A friend and I who are both nannies have managed to get a long weekend May 3rd through 6th. I have been to New York very briefly when I came as an au pair. I have been up the ESB, had a drink in Greenwich Village, and drove around at night. I would really like to see the Statue of Liberty, some of the more famous Museums, spend some time in Central park.

My friend has not really done NYC as a tourist. She definitely wants to do the ESB, check out Time Square, possibly do Ellis Island.

We are taking the Chinatown bus up from Washington DC. We have both done all the Smithsonian's here in DC, so we have been to good museums, so it would be helpful if there are museums that we shouldn't worry about since we've done the Smithsonian's.

We are looking for an affordable hotel that is centrally located, in a good neighborhood. Affordable to us is probably less than $200 a night. We'd love to be close to either Times Square or Central Park. I'm fairly confident in taking the subways (I lived in London for a year), but my friend is really nervous of that.

I hope that you can make some suggestions for hotels and things to see. The other thing we're both interested in doing is going to see a Broadway show. It's really expensive though, so would be very interested in find out where to get cheap tickets.

Thanks in advance. I know this area probably gets all the same questions, but I really appreciate any help.

Bianca

My husband and I will be traveling to NYC and were also looking for budget hotels. Instead, we've booked an apartment. Check out http://www.vrbo.com/ to see the apartments listed in NYC, depending on the location it could be cheaper than a hotel. Also you can save money that way by making some meals in your own kitchen instead of going out to eat.

For discounted Broadway tickets the same day as the show, you should head to the TKTS booth...but be prepared to stand in a line.

http://www.tdf.org/TDF_ServicePage.aspx?id=56

I wouldn't mess with an apt. rental for just a long weekend but that seems to be a pricey weekend. Even the Super 8 is more than $200/night. I'd keep an eye on travelzoo.com for specials closer to your trip. Meantime, you might want to book the Cosmopolitan in Tribeca assuming it's cancellable. If you're willing to share a bathroom, the Larchmont is good in Greenwich Village.

For discount theater tix, look on broadwaybox.com or wait til you arrive and go to the TKTS booths. Here's info
tdf.org/tkts

Many of the shows also have last minute lotteries or rush tickets. To read about that go to http://www.playbill.com/news/article/82428.html

OK so my friend decided she was too nervous to travel to New York, so we're planning a different trip, more on that on another thread. Now my boyfriend and I are going that weekend. So I'll start a new thread on that.

I think your only hope of finding a room IN Manhattan with a private bathroom for under $200/night for that weekend is to bid on Priceline. But in the meantime, you should really book something else that's cancelable in case Priceline doesn't work out. So the question becomes do you want to book something outside Manhattan, something in Manhattan with shared bathroom or something over your budget.

I'll also mention the Hyatt Regency and the Doubletree Club, both in Jersey City are 3* hotels on Priceline (Jersey City is listed in the NYC area airport hotels). People win these on Priceline sometimes for as little as $75/night. Both are near the PATH train (like a subway) that goes to Manhattan.