mclaurie

Do you know what kind of room you reserved at the Pod? Will it have a private bathroom? The Marlton is a new hotel in Greenwich Village that's lovely but rooms are small. Wyndham Garden Chinatown is a great hotel. Make sure you're looking at prices on multiple websites like kayak.com and trivago.com. I still think it's worth contacting apts2 book. They often can get great rates.

andtrev

Following your advice I have booked The Newton hotel (thank you!) in UWS for the majority of our trip but need another hotel located near the Gray Lines Visitor Terminal @ 777, 8th Avenue and near a subway stations (coming in from JFK) for four nights. Decided that we do want to spend some time amongst the New York buzz, so what hotel do you suggest? Approx $360 to $400 US per night in total.

nytraveler

Not sure what you mean by the subway. The Newton is right near the 96th St station for the 1,2 and 3 trains and only a couple blocks from the central park line - A,C etc.

And whyever would you want to be near a bus terminal - when you can get there by subway in 10 minutes?

doug_stallings

So you have described the precise location of the Hotel Edison. If you want to pay more, look at the Westin or Hyatt Times Square, though both of those may be beyond your price range in October, which is high season.

But another viable option is to stay in the Herald Square Area, near Penn Station. The previously recommended La Quinta is in that precise location, and it is within easy walking distance of Penn Station (if you take the Long Island Railroad from the Airtrain station in Jamaica, this is where you end up ... if the subway, then you end up on the E train, which also stops near Penn Station but takes quite a bit longer). The E Train stop at 34th Street is across the street from The New Yorker hotel, another budget choice (and $350 during high season is, sadly, budget, just to be clear).

andtrev

Thanks for your continued support - to explain my hotel request. I need another hotel from September 20 to 24th and thought it would be good to stay in another neighbourhood. We will be arriving late on the 20th coming from JFK. On the 24th we are heading off on a two day bus trip (need to be at the Grays bus terminal at 7am on the 24th) so will be moving to Hotel Newton (thanks nytraveller) after that for an additional 7days. We will also need to make our way to the Yankee stadium to watch a game on the 23rd of Sept.

The hotel I choose (1) needs to be able to provide easy walking or subway/bus to do the activities I mentioned during this time (2) as well as access to tourist sites that the Hotel Newton may not be easy to get to or are further afield. (3) Also thought it might be fun to be in the middle of everything for a couple of days such as easy walking to Times Square or Rockefeller Center. I had been looking at Doug's suggestions of the Roosevelt and Edison but they get bad reviews. I like the Affinia 50 but it seems further away. I will have a look at the rest of Doug's suggestions but do either of you have any further comments or suggestions to assist me. Thanks from down under

doug_stallings

I'm not sure where you are getting that the Roosevelt and Edison get "bad" reviews. On TripAdvisor, the aggregated rating (taking in consideration all the ratings a hotel has received) for both the Roosevelt and the Edison is 3-1/2, with a large majority of guests at both hotels rating the hotels Excellent or Very Good. But that's really your business not mine.

The Affinia 50 is not far from anything. It's on east 50th, within pretty easy walking distance of Rockefeller Center and fairly close to the subway. It's what I would consider an ideal location, but it is not in the "middle" of anything. For me, that's its biggest advantage (convenient without being in the crush of tourists). But I can see why it might not appeal. The Affinia Manhattan, however, is across the street from Penn Station and has been recently renovated, so if you want to be in the thick of things it would offer a better location.

The New Yorker ranks at a 4 aggregated rating, so it's preferred by more people over both the Edison and the Roosevelt, and it has a good location as well, albeit on the other side of Penn Station.

One thing you have to realize is that before 7am, you are less than 10 minutes by taxi from 8th/44th almost anywhere in Midtown, so the precise location of your hotel relative to the Grayline bus depot is almost irrelevant.

tomarkot

Hi andtrev, we just returned last evening from NYC; so do not have a T/R. If I understand you correctly, you're wanting to spend a few days closer to the heart of it all: Times Square, Rockefeller Center, etc. Our favorite location for hotels in NYC is either 44th or 45th Streets between 7th and 6th Avenues. We like to be able to walk to the theaters at night, walk to Rockefeller, the shops on 5th Ave., etc. For small hotels with character, as you suggest, we've stayed in the "Iroquois" and the "Algonquin" on 44th St. IAD on your dates as to their prices. The "Millenium Broadway" and the "Royalton", though not small with character, are fine hotels and convenient to things, including restaurants. This trip we took advantage of two free nights at the "Hyatt Times Square". From none of these hotels can you hear the noise and hoopla of Times Square, yet they are convenient. For attractions farther away, we use the subway or taxis. I wouldn't be concerned about staying near the bus station. The price of a taxi ride is worth being in a good location! Hope these ideas help. We know from experience that it is time-consuming and sometimes perplexing to make hotel decisons, especially in big cities. Not sure where you're from, but we experienced the same thing when deciding where to stay in Sydney, and chose a location close to the harbor where we walk to the ferries, or visit the Rocks and museums, Opera House, etc. Good luck with your decisions.

frogoutofwater

Have you considered staying in Lower Manhattan? Hotels in this area are very close to most of the subway lines, so it's easy to get around. It's also close to a number of the sites on most tourists' to-do lists. If you stay at the weekend, the rates can be decent (business visitors during the week keep the rates up but the rates fall a bit on the weekend). My family recently stayed in the Stone Street, which opened fairly recently. There also is a Hampton Inn that will be opening soon and there are a few other moderately priced (by NYC standards) hotels in the area.

Christina

well, I've heard some pretty bad things about the Roosevelt, also. The Edison is a better location IMO, if you had to choose, I'd go for that one.


I think it's a good idea to stay in two different hotels, given your stay is so long. That way you get to experience different parts of the city, also. I do care about character for some hotels when I travel, but I admit, I don't care about it at all when going to NY, maybe because for me, I live in DC and just go for long weekends, mainly for the theater. I just want a convenient, decent place close to a subway station, forget character. Character often equates to dumpy, as real nice modern hotels that are comfortable probably wouldn't be described as having character.

How about the Mayfair Times Square? I haven't stayed in it, but it looks okay and is less than $250 a night on those dates according to their website .
http://mayfairnewyork.com/

Also, The HOtel at Times Square (Apple Core group) is a very convenient location on W 46th, not far from a subway stop. I've stayed there and thought it was quite nice. I don't know about character, but it's fine. It has rooms for $250-270 on those dates, also. http://applecorehotels.com/the-hotel-at-times-square/