Hi all

I am planning a trip for my wife and I - it will be our first trip to NYC and we want to do some shopping and hit all the major tourist sites. My problem is, I have no idea where we should stay. We usually stay in 5* hotels but I'm not keen on the $500+ pricetag these seem to come with in NYC. To help me narrow my search, can someone please explain what neighbourhoods I should be looking in - by Times Square? By Cnetral Park? Near 5th Avenue?

Thanks in advance.

G

Try www.hotels.com, it will be a good tool for hotel shopping. The listing will include location, amenties, rates and what the hotel is close to.

Have a great time while you are here.

I recommend the W - tight rooms but good central locations - there is also the Hilton have stayed there clean centrally located in Ave. of the Americas - The Ritz Carlton down in Battery Park was offering great deal (close to vast property of Twin Towers) it does have great view of statue of liberty. I vote for the W - there is a W by Times Square in Theatre district wallking dist to 5th Ave. The 2 on the other side of 5th near maybe Lexington. All great - NYC is a walking town.

Times Square is handy if you want to do a lot of theater. Otherwise it's very loud, garish and full of tacky tourist shops (going out of business electronics, t-shirts for all purposes and chain restaurants).

I would tend to do something near the southern end of Central Park if you feel like spending the money.

Or if you want to be thrifty - do the upper west side - perhaps the Lucerne (3* but quite pretty, an interesting neighborhood with great subway access, lots of good inexpensive restaurants and close to a bunch of the major museums.)

Your other option is to look for 5* on Priceline - not sure what they're offering now - but it should be below $500 - unless you're talking holioday season.

Try The Michelangelo, Rhiga Royal, and The Giraffe.

I just got back last night and we stayed at the Intercontinental (Barclay) Hotel. It was on 48th st. between Park and Lexington. Great location, IMO. We could walk to Rockefeller Plaza and watch the Today Show. We could also walk to all of the $$$ shops on 5th Ave. It was a short cab ride to Broadway, where we saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (which was absolutely hilarious). There is a big boat tour of the island through Circle Line tours, which was neat. I highly recommend drinks/dinner at Tavern on the Green, in Central Park. This is an amazing place in the middle of a really busy and loud city. Have fun!

Agree that Cenral Park is an amazing place - but Tavern on the Green is the worst of tourist traps. The food is poor/mediocre, the service worse (ranging from pretentious to incompetent) and the prices very high for what they get.

The only benefit is the view/setting and if you want to eat in Central park do the Boathouse - a much better choice.

But there are hundreds of better places to eat in NYC - either really good for similar or more $$$ - or pleasant- but still better than TOG - for way less $.

I stayed at The Blakely a couple months ago and really liked the location, on 55th between 6th and 7th, convenient to theatre, Central Park, etc. The new Italian restaurant there is very good also. We had the room that was one above standard at $300 a night. I've stayed in a lot of NYC places and felt this was one I'd do again.

nytraveler...Thanks for the tip on TOG. We just had drinks there and enjoyed the view. We ate at Joe Allen's and thought it was good and reasonable.

Even though Times Square is very touristy, it can be fun to stay in that area when you are visiting for the first time or even on subsequent visits. In that area, you can walk to the theaters, the Wax Museum, and many of the sights in that area that you may wish to see....I'm sure that I'll get bashed for this but when you're a tourist in New York, it's nice to be able to walk around Times Square and take it all in. We've stayed at the Marriott Marquis - very expensive and very garish but we had fun, the RIGHA Royal - nice location near Central Park but very overpriced in my opinion. For business, I generally stay at the Courtyard Times Square which I think is always a good value for the price. It's off of Broadway so it's quieter than right in Times Square and you can easily walk to the theater district.

I second the Blakely and would add Casablanca. Both are SMALL hotels without all that lobby hustle and bustle and annoying elevator back ups. I prefer that in NYC, but maybe some people prefer bigger places.

One way to help yourself is look at a map Here's a subway map which also includes typical tourist locations like Central Park, Times Square, Rockefeller Center etc. It should give you a better idea.

http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/maps/submap.htm

As with most big cities, the tourist sights are spread around so there's something to said for many different areas. Right now Times Square seems to be the most popular area for people to stay and has a lot of hotel options, many new. The only benefit to staying there imo is if you plan to go to a lot of theater you can walk home to your hotel since it's hard to find a taxi after a show. One great hotel in that area is the Michelangelo. This area is also not bad for shopping since you can walk to Fifth Ave. and also to the Macy's area.
Another nice hotel in that area that's smaller is the Casablanca. Try to get a junior suite there as the regular rooms are reputedly small.

The best area for dept store shopping is midtown east imo. Some good hotels there are the Palace, the Drake Swissotel, Le Parker Meridien, Intercontinental Barclay and the little known Elysee.

One of the nicest hotels in the city is the Ritz Carlton Central Park that faces the park on Central Park South but isn't far from the shops on Fifth Ave.

Check travelzoo.com which often has specials within a month or two of your stay. Quikbook.com and onetravel.com are also good sites to shop. You might then see if the hotel will match the price directly.

I should correct myself, Parker Meridien is actually midtown west (Fifth ave. is the line of demarcation east to west). Rhiga Royal is also midtown west.

Try the Lyden Gardens Hotel. It's on the Upper East Side - E. 64th between 2nd and 3rd Ave. I just stayed there for the third time. They are just finishing a major renovation. The rooms are really big and have small kitchens with dishes, microwave, etc. which are really nice to have. I always made breakfast in the room and sometimes came back to the room and made lunch if I was still in the area.

I walked to Bloomingdale's - 5 blocks - and took the subway (a station is right near Bloomingdale's)to the theatre area.

There are washing machines and dryers in the basement for guests to use, which I did several times because I like to pack really light and just do laundry.

The staff is really lovely - truly kind and helpful. There is no restaurant in the hotel but there are restaurants in the area that deliver to the hotel and the doorman will bring your food up to your room.

I don't know what the star rating of the hotel is, but I enjoyed my stay there. I had a one bedroom suite and paid $275 per night.

Thanks all. I will check out the suggestions (including the map!! LOL - the problem I have with maps is that they always make big cities look a lot smaller than they really are).

Any opinions on E. 93rd St., btwn 5th and Madison Ave.?

Okay area?

This is an upscale residential area. Handy to buses - not great for the subway. And not a huge selection of restaurants. An easy walk to a bunch of the upper Fifth Avenue museums.

Was not aware there is a hotel there.

nytraveler is right...E 93rd is a residential..not much going on there. I'd stay in Times Square, close by everything.

Although, sometimes it is nice to get away from the hustle and bustle if you have a bit of time to spare...

yeah, we're not really typical tourists in that sense. i don't want to be right in the center of it all, i.e. Times Square, Broadway, etc. Happy to take a quick spin through those parts of town, but i don't want that to be the focal point of our trip.

we're happy to stay some place that offers a little refuge. i hope that sounds sensible