Help! Need hotel near subway on LaGuardia airport side of Manhattan
 

My husband and I will be driving from NH to NYC on Sat Oct 22. We fly out of LaGuardia on Mon morning at 10 am, and have to return our rental car to the airport on Sun night by 10 pm. My plan was to get a hotel at the airport for Sun night that would shuttle us to the airport on Mon morning.
#1 Do you have any suggestions for a mid-price range hotel at the airport.
#2 We need a hotel to drive to and spend Sat night, that would be on the LaGuardia side of Manhattan, and that would be near a subway station so we could take a train into NYC to spend Sat PM and also back for the day on Sunday. Maybe on Long Island or in Queens? One that would have free parking. Thank you so much!

My suggestion is as follows:

1) Go to Kayak.com
2) Specify you want a room at LGA (Kayak will give you a pull-down menu with "LaGuardia Airport" at the top) for the evening of October 22.
3) When you get the initial list, filter it by specifying that it must be within 2 miles of LGA (or any other distance) and have a free airport shuttle.
You'll get a list like this:
http://www.kayak.com/hotels/New-York...-10-23/2guests
4) Specify any other amenities you require for your stay.
5) Compare the lodgings listed against their reviews on a lodging review site. I use the famous one.
6) When you find a place that has the price you want, with the amenities your require, and that has enough favorable reviews to not scare you away; then book there.

There's a place I stayed at, that's close to LGA and has a free shuttle, that met MY needs at MY price. But I have no idea if it would be okay for you, or even has vacancies for the night you want. Worse, it's just MY opinion, instead of the opinions of scores (if not hundreds) of other people.

The steps above will minimize the odds of bad advice from anonymous posters who may or may not share your idea of an acceptable place to stay at an acceptable price.

Do what Paul said. No one knows what "mid-range" means. There was a post on here in which someone thought $150/night for a NYC hotel room was expensive, which is a ludicrous belief.

Your #2 makes no sense. MANHATTAN IS IN NEW YORK CITY. It's also all of 3 miles wide (maybe) at its widest point, so the LGA side of Manhattan is not far from the non-LGA side of it.

For hotels in Manhattan that are not too far from LGA look at the upper west side. The upper east side is a few minutes closer but has few hotels and most of them are definitely upscale. For a budget property look at the Newton, for something a little nicer the Beacon. None of these hotels has free parking if that's what you want but they can aim you at local garages, but expect to pay $40 for an overnight.

But why have a car in Manhattan - it;sjust a nonsense. You should return it sooner.

Having a shuttle and being near a subway line may be in direct opposition.

Totally lost about driving to, taking a subway, and parking. What's the whole story about a car -- your car or a rental?

If it's a rental car why can't you return it when you arrive in NYC? The car is a burden for the two days in NYC.

>>your car or a rental?<<

The whole scenario is pretty confusing but at least this part is clear

>>and have to return our rental car to the airport on Sun night by 10 pm.<<

Leta -- why not just return the car on Sat and stay in ONE hotel both nights? Packing and moving just to have parking for a car you won't be using doesn't makes sense to me. You can get to LGA from anywhere by taxi or car service.

If it were me, I'd also change the car reservation so you can drop it off earlier, as you arrive in NYC. It will be cheaper to take taxis to and from LGA than to keep the car for 2 additional days. I would not stay in an LGA airport hotel, but if you do the Courtyard will be the best. However, it's not convenient to the subway or for travel into Manhattan. There are no hotels near the airport that are.

Instead, I'd stay both nights in Long Island City after dropping off the car. There are hotels there in your price range, but only a handful have very limited free parking. One of these is the Ramada on Crescent, which has a handful (as in 4 or 5) spots in front of the hotel on the street). However, I'm not sure I'd leave a car there overnight, and that particularly hotel is a longish walk to the subway. The Country Inn & Suites is a much more convenient hotel to the subway. There are newer options that are almost as convenient.

Just one caveat. September is the beginning of high season in NYC, so hotel prices rise precipitously after Labor Day, reaching their highest points in November and December. October, however, is still pretty expensive.

Also consider returning the car in Manhattan, near your hotel. Dropping off at LGA seems an unnecessary side trip. All the major rental car co's have Manhattan locations.

Thank you for your replies. Maybe I wasn't clear but this was two separate questions. I was looking for a good hotel at the airport to spend the night (Sunday night) before we fly out on Mon that would have a shuttle to the airport, and mid-range for me would be under $150.
Question #2 was that I was looking for a hotel that we could spend Sat night at that was close to a subway so we could leave the car at the hotel and take the subway into Manhattan for the day and evening on Sat and also on Sun, before returning car on Sun night at airport and going to the airport hotel.
It isn't cheaper for me to return the car early because it is a weekly rental rate. So I want a hotel on the LaGuardia airport side that we can travel from and leave the car there.
Thank you J62 - I hadn't considered driving into Manhattan and returning the car there and taking cab to airport on Mon morning. That could work. Although hotels in Manhattan are a lot more than in Queens, etc.

Being in Manhattan is worth more. Sometimes One UN Plaza has good deals. Then a taxi can go right through the tunnel under tne East River and be at LGA in a short time, if not doing the trip at rush hour.

Taking the tunnel to Queens to get to LGA is a really terrible idea. Much better to hop on the FDR north and over the Triborough. This avoids the dreaded BQE which always seems to have an accident or a misplaced tractor trailer and be backed up forever.

Since that is so close to LGA much better to stay further uptown too.

I still don't get the reason to stay two different hotels -- just a lot of hassle packing/unpacking/checking out in the AM and not being able to check in til late afternoon.

If you insist on keeping the car -- you could stay both nights near LGA and take the Q33 bus and then subway to spend time in the city.

The Courtyard remains the best of the LGA airport hotels, but I have no idea of the price.

Unfortunately, the Q33 bus doesn't stop at or near any of the LGA airport hotels. So that's not an option. Nor is the M60. The OP would have to take a shuttle back to the airport (an additional 20 or 30 minutes each way depending on the traffic) just to get to either bus. An airport hotel simply isn't a good base for a visit to Manhattan.

There is a Fairfield Inn on Astoria Blvd. Its web site says that it has limited free parking (you can count on a very few spaces, and most will be filled by hotel employees, not guests). It is walkable, though certainly not convenient, to a bus that will take you to the Astoria Blvd subway station. It's far from all other transit.

THere's a newish Hyatt Place in Flushing with paid parking ($22.50 per night) with a free shuttle to LGA that seems to be walkable to the 7 train into Manhattan.

>>An airport hotel simply isn't a good base for a visit to Manhattan.<<

Ok -- good to know. But there must be a better option than 2 one-night stands?

Thank you everyone. I'm still working on logistics. I do appreciate the info re the Hyatt in Flushing. Leta

$150/night for a hotel room in the NYC area is not mid range, it's CHEAP. There are about 3 hotels that are near LGA with airport shuttles and also near a subway station. In addition to the Hyatt Flushing which is the nicest and newest but will be way over your target budget, there's also the Holiday Inn LGA (not the HI Express) and the Marco Hotel. Staying in Long Island City for Sat. night would put you a lot closer to Manhattan, but there aren't many hotels there that guarantee free parking. Most have small lots (or none) so it's first come, first served. I would get rid of the car on Sat., regardless of where you stay. It does you no good unless you plan on driving into Manhattan which you say you don't.

The airport hotels in Flushing are not within the airport. The better airport hotels are in downtown Flushing. This area has a large population with many Asian restaurants and businesses. The streets are congested and there are many buses that have stops in Flushing and the traffic patterns are not easy to navigate if you do not know the local street. You can take the number 7 subway line into Manhattan.

Driving from NH you will probably take a route that takes you into Queens. You can take the Whitestone Bridge and follow the signs to the airport. Drop off the car when you arrive, shuttle to the airport and then take the hotel shuttle to your hotel.

For a 2 night stay I would stay at the same hotel. Its not worth the time add effort to change hotels. if you have points or some other discount the rooms may be cheaper.
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