Calling on the New York City experts!! In September/October 2010 I will be in New York with 5 girlfriends (all in our 50's). We want to stay in an apartment/s for one week and need some help please! We are all agreed that we need separate bedrooms, but apart from that we are pretty flexible. We don't mind if we share a couple of adjoining apartments. Our budget is approx $US200 per night each. Naturally if we can spend less we will!

$1000 per night will not get you a five bedroom apartment in Manhattan.

The NY Salisbury has a two bedroom apartment (two queens, king, sofa bed, and two baths) and a one bedroom (two queens, sofa bed, one bath) that might meet your budget. They are right down the hall from each other.

The Affinia Hotel group may have three bedroom accommodations.

Hi GoTravel, thanks for replying so quickly!! It doesn't have to be Manhattan. Please excuse the following as I don't know New York at all yet but if we aimed for one of the villages would we get better value for money or is that a more expensive option?

Greenwich Village and the East Village are both Manhattan and both are expensive.

I'd figure out what you want to see, and get a map of Manhattan, and figure out what area would be best for your group.

Don't try and stay outside Manhattan to save money if what you want to see is Manhattan. Commutes for five who have no idea of their surroundings can get frustrating, time consuming, and expensive.

Thanks for the advice GoTravel, I think I'll do as you suggested and research a little more. You make a good point that commuting will will be irritating.

Wait a minute. Are you saying you can spend up to $7000 for the full week for the 5 of you?

Aren't there some really nice central suite or apartment hotels that will do that?

You will definitely want to stay in Manhattan for convenience. Especially on the weekendd, the subway constructiona nd route can get very inconvenienct if you are coming in from another borough.

I 2nd GoTravel, figure out what you are interested in seeing before you find a place to stay. I'd find the villages a little out of the way for me for sightseeing.

I think you are going to be hard pressed to find a place where you can each have your own bedroom unless you split up. But I've never been looking for that so I can't say for sure, hopefully someone will know better than me.

Ooops. I misread the part about 5 bedrooms. I actually thought it said you agreed you don't need separate bedrooms. OK, I know I need new glasses, but this is getting ridiculous.

Oh, Patrick, we thought you made that mistake on purpose as a subtle way of pointing out that the separate-bedrooms requirement was going to be a big obstacle.

Oh,yea. That's right. That WAS my intention. And now I'm sticking to that story!

Very few Manhattan apartments have 5 bedrooms, almost none would be for rent short-term and the price would be way above what you want to pay. And since most apartments are illegal individual sublets it's extremely unlikely to get 2 apartments in the same building. And even if you could - are you willing to deal with 5th floor walk-ups (common in middle class buildings), no doorman and pretending to be a relative of the legitimate renter if something goes wrong with the plumbing?

If you go to a corporate renter (for people relocating) you could get several apartments in the same building - but again - not for even close to $200 per person.

Really you should be looking to see what kind of deals you can find at the Salisbury or the various Affinia suite hotels - much less aggravation that way.

Oh - and I suggest you get a map of NYC. Manhattan is an island where most of the sights are located, but it consists of many different neighborhoods - and I don;t suggest staying elsewhere in terms of the time and cost of trekking back and forth into the City. Also, places outside Manhattan will not have a City atmosphere - they will range from suburban strip malls to mixed use (business/factory/car repair shop) areas that are extremely dreary at night.

So if there are 6 (you + 5 GFs) and you each want a bedroom, your best bet is to look for three two bedroom suites. $400 per night per suite($200 per person) is potentially doable but not easy. Chances are better if you get a weekly rate at a place like an Affinia property - www.affinia.com, look for the weekly rate.
While you are looking, you can consider what you would save if you booked three one bedroom suites where the bedroom has two beds.

Hi, I've done a bit more research, has anyone heard of www.envoyclub.com. They advertise 2 bed apartments. From the photos they look ok, but I'd love some opinions especially re the location. During the week we would like to see some of the typical tourist sites - MOMA, Central Park, Broadway, Brooklyn Bridge and we will hit the shops and some restaurants.

NeoPatrick, you are a very funny man!! You've made me laugh in the past in the Europe forum and now here you are again making me laugh out loud with your comment about new glasses. We ladies are of an age where we definitely want our own bedrooms!! (my girlfriends have been known to snore - not me though ). To answer your question, yes, between us we can spend $7,000 for the week, and a bit more if we have to.

Seamus, you are right on the money!! Two bedrooms suites/apartments are exactly what we need. I looked at affinia.com but they were just a little bit over our budget.

I know this particular building but don't know anything about the company that rents these apartments. It's right on the corner of 1st avenue, not between 1st and 2nd, but the location isn't too bad. You're close to buses to go up and downtown and about 10 minutes from the 4/5/6 subway. Lots of neighborhood restaurants. I live near there.

However, it's not even close to your price range. Try Radio City Apartments and be aware that you are coming right in the middle of high season, when rates in Manhattan jump tremendously.

cathies - did you look at the weekly rate on the affinia site? There were a couple properties that looked to be within your budget when using the weekly rate. It may be, too, that since you are more than a year in advance the weekly rates are not yet posted for your dates. You might try emailing the hotels to get a quote.

I would say that you are trying to do something way too early. Most hotels don't have their rates more than a year ahead. I'd get a book on the city, find the things you want to do and don't worry about a hotel until early in 2010, then start looking for good rates.

This far out, so many things could change.

Envoy club is near the entrance/exit to Queens midtown tunnel. A bunch or fresidential buildings with some neighborhood type shops and bars/restaurants. Not really near anythng you want to see/do - will have to take a bus or subway to almost everything.

Agree you're looking too early - prices could be completely different next year (lower or higher) depenging on the economy.

wht might make most sense is just to look for a hotel with 5 single rooms - and one person get a suite so you have a LR to gather in (naturally the others would have to share in that extra cost).

"" Most hotels don't have their rates more than a year ahead.""

Hotels have their rates for YEARS in advance. How else would hotels budget? Also groups block rooms years and some times up to ten years in advance.

Cathies, pick your dates and book your rooms now. In peak season you'll have a hard time finding what you want.

The reason I mentioned the Salisbury is because of its excellent Midtown location.

It would be really difficult to find a five-bedroom apartment for a one week rental, so yoou're probably better off with a hotel. But another option you could check into is finding someone who is planning on being away at that time and could use the extra income by renting out their apartment while they're gone. Seems more and more people are wiling to go this route.