Looking for a central safe neighborhood in Manhattan
 

A group of 4 of us were thinking of renting a vacation rental apartment instead of a hotel. The problem is we dont know the neighborhoods as to where a "good" area to stay would be. We were looking for a central location to hit the usual museum broadway show, etc... Any suggestions?

Not sure where to begin . . . Manhattan is very diverse with so many great neighborhoods. Perhaps start by looking at a map. Do you want to be near Central Park, for example? Upper East Side & Upper West Side are both excellent residential areas.

Public transportation is the best in the world, so you're never far from the attractions.

If you're primary interest is a "central" location near museums and Broadway, then, again, the UES or UWS would make the most sense.

Good luck

Rentals are generally at least a 1 month minimum. How long are you planning to stay?

Most Manhattan neighborhoods are pretty safe. For your purposes, you should probably confine your search to locations in the between the East 40's and East 80's.

I think those short-term apartment rentals are few and far between in Manhattan. I know there are a few places that operate as B&B's where you get the entire apartment and they supply breakfast. Maybe you should look into the options and then get back to us once you've narrowed down the choices. Then we can tell you which neighborhoods are more desirable.

As far as "centrally located" that depends on what you want to see. Centrally located for Broadway shows would be anything from the southern part of the upper west side, through Hell's Kitchen (now called "Clinton") or even midtown east. I wouldn't recommend these areas to you for apartment rental (other than Upper West Side -- which is a great choice). Centrally located for museums would be more like midtown east to the Upper East Side, which would be better for apartment rentals. In short, the neighborhoods that are more desirable for apartments are often less desirable in terms of tourist destinations.

HTH!

What's wrong w/Clinton-Hell's Kitchen area? It's within walking distance to the Broadway/midtown area, with easy subway access to the rest of Manhattan. VERY central. The Skyline Hotel is on 10th Ave., I think there is also a Hojo there. W. 57th St. has a Holiday Inn. These would all be lower rate hotels, as an alternative to an apartment, which may not be feasible.

Nothing wrong with Hell's Kitchen if you're a savvy New Yorker. It's not necessarily where I would recommend that tourists stay, though, especially if they are renting an apartment instead of a hotel. While the area is nicer than it used to be, some of the blocks are still seedy and many of the apartments (save Worldwide Plaza) are walk-ups. This is a prime opportunity for the property to be less than promised. Without service personnel or a property manager around (like you'd get at a hotel) and without the comfort of knowing that you'll get certain quality standards that a big hotel chain offers, I wouldn't recommend newcomers to New York rent an apartment in that area. That's my opinion.

I never said it wasn't centrally located to the theatre. In fact, I think I *did* say it was centrally located to the theatre.

The island of Manhattan is very safe. NYC is the safest large city in the world.

Safety is not much of an issue in Manhattan. In fact New York City has been rated by the FBI as one of the safest big cities. For your interests I agree with Ryan, midtown and Upper East Side would be the best. There are lots of museums on the Upper East Side along 5th Avenue. You will still have easy access to mistown via the # 4, 5, or 6 subway trains along Lexington Avenue.

http://www.ny.com/museums/mile.html

The upper east/west sides are fine, but I'd suggest not that far up (not in the 100s). The village area is great. Central is trickey since the sites are spread out over several miles. Any location convenient to a subway line will for the most part do the trick. Most visitors like to stay in the times sq. area but I don't think you'll find much in apts around there. I think the other areas mentioned are nicer places to stay. The village area is near many subways (with quick and easy uptown and downtown trips) and also a huge selection of restaurants, clubs, interesting shops, galleries, smaller museums and some of the smaller sites and neighborhoods worth exploring.

lisettemac,

You are apparently one of the posters who goes ballistic when someone disagrees with your opinion.

I did not suggest that anony & party rent an apt in Hell's Kitchen. While I would never stay there myself, they are obviously price-conscious and a hotel in that neighborhood would, I think, be preferable to a rental elsewhere. Meanwhile, anony has not yet responded to my first post - the length of their stay will dictate what type of accommodations they rent.

Best best I think would be West 70s or 80s, in a doorman building.

Likely to be quiet enough; an easy trip home at night from the theatre; an easy trip across the park to museums in the daytime.

You're renting without being able to go see the place, so this location seems best to me. Too much variation in the West 60s and West 50s. Some of the East Side isn't very near the subway, and anyhow I vote for staying near to where you'll end up at night. Here you can have a half hour walk, a cheap cab-ride, a nice bus-ride, an easy subway trip, to get home from the theatre district.

There are short stay agencies, I think you can find posts about them, you might also look into house-swapping, the swap doesn't have to be simultaneous, I have friends who've done well here that way.

Thanks for all the information everyone! As for the length of stay, we will be there for 5 nights. We were currently looking at a place on 43rd btw 10th & 11th, as well as a place on 64th btw Central Park W. and Columbus. Any opinions? Glad for all the help!

I would go for the Columbus Circle locale.

Definitely opt for Columbus Circle over the other locale. That's the Hell's Kitchen area that I mentioned before and, to me, it wouldn't be ideal for tourists. But hey, I don't want to be accused of going "ballistic!" ;=)

Without a doubt, 64th Street.

One more vote for 64th Street. The other location is really out of the way and in an an area where you can find yourself on a long deserted block at night. About 15 minutes to the subway at least. There is nothing at all wrong with the 64th Street location.

64th, definitely - you'll be right at the edge of Central Park (primo real estate)! The other locations is wayyyy out there, far from the subways and a long walk to everything.

In the city on a business trip, I stayed last weekend at the Shelburne Murray Hill. It's a "suite hotel", so might meet your needs.

I had a spacious room with 2 queen beds, bathroom, plenty of closet space, and a small kitchen (larger rooms also available). Price was reasonable ($148 per weekend night), there was a restaurant/bar and gym on site, service was pleasant and helpful. If you don't need a fullscale apartment, check this out...

Love Murray Hill. Wouldn't stay on 10th Avenue -- it's pretty far away from anything. Stick between 2nd Avenue and 9th Avenue (this includes Lexington, Park, Madison and Broadway, but NOT A,B,C,D) and stay below 59th street (the subways only run North South except for a few lines that cross over, and it can be a pain to get from the Upper West Side to the Upper East Side, for example). Also, I would try to stay as close to 42nd Street or 50th Street as possible, as these are the major cross town subway lines that can take you from the West side (Broadway) to the East Side (Grand Central Station, subway up to the Met, etc.)

I personally would try to stay in Greenwich Village, where there are great restaurants and you see the "real" New York, and the subway lines are close together, but it's more of a trek for some of the main tourist attractions.