NYC apartments through CitySonnet.com
 

hey everyone,
has anyone dealt with Citysonnet.com before for booking self contained apartments?
I found them on About.com (http://gonyc.about.com/od/hotels/a/apartment_rent.htm) saying they are reputable and all their apartments are legitimate. they offerred me an artist loft in Grenwich village for only $150 per night but before I book I wanted your opinions .
http://citysonnet.com/hosts/ka16/
there are a couple of reviews on the site.
can it be trusted?
thanks
angela

No.
Illegal.

Yep, starrs is right. Illegal. Get a hotel. What is an artist loft?

why would about.com list them then? see this link, are all the companies not to be trusted? we can't afford $300 + a night http://gonyc.about.com/od/hotels/a/apartment_rent.htm

Renting an apartment for less han 30 days in NYC is illegal. There are scams all over the internet. Look at St Mark's hotel. Not fancy, lots of stairs, great neighborhood, cash only, but less than $300 a night.

Renting apts for less than 30 days in NYC is illegal - unless it is a private home and the individual owner is renting it.

There are MANY listed on the web (along with all sorts of other things that are illegal - do you think child porn is legal???). Many of theses apts are scams - but even if they exist you are subject to removal from the apt if neighbors complain - since you are there illegally.

If you really want to pursue this (and I most strongly suggest you go for a hotel instead) suggest you email the company and ask directly how this apt rental is legal under the laws of NYC and state. If they don't have an answer - then it's up to you if you want to take a chance.

(Oh, and this apt is NOT in the Village - it's in Chinatown - a completely different area.)

One very modestly priced hotel is the Jane - the rooms are tiny but so are the prices.

I understand the wish to get something cheaper than an expensive hotel in NYC, but apartment rentals for under 30 days are illegal in almost all cases. Some of these companies got a lot of press when they were first introduced. If you look at the press clippings for this company, for example, you will see they date back to 2011, before the current law was passed and when such rentals were a legal gray area. Now they are not.

Having said that, thousands of people rent AirBnB and VRBO-listed apartments without incident. If everything goes right, then you can usually get by without running afoul of the law. But let's say someone reports the landlord for renting out the illegal apartment between the time you book and when you arrive. Let's say the owner decides not to tell you and doesn't want to return your money. Then you're out of luck. You can't get restitution for an illegal payment, and you can't dispute a credit card payment when the transaction is prohibited by law.

The short answer is when things go right, then no problem. But when things don't, as they sometimes don't, then you will not only lose your money but have to book a very expensive last-minute hotel during a busy season. My advice is to think very carefully about doing this and make up your own mind.

Go BACK to your link and click around. Radio City Apts is a HOTEL, but it's an apartment hotel. You're better off googling that: apartment hotel or suite hotel or similar.

Fact is, NYC has restrictive laws regarding this type of rental. The laws are being challenged but they won't be overturned by the time you visit.

(P.S. that CitySonnet apt is NOT in Chinatown, not even close - it's north of Houston for land's sake).

the laws will not be overturned at all. It is to the benefit of the city and all locals that rental apts be given only to city residents - we are trying to keep the middle and working class people in the city and allowing rental apts to be turned into tourist lodging will not do so.

NYC has had very strict rent laws since WWII, started due to severe housing shortage, and are a fixed part of long-term public policy. This is not going to be changed to create more illegal lodgings for tourists when there is a huge number of hotels, hostels and even BnBs for them to stay in. And it is certainly not going to be changed to gove greater profits to companies conducting illegal businesses.

There are numerous all suite hotels for people who want larger than a basic room and/or kitchen facilities.

Sorry - while illegal subletters are rarely caught it is possible. And the number of people who are scammed and arrive to find no place to stay is NOT small. There was a poster her a couple of years ago who went ahead and rented despite advice to the contrary - and the "onwer" checked out I beleive the week before the visit wa supposed to happen.

And we had two young women from Italy in tears in front of our building claiming they had sublet an apt there. This is a co-op and subletting is NOT allowed - but even worse the apt did not exist and they had wired money to someone for whom they had only a PO box and an email address. They were out their payment and had to go to Travelers Aid to advise them on finding lodging they were not prepared to pay for - having already spent almost $2K for a 2 bedroom apt for a couple of weeks. (They though they were safe since they found the building on google maps.)

One could argue that it is good to follow the law even if one has no trouble as a result of breaking it.

Well, that's my attitude - but a lot of people seem to think that these regulations are onerous, unfair and can be ignored with impunity - and really shuoldn;t exist or be applied to them.

thanks very much guys! I will take your advice I think. OR if I don't need to make payment to book I can book a hotel that offers last minute cancellations and if everything is ok with the apartment can cancel without being charged. or it might be too much hassle!

where would you stay if you had to choose between these two hotels.
Hotel 17, 17th street- looks like 3 blocks to nearest subway, not sure what the area is or if there is much nightlife, bars and restaurants around the hotel .
http://www.expedia.com.au/New-York-H...&evar34=2783.0

OR

hotel 31, east 31st street Midtown. near madison avenue and empire state building, this one seems to be the better location in terms of proximity to subway and distance to major attractions. I am a keen shopper whether it be department stores or bargain hunting/outlets (not upscale designers), is there much shopping walking distance from these locations?

http://www.expedia.com.au/New-York-H...&evar34=2783.0

thanks in advance!!

I would probably go with hotel 31 even though it is only close to the 34th street stores of which Macy's is the only huge one.

jubilada, I like the way you think.

I think the 31st street location would be a good one. I stay close to there at the LaQuinta and am happy with that location. I noticed that your link is to a shared bath room. Just wanted to make sure you are aware of that before you book. Have a great trip!

Hotel 17 is closer to more good bars and restaurants, but both are about the same distance from the subway. Hotel 31 is closer to Macys, but it's easy to get there. But if you are talking about the rooms with shared baths, I'd choose neither. I'd get a hotel that's a tad further away but closer to the subway.

These are both ok hotels, but they offer few comforts and very small rooms. But I've made my recommendation already.

When is your trip and what is your nightly budget, including tax etc?

According to her other thread they are in NYC from Nov 27 for 7 nights.

And their budget is $180 per night. Getting a room with a private bath in Manhattan is very problematic. The only thing I could find was a double with shared bath at the Newton.