JJBhoy Returns To New York!!
Nov 13th, 2006, 05:19 PM
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I'm sorry seetheworld.
We had a family wedding last weekend & had visitors over from Canada so my trip report had to be put to one side. They went back home yesterday though so I promise to post some more this week.
Jim
We had a family wedding last weekend & had visitors over from Canada so my trip report had to be put to one side. They went back home yesterday though so I promise to post some more this week.
Jim
Nov 17th, 2006, 04:13 PM
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We had been due to arrive at JFK at around 7.30 p.m. on Saturday Oct 14 & so I had emailed our hotel, the Bedford on E 40th St., the day before we left, advising them to expect us at around 9.30 or so. As it turned out, though, we were already around 20 minutes behind schedule when we landed & it took us another half hour just to get off the plane. By the time we got through all the hoopla at customs & into baggage reclaim it was already almost 9.00 & so I was keen to collect our bags & get into Manhattan as soon as possible. Things didn’t turn out that way, however…..
I’m sure many of you will have experienced this before on your own travels. First of all, a bit of a scrum develops around the baggage carousel while everyone jockeys for position in the hope that they will be able get to their baggage within approximately 2.8 seconds of it appearing into view (has anyone ever, ever, EVER had their case come out first?) Invariably you feel a sharp elbow poking you in the ribs & & you turn round to give them a mouthful of abuse only to find that it’s a little old lady or, perhaps, a nun. Obviously you can’t swear at her or people will notice so instead you just give her a discreet kick on the ankle & a menacing look which says “don’t mess with me, sweetcakes”. As more & more luggage appears there’s a hubbub of activity as travellers swarm around the belt like flies round sh*t, all panicking that someone else, probably that mean looking, shaven headed, muscle-bound brute on the other side, picks up their case by mistake.
Eventually cases are collected & the crowd starts to thin out a little. One by one people head off contentedly with their luggage whilst you are left standing trying to pretend that you’re taking it all in your stride. The same sad, forlorn unclaimed pieces of luggage come round on the belt again & again……& again – but of your case there is nary a sign. You become aware that the security staff are grouped together pointing at you & as the cleaners change shifts & the overhead lights in the hall are slowly switched off, one by one, you start to realise that maybe, just maybe, your bag isn’t going to turn up.
In our case it was Anne Marie’s case which had disappeared. Out of all our party she was the last person we would have wanted to lose their luggage. I’m not saying she’s vain but she was frantically worried for weeks before our trip that the emergency baggage restrictions might mean that she would be unable to take her make up as carry on. The idea of arriving in New York without being able to reapply her “slap” absolutely horrified her (although my sympathies would have lain more with the poor customs officer who would have to look at her after 5 hours on a plane – but don’t tell her I said that). Now, faced with the prospect of 4 days in New York with only the clothes she stood up in, she reacted in the cool measured way you would expect & screamed the place down
On this particular occasion, however, we weren’t the only people off our flight whose luggage had vanished. There were around 7 or 8 fellow passengers in a similar position including one gentleman who had no qualms about making his feelings known regardless of who was in the immediate vicinity. He made sure that any airport employee who passed within a 20 yard radius knew exactly how he felt about the situation by launching a volley of expletives that turned the air bright blue. I don’t agree with haranguing people who are trying their best to do their jobs under difficult circumstances but after a while it was easy to share his anger because, really, the lack of information from American Airlines was appalling. At first we were told, not to worry, there was still more luggage to come through; then we were told there wasn’t; then we were told there was. Eventually, after about an hour of waiting we were told for certain that there was no luggage waiting & that we would have to go the lost baggage office.
In addition to the people from our flight there were also some other travellers who had lost luggage to report & so the situation at the lost baggage office was utter chaos. To make matters worse only one of the 3 employees manning the desk (a woman with the longest fingernails I had ever seen) seemed to have any idea what she was doing. The other 2 stood helplessly looking lost & interrupted her for advice so often that in effect she ended up having to process 3 passengers simultaneously, including one Hispanic family whose English was somewhat less than fluent. Despite my dismay at our situation I couldn’t help but admire how she kept her cool while everybody else got more & more agitated.
I had read stories in the past both here & on Trip Advisor of hotels letting rooms go if guests showed up late & I was concerned about whether our late arrival might cause any such problems. In their wisdom the authorities at JFK had provided pay phones in the baggage reclaim hall which didn’t accept credit cards & only took coins. I would imagine, however, that most foreign visitors arriving probably wouldn’t have much loose change in U.S. currency – certainly we didn’t have any & there was nowhere to get change until we got landside. So, while Anne Marie was doing her best to make herself heard in the increasingly manic Tower Of Babel that was JFK’s lost baggage office I excused myself to make a phone call. Having bought a ‘phone card from a machine, I ‘phoned the Hotel Bedford & explained the situation to the desk clerk, who was very calm & sympathetic, He told me not to worry about it & assured me that our rooms would be waiting for us whenever we arrived.
I got back to the family to find that Diff had completely crashed out & had fallen asleep sitting on a chair. Like his mother he’s one of those people who simply can’t fight sleep – when he’s got to go, he’s got to go. By the time Anne Marie came back with her piece of paper from the baggage desk it was almost impossible to rouse him & we had to virtually carry him upright out to the taxi rank like a scene from Weekend At Bernie’s. With there being 6 of us we had to take two taxis but, thankfully, due in no small part to the driver’s complete disregard for the speed limit, (or indeed for any of the other traffic on the road) it wasn’t too long before we were both pulling up outside the Bedford. By this time it must have been almost 11.00 p.m. local time & we had been up since around 6.00 am.UK time that morning i.e. 1.00 a.m NYC time.
As we checked in at the Bedford Liz started her by now customary “charm offensive” on the desk clerk (see my previous trip report for more background). We had booked two 1 bedroom suites & when the clerk advised us that he had allocated us rooms on the 4th floor Liz asked whether it would be at all possible to find rooms higher up. The guy stopped for a minute & then, taking pity on what must have looked like a pretty sorry & bedraggled bunch, he announced that he was going to give us a free upgrade to two Tower Suites on the top (i.e. 17th) floor.
I’ll go into more detail on the Hotel later but just now it’s enough to say that we were delighted with it. Although we were all tired we didn’t want to spend our first night in Manhattan by going straight to bed & so we forced ourselves to go out for a brief walk to let the boys see Times Square. Exhausted as they were there was no doubt that they were impressed by what they saw & even Diff found a brief second wind.
We debated for a minute whether to find a restaurant but it was now past midnight & we just didn’t have the energy to stay out any longer. Prior to our trip I had envisaged us spending our first night in Manhattan in a nice restaurant somewhere close to the Hotel. Instead, we ended up buying hot dogs & kebabs from a street vendor & eating them as we trudged wearily back to the Bedford – not exactly what I had in mind.
Still, we had tomorrow to look forward to…..
I’m sure many of you will have experienced this before on your own travels. First of all, a bit of a scrum develops around the baggage carousel while everyone jockeys for position in the hope that they will be able get to their baggage within approximately 2.8 seconds of it appearing into view (has anyone ever, ever, EVER had their case come out first?) Invariably you feel a sharp elbow poking you in the ribs & & you turn round to give them a mouthful of abuse only to find that it’s a little old lady or, perhaps, a nun. Obviously you can’t swear at her or people will notice so instead you just give her a discreet kick on the ankle & a menacing look which says “don’t mess with me, sweetcakes”. As more & more luggage appears there’s a hubbub of activity as travellers swarm around the belt like flies round sh*t, all panicking that someone else, probably that mean looking, shaven headed, muscle-bound brute on the other side, picks up their case by mistake.
Eventually cases are collected & the crowd starts to thin out a little. One by one people head off contentedly with their luggage whilst you are left standing trying to pretend that you’re taking it all in your stride. The same sad, forlorn unclaimed pieces of luggage come round on the belt again & again……& again – but of your case there is nary a sign. You become aware that the security staff are grouped together pointing at you & as the cleaners change shifts & the overhead lights in the hall are slowly switched off, one by one, you start to realise that maybe, just maybe, your bag isn’t going to turn up.
In our case it was Anne Marie’s case which had disappeared. Out of all our party she was the last person we would have wanted to lose their luggage. I’m not saying she’s vain but she was frantically worried for weeks before our trip that the emergency baggage restrictions might mean that she would be unable to take her make up as carry on. The idea of arriving in New York without being able to reapply her “slap” absolutely horrified her (although my sympathies would have lain more with the poor customs officer who would have to look at her after 5 hours on a plane – but don’t tell her I said that). Now, faced with the prospect of 4 days in New York with only the clothes she stood up in, she reacted in the cool measured way you would expect & screamed the place down
On this particular occasion, however, we weren’t the only people off our flight whose luggage had vanished. There were around 7 or 8 fellow passengers in a similar position including one gentleman who had no qualms about making his feelings known regardless of who was in the immediate vicinity. He made sure that any airport employee who passed within a 20 yard radius knew exactly how he felt about the situation by launching a volley of expletives that turned the air bright blue. I don’t agree with haranguing people who are trying their best to do their jobs under difficult circumstances but after a while it was easy to share his anger because, really, the lack of information from American Airlines was appalling. At first we were told, not to worry, there was still more luggage to come through; then we were told there wasn’t; then we were told there was. Eventually, after about an hour of waiting we were told for certain that there was no luggage waiting & that we would have to go the lost baggage office.
In addition to the people from our flight there were also some other travellers who had lost luggage to report & so the situation at the lost baggage office was utter chaos. To make matters worse only one of the 3 employees manning the desk (a woman with the longest fingernails I had ever seen) seemed to have any idea what she was doing. The other 2 stood helplessly looking lost & interrupted her for advice so often that in effect she ended up having to process 3 passengers simultaneously, including one Hispanic family whose English was somewhat less than fluent. Despite my dismay at our situation I couldn’t help but admire how she kept her cool while everybody else got more & more agitated.
I had read stories in the past both here & on Trip Advisor of hotels letting rooms go if guests showed up late & I was concerned about whether our late arrival might cause any such problems. In their wisdom the authorities at JFK had provided pay phones in the baggage reclaim hall which didn’t accept credit cards & only took coins. I would imagine, however, that most foreign visitors arriving probably wouldn’t have much loose change in U.S. currency – certainly we didn’t have any & there was nowhere to get change until we got landside. So, while Anne Marie was doing her best to make herself heard in the increasingly manic Tower Of Babel that was JFK’s lost baggage office I excused myself to make a phone call. Having bought a ‘phone card from a machine, I ‘phoned the Hotel Bedford & explained the situation to the desk clerk, who was very calm & sympathetic, He told me not to worry about it & assured me that our rooms would be waiting for us whenever we arrived.
I got back to the family to find that Diff had completely crashed out & had fallen asleep sitting on a chair. Like his mother he’s one of those people who simply can’t fight sleep – when he’s got to go, he’s got to go. By the time Anne Marie came back with her piece of paper from the baggage desk it was almost impossible to rouse him & we had to virtually carry him upright out to the taxi rank like a scene from Weekend At Bernie’s. With there being 6 of us we had to take two taxis but, thankfully, due in no small part to the driver’s complete disregard for the speed limit, (or indeed for any of the other traffic on the road) it wasn’t too long before we were both pulling up outside the Bedford. By this time it must have been almost 11.00 p.m. local time & we had been up since around 6.00 am.UK time that morning i.e. 1.00 a.m NYC time.
As we checked in at the Bedford Liz started her by now customary “charm offensive” on the desk clerk (see my previous trip report for more background). We had booked two 1 bedroom suites & when the clerk advised us that he had allocated us rooms on the 4th floor Liz asked whether it would be at all possible to find rooms higher up. The guy stopped for a minute & then, taking pity on what must have looked like a pretty sorry & bedraggled bunch, he announced that he was going to give us a free upgrade to two Tower Suites on the top (i.e. 17th) floor.
I’ll go into more detail on the Hotel later but just now it’s enough to say that we were delighted with it. Although we were all tired we didn’t want to spend our first night in Manhattan by going straight to bed & so we forced ourselves to go out for a brief walk to let the boys see Times Square. Exhausted as they were there was no doubt that they were impressed by what they saw & even Diff found a brief second wind.
We debated for a minute whether to find a restaurant but it was now past midnight & we just didn’t have the energy to stay out any longer. Prior to our trip I had envisaged us spending our first night in Manhattan in a nice restaurant somewhere close to the Hotel. Instead, we ended up buying hot dogs & kebabs from a street vendor & eating them as we trudged wearily back to the Bedford – not exactly what I had in mind.
Still, we had tomorrow to look forward to…..
Nov 20th, 2006, 04:56 PM
#28
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I'm glad to see your report has begun! I was in NYC for a weekend while you were there - we had some nasty weather the first day and I was hoping it didn't dampen your group's visit. The number of families (especially from abroad) visiting NYC in mid-October surprised me. Maybe that October break is common.
We asked directions of one English couple who appeared delighted to be taken for natives.
We asked directions of one English couple who appeared delighted to be taken for natives.
Mar 10th, 2007, 04:32 PM
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Firstly, apologies for the hiatus. We’ve had an extension added on to the house & so we’ve had builders & assorted tradesmen traipsing in & out almost every day since November. To tell the truth I’ve had neither the time nor the inclination to go back to my trip report but things are starting to calm down a wee bit so here goes…
On our previous trip we had stayed at the Best Western Hospitality House on E49th St. & we would have been perfectly happy to go back there again but they would only allow a maximum of 5 people in any one suite & renting 2 separate suites was just a bit too rich for our budget. I checked Travelzoo & Quikbook on more or less a daily basis after booking the flights in July & made reservations at both the Bedford & the Belvedere but, while I fully expected further hotel bargains to crop up these never materialised – or at least not to suit our budget & numbers. As our departure date grew ever nearer I found myself in the position of having to choose between the two original bookings & although the Belvedere seems to be held in higher regard both here & on TripAdvisor the Bedford’s suite arrangements (with their separate bedroom & living room with sofa bed) won the day.
We had booked 2 one bedroom suites but, as I mentioned earlier, on checking in we were given a free upgrade to 2 Tower Suites on the top (17th) floor. Judging by the Bedford’s website the set-up of the Tower Suites seems to be essentially the same as the one bedroom – i.e. a living room with a sofa bed & kitchen area, a bedroom with a king bed & separate bathroom with bath & shower. Where the Tower Suite seems to have the edge, however, is the size of the living room – much bigger, with a large dining table & chairs – and also extra windows making the lounge brighter & airier (is that a word).
Myself, Liz & the boys took one of the suites & Eddie & Anne Marie the other and the general consensus among the adults was that the Bedford had the edge over the Hospitality House (although it should be noted that the HH does have the advantage of having a separate full size kitchen, while the Bedford only has a sort of “counter” area with sink, fridge & microwave.
Perhaps the biggest plus for the Bedford is its location; on E40th between Lexington & Park, it’s literally round the corner from Grand Central Station & so is very convenient for many of the typical tourist sites, shopping & restaurants – not to mention for the subway for those journeys which are a little bit farther afield. When we looked out of our bedroom window we had a clear view of the Chrysler Building, while from Anne Marie & Eddie’s we could see the Empire State so we really felt as though we were in the heart of everything.
More to follow...
Jim
On our previous trip we had stayed at the Best Western Hospitality House on E49th St. & we would have been perfectly happy to go back there again but they would only allow a maximum of 5 people in any one suite & renting 2 separate suites was just a bit too rich for our budget. I checked Travelzoo & Quikbook on more or less a daily basis after booking the flights in July & made reservations at both the Bedford & the Belvedere but, while I fully expected further hotel bargains to crop up these never materialised – or at least not to suit our budget & numbers. As our departure date grew ever nearer I found myself in the position of having to choose between the two original bookings & although the Belvedere seems to be held in higher regard both here & on TripAdvisor the Bedford’s suite arrangements (with their separate bedroom & living room with sofa bed) won the day.
We had booked 2 one bedroom suites but, as I mentioned earlier, on checking in we were given a free upgrade to 2 Tower Suites on the top (17th) floor. Judging by the Bedford’s website the set-up of the Tower Suites seems to be essentially the same as the one bedroom – i.e. a living room with a sofa bed & kitchen area, a bedroom with a king bed & separate bathroom with bath & shower. Where the Tower Suite seems to have the edge, however, is the size of the living room – much bigger, with a large dining table & chairs – and also extra windows making the lounge brighter & airier (is that a word).
Myself, Liz & the boys took one of the suites & Eddie & Anne Marie the other and the general consensus among the adults was that the Bedford had the edge over the Hospitality House (although it should be noted that the HH does have the advantage of having a separate full size kitchen, while the Bedford only has a sort of “counter” area with sink, fridge & microwave.
Perhaps the biggest plus for the Bedford is its location; on E40th between Lexington & Park, it’s literally round the corner from Grand Central Station & so is very convenient for many of the typical tourist sites, shopping & restaurants – not to mention for the subway for those journeys which are a little bit farther afield. When we looked out of our bedroom window we had a clear view of the Chrysler Building, while from Anne Marie & Eddie’s we could see the Empire State so we really felt as though we were in the heart of everything.
More to follow...
Jim
Apr 1st, 2007, 12:16 PM
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I just read your complete first report and happily moved on to this one. Since I read the first one complete I did not notice the length of time between posts. Imagine my disappointment when I came to an abrubt halt. Please post more before my first trip to NYC in a couple of weeks.
