New York Trip Report
 

Just returned from a Christmas trip to NYC - many thanks to all you helped in the planning - we had a wonderful time and will always remember our Christmas in the City!!!

Day One: Arrived about 3:15 pm at LaGuardia, caught a taxi to our hotel in Midtwon East (cab - $26 with tip). Our hotel was Marriott Courtyard ($75/night on Priceline) and was quite a good deal! We had a huge room (about 14 X 33), very clean, totally quiet, very comfortable. The staff was very helpful and always pleasant. We had dinner reservations at Cafe Centro in the Met Life Bldg. next to Grand Central (I had a $50 gift certificate from the Restaurant Association). The meal was very good, and it was very reasonable using the certificate. (very easy to register on the website - they email you a $50 certificate for your birthday!) After dinner we walked around Grand Central - such a beautiful place - lots of people, lots of shops, restaurants, etc. Stopped for coffee on the way back to the hotel at Barnes & Noble next to the hotel.

Day Two: Stopped at Ess-a-Bagel for a quick breakfast - very crowded - not too impressed. Bought $21/7day subway pass - rode down to Brooklyn - had brunch at The River Cafe -wonderful!!!! Had a windown table overlooking the river and the Brooklyn Bridge and the city skyline. Service was outstanding and the food was excellent - an overall wonderful brunch experience! Caught the subway back to SoHo - spent the afternoon walking, shopping and enjoying the area. Took subway to the theater district - had a light supper at Maison (reommmended on this board) - enjoyed a croque monsieur. Went on the see Cabaret - sat at a small table - cabaret atmosphere - wonderful show!!! Loved it! So glad we picked this one! Caught taxi back to hotel.

Day Three: Walked over to Rockefeller Center - saw the crowds at the Today Show - watched for awhile - went into Dean & Deluca to warm up. Walked over the American Girl Store to buy a present for our granddaughter. Walked some more looking at all the store windows and beautiful decorations. Took subway to Lower East Side - had a tour of the Tenement Museum - great tour - very interesting and infomative. Caught taxi over to Winter Garden at the World Financial Center - what a beautiful place - decorations were great! Saw the WTC site - so sad - hard to believe the Towers are gone. Caught subway back to theater district. Tried to get tickets to Letterman - had alternate tickets (#3 & 4), so we wasted some time lining up and waiting - unfortunately we didn't get in - we were disappinted! But we walked around the corner to the Hello Deli and aw Rupert - guess you can't do it all!!! Took a taxi over to Empire State - had bought tickets on internet - so we were able to go up and see the city all in lights - only took about an hour - such a beautiful city!!! Walked over to Macy's - saw the decorations, then caught a cab back to hotel - had a sandwich at a little deli close the hotel.

Day Four: WAlked up Madison Ave admiring all the beautiful buildings and decorations - got a quick cup of coffee and roll at Soup Berg. Went on to the Frick - wonderful collection - enjoyed it all - not too crowded which was nice. Crossed through Central Park to Tavern on the Green. Enjoyed lunch in the Crystal Room. Food was excellent (in spite of the negative comments) - we enjoyed watching the families gathered for Christmas celebrations - lots of children with parents and grandparents. A fun time - very festive. Afterwards, we walked in the Upper West Side - rode buses - stopped and shopped at Zabar's - a real experience - lots of locals buying for Christmas parties, etc. - very crowded, but fun! Took bus backto Columbus Circle - decided to take a carriage ride through Central Park - a perfect day - beautiful and sunny - saw the skaters at Wolman Rink - loved the whole experience - perfect at Christmas! Afterwards, went into Plaza Hotel just in time to see everyone having afternoon tea. Beautiful! Walked over to Algonquin Hotel - had drinks and rested awhile. Later went on the the Marriott Marque - 8th floor Broadway Bar (thanks Fodorites!) Sat at window table overlooking Times Square - unbelievable!!! - all the crowds on the street - all the taxis - almost solid yellow!!! Went down the theater at 8PM for Thoroughly Modern Millie. A great show - fun and uplifting - loved it! Walking out past a stage door, saw Hugh Jackman - got his picture signing autographs. Then caught taxi to hotel.

Day Five: It's Christmas Eve - and raining! Our only bad weather day! Stopped at Ess-a-bagel - still wasn't impressed. Caught subway to Grand Central - had fun shopping at the market, in the stores, at the Christmas Fair, people watching, etc. Ate lunch downstairs in the food court - had a good pannini. Very busy - lots of people getting inside out of the rain. Walked over to the NY Public Library. Another beautiful building! We enjoyed the quiet - no crowds - very relaxing. Took taxi to Becco for dinner. Had the 3 pasta prix fixe dinner - pretty good - not great. Enjoyed the atmosphere - again lots of families doing Christmas Eve dinner. Afterwards, rain had stopped. Walked in neightborhood - went into Amish Market - a wonderful market - bought pastries for dessert and breakfast in room. Taxi back to hotel.

Day Six: Christmas Day - beautiful and sunny! Walked over to Fifth Avenue - took pictures of the decorations & store windows - went into Trump Towers - had coffee by the tree and called home to talk to chldren - very enjoyable. Also stopped at St. Patricks for Christmas Day Mass - such a beautiful cathedrdal! Went on to Rockefeller Center - walked through looking at the stores, etc. Had dinner at Rock Center Cafe - sat by windown and watch the skaters - so festive and fun! Food was wonderful!!! Couldn't have been better! Afterwards, walked in area some more - then went to see Rockettes at 4 pm - Spectacular Show!!!! Loved all of it - a perfect Christma Day. Afterwards walked over to theater district - decided on spur of moment to check on tickets to Boy from Oz at TKTS booth - got half price tickets for 8pm show! Loved Hugh Jackman - got his autograph at stage door after the show! So glad we decided to see this one! Stopped at Pigalle for dessert and coffee -terrible service. Worst of the week - no apologies! On well - can't have everything! Taxi back to hotel.

Day Seven: Took subway to Greenwich Village. Had wonderful breakfast at EJ's Diner - yummy!!! Walked through the Village - stopped in several stores - enjoyed the shops, etc. Walked over to Forbes Building and saw their collections - very interesting - not at all crowded - very enjoyable! Took subway to Upper East Side. Had coffee and dessert in little French bakery - Le Pain Quotidien - fun and yummy! On to the Metropolitian - very crowded - unbelievable! Shopped in the store - bought some great items - some on sale. Enjoyed the tree, the building, exhibitws, etc. Not enought time and too many people. Rode bus back to Midtown - ate at a small pub close to hotel - P.J. Clarke's - fun!

Day Eight: Took town car to airport - very nice ride - cost a little more than taxi - $30 plus tip - but was a nice way to end the trip. No problems at the airport - good flight home.

A great trip - hope to go again someday - a dream fulfilled - NYC at Christmas! A few tips for those in the planning stage:

Hotel: Use Priceline for a bargain - but use Bidding for Travel for help in bidding.

Maps: Fodor's FlashMaps for New York - great themed maps: neighborhoods, restaurants by area, streetfinder, shopping by area, theaters, subway maps, bus maps, etc.

Subway Pass: $2l/7 days - unlimited subway and bus - buses are great for short hops and subways for longer trips. Walking is required, but your feet wear out after awhile. Also, taxis are reasonable - usually less than $5 for short rides.

TKTS Booth: Try checking on tickets about an hour before show time - no lines and can sometimes pick up great seats that have just been released.

The more research you do ahead, the better the trip in my experience. Study the maps and learn your way around before you arrive - makes getting around a city easier if you are familiar with the different areas. Reservations help - we never waited for a table anywhere.

My compliments both for planning and executing a great itinerary and for writing it up so well!
Come back to our fair city any time!

Hi blh,

How do you register (for free?) at the "Restaurant Association" website and get a $50 gift certificate on your birthday?

Is it a part of your business, or job, and can anyone do it?

Thanks,

zig

Howard - thanks for the kind words. I forgot to mention how nice New Yorkers were - always stopping to help if they noticed us looking at a map. Always eager to answer questions about which subway to catch. We were just overwhelmed with the kindness of strangers.

Ziggy - anyone can register for free on the website, http://www.restaurantassociates.com/corp/default.asp. It's a great deal - has to be used within 60 days of your birthday, I think. It worked out great for us as my birthday was the middle of November, and we were going to NY for Christmas. You have your choice of several restaurants - we had a hard time deciding because there were serveral good choices - and you can look at their menus on the website.

Thanks for the trip report. We will be in New York in May on my birthday. So I've signed up for the $50 gift certificate. We are also planning on staying at the Midtown East Courtyard. Did you notice a good place for breakfast in the area?

Thanks

Depends on what you like for breakfast. There's an Au Bon Pain right across the street, and in front of that, a guy with a cart who will sell you coffee and a muffin for $1.

The Restaurant Associates' promotion is indeed a good deal. We used ours at Brasserie 8 1/2 on W. 57th Street and had a great time. I hope I get another one in 2004!

We had Christmas Eve dinner at Becco, but went at 8:00 after the theatre rush. Becco is much better if you are not going to the theatre, as is almost every restaurant in NYC. It is always more fun than a regular restaurant IMO. Great inexpensive wine list, considered the best in NYC. Glad you enjoyed Tavern, it is a favorite of ours for holiday meals. Our most favorite for special holidays was Windows on the World. I am so glad we had the opportunity to enjoy it often. \how sad that it (and the Towers and the people) are gone. What a terrible, terrible tragedy. Living in NY one never forgets even for a day.

BarbaraS - Glad you signed up for your gift certificate - it's such a nice deal! I can't remember any good breakfast spots in the area - we ate at Ess-a-Bagel twice - bagels were good, but it was crowded. The Courtyard has a small cafe on 12th floor that serves breakfast - but we never did go there. I didn't notice a Au Bon Pain in the area - don't think I would have overlooked it. There is a Starbucks closeby. Our best breakfast was in Greenwich Village at EJ's Diner - a $5.95 special - included two eggs, bacon, home fries, large fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee and the best homemade wholegrain toast with delicious preserves. I would go there again for sure! There are many spots for breakfast, and we just looked for a place as we walked along and usually found one easily.

The nicest news I read in your report is that the Forbes Collection is still intact and open to the public. Especially at Christmastime, this is a wonderful way to spend a few hours seeing what happens with those small gifts someone receives as a child grows into a collecting passion.

Congratulations on an exceptionally well planned visit!

Yikes, blh mentoined that they hadn't seen the Au Bon Pain that I referred to -- since I was there last summer, and not wanting to mislead anyone, I checked their web site -- it lists an ABP at 875 Third Ave, an the address of the Courtyard is 866 Third Ave.

Perhaps it's closed and both the ABP web site and I are promoting outdated info, or perhaps blh just overlooked it -- but it's right across the street, sorta behind the bus-stop kiosk. My hotel room had an aerial view of it, that's how I first spotted it. Not that I'd recommend ABP for an outstanding special NYC breakfast, but it's very convenient.

Anonymous - guess we just overlooked the Au Bon Pain - wish we hadn't because we would have certainly eaten there - would have been just what we were looking for on a couple of mornings. That just shows how easily you can miss things - there is just so much going on - so many places - so many people - it's easy to miss something!