NY by way of Seacaucus
 

I am planning on coming to the city Dec 3-5 and all the hotels I have looked at are booked or outraqeously priced.

How convenient is Seacaucus to the city? Is there another area outside the city that you think would be better? We are coming from PA and usually enter on RT78.

Any specific hotel you would reccommend in Seacaucus? How safe is the bus system, especially returning at night. Where does it drop you off in New York?
Thanks for your help.

May I ask what you consider outragesouly priced ? and where are you traveling from? I have some ideas for you.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Seacaucus last summer because my 10yo nephew needed a pool...
The bus pick up was very convenient-right in front of the hotel-it is a pretty quick bus ride into the city and they drop you off at Port Authority.
The return was a bit more complicated but we felt comfortable with it once we figured it out (we just expected to get dropped off in the same place that we were picked up). You had to cross a highway (4 lanes I think) and then walk about 3-4 minutes to the hotel.
The hotel was clean and comfortable-we got a suite that had a small livingroom with pull-out couch and extra TV.
We had a good experience but the travel back and forth does get tiresome-I would stay in the city if at all feasible especially where your time is limited.

There is another poster here who recently mentioned staying at the Crowne Plaza in Secaucus on a weekend for a rate of $55/night with an entertainment card discount. Evidently the bus service was fine.

There's a Sheraton Suites in Weehawken from which you can take a ferry across to NYC. As I recall the ferry is outside the hotel but on weekends you need to use a bus service to another ferry stop.

If you put Secaucus in the search box above, you'll find these posts I'm mentioning.

The bus from Secaucus I believe drops you at Port Authority bus terminal which is at 42 st & 8th ave. The ferry service from Weehawken has free shuttle buses on the NYC side that pick you up and make drops at various points around the city.

By looking up these hotels on tripadvisor, you'll find other possibilities and reading reviews there will tell you about ease of access to the city.

Have you checked travelzoo.com? They had some links to pkg. deals.

If a hotel with nearby ferry service is available it is probably more convenient than one with bus service - esp during the holiday season - when there are many "gridlock alert" days (when traffic is so bad it comes to a complete standstill). On those days it can easily take more than an hour to get through the tunnel from NJ to Manhattan - so sticking with ferry and subway would be more convenient.

However, I encourage you to stay in Manhattan if at all possible - even if the hotels are more. You will have a much better experience - and not have to pay for bus or ferry - or lose too much valuable vacation time (which must be worth something - even if only $25 per hour???).

NYtraveler is right. Traffic is horrendous this time of year. Last night it took me an HOUR to get through the Holland Tunnel to NJ. The delay was TWICE as long coming back in. Be prepared to spend hours on that bus. It would be much better to find a hotel near a train or ferry.

I have stayed in Secaucus twice, and made the trip into NYC both times by bus. Like 2sweets said, the trip into the city is a breeze. On the return, just make sure the bus driver knows where you need to get off. My kids and I took the return bus from NYC late one night. An inebriated lady had the bus driver engaged in conversation, and we missed Secaucus, and had to ride many miles out of the way before we could catch a bus to go back. I'm not sure if the previous poster (Suzanne) rode on a bus or drove, but it certainly didn't take us hours to get between NYC and Secaucus. (Perhaps she was traveling during rush hour.) It's been 5 years since I was there, but I don't think the travel time for us was over 30 minutes each way.

Donna

I was talking about last night (Saturday) at 6PM. It was insane. But then, from my experience crossing the Hudson several times a month by car, tunnel traffic is almost always bad on weekends between 6AM and 10PM. The buses however have an advantage in that they have their own ramp to the tunnel - I forgot about that. However, since the Christmas Tree is being lit on November 30th, you can bet that traffic will be even worse than usual.

We have stayed at Amerisuites in Secaucus and found it easy to get into the city via the nearby bus stop. There is no pool at this Amerisuites however. There is another Amerisuites in Fair Lawn NJ with an indoor pool.

I have heard that Red Roof Inn Secaucus is not a great choice, others have said that Crowne Plaza Secaucus is an easy drive to a subway station.

The Amerisuites website allows you to e-mail the individual hotels...so you can ask any questions that you have about distance to train stations etc. We found the bus option safe & convenient, but of course we don't carry a bunch of bags from Tiffany's and wear expensive jewelry and that sort of thing - calling attention to ourselves.