Ideas for New York
 

Hi, looking for some input on a future vacation we are planning to new york, we are wanting to spend a couple days in New York, Heart of it (9/11 memorial, times square, empire state bldg, etc) We are coming in on thursday and then getting on a cruise ship out of Manhattan terminal on sunday. Looking at the hotels there is such a variance in pricing. I'd love to stay in Hell's kitchen area being close to the port but prices are pretty high for two families that are going with us. Can you guys offer some insights as to whether we just need to breakdown and stay close to there or if we can spread to outskirts and be able to commute reasonably back and forth. Thanks in advance for your input and time to respond. this will be late march.

Late March is really still winter and you can expect it to be cold/chilly with the possibility of cold rain, sleet, ice or even snow. BUT, being there only a few days you may get decent weather.

You can probably get better hotel rates by staying in one of the hotels in Long Island City, which are only about 10 minutes from Manhattan by subway. But, assuming you will have a lot of luggage, you will have to get a car service (one or more cars since you mention families) to take you to the port when you are ready to depart. I would not suggest trying to haul a lot of luggage on the subway with groups of people from LIC, since the subway is not adjacent to the Manhattan cruise port.

Separately, I assume you are leavng from the Manhattan cruise port - and not Red Hook in Brooklyn or the port in New Jersey, all of which have tons of cruise ships.

Also, which airport are you flying into - you need to consider how to haul the luggage from there to your hotel.

We are flying into JFK and out of la Guardia, which is no problem, we will just taxi to there when. We get off boat. Hopefully just drop luggage at hotel when we arrive and then commute from there

I would look at every source for hotel pricing including Trivago and Booking.com before I went anywhere "else" than Manhattan.

Pretty much agree with what nyt said. Some people look down on LIC, but it's OK as a place with lower rates and good access to Manhattan via subway. Just know that it's only going to serve as a place to sleep and not a sightseeing spot.

I would also try to stay in Manhattan if you can. Other thought would be a hotel in Jersey City and take the PATH train into Manhattan. There is a Doubletree in JC that may have some decent rates.

Staying anywhere other than Manhattan will run the risk of an unexpected anything causing you to literally miss the boat. Do not be seduced by the illusory monetary benefit of LIC or (yikes!) New Jersey. One wrong move or piece of bad luck and your cruise is toast.

Much easier especially for newbies to walk out of your hotel and immediately be where you wish to be. Long Island City? You've gotta be kidding. Hells Kitchen/Chelsea all so interesting and convenient, especially the High Line which ends at the beautiful Whitney. Then you're just a oouple blocks from the West Village. You dont want to do luggage on subways. How often do you do this? Treat yourselves. There are dozens of hotels from which to choose.

Obviously staying in Manhattan is a much better choice if you can afford a decent hotel. But if saying in Manhattan means you will be in one of the filthy and unsafe illegal hotels IMHO it's not worth it.

If you give a specific budget, dates, number of people and bed configuration people can help you find a decent place in Manhattan - or confirm that you need to stay elsewhere.

(I woud stay only in Manhattan, but budget is not an issue for us.)

The thing you have in your favor is that your stay is from Thursday - Sunday, so even if the prices seem on the higher side, they're better than if you were looking for rooms from Sunday-Thursday. I personally wouldn't focus on staying in the Hell's Kitchen area because of its proximity to the cruise dock because traffic should be lighter on Sunday when you leave. As suggested above, look at some of the major hotel sites and you should find a bunch of options for <$200/night, such as the Holiday Inn in the Financial District around $160/night. In the past, I've recommended the Newport Section of Jersey City to people who want to spend less money for a hotel, but the prices of decent hotels there (ie Courtyard, Westin, etc.) have become more comparable to NYC plus I wouldn't want to be on the other side of the river from my cruise ship!

There's no illusory benefit to staying in LIC. It's a real benefit in cost, and it's just as convenient as many parts of Manhattan, though certainly not to get to the cruise terminal. There are hotels in LIC (the Country Inn & Suites for instance), that are exactly one stop from Midtown on the E Train. That's closer than a Manhattan hotel in the Financial district and much more convenient than some of the hotels on the far west side, where you could have a 10- to 15-minute walk to the subway.

There are some cheaper hotels in Manhattan. A particularly convenient hotel for everything, including the cruise terminal, is the Hampton Inn Manhattan Times Square North, which is on the corner of 8th Avenue and 51st Street. The cruise terminal is actually a 15-minute walk from there, and it's in the heart of midtown close to several subway lines. It's a mid-priced hotel by NYC standards, but that's still fairly expensive.

I'd recommend booking something immediately that you can afford and cancel without a penalty and then keep looking. There are often deals in March if it's before Easter.

Thanks for all the insight. We will be landing in JFK at like 7am, (red eye) so first thing will be to get to hotel and hopefully tag and hold luggage while we wander and wait for rooms to be ready. we are basically 2 families of 4, 2 adult, 2 children. As far as getting onto the cruise ship, we have all day on sunday to make sure we get there, it sails at 3pm. I would "think" that would give us enough time to get from point A to B. And honestly budget is an issue we are just trying to make the best of the sailing out of NY and would like to experience at least a little bit of what it has available to see. So staying in a more expensive area/hotel will obviously take away from some other things we could do, but with that said it is what it is. cant necessarily have the best of both worlds. We definitely don't want to risk missing the cruise..

You certainly won't miss the cruise. You'll have time to get to your ship on Sunday without having to rush. Regardless of whether you stay in Manhattan or Queens, it's not going to take you more than 30 minutes to get there on a Sunday morning. You'll likely want to arrive around 11 or perhaps earlier, and traffic is fairly light at that time of the day.

We have been on 2 cruises from New York and stay at the Row NYC hotel. It is at the start of Hells Kitchen and you can actually see the ships/water from the hotel rooms. The hotel has changed names and been upgraded in the last couple of years and it is just one block away from Times Square, there are also shops, bars and restaurants nearby. Also walking distance to most theatres.

The address is 700 8th avenue and the price is reasonable. We think this hotels location is excellent, whether going on a cruise or not.

I have been looking around there and all suggested hotels and they just seem a bit out of range budget wise when trying to get 2 rooms with two beds for two nights... pushing $950 +- anyone have any comments on like the Hotel Vetiver in long island city, seems to have good reviews and close to subway (a Plus) would be $600ish. just gotta figure out a reasonable way to get there from JFK and then from there to port when we are packing all of our luggage.

If you arrive on a Thursday and depart on a Sunday, per you original post, then you need a hotel for three nights--Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

When looking at prices, be sure to look at the final price including tax--which add another 18% or so in NYC.

Park South Hotel sometimes has good rates on Double-Double rooms.

With two families, I think the only transit option to the hotel that makes sense is a taxi. So take one. You can also take a taxi to the ship, but to save money, as it to drop you off at 48th Street and the West Side Highway. They'll know. The entry to the ship terminal is directly across the street. (You can also have the taxi drop you off directly at the terminal, but it's a more convoluted route that will be slower with traffic.)

Regarding hotel pricing, just realize that this can change. Prices may go up or down depending on demand. Hotels in NYC often run sales in slack periods, and if March ends up being cold and snowy, prices could go down. That's all the more reason to secure a hotel you can afford immediately even if it's not your first perferred location; just make sure you can cancel the booking without a penalty if something better comes up.

LIC is a good location to stay in if you can get a hotel room close to the subway. Prices are typically half of what they are in Manhattan, but you might still find a good deal on a hotel discount site like Hotels.com or Booking.com, so don't give up on the idea of staying in Manhattan; just prepare to stay in LIC otherwise.

Yea i am still looking intensively, have not secured anything yet, just weighing options. @ellenem, sorry we have a red eye flight Thursday so wont actually arrive until like 7am Friday morning thus needing just 2 nights of accommodations. I appreciate all the feedback it's making this process a little easier getting ideas. Thanks