I'll be in NYC in July for 3 days.
Can anyone tell me if there are any fun/exciting places to go during the night. I am 20 (so that means underage)travelling with 2 others aged 18 and 14.
We enjoy music and dancing so if there is any place you know of, that would be a great help.
Also we will be staying at the Milford Plaza Hotel. I've read some posts which pretty much holds negative comments about the place. Can anyone please tell me why it is so??
Thanks in advance!

As for the 14 year old, there is an arcade next to the Virgin MegaStore which is really cool, virtual reality type games and such.

The older 2 would probably not have difficulty in getting into dance clubs if desired. Many are now 18+, they usually open at 11 and get going around 2AM. Depending on what kind of music/crowd you like look into Sound Factory, Limelight, Twilo, Tunnel.

Milford Plaza is in one of the more seedy sections though not nearly as bad as it used to be.

i believe those clubs are 21+ (legal drinking age). Many outdoor street fairs are going on downtown in the village/soho/little italy areas. The village area in general is very lively at night with many young people hanging out. you also can find a huge variety of reasonable places to eat. Also some small theaters, comedy clubs, etc. Another lively place is the south st seaport. it has some free outdoor entertainment in the evening (as well as many other locations in the city). All these places are a subway or bus ride downtown from milford plaza but it's no big deal. Take the b,d,e,f,a,c trains downtown to west 4th street. walk south (just look for world trade center in the distance) from there.

Just wanted to say that I have read the comments on Milford Plaza but don't really know why they say that, as usually they don't explain. I'm sure it is not the area as there are many other hotels around there (Marriott, etc) that people do not say that about. Anyway, I stayed at Milford for a convention about 10 years ago and it was fine then, so I cannot shed light on it. It is a very convenient location for theater, had a decent restaurant in the lower level in case you needed something to eat and did not want to go out and the room was very small but kept up, clean, and perfectly adequate. I did not care for color scheme, it was dark (grays and mauve, trendy colors at the time), but I had no real complaints about the place. I got a convention rate which was pretty good and would not have paid their going rack rate for that room. Anyway, something must have happened in last ten years.

Christina, Milford Plaza was a dump at one time but apparently it's been refurbished and is ok now. There was a thread here a while ago about it. Maybe you can do a search for Milford Plaza.

Milford Plaza is at 8th Ave and the neighborhood there used to be terrible - hookers, drugs, peep shows,muggers, flimflams etc. It was much different than even 1 block east. Maybe since Guiliani outlawed fun in NY it has been cleaned up a bit but that is the era from which MP's rep carries over.

Also, those clubs are all 18+ on certain nights of the week depending on which party is being held there, I go there. Downtime is good, also.

Don't let the above scare you; the location of the Milford Plaza is safe. I don't know about the hotel, except that it's had a bad rap on this site. It's a large hotel, and it's hard to imageine it being too horrid for three days.

As for nighttime activities, I recommend the three of you stroll the East Village, where there are many sidewalk cafes that welcome people of all ages, and the people-watching is great; it's a very hip, young area. Look from about 10th down to 1st Sts., from 2d Ave east to Ave B. You may have heard to avoid "alphabet city," meaning the lettered avenues. This is utdated, at least as far as Aves A and B are concerned; the area has changed a lot in the past few years and is safe for strolling in the evening. You can always cab it back to the hotel after.

The Milford Plaza is a really big, impersonal hotel, and the room I stayed in didn't have any natural light (the window view was of the other side of the hotel). However, having been a little worried about the area around the hotel from experiences in previous trips, I can tell you that my fears were assuaged. That part of town has really been cleaned up. I know Native New Yorkers feel that this means that NY has lost its soul, but I have to say it's nicer for tourists.