I am traveling to NYC with my eleven year old daughter Oct 7-10, 2008.

We currently have reservations at the Hilton Gardren Inn in Time Square on points for 2 nights and paying for one night.

I also have Marriott points and it the Upper Eastside Courtyard is available, as well as the Marquis in Time Square and the Courtyard Time square on points. As well as the Marriott in the Financial district.

We are seeing two shows, Legally Blonde, Hairspray - and are planning on going to the Natural History Museum.

I have stayed at the Marquis.

I am NOT a fan of Timesquare and would like to get out of it but am usure of the Upper East side?

I have stayed at the Marriott in the Financial district as well and thought it was nice but for the three nights it seems out of the way to where we are going.

Ideally I would prefer to stay in the area we stayed over the summer by the Waldorf but it does not appear that Marriott is available.

Thank you in advance for any advice,
Dawn

The upper estside is not a great location. The neighborhood is fine - but it's very far east and not near any subway. Really inconveninent for getting around the city.

thanks Nytraveler. I will compare the rates for the night I am paying for and stay in horrid Time Square (sorry to those that love it)

By upper east side, I assume you mean the Courtyard on 92nd Street? If so, it seems to me that would be as far out of the way as the financial district Marriott.

Since you are going to two shows in the "Times Square" area, you are committed to facing that area at least twice anyway, but not staying at the Marquis would eliminate having to go through the "crowd" every time you entered or went out somewhere.

The upper eastside, particularly 92nd and 1st isn't really "convenient" to any of what you are specifically doing, and is not very easy for public transportation, unless you want to do taxis everywhere.

Frankly I'd stick with the Garden Inn which is convenient to your shows, yet if you prefer you head over to 9th for meals and easily head straight north to the Natural History Museum by bus or subway.

I will stick with the Garden Inn. I know many people love that area - I was surprised at how much more I enjoyed my time in NYC when I did NOT stay in that area.

dmlove - I will have to check the exact address - it lists as Upper east side.

I really wanted the marriott that I saw by the Waldorf. The Waldorf is not available on the point saver points we used over the summer.

Funny.....we stayed in Times Square for the first time last summer after 30+ years of going to New York and found the convenience a real plus. Of course, we were only there one night and had theater tickets.

We have stayed at the Parker Meridien several times and before that used to stay at the (now long departed) St. Moritz. Those are both on or near Central Park South, which was nice and centrally located.

We also stayed at (the also departed) Mayflower up on Central Park West. For most of what we were doing, the more remote locale of the Mayflower was quite inconvenient. I cannot imagine being all the way up on the Eastside if one is doing the regular tourist things. Way too much time spent going back and forth, IMO..

First, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised that the Hilton Garden Inn TS is not really in TS but over on 8th ave., a block west of Broadway which is really Hell's Kitchen. You're not walking out onto Broadway in hoards of people as you do at the Marquis and there's lots of decent dining along 8th & 9th aves.

The Courtyard on the UES is too far north & east to be convenient and the Marriott East Side near the Waldorf is not very nice.

What IS nice is the Courtyard Times Square South which, similar to the Hilton Garden Inn, is not really in TS. The Courtyard is actually across from Bryant Park on 6th ave. You should map it on
maps.google.com
That, imo, would be ideal.

The Courtyard Marriott Midtown East is also very nice, if that's available. It will be further to the theater, but it's still midtown (not far from Bloomingdales). There's a crosstown bus on 49/50 st. if you don't want to walk to the theater.

The Marriott Financial is a very nice hotel with indoor pool, but I think you'd find the location inconvenient for all that theater.

I think the Courtyard Times Square South is newer/nicer than the Hilton Garden Inn but both would work well for you.

MClaurie - great information. Thank you! I hope to be pleasantly surprised. I will check the rates at the Marriott for the additional night.

Socialworker - I know many enjoy Time Square. It is just a personal preference.

Oh, I hope you did not think I was telling you that I thought you should like Times Square. Not at all! Just that the location was convenient. We had never stayed there in the past b/c we also did not want to....It just worked out last summer to be our only option and it was not terrible, as I had feared it would be. My only contribution, so to speak, is that when one has to do a lot of going back and forth, NY can be exhausting.

I like the attitude Looking at the bright side of things

It sounds like the Hilton Garden Inn or the Marriott Courtyard there will not be as horrid as I felt the Marriott Marquis was.