I am by no means a travel expert! I have personally had great experiences with apartment rentals, but like anything you would need to do research and be comfortable with your choice. It is just a suggestion. Good luck!

Yes, but the OP is coming next week - so it's a little late to do planning and research. At this point they need to pick what is reliable (a hotel will be there - and apartment - who knows without a lot of checking)?

And you CANNOT put 5 people in a hotel room in NYC - it;s against the fire laws. You can if it's a suite -depending on the configuration. Many suites have one double or queen bed in the BR and a pull out sofa in the LR - so cannot hold more than 4 people. And a "junior suite" often isn't a suite at all - but just a larger room in which they have one double bed and can add a rollaway (for a child).

At this point I think you need to call possible hotels to make sure what you're reserving can be occupied by so many people.

Maybe you should consider using priceline and bidding for two hotel rooms. You should be able to get a pretty decent deal, and it's not too hard to figure out what the better priceline locations are.

I've purchased five tickets at TKTS on a number of occasions, and the last time I was in NY, about three weeks ago, the people in front of me purchased six. Buying on broadwaybox.com or playbill.com may give you a slightly lesser discount, but it saves you the time waiting in line at TKTS.

I've heard that the lines are much shorter at the TKTS booth in lower Manhattan - of course, you have to get down there. The line at TKTS in Times Square is so long and there is no shade....not my idea of vacation fun.

Yes the TKTS location by the South St. Seaport is a good idea, you can tour the Seaport, and the Wall St area, then head up to Chinatown for Dim Sum and some shopping.

The TKTS booth opens at 10am I believe, so you can get your tickets very quickly, the line is rarely very long, and head off to site-see.