would recommend doing priceline, check biddingfortravel for more info. You could get a 4* room for less than $100. Stay somewhere other than Midtown West (tims sq, theater area). Things tend to be overpriced and undervalued there. There are many great areas to stay. Midtown East and midtown south are both very convenient.<BR><BR>In June there are street fairs all over on the weekends and usually something outdoors at Lincoln center at night. For discount advance sale theater tickets (without waiting on the TKTS line), check out playbill.com, hitshowclub.com, and theatermania.com. Also the statin Island Ferry is free and provides great views of the Statue of Liberty. NYC doesn't have to be expensive.

AbFab<BR>If museums are your first prioity, you might want to check out this B &amp; B discovered by some other posters <BR><BR>http://www.stay-the-night.com/accommodations.html<BR><BR>It's a small b &amp; b on 93rd st between 5th &amp; Madison which puts you in walking distance of the Met, Guggenheim, Whitney, Cooper Hewitt etc. The rates were supposedly just over $100 including tax (which is steep). If you do a text search here for-upper east side- you should find the string about this place &amp; the neighborhood. It's not so convenient for the downtown stuff but there are subways &amp; buses &amp; it's steps from Central Park in a beautiful residential area.

Please keep in mind that you cannot enter the Statue of Liberty. It has been closed since 9-11 unfortunately. You CAN visit Ellis Island though. I would strongly suggest doing the 1/2 day Circle Line (3 hours?). Even though my fiance and I are native New Yorkers, we did the Circle Line last April and really loved it!

Thanks to everyone who has posted a reply! I'm getting really excited about the trip now! With priceline.com, do you have to take what they offer you? I know a creditcard must be on file...hmmm...Also, is the weather as sticky as Florida in late June? Thanks all, Patti

If Priceline accepts your bid, you have to pay for it. No cancellations. I've used priceline several times for hotels and never had any problems.

Humidity can start to get pretty rough at the end of June.

To save time and money, take the FREE Staten Island ferry back and forth across the harbor. There's no wait, and it gets you pretty close to the Statue.

A few things....<BR><BR>1) Priceline keeps your crdit card info &quot;on file&quot; ONLY if you choose to set up a profiel with them that prevents the need to re-enter the data every time you visit the site to start a new bid. They use secure HTTP (HTTPS) as do all other repoutable Internet billing systems and I'm unaware of anyone ever having security issues. They DO accept debit cards and that's how I do nearly all my bidding (I use PL quite regularly).<BR><BR>2) The Circle Line 3 hour trip is nice when the weather is good but it's a bit long. Of the three hours, there's a good hour and a half that has little narration and not that much of interest to look at (but it is nice being out on the water of the weather is good). I'd suggest one of the shorter cruises.

If you're worried about security and have an American Express card, you can get a &quot;private payments&quot; number which will generate a temporary credit card number for you linked to your Amex card. This temporary number will only be good for 60 days (i think), after that, it's useless. I haven't used private payments myself, but i know lots of people that have for things like magazine subscriptions which somehow seem to automatically renew themselves.

Hi AbFab,<BR>I just returned from a short trip to NYC and had a wonderful time. If you're interested in Broadway shows, and want to save some $$, check into applausetickets.com. I got 2 tickets to Hairspray, along with a dinner voucher (for 2). I had 5 restaurants to choose from (in the theater area) and this was a great way to get the extremely hard to get Hairspray tickets. Their website has other shows and other types of deals.<BR><BR>As for the high prices in NYC, my husband and I both felt that the prices there were not really any higher than other big cities and/or tourist areas. You can easily and cheaply get things like bagels, hot dogs, and pizza along any street from the food vendors. You might consider doing this for lunch or breakfast to save some $$. As for hotels, I do agree with you that they are expensive. Try priceline.com or hotwire to get some good rates. One piece of advice--try to avoid the Radisson on Lexington and 48th. It's in the Midtown East area of NYC and it often is one of the priceline hotels (unfortunately). That's where we stayed and it just wasn't that good. Of course, for 3 nights, it was bearable and a place to lay our heads. <BR><BR>When using the subway, buy the Metro card fun pass. It's $4.00/day and quickly pays for itself after 3 trips on the subway. I highly recommend taking the subway to Brooklyn and then walking back across the Brooklyn Bridge--great views of Manhatten.