scdreamer

Planning a week-long trip to New York City in late September 2015. We are a California couple in our mid-sixties, well traveled - have stayed in apartments in European cities including Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris, London, Madrid, Athens ... and we have been to Chicago, New Orleans, Seattle, Vancouver, Quebec City among other places ... but believe it or not, we have not ever visited New York City. We can hardly believe it ourselves.

So, in order to remedy this missing link in our travels, we plan to spend a week in NYC and are looking at a couple of potential apartments. Both are on the upper east side - is this a good location for getting around? We are great walkers, and also very experienced using public transportation, so access to the subway and to good walking areas would be desirable.

Any suggestions for things to do and see, restaurants, museums, etc. would also be greatly appreciated. We like cultural offerings, local food, walking tours. I realize this is pretty broad a topic, so for right now - our location in the city is the first place for me to start in our planning.

Thanks ...

emd3

ut oh, here it comes, who will deliver the message?

scdreamer

I know what you are going to say - this is not Air B N B --- what about VRBO and Home Away? I thought they were legit.

happytrailstoyou

So, in order to remedy this missing link in our travels, we plan to spend a week in NYC and are looking at a couple of potential apartments. Both are on the upper east side - is this a good location for getting around?

Some places on the Upper East Side are convenient to transportation and others are not. Enter the exact addresses in the map at maps.google.com and subway stops will be revealed. Also, enter destinations from the address, click the "bus" option, and you will learn public transport options to those destinations.

HTtY

DebitNM

What the heck...

Short term apartment rentals are illegal in NYC for 99% of all apartments, no matter is they are advertised on airbnb; vrbo; craiglist or whatever.

September is a very expensive time of year in NYC. If you want an apartment like hotel, there are quite a few.

I will let the regulars continue, as I know they will.

scdreamer

Can anyone suggest legal apartment-like hotels? Or a good website that lists them? I think what we would like is to have at the least a kitchenette. I want to be able to have coffee and something for breakfast without going out. Other than that, a good locations is paramount.

I know September is an expensive time to be in NYC, but it's my birthday, and we like to take trips then. I'm worth it - lol.

DebitNM

http://www.radiocityapts.com Is often mentioned here.

DebitNM

http://www.tripadvisor.com/HotelsLis...s-zfp1302.html

Google: apartment hotels NYC for Expedia, and other listings

scdreamer

I have booked a king view-room at Staybridge Suites near Times Square. We will have a pretty well-equipped kitchenette for morning coffee - I absolutely HATE having to get dressed to get decent coffee first thing in the morning. The online reviews are mostly positive - and they offer a free breakfast buffet and a couple happy hours throughout the week.

Definitely not what I had hoped for when we first considered this trip - but I understand the issues that exist for city residents with people renting out their apartments. Of course none of the apartment-style hotels are located in neighborhoods, so I guess we will get the inner city experience.

Now, I'm going to start looking for restaurant recommendations!

DebitNM

Sounds good; enjoy!

emd3

If you want a "neighborhood", the Beacon Hotel in Upper WEst Side has one bedroom suites with full kitchenettes.

emd3

http://www.beaconhotel.com/rooms_1br...g-queenbed.htm

emd3

Many of the Affinia hotels are converted apartment blogs and they have full kitchens.

nytraveler

For hotels with apartment like facilities look at:
Radio City apts - budget and midtown
Beacon - nicer on the upper west side (more convenient than the east side)
Affinia group hotels - located in several areas and moderate

They will not be cheap in Sept - but it's only heading into high season so not really expansive yet.

And yes, almost all apartment rentals less the 30 days are illegal in New York. If you want a bedroom in an apartment that you share with the legal tenant you can do that - but you may end up sharing a bath and who knows what the people who live there will be like.

And it's not Air BnB that's a problem, VRBO and other short-term services are no more legal.

scdreamer

emd and nytraveler - thank you for the heads up regarding Beacon Hotel. It looks way better than Staybridge, and will save us just over $500. That's what I love about this forum!

Peteralan

In the same area as the Beacon is the Milburn which will be less expensive. Good luck.

Kazza3013

I've just had a week at Affinia Shelburne, where I was unimpressed, now I'm at the Beacon Hotel for a week and I am much LESS impressed, especially since it is more expensive. The Affinia is better value for money. The rooms here at The Beacon are old, tired, moldy, broken.

nytraveler

Everyone has different expectations. I suggest the OP look at a number of reviews on tripadvisor before making a decision- since several other recent posters here who stayed at the Beacon gave it good reviews.

(Yes, it is an older hotel - many in NYC are - you do;t get all of the brand new cookie cutter places that you do by the side of the highway. Nor the latest updated that you do in the newer, more expensive, more upscale hotels - at much higher prices.)

scdreamer

I looked at the reviews for Beacon at Trip Advisor and elsewhere before we booked, and it seems as if most are positive. I also checked out a couple other options for hotel rooms with kitchenettes, and they didn't seem to have as high ratings as Beacon - or else they were uber-expensive. I did look at the Affinia choices, and they were more expensive than Beacon for the dates we need. I don't particularly care for cookie-cutter brand new places when we are traveling anyway ... I think we will be fine - am happy with the location, and excited to be visiting New York City for the first time!

jeepyland

The Chelsmore for downtown if you are still looking. I haven't stayed there but people seem to like it.

In any case, I think you will be much happier on the Upper West than the Upper East. A lot of it is personal - I just don't particularly like that part of the city - but the transportation options are definitely more limited over there as well.