First trip to US - many questions
 

Hi fellas,

I am planning my first trip to the USA (24 Sept - 15 Oct). The tentative itinerary is this:

arrival around noon
4 nights NYC
4 nights stay with friends Hartford/CT
2 nights somewhere in Vermont
4 nights Jackson/NH
2 nights stay with friends at a lake in Maine
4 nights Boston
1 night near airport (Newark) - departure

Questions:
Any recommendations about where to stay in Vermont for the 2 nights?
Any experiences with the Riverside Tower Hotel in NYC and John Jeffries House in Boston? Other recommendations for places to stay in these cities?
I am considering these places for Jackson/NH: Eagle Mountain House, Merrill Farm Resort, Covered Bridge Motor Lodge - someone stayed there before?

Did someone tour Harvard? Did you find it interesting?

I need a rental car from Hartford/CT to Boston. Any experiences and suggestions? Is there a chance to avoid one-way rental fees?

Do you think I'll miss something that is a *must* in that region? I am most interested in architecture, art museums, scenic countryside, quaint villages, history, good food.

Your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Ingo

The Riverside Tower Hotel was a DUMP. Rooms are the size of a closet (7 x 10 or so. More recent reviews on tripadvisor are better so I don't know if they cleaned up the place or....read back to Jan. 07 http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

It would help to give you recos if we knew your budget and your taste (ie it sounds like a bare bones budget if you've picked the Riverside. Do you need a private bathroom? Are you willing to do a hostel?

As to a rental car, you might try whizzcarrental.com who will quote with all insurance costs included. Where are you from?

One of the most extraordinary collections is the glass flowers at Harvard. A father and son recreated flowers from glass that are so lifelike that they cannot be detected as imitation. It is craftsmanship of another level.

It is worth a trip to Cambridge just for that, Here are the particulars.

The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants
The Glass Flowers

A Botanical Museum collection presented by the Harvard Museum of Natural History

This unique collection of over 3,000 models was created by the glass artisans, Leopold Blaschka and his son, Rudolph. The commission began in 1886, continued for five decades, and represents more than 830 plant species.

Related Exhibition
Modeling Nature: Slices of Glass History from the Collections, a special exhibition at the HMNH



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Above: Bouquet

Additional information about this collection can be found at the
Botanical Museum and Harvard University Herbaria web sites.


Information

Visiting the Galleries
The Glass Flowers gallery is open during regular museum hours and is included in the general admission fee. Click here for hours, fees, and directions.

Group Tours
To inquire about our group tours (for groups of up to 30 adults) of the Glass Flowers, please call (617) 495-2341.

Support the Glass Flowers
A membership to the HMNH offers free admission, discounts on classes and programs, invitations to special events, and an opportunity to support the conservation of the Glass Flowers.

Publications
HMNH Museum Shop offers "The Glass Flowers at Harvard," a beautiful photograph essay book about the Glass Flowers.

The Covered Bridge Motel in Jackson is rather old and worn, although in a lovely setting. Try The Lodge at Jackson Village instead.

Also, four days in Jackson is probably too long for your interests. Spend half that time, and add 2 nights in Portsmouth, NH on the seacoast after you stay with friends in Maine, but before Boston. It is a quaint, scenic city with lots of history (particularly Strawberry Banke) and wonderful restaurants.

In Vermont, I'd try to stay near Queechee and Woodstock. The Queechee Inn and Kedron Valley might be a bit expensive during foliage season. For more modest accommodations you could try the Shire in Woodstock or Ascutney Inn in Brownsville.

Best wishes for a wonderful visit to New England! Welcome!

Agree that the Riverside Towers is NOT a good choice. Rooms are minute and the decor is VERY tired. The consensus seems to be that you get what you pay for.

Don;t know what your budget is - but the Hotel Newton on the upper west side is clean and reliable, close to transport and a lot of great restaurants. They have rooms with shared bath available for only $160 per night for your dates.

If that doesn;t meet your budget - there are some B&Bs/Inns that might have better rates - and be more pleasant than the Riverside.

Let us know how much you want to spend.

Thanks a lot for your responses - very helpful.

I am from Germany and so far have been active only on the Europe forum, especially gave advice to Germany and Switzerland travellers.

Forgot to mention that I am going to take my 60+ parents on this trip.

Aduchamp1: The glass flowers collection is the other reason (beside seeing the campus itself) why we consider to go to Harvard. The Blaschkas, who created these masterpieces, lived in my city (Dresden) and none of their works are preserved here. Have already visited their house and stood at their grave. Thanks to your post we're even more excited about seeing this collection now.

mclaurie/nytraveler: Yep, I saw the reviews on Tripadvisor and was shocked. The worst reviews seem to be older, while the newer reviews tend to be better, so I thought maybe they did a renovation? We got an offer for a 'suite' (two rooms, connected by bathroom) which seems fine for us, for USD 129 per night plus taxes.

I know one cannot expect much for *this* rate in NYC. But I must say I was quite shocked when I saw the rates at other hotels. They must be nuts.

Hostel is not an option, private bathroom is a must. In spite of giving you a budget I'd re-phrase my question: What do I need to calculate to get a decent room in NYC? Ehem, means two rooms or a one-bedroom apartment.

Thanks for the rental car link also. It came up with USD 452 for the 10 days incl. insurance, taxes and evtl. one-way rental fee. Does that sound good?

Dreamer2: Thanks for the info on the Covered Bridge Motel. I'll scratch it from the list. Will have a look into that Inn you mentioned.

We'll ponder the idea of staying in Portsmouth and cut the time in Jackson for it. However, we plan to ride the cog-railway to Mt. Washington one day and thought two days hiking wouldn't be bad either, so I am not sure about taking days off from Jackson.

I had thought about Woodstock. Will check out the accommodations you mentioned.

Thanks again for all the helpful advice.

Ingo

Ingo, as a Californian, I know this area only as a casual tourist. Off the top of my head, Hartford has the Harriet Beecher Stowe House and museum if you're interested in American antebellum literature and/or the abolitionist movement in New England. Next door is the Mark Twain house.

Browse
http://www.visit-massachusetts.com/
and
http://www.discovernewengland.org/
for more ideas about the region.

Maybe check out some sites on the Freedom Trail:
http://www.ctfreedomtrail.com/site/concept.html

I had only a few days in the area last summer and came up with far more that I wanted to see than I ever could possibly do so.

I'm no expert on car rentals, but that price sounds decent. I hope you have as much fun as we did.

Welcome to the U.S. Have fun!

I'm sorry not to be more helpful - but several budget yet pleasant places that I checked re already fully booked. And looking at moderate places (like Affinia3* hotels) are showing rates over $400 per night for that period.

(You should know that the average cost of a hotel room in NYC - for 2 people - and for a moderate - not luxury hotel - is over $300 per night. And Sept is the start of high season.)

I would suggest doing a search on kayak.com and a couple of the other major search engines for your dates and then checking the options against tripadvisor.com (for guest reviews).

But realistically, at that time of year - a double double room - or a bedroom with sofabed in the living room in a 3* hotel will be over $300 per night.

Ingo:

Try The Milburn Hotel on the Upper West Side www.milburnhotel.com - You'd have a small kitchen and a nice sitting area. This would be much nicer for you and your parents. Very nice location.

Come back with how much more you can increase your hotel budget and I am sure the NYC experts will help you out.

Sandy

The glass flowers are housed at the Peabody Museum at Harvard (not to be confused with other Peabody museums all over the country) which has facsinating displays of everything from birds to dinosaurs to minerals.

In NYC, try the Murray Hill East suites, which used to be 1-bedroom apartments so they are relatively roomy for NY and come with an equipped kitchen.

i do think you would like portsmouth....lots to do and see in that area....great discount shopping in kittery, maine, just 5 miles to the north....the whole coast area starting in newburyport, ma and northward to portland maine is very nice...

easy coming down from the cottage to portland (45 minutes) and then south to york and on to portsmouth and newburyport...

no one seems to know the JJ house???

walking around in harvard is not all that interesting other than in the main "quad" which will take you less than one hour total...its quite urban...

glass flowers are a must as are some of the other museums if time permits....also the museum of fine arts boston is one of the country's best.....the isabella stewart gardner museum is one of the most unique small collections anywhere....its two minutes from the museum of fine arts....A MUST!!

sat oct 13, boston GTG...you are already signed up...

Hi, while I'm going to stay out of most of the details, so you can get ideas from those more familiar, I will say this about car rentals:

A few years ago I wanted a one-way rental from that same Hartford, CT to Portland, Maine... and I happened to land on a rate that was so amazing that it was $100 cheaper to rent one-way from Hartford to Portland than it would have been to rent the same car at the same time and return it IN HARTFORD.

A very good idea would be to make an online reservation with a company... and use that rate quote as your budget, and then return to the net every week or two to make the exact same reservation, just in case the price is considerably cheaper.

I don't know how to explain the randomness that is online car rental quotes, but I know that I have on many occasions found the rates considerably less later on for the exact same rental.

For your information:

The car rental rate you cited was quite reasonable - but be sure it comes with "unlimited mileage" so you don't have to pay a per-mile charge.

The rental car price sounds good ($45/day including everything is not bad) assuming it's a size car you like. You should also check this UK site for comparison. (They should also include insurance)
http://www.airline-network.co.uk/CarHire/?

As for hotel, you will find NOTHING like what you describe the Riverside is offering for anywhere near that price. I say if it sounds too good to be true, it is. For 2 connected rooms with a bath for $129, I can only imagine those rooms will both be the size of a closet. If you can deal with that, go for it. Personally, I couldn't cope. If you can deal with sleeping on a sofabed, check out greenwichvillagehome.com This is an apt. that gets good reviews in a charming area. It generally costs ! $185/night.

Looking on kayak.com the Grand Union, often recommended here as a good budget hotel is available through venere.com at $203/night for a triple room and it appears you'd all have a proper bed (no sofabed). FYI, hotel tax in NYC is ! 15% and many websites don't include this cost. So that $203 will actually be $233.50.

Forgot to mention jacksbandb.com as another option. And looking at Greenwich Village home, I could be wrong about the sofabed but it's worth checking.

The John Jeffries house is in a very convenient location, at the foot of Beacon Hill and near a Red Line station. It used to be the dormitory for nursing students as Massachusetts General Hospital. Many years ago, I worked for a company that housed long-term trainees there, and they like it a lot.

Ingo:

Also try The Envoy Club www.envoyclub.com located in Murray Hills. You'll get a nice kitchen and sitting area, former apartments (flats).

You are getting some great suggestions. Please tell us what you decide and enjoy your holiday.

Sandy

As Anonymous said, John Jeffries house has a fantastic location.

Re: rental car dropoff fees, just shop around all the major car companies, you might not incur a dropoff fee--especially if you return it at the airport.

Last October we found a very good rate at the Embassy Suites, in NYC, near the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and Ground Zero. It had two double beds in the bedroom, and a pullout sofa in the front room. A small refrigerator, microwave and sink, also, in the front room. Try searching expedia.com. That's where we found our price, which I think was only $280/night.
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