peetswl

Hi-
I have an offer to stay at 4th St & Ave C during my vacation in October for $145/night. It's 3 blocks from the F subway line. Is this a good place to stay? Let me know your thoughts!
Thx for the help!

ekscrunchy

It depends on what you mean by "good." The area is a young-ish one for the most part and has lots of places to eat, drink, and party. It is far from elegant but if you are a student you may be very happy there. It is not considered a dangerous area at all, although you will see your share of street people. It is an ethnically mixed area. You can walk all over downtown NYC from that location....Lower East Side, Chinatown, Nolita, etc etc. And there are buses closer than the subway. Go for it!

peetswl

Oh sorry, I meant good for a family vacation. There's me and my two sisters and my parents. My sisters and I are all in our 20's and my parents would love to be near Chinatown so it seems right for us from your comments, ekscrunchy. I was jus worried about getting around since people have been telling me to make sure I'm near a subway stop and midtown. Thanks!!

acwsf

I wouldn't stay there (used to 6 blocks away or so) for a variety of reasons. I loved loved loved my old neighborhood to live, but I don't know that I would stay there on a trip with my parents. If it was just you and a friend, I would say go for it...It's an area that is gentrifying and has been for many years, but it's not fully gentrified...plus I would stay somewhere more central. The F train is good b/c it's one of those lines that goes from the east side kind of the west side (if you call 6th avenue west!). But I think you could be situated downtown but closer to more subway lines - near W. 4th Street for instance. Unfortunately, I can't make any hotel suggestions as I never stayed in a hotel in NY.

For something more reasonable, but still downton, you may want to research the Washington Square Hotel. I've never even been in it, so I can't vouch for the condition, but the location is spot on.

If you are willing to go uptown, I've heard that the Hotel Beacon on the Upper West side is really reasonable and well situated for the subway. http://www.beaconhotel.com/

peetswl

Well I also have another offer to stay at E. 3rd St and 1st Ave. Is that considered as more central? Not sure what to do...

dloech

hi peetswl - i would behappier staying on 3rd & 1st - but i still wouldn't call it "good." i understand you want to go to chinatown - but NYC is not that big - you can stay somewhere else and still get there on the subway! try the marcel hotel on 24th (i think). our friends/family stayed their for our wedding. i cant remember the exact cost - but I am pretty sure it was under $200.
Dpending on what else you want to do - i could give more advice as to "central" NYC - ill be on line for a bit - write back if you are too!

ekscrunchy

I think it would be fine, especially for the price. If you are in your 20s then your parents are still young! You can walk to Chinatown; you can also take the bus south on 2nd Avenue to Chinatown, Lower East Side and to the WTC area. You can take the M15 bus uptown along 1st Avenue and be in midtown in less than a half an hour. Washington Square is also a good area but the two are not all that far away. There are some important sights in midtown but I think the downtown location would be a big plus, especially when it comes to eating. Midtown is very commercial and expensive for the most part. I have lived here for many years and when I go out to eat I always head downtown..it is much younger, more varied and more interesting..to me. I am not sure why it is so important to be near the subway when you can walk to many places from the location you propose...but check out the Washington Square Hotel, too, and see what kind of prices they offer. The $145 might be hard to match. There is another place near tht one..Hotel Earle but I cannot give any opinion on it having never stayed there. There is also a major subway line stopping at Astor Place which is a ten-(fifteen at most) minute walk west from 4th and C. From there you can go straight uptown or downtown as far as Brooklyn if you so wish. Having said all that, if your parents are super, super conservative (will flip out from seeing lots of tattoos, mowhawks, a few street types) I might take the advice of the earlier poster and check out a few downtown hotels.

ekscrunchy

Sorry, I guess the Earle is no longer..probably turned into condos or an NYU dormitory. The place on First and Third would be a bit more central..the Marcel or any other place in the 20s would be good, too, but you would not be able to walk to Chinatown and the Lower East Side as easily. Go for the place that is most comfortable in terms of space and price....NYC has so many great areas you can't go too far wrong.

mclaurie

I think a lot depends on where you come from, what expectations you have for accomodations and whether that $145/night is for all 5 of you. It's not the most attractive part of NYC.

When you say "I have an offer..." are you using an apartment rental service or looking in craigslist or what? Why don't you tell us what you're looking for and maybe we can point you in some other directions.

peetswl

We're from San Francisco and yes, we had looked on Craigslist. We just want a place for the 5 of us that's close to transportation and under $175/night. Thanks for all your suggestions! I think I'll keep looking around before we go with LES then.

mclaurie

Here are some vacation rental websites to check

citylightsnewyork.com

newyorkhabitat.com

http://www.metro-home.com/

subletinthecity.com

furnishedquarters.com

There's also vrbo.com (vacation rental by owner)

You might also check tug2.net and see if anyone who owns a timeshare at the Manhattan Club is looking to rent for your dates.

You don't say when you're coming but under $175 for 5 people may be a bit tough for anything decent. Prices have skyrocketed here. It's hard to find that price for 2 let alone 5.

You might want to consider running your own ad in Craigslist describing what you'd like.

suzanne

As a daily F train user, I can tell you that 4th St and Avenue C is NOT 3 blocks from ANY subway line. The closest subway entrance is at 1st Ave and Houston (F train 2nd Avenue stop). 4th and C is 3 long blocks plus 4 short blocks away from the station, a 15-20 minute walk!

3rd Street and 1st Ave is only 3 short blocks from the subway, a 3-5 minute walk. Choose this location if you can.