New York and DC with Teens
 

I have been studying the boards for a trip to New York and Washington DC. We are a family of 5--kids 16, 14 and 11. I could use help with logistics and with lodgings.

Would like to do a family vacation starting in late June in NYC and ending in Washington DC over the 4th. Additionally, we would like to drive up to Ithaca NY to see Cornell, as my son really wants to go there and it seems stupid not to take that opportunity too.

We are from the West Coast. I have been to NYC, but it's the first time for everyone else. In NYC, we want to see things in the city. While in DC, we might want to go to Mount Vernon and/or Monticello, maybe Manassas so we would need a car for part of it.

Could use some advice on the logistics: Do we rent a car at the airport, then go straight to Ithaca, then continue with NYC? Then should we train or get another car to DC?

Length of vacation: could be up to two weeks total if I can find lodgings to stretch my budget.

So, hotels: A big problem has been that we have 5 people, not 4. In New York, there are no roll-aways allowed in almost every place I have called, so things get expensive fast. Essentially, in most places I need two rooms, or a suite. Ideally, from past vacations, we would love an apartment but I have studied these boards enough to know the horror stories in NYC especially.

So I am looking for a chain, or a quirky or older hotel somewhere in Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Queens in an area less famous and sought after. Boring and suburban is fine. We are also totally okay with urban and lived very urban BK. If you have any suggestions, that would be great. I have spent a lot of time looking on here and oyster and more, and made a lot of calls but decided it's time to post for help.

I know the big question is price. Definitely I'd like to keep it under $300/night. Given my druthers, I'd really like $200. I recognize that may be impossible in NYC, even queens so then the next question is, which of the Jersey suburbs is most convenient to the commuter trains into the city. Or would we be better simply staying by one of the airports? I have been comparing maps and my head is spinning.

Regarding DC lodgings, my friends with experience in DC tell me that commuting in is fast and probably my best option and it will likely be less expensive. Any suggestions there also welcome!


Thanks,

Five Alive

I don't know your budget, but we (husband, 16yo son, and I) stayed at the Americana Hotel in Arlington. They have a decent continental breakfast and are about a block from the Crystal City metro stop. www.americanahotel.com

If you like, you can read my trip report for ideas on food and activities. Click my screen name and scroll down to find it.

Lee Ann

Another good thing about the Americana is that it offers free parking. Since you plan to keep your car while you are in D.C., this "perk" will save you $$$ since most hotels charge a hefty amount for parking.

With 5 people in your group, you'd have to get two rooms at the Americana, but you should be able to work that out. And two rooms at the Americana will be a lot less than one room in other hotels.

http://www.hihostels.com/ Your cheapest (not best) option for Manhattan or Washington DC.
The problem with Ithaca is that it is 47 miles from the Amtrak station in Syracuse. Could you fly to Syracuse or Albany and rent a car for your trip to Ithaca? Return the car where you rent it and then take Amtrak into NYP. You do not need a rental car in New York or Washington DC. Rent a car for 1 or 2 days for your trip outside Washington. Fly back home from Reagan/National or maybe BWI. Don't forget you are going through 2 other great cities Baltimore and Philadelphia.

In NYC have a look at Radio City Apartments - which is actually a hotel - and probably the cheapest way to get a lodgings for 5. The Beacon hotel on the upper west side has suites and is in a great location but $300 per night may not be enough. (And remember there is 15% tax on top of the price quoted.) Also, look at the Affinia group which is a bunch of all-suite hotels that have a variety or room configurations, are well-regarded and are moderately priced (but $300 is on the low end of moderate or the high end of budget.)

I just checked Affinia Eastgate for random dates in early July and - if you are willing to pay in advance - you can get a 1 bedroom suite - 2 double beds in the BR and a pull-out sofa in the LR for only about $250 per night - a huge bargain. Not the most convenient location -- but not bad - and much better than being stuck outside Manhattan. But I don;t know how many rooms they have at this rate of how long the offer will last. (Usual rates are $375 and up.)

I would pick up the car at the NYC airport and head up to Cornell for an overnigt there, then head back to the city and dump the car. When ready to head to DC take Amtrak (tickets are cheaper bought in advance) and wait until you want to visit outside (Monticello or Willaimsburg) to rent another car. But do be aware that DC esp can be hellishly hot and humid in the summer - so be prepared to stay well hydrated.

>>Regarding DC lodgings, my friends with experience in DC tell me that commuting in is fast and probably my best option and it will likely be less expensive. <<

Yes, but if you're planning on being in DC over the 4th you're there on one of the very few days when commuting in and out of DC can be a nightmare. There are probably 100 hotels in walking distance of the National Mall where the 4th festivities mostly occur. Don't know what your budget is but stay downtown if you can swing it $ wise. Some hotels which cater more to business and less to tourists were actually running specials last summer.

>>But do be aware that DC esp can be hellishly hot and humid in the summer - so be prepared to stay well hydrated<<

Hot and humid as opposed to NYC? Come on. Not sure someone from the west coast would notice the difference.

Hi, all, thank you for all of your thoughts. The thoughts about being on the Mall over the 4th make a lot of sense obxgirl.

On the Itinerary: Going directly to Cornell makes sense, NY Traveler. But I wonder if it's cheaper to rent a car again to go down to DC than Amtrak tickets for 5 people?

Lodgings: Thanks for the tips on the Americana, Affinia & Radio City Apts. I will follow up with all three... I did call Affinia today and they were steering me toward another property in NYC that cost more than you saw. I was asking for late June dates, however; maybe the Eastgate was full.

I also went out this afternoon and checked out travel books from the library. I will post back if I find more leads.

PS we do know about humidity--I lived in Chicago in the past and my husband lived in several places with humidity. The kids are in for a surprise though.

I can't help with Cornell but Hub and I stayed at Park Savoy Hotel

http://www.parksavoyhotelny.com/

on 2 occasions and paid less than $200 for a small room for 2. I don't know if they have suites. It is a very basic hotel but it's location is super. Central Park, Carnegie Hall within short blocks.

Before we found PS, we stayed twice at the Gershwin:

http://www.gershwinhotel.com/

It is near Flatiron Bldg., Madison Square Park and was very quirky. We were told it had a couple of hostel floors.

Do book your rooms in DC soon as 4th is very busy. ElendilPickle's Arlington suggestion is a good one. You can see fireworks from there just as well and some prefer it that way.

Megabus has very inexpensive fares from NYC/DC and would be cheaper than car rental.

You can see the National Mall fireworks from the Americana Hotel?

West may or may not be as hot - depending on where you are coming from (SF doesn't do a lot of very hot). Likely won;t be as humid - since much of it is a dessert.

Megabus is an option but the fare for any of the many Northeast Regional Amtrak trains is $196 for the 5 of you (3 adult+2 children). I checked July 3. When you consider parking fees and the number of days you won't be driving and maybe a drop off fee, Amtrak will work well for you. http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten...mtrak/HomePage
Do the kids want to see the Liberty Bell (Philadelphia) or the National Aquarium (Baltimore)?
What major does your son want to pursue in Ithaca?
I have a nephew whose parents live in Corvallis. Their son is now studying at Duke in NC so I do understand a son wanting to go to college far from his parents.

<<<West may or may not be as hot - depending on where you are coming from (SF doesn't do a lot of very hot). Likely won;t be as humid - since much of it is a dessert>>>

obxgirl was referring to the difference in heat and humidity between NY and DC, not between the West Coast and the East Coast.

Hi, I am still checking in here and appreciate all ideas! Yes, I'm curious too: Are the DC fireworks really viewable from Arlington, Alexandria, etc? Both look too far from the National Mall.

obxgirl: what DC neighborhood would be primarily business hotels that I should hit up?

Questions:
1. I am also looking at B&Bs in NYC. How do I know if they are legit? Some of the B&Bs/inns are quite well known and reviewed by NY Times, NBC Today show etc or belong to member organizations.... is that good enough?

3. I tried calling the City of New York Dept of Buildings, and they said to look them up on their website. Tried it with one property; that website shows me they have a CO, but not if the B&B has permission to rent a unit for windows of less than 30 days. Am I overthinking this? I just don't want to show up at my lodgings to find out that they are no longer operating.

I have found 1-2 NYC B&Bs with suites that sleeps 5 and partial kitchen facilities. They are available; one of them I put on 48-hr hold. So I'd like to work this out.

3. Some NYC lodgings tell me that a roll-out bed is not allowed by law. Others say it is allowed. Your thoughts?

>>http://www.hihostels.com/ Your cheapest (not best) option for Manhattan or Washington DC.<<

The Washington DC HI hostel is in a great location, and we considered staying there last October. However, we found we would have to book all four beds in the room to guarantee we would have a private room. Since there were three of us, the Americana was cheaper. But you might want to check and see if you can get a room for the five of you.

Lee Ann

Tom, realize I didn't answer your questions:

Son is tech/engineering minded, so there are several majors at Cornell to check out. This is just exploratory. Duke is certainly a great school, congrats to your nephew.

Have thought about stopping off during the drive between NY and DC as a daytrip only. With day-trips, I am trying to hold off on that part of micro-managing for now except to decide about how much car rental I'll need.

I am leaning against a hostel or place with shared bathrooms, as I am not too keen on night trips to the bathroom by my younger two children without us going too.

I do like the Americana and may go with that. Trying to nail down NYC.

Friends lived in Arlington and watched fireworks from their condo. 5alive will surely confirm that with Americana. You can also check online for good places.

Other friends watch the fireworks from the National Cathedral which is on the highest elevation in D.C. I do believe.

Another college to look at while on your way back from Ithaca.
http://rpi.edu/
Rensaleer is the closest Amtrak station to Albany.

I'd think you could find a place with a river view in Arlington and see the fireworks on the Mall - it's a relatively straight shot. And if you get to a hotel near the yellow line on the Metro, you'll have a quick ride into central DC.

Thanks Russ.

Really try to stay in NYC and not NJ. Will be SOOO much easier and worth it. Agree about not sharing baths.


Tell us the name of the B&B. Many here are very familiar with NYC and might give input.

New York: The B&B is Stay the Night, it is on East 103rd St. It has some great write-ups. The location looked to be near some of the museums which would be nice. But it was a queen bed, then a pullout couch and a rollaway bed.

The only hotel to meet our needs and budget is the Affinia Eastgate. They have two double beds, and then a pull-out couch, which seemed a little better. A heads-up: The phone operator quoted me a price $150 higher than what I found on the company's own website.

Both of my New York finalists have kitchens and we have definitely used the kitchens in the past and would again.

I looked at several properties in New Jersey. Holiday Inn Express was a nicer looking one with a pool, full kitchen etc, but it was in North Berggen. What was really awful was hotels.com claimed it had a free shuttle. As I always do, I called the hotel itself and they said no, they absolutely don't have a shuttle; they have a city bus and it's very near their door. A friend who used to live in New Jersey told me that the city bus would be going through the Port Authority and she didn't advise it if we planned to come home late in the evening.

I am leaning toward the Affinia. I would probably pay the slightly higher price so I have the flexibility to change my dates or cancel. Any thoughts appreciated.

Do you mean "Stay the Night" at 93rd street (not 103rd st)?

It's a townhouse and note that some of the rooms are on the 4th floor (walk up only)

It's a nice expensive residential block,which makes it surprising if it has the right certificate of occupancy for short term rentals. According to the official nyc.gov website, it seems to have the correct class B multiple dwelling certificate . (There are however several outstanding violations relating to boilers, not illegal use of building or other issues)

North Bergen NJ is really not a nice area to stay in. When Hotels dot com mentioned a shuttle, they probably meant to get to the bus stop nearby NOT to get into NYC, No hotel in NJ does that!

Port Authority is not the problem . It's not pretty, but busy all the time so not really unsafe. The problem is the time, inconvenience and money to get 5 people back and forth to NYC.

Oh, sorry, I did mean 93rd Street.

I also looked up the whole certificate of compliance. The city employee was not too friendly about explaining what would be in compliance. I also discovered a group that wanted me to sign a petition about problems with the law for B&Bs. She was pretty cool though and also said that yes, Stay the Night was legit.

I don't think I'd do North Berggen...so I will likely choose between these two.

Stay the Night is a walk-up and it's a real house in a real neighborhood. We did an apartment when we took the kids to Rome several years ago and so that is kind of the basis of the appeal to me. But the bedding situation sounded better at the Affinia property. Tell me, is one better than the other in terms of location?

As you note, the B&B is in a "real" neighborhood and is in a great location for museum going. It is a bit of a walk to the nearest subway station 96th and lexington avenue, so that might be a little inconvenient sometimes. Buses (convenient but slower) will supplement your transportation . It would be tough to always find a taxi that fits 5 people so that isn't an option to rely on. You should have good weather and plenty of daylight when you're traveling, so the issue isn't as bad as it might be in winter.
Affinia Eastgate is in Midtown, but a mixed commercial residential area. Some people prefer being closer to that area, but it's not as if that location is right near anything you'd want to see anyway.

Toss up , depending on your personal preference and the type of rooms you find

EAstgate has much better access to much of the city - and beleive me you don;t want a 4th floor walk up in Manhattan. These are town houses from 1880 to 1910 and the "floors" are very high. Goint from one floor to another is typically thwo fairly lenthy flights of stairs - since the ceilings are often 12' high - versus the 8' you get in modern construction. So a 4th floor apartment is often actually up 6 flights of stairs.

Thanks, to you both. I think the Eastgate gets the nod. In the end proximity to more sites will probably be worth it. And no, I didn't think that through about the stairs, but it makes sense....

Hope to nail down dates this weekend and make a reservation. I won't do the non-refundable though.

5alive:

You won't go wrong with the Eastgate hotel. We have stayed there several times. Decor is a bit dated but lots of room, helpful staff, kitchen etc. Good location.

Report back how it worked out.

Sandy

Sandy,

I ended up going with the Affinia Dumont and never updated this strand. The price ended up not being a lot more. I will definitely report back, however.