New York Accommodation
 

Heading to NY in October with my husband - accommodation recommendations for apartment or hotel? We are there for ten days so keen to experience NY on a day to day basis rather than just the 'big' touristy things. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

Most apartment rentals for less than 30 days are illegal so stay in a hotel. To me the location near a subway station is the first thing to consider. And unless you are seeing a lot of shows stay away from the Times Square area.

Hotel Belleclaire, a great hotel at 77th and West End, near the 72th and 79th subway entrances, is on Travel Zoo around the $160 mark. We just booked a week at Thanksgiving.

There are hotels in residential areas, some with kitchens and offering an apartment-style experience. The Dumont comes to mind. My main concern here is that you don't talk about budget but are coming to NYC during the most expensive time if the entire year. This is incredibly last minute to arrange long-term accommodation for a reasonable price.

The Beacon Hotel on the Upper West Side would be perfect for a 10 day stay with the kitchenette etc. Wake up every morning to a walk in Central Park, Fairway market across the street for anything that you need, lots of neighborhood cafes and pubs within a few blocks including the Pier Café on the Hudson.

If you give us your nightly budget (and remember that there is a 15% hotel tax on top of the rate quoted) people can help you find some choices. We live on the upper west side and think it's a great place to stay because you have the city busyness, tons of activities and lots of local shopping/services/
restaurants without the unpleasant madness of Times Square.

It' primarily residential, mid to upscale, avenues lined with tons of restaurants, a couple of blocks from Central Park with all it's activities, near many of the important museums and there are 2 subway lines for easy access to the rest of the city. Ten minutes on the subway to Times Square.

The Beacon is the hotel mentioned most often (older but pleasant with large rooms and good reviews) but if that price is too high consider the Newton - an older but reliable budget property.

I second the Affinia Dumont and also recommend the Affinia Gardens, where I stayed last summer. Spacious accommodations and good locations. Very good value and they offer various specials.

You want recs w/o providing a budget?

When I visited NYC I booked an apartament for 8 days using airbnb... I would recommend it, I didn't know that booking apartments for less than 30 days was illegal...

I think it should be a priority to look for a place near a subway station, since it would make you move a lot faster around the city!

I second the recommendation for The Beacon, upper west side. It would be a great home base for the city, with a market directly across the street, and you could have a kitchen in your suite. We had their 2 bdrm/2bath suite for 5 women, and it was perfection.

The Affinia properties are also good.

Carlos - the city is cracking down on these illegal rentals and there is now a law in the works making it illegal even to advertise them. Onwers are being tracked down (reported by pissed off neighbors) and fined out of existence or evicted by their landlords. More than 1,000 apts have been closed down already and more every day - so renting one now may mean it's no longer available in 2 or 3 months.

Anyone stay at the Affina Shelbourne Murray Hill? Suites look nicely updated and the location is ideal for us. Prices are high but rates in October usually are. Thanks.

My daughter and I had wonderful mother-daughter weekend at the Benjamin in late April and I can't say enough wonderful things about the hotel...not to mention, I won't stay anywhere else on my next NYC trip. Small boutique hotel in East Midtown, gigantic rooms (by NYC standards - even a kitchen!), amazing service and a fantastic restaurant (the National). Great location on 51st and Lexington, just across the street from the subway, but very quiet. Easy walking distance to all the iconic stores on 5th, Rockefeller Center, La Grenouille, St. Patrick's etc. It was the opposite of a gigantic tourist hotel (a good thing, IMO), the GM personally introduced himself on the first night as we were getting a taxi to Lincoln Center and by the end of the weekend the whole staff knew our names. Certainly the best value and the best service by far I've seen at this price point in NY.

The Shelbourne is a great hotel in a great location. It also has a good burger restaurant in the hotel and a good bagel shop just up Lexington (just beyond the Starbucks). I don't know how many of the rooms kept their kitchens after the renovation a few years ago, but if you have a kitchen there's a grocery store nearby on Third Avenue.

The Benjamin is also nice, and some rooms have kitchens. A few super-expensive rooms even have balconies.

Thank you Doug, great information on the Shelbourne.

Just booked the Shelbourne the first week of October. Got a one bedroom suite with sofa bed and kitchenette at $339 per night (taxes included).

Thanks Everyone - lots of great advice. Didn't realise the 30 day rule on apartment leasing..... that hasn't happened in Australia yet. Will follow up a few of these recommendations.