Our family (4 adults) is traveling to New York in late April for the Tribeca Film Festival & will stay a week. I'm looking for a 2 bedroom apartment in Midtown (East Side), Chelsea or Tribeca ideally, but will consider other parts of the city. Budget is $250-300 per night (fingers crossed). Will go higher, if I need to...

My only other experience renting a short-term rental apartment was in Paris and I stayed at a Paris Perfect apt. (really nice), but when researching availability, etc., I noticed there were so many apt rental services to look at. I'm hoping to find the same thing in New York with quality properties.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Relax, don't do it!

Hmmm...not sure if your response is a prank or not. But, I'll bite. Don't do what?

Don't rent an apartment in NYC. It's illegal and many scammers are taking advantage of people by offering great deals for apts that don't exist. Much has been written about this. Look at apartment style hotels like Radio City Apartments.

Apt. rentals in NYC are not a good idea but there are suite hotels that would accomplish the same thing although none of the quality of Paris Perfect and not likely at that price since 2 bedrooms are rare in NYC. The Eastgate Towers, part of the Affinia.com group generally have the least expensive 2 bedroom 2 bathroom suites and they're huge in midtown east near Grand Central. There are no suite hotels in downtown Manhattan at this point. The Embassy Suites is closed for renovation and becoming something else.

I was just reading about a relatively new b & b in Tribeca, Canal Park Inn, on Canal St. but no 2 bedroom suites. You'd need 2 rooms. http://www.thecanalparkinn.com/rooms.asp

More info and links
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic..._New_York.html

Nicolenasbandb.com is another option in Tribeca. The Alex Hotel is probably the nicest, most modern suite hotel with 2 bedroom suites, in midtown east, but it's quite pricey.

Agree not to try for an apartment - this is illegal unless you are renting from someone with a private townhouse - and there are very few people renting out rooms in their multi-million dollar houses. Many that you will see advertised are outright scams and don;t exist at all.

You will do better with 2 separate rooms, since 2 bedroom suites are scarce- and very unlikely in the price range you are looking for.

Illegal? I had no idea. Thanks so much--so glad I checked in here first! You saved me.

Mclaurie, thank you for the suggestions and links--those sound perfect and exactly what we're looking for. I'll check those out.

Thanks everyone, again!

You might check The Ace Hotel on W 29th St. They have an interesting option of a larger room with smaller room with bunk beds for the kids. There is a top restaurant on the first floor and it's really close to shopping (Macy's et al), an not far to walk up Broadway to Times Square and the Theatre District. There are also several subway lines within a couple of blocks. www.theacehotel.com

The OPs group is 4 adults - not sure that bunk beds would work for them.

From what I've read it doesn't become illegal until May, 2011. Can anyone confirm that?

Hi. I just found this forum and panicked! We have an apt rented through HomeAway.com for the end of May. The apt is in Upper West Side. We are a family traveling with 5 kids so we need a bigger space. An advice on what to do?! Should we try to get our deposit back and rent a suite somewhere? Do you think this new law will be enforced? I had not idea this was illegal because VRBO and HomeAway rentals are legit.

"From what I've read it doesn't become illegal until May, 2011. Can anyone confirm that?"

A law in NYC formally making all such rentals illegal is coming soon, but many rentals are now already prohibited by the buildings themselves. Rental buildings and coops generally do not allow short term rentals, so while you may not be violating the law right now, you may be at the mercy of people in the building not to report you and hope that building management or the landlord do not find out.

"I had not idea this was illegal because VRBO and HomeAway rentals are legit."
These sites just allow listings . Like other websites, people sometmes list things that are not legal or even total scams. This has been discussed on this forum and many others for a couple of years now.
If you have a specific address that you've chosen and want to share with people here, someone may be able to at least verify that the building exists and looks as it was described to you.

The building is at 339 W. 71 st. I am able to find it on Google maps and I did see pictures of it on Google. I did email back and forth with the lady that manages it for weeks, asking all kinds of questions.
Would VRBO or Home Away be responsible in any way?
At this point, I really do not know what to do. I did email the lady that manages the apt but she hasn't replied yet.

SHould I call HomeAway?
Thanks for the help.

VRBO and Home Away are not responsible if you are denied access to a rented apartment because it has been discovered to be in violation of rental laws in either the building or the destination. It's all at your own risk.

Almost all short-term apartment rentals are already prohibited by building regulations in NYC. Shortly they will be illegal, and I think you can expect the city to do some sort of showy enforcement action, though I don't know what that would entail.

People have rented apartments in NYC for years, and they have almost always been illegal or against building regs. If things go well, then you're fine, but if there's a problem, then you have absolutely no legal recourse because you're breaking both laws and building regs.

I have no idea how to advise you. Everyone in this forum has always cautioned people about this issue, and many people have ignored that advice without a problem. In most cases, the rentals on VRBO and Home Away are not scams ... just illegal. So it's a gray area. And unfortunately, an insurance policy will not cover your for an illegal action so you can't rely on that if you get turned away and have to spend $500 per night on hotel rooms for your stay. I believe that the building exists, but I can't begin to say if the person renting it out has the right to do it. Frankly, I think it's quite problematic that VRBO and Home Away continue to allow people in NYC to post their apartments for rent, so it's just a risk I would not take.

The Beacon Hotel, upper west side, has nice 2 bdrm, 2 bath suites. But your budget will be tough to meet.

WorldGallery, there are many apartment/hotels in NYC. Check out this recent thread for a list of them:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...tion-for-4.cfm

If you call HomeAway they will tell you the apartment is legal but chances are vey high that it isn't. Play it safe and cancel and get a apart/hotel.

Well th ebuilding does exist. there are 5 possibilities:

1) this is a scam and someone is just using the adress, you will get there and no one will met you

2)the building is part of a co-op, the bylaws prohibit sublets and you may be challenged by legitimate owners (or you may not be caught)

3) the building is a rental, this would be an illegal short-term sublet and the landlord can have you removed as a trespasser if he finds out you're there Or you may not be caught)

4)) the building is privately owned and the owner is renting out an extra bedroom. This would still be illegal (against fire laws) but the chance of your being removed is essentially nil

So - doing this is illegal but it is possible you could do this and have no problem. But - you might well find it a scam - or have #2 or #3 occur. In this case you would have to find a hotel at the walk-up rate.

Are you willing to take this chance? (If yuo want to do so, get all appropriate info about the building, including a 24 hour landline for emergencies and references from previous subletters. Also, get all information in writing IN THE MAIL - scammers won;t do this, since this is mail fraud, which is a federal crime.)

Thank you very much for your response. I am very thankful that I was able to find this forum in enough time. I am very much a planner, so I guess I should have known more about this issue in NY with apt (but I hadn't heard about it). The thing is, we have friends that insist that the only way to travel with a family is to go with VRBO or Homeaway and they have had all great experiences.
I plan to cancel the apt.

About finding a place now:
I have read through all of the above posts and will contact some of the suites. We are a family of 7 (5 children ages 9 - 16). We dont mind using an air mattress for some of the kids. Any other suggestions for a family of 7? We would like a decent location (close enough to a subway) without a lot of street noise at night. We would also like something with at least a small kitchen space for breakfast (expensive to eat out every meal with 5 children). Clean but not fancy is fine.

Again, thank so much for the information. We are so grateful!

Again, look at the Beacon. The 2 bdrm/2bath suites have a kitchen and a living room with sofa bed. It is in a nice neighborhood with a market nearby.

No hotel is going to let you use an air mattress - and all have a max number of people based on fire laws. How old are your children? Are they really adults or toddlers (12 and up is adult in NYC).

You should check the Beacon and the Affinia group - by phone, since I think the online reservation won;t give you a 7 people option for one suite. They can tell you what you will need based on the ages/sizes of your kids.