just4me

I will be travelling alone with my 10 year old son to Plainfield New Jersey Jan 2 till aprox. Jan 13. Since we are coming from California, I thought we should spend a short time in the city. It will be between 2-4 days in the city.

My questions are: how safe is the train into the city? Is it easy to navigate?

A priority for us is the Natural History Museum. Also the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, and the Central Park Zoo. We'll add on to this when we know how many days we'll have. Any suggestions? We are not shoppers.

I would like to stay in a 4 Star Hotel. I also want/need to be in a very safe area. Around Cental Park? Suggestions?

We are flying in and out of Newark. I will have a car, but I can return it and just take the train to the city.

Am I missing something.

vjpblovesitaly

how safe is the train into the city? Is it easy to navigate?

Yes and yes. You will be taking NJ Transit from Plainfield, I suppose. Here is their website. You can check the fares and schedule. It looks like you have to switch trains at Newark Penn Station for a train to New York Penn Station.


"We are not shoppers."

Me neither.

nytraveler

New York is the safest large city in the nation. The train is safe. All of the tourist areas are safe. The subway is safe. Central Park is safe. Everything is safe (unless you for some weird reason decide do a middle of the night tour some of a couple of quite poor/unpleasant residential areas not near any tourist attractions).

The city is very easy to navigate. The subway goes almost everywhere, runs every few minutes and is quite inexpensive. Get a city map and a subway map and study before you get here.

From your description I would reco you stay on the upper west side - a mid/upscale residential area with tons of great, family friendly restaurants and with the Museum of Natural History, Central Park and the small zoo. (I wouldn't reco the Bronx zoo in Jan - since it's a day trip and many animals will not be visible due to the weather.)

That area doesn;t have a lot of 4* hotels - but I would have a look at the Lucerne and On the Ave - very pleasant 3 star places in great locations.

Separately I would not do the ESB - but do Top of the Rock instead. Views are at least as good and you can buy timed tickets in advance to avoid lines.

Also, for the Statue of Liberty get ferry tickets in advance to avoid one of the 3 waiting lines (#1 to buy tickets, #2 security line to get on the ferry and #3 on Liberty Island). suggest you just take photos of Statue from the ferry and then go on to Ellis Island which has a brilliant museum - with no lines.

Also, suppest you take the 79th St crosstown bus (or walk through the park if the weather is good - to visit the Met. It hs a lot that kids like, including Arms & Armour, Egyptian Section and the Temple of Dendur. (At 5 my brother was fascinated with the sarcophagi - always wanted to get inside and see if there was a mummy left.) Check out the Met's web site for details.

(You can get some 4* hotels on the upper east side - but transit is more difficult and many restaurants are more formal - it's very upscale and less of a family area.)

persimmondeb

The city of Newark can be somewhat dangerous, however in and out of the airport should not be. I have never taken a train from Plainfield into NY, but as long as you can catch it in Plainfield and do not have to go into Newark to get it, you should have no worries at all! And I've caught trains in Newark in the daytime and not worried too much about it. NJ Transit trains and busses are perfectly safe. If the train is tricky, you should be easily able to get a commuter bus. Try www.njtransit.org for more specific information. There will be lots of recommendations for hotels on these boards, and four stars in midtown should be very simple, if expensive. Once again, very safe. Just exercise normal caution. I realise this isn't necessarily the case on the west coast, but on the east coast, dangerous neighborhoods look dangerous, and it would be far more likely for a safe neighborhood to look seedy than for a dangerous one to look well-kept. Midtown will put you in good shooting direction for all of the stuff you want to see, and just stay out of Central Park after dark. The car is useful in Jersey and you'll want it for that segment, but a complete liability in NYC.

just4me

The Lucern in my Fodor's gives it just one star! I think it's a typo (lol). Thanks for the ideas>

MFNYC

Honestly, I think all NYC 4 star hotels are in good areas. There are several good neighborhoods to stay in. I'm not a fan of TImes Sq, but many visitors are. A hotel by the park is always nice. Also most midtown locations around Madison, Park, Lexington, 5th, 6th avenues in the 40-60s are good.

just4me

The Lucerne and especially On The Avenue look very nice on their website. Are there any other places on the Upper West Side I should consider?

Also, I may be adding some days to our stay in the City but I won't know until a day or two prior. Is that a difficult time to do last minute booking.

Anonymous

It might be better for you to book a hotel for your maximum possible stay, then revise the duration to a shorter one if necessary.

mclaurie

The Lucerne and On the Ave are the nicest UWS hotels. The Excelsior is across from the Mus. of Nat. History and also nice, but further north so not as central. It's likely to be less $$$. All 3 of these are 3* hotels I think. (remember stars have as much to do with amenities like restaurants etc. as "niceness")

The London is a new renovation of an all suite hotel. It's within a walk of Times Square if you intend on seeing any shows and yet nearish Central Park. It would give you a bit more space than just a regular hotel room.

Jan. has typically been a great time to find hotel bargains, but with the weak dollar, the UK/European tourists seem to be filling the hotels which may mean few bargains. I'd book something ASAP that's cancelable and keep your eyes out for specials on travelzoo.com and elsewhere. If there are any hotel you particularly like, sign up for emails on specials. I strongly agree you're better off booking for longer than you need, rather than trying to add nights onto an exiting reservation. You might be forced to move hotels or rooms.

doug_stallings

The Upper West Side is pretty inconvenient, so I'd suggest you cast a wider net. Any hotel that meets your standards in Manhattan will be in a safe area, but I'd recommend you avoid the UWS and UES for reasons of convenience (you're pretty far from everything up there except the Museum of Natural History or the Museums on 5th ave on the east side), and downtown below Canal because there just aren't enough good dining options downtown.

Just be clear that "four-star" doesn't really mean much. Stars denote nothing in the U.S. They don't guarantee quality or any particular amenities, as in other countries.

Luckily, hotel rates drop in January, so you usually have a wider selection for relatively lower prices.

mp

"The Upper West Side is pretty inconvenient .. . ."

The poster wants to see the Central Park Zoo and the Museum of Natural History - of course the UWs would be convenient.

" . . . downtown below Canal because there just aren't enough good dining options downtown . . ." You're dismissing all the restaurants of Chinatown, the lower east side and Tribeca?

Doug you want to rethink or clarify these sentences?

doug_stallings

Absolutely not. As a place to base yourself for a vacation, the Upper West Side and Upper East Side are, in my opinion, quite inconvenient. Better to take the subway to see specific things in these areas than to stay there.

Of the two, the Upper West Side has many more dining options, and it's still relatively residential, so there are some nice neighborhood places to eat. But then you're on a very busy subway line or an expensive taxi ride to anywhere but the Natural History Museum or the west side of Central Park. But I still wouldn't stay there if I had other options. So I'll stand by my original preference.

Other people like the UWS, so mine is just one of many different opinions.

_cjw_

Though it's been a while since I last did it, I've taken the train back and forth NY - Plainfield. Perfectly safe. I would just look at the schedule/info ahead of time and know in advance if you are on a direct train or if you have to change lines. (If I recall correctly, a few years ago the weekend schedule did not have a direct train and I had to switch.)

LindaLa

The Raritan Valley Line on NJ Transit will take you from Plainfield to Newark Penn Station. At Newark Penn Station you need to switch trains into New York Penn Station. It is all very safe. I do it all the time.

just4me

Again, thanks for all the suggestions. We're going to return the car in New Jersey and take the train in.

The UWS as I understand it is pretty kid friendly. Actually, we have no particular perference. We do not plan on going to any shows or to Times Square. Mostly Museums and Central Park, Statue of Liberty, etc. Good food is important but we don't need fancy and we prefer atmosphere. I usually book 1 or two activities that need to be booked and leave the rest open for exploring.

indietraveler2

There is a very nice small boutique hotel in a quieter area (Murray Hill area) of Midtown that is more residential than commercial called the Bedford Hotel. 3 stars, nice rooms, nice people, and convenient to all of the sites and convenient to Grand Central Station.

They often have winter package specials at
http://www.crshotels.com

TarheelsInNj

The Upper West Side is indeed kid-friendly, and residential as mentioned above. A good balance with the convenience might be a hotel closer to Columbus Circle/upper Midtown, where there are several subway lines- you'll be near Central Park, out of the chaos of Times Square, and convenient to travel either uptown (to the Museum) or downtown.

I can't vouch for any of these hotels personally, but some in the area the Empire Hotel, Hudson Hotel, Park Central, Dream Hotel or Helmsley Park Lane.

GoTravel

Take a look at the NY Salisbury Hotel or Le Parker Meridian. Both considered Central Park area hotels because they are within two blocks of Central Park on West 57th.

Also, both are within a half block of the N/R subway lines and a little longer to the other lines.

Also, very close to Times Square, Rockefeller Center.

oceankayaker7

These are all four star hotels:
The Benjamin, 125 east 50th st.(midtown)
The Blakely New York, 136 west 55th st.
The London NYC, 151 west 54th st. This may be a 5 five star but from what I hear its more of a 4.

just4me

After checking everything out, including reviews, and if there would be a guarenteed non-smoking room, it looks like it's between the Lucerne, On the Ave, Helmsley Park Lane, and possibly the Essex. If location were my main concern, which of these would be best? Museums/Central Park/Statue of Liberty are our main goals to see. The "star" quality is more a safety comfort issue for my son -and all of these seem like they would fit that bill. Times Sq/Shows/shopping is not something we will be doing.