Sunny46

Thank you to each and everyone for your very helpful tips! I appreciate all your help. We have considered all your posts and narrowed our choices down to either the Travel Inn on 42nd or the Marriott Brooklyn Bridge. (Thanks for both ideas!) The rooms at Travel Inn are $190-$225 for our stay with the free parking. We are wondering about the walk to the subway (Broadway) from there? It looks pretty managable. As we are flexible with our dates, I found a 'special rate' at the Marriott Brooklyn Bridge (their Internet site) for $169 each night for all six nights. I thought that was pretty good by NYC standards. The rooms AND property look lovely; nicer than Travel Inn. Parking is also quite reasonable there as one poster mentioned. What would we be looking at timewise for a subway ride down to Times Square from the Marriott? I have to agree with all of you that we DO need to be close by. We do not want to spend all our time commuting. So...we are weighing the two: Travel Inn OR Marriott Brooklyn Bridge.

Jean_Valjean

To/From White Plains, you mean? There's usually at least one express train per hour that makes two or three stops (Fordham, 125th St. and Grand Central).

The $14.75 assumes you take one peak train and one off-peak train.

mclaurie

Sunny46, last I looked, the Brooklyn Marriott wasn't getting great reviews on tripadvisor. You should double check that. Also, you should doublecheck parking costs for your size van. It may be free at the Travel Inn regardless of size. I don't know and don't know about rules/costs at the Marriott.

The Hyatt in Jersey City, right near the PATH train gets great reviews. Don't know what their parking situation is.

HowardR

The walk from the Travel Inn to the subway in Times Square is three long blocks, nearly a half mile.
I seem to be the only one urging you to definitely stay in the city. I think it's definitely worth the extra cost! There's just something about having to take a trainride or long subway ride at the end of the day that takes away from the total NYC experience....especially since your early comments indicate that your budget isn't that tight.

wantsomesun

I just checked the www.hotels.com site for the Travel Inn and the room rate was $180 a night. You might even get a better rate depending on your travel dates, or by calling the hotel.

I would suggest also checking other hotels in Manhattan, but with parking I think the Travel Inn is one of the best deals in town. The walk to the A train at 8th AVe is fine as is to the 1 train at Times Square.

Since this is a first trip to the city, I would really suggest staying in Manhattan, so you are not traveling at night on the subway or late night on the train, you will be wasting alot of time especially at night commuting, and since everything you will want to see is in Manhattan, at least you are a cab ride away at night from your hotel. The buses and subways do run 24/7, but at night they run on a reduced schedule, so you can get stuck waiting for quite a while.

Hope you have a great time in the city and let us know if you have any other questions.

nina

Hey Sunny, where do you live? Maybe we'll do a house swap, my husband commutes everyday!

Sunny46

Nina, In Iowa - We have lots of corn and it's Great Plains land - FLAT. It would be a different life for you here. There are no long commutes or big parking fees!

Sunny

nicp

Sunny46,

I would agree that you would want to stay in NYC for the reasons mentioned. I have always had good luck with Comfort Inns and have taken my van to the Cormfort Inn at 442 W. 36th Street Manhattan, NY. I checked for a late June rate and it's $159 (cheaper w/AAA) + $17 for parking (I had a Dodge Grd Crv, but it does say that large vehicles are extra). As for my family and myself, we enjoy walking around after dark in Manhattan. For some driving tips and other info you could check a post I made about an hour ago under "NYC with Teenage Girls" on this web site.

alya

Sunny46

http://www.reservationpage.com/c0014.../pickdate.aspx

I've stayed at the Travel Inn 3 times and have found it a clean, quiet hotel - ask for a room at the back (the windows overlook the pool rather than the road) a basic hotel but easy access to Times Square and Broadway. Nice diner next door for breakfast.

Good luck - I hope it works out this time and you have a wonderful time.

Don't freak out when you park the car and realise you are parking under the pool

wolfshin

Your New York experience will be much enhanced and less stressful if you stay in Manhattan. You will be doing a lot of walking regardless of where you decide to stay. You may want to rest at the hotel after lunch and then go back out in the evening. In my opinion, as long as you can afford it, convenience may be worth the extra cost.

I hope you have a wonderful trip.

Sunny46

Thanks once again everyone for all your advice! We've made a decision and have booked at the Travel Inn. Hubby is very happy with the parking arrangement there and we don't mind the walk down to Times Square area at all. Thanks for your tip Alya...we asked for a room at the back. We are 'rural folks' and will appreciate the quiter area.

wantsomesun

Glad you took our advice, and I think you will be happy staying there. My cousin, and her family of 3 kids stayed there a couple of years ago and loved it, for convience to the westside highway and it is a quiet area at night. The walk to the trains is a couple of blocks or take the bus across town right across the street from the hotel. There are some good restaurants right around the corner. I'd suggest getting a copy of Zagat so you can look up restaurants anywhere in the city.

A big recommendation for your trip would be a trip up to the Cloisters, in Ft. Tryon Park. Take the A train at 42nd St and get off at 191st St and walk up through the park to the museum. It is part of the Metropolitan and being there you will feel a world away and yet still be in Manhattan. If you like Indian food, after the museum walk down Ft. Washington St to one of the BEST Indian restaurants in town, Kismat and then it's a couple more blocks south to the train at 187th St. and back downtown to 42nd St, it's an easy trip.

Have a great time while you are here and please let us know if you have any other questions.

GoTravel

You'll be glad you decided to stay at the Travel Inn.

I just got back and the commute from Newark to Midtown by train was a big enough PIA for me. I can't imagine doing this daily.

antlori

I realize you've already booked the Travel Inn but I just wanted to mention that you don't have to take the hotel parking at $40/day. Last time we went to NYC, we self-parked at a cheaper lot for approx. $20/day and walked a few blocks to the hotel. When we left my husband went and got the car while I stayed with the luggage. This worked really well for us and wasn't much of an inconvenience.

wantsomesun

ttt

alya

Sunny46

since you've booked I've had another thought - ask for a room at the back of the hotel with a view of the ESB, most of them have one but it can't help to make sure can it ;-)

Take earplugs anyway, just in case!

antlori - The Travel Inn has free parking, it's one of it's main attractions - well that and the pool.

Scarlett

I don't know about anyone else but when I plan a trip to say, London, I don't stay in Surry..or if I go to San Francisco, I don't stay in San Jose.

If you are making plans to visit a particular city, shouldn't part of those plans be to stay IN that city?

The time spent getting from the hotel to Manhattan, not to mention the expense ( x 2 every time you go back and forth) or parking?
Then what if you are just exhausted and want to take a nap or just rest in the hotel and watch the news and soak in the tub before you go out to dinner..are you going to take the train back to the other town?
Or will you walk all day with no breaks but sitting in the park or a restaurant?

You say you "no nothing about NYC at all">/I>...that is the first problem.
You really need to read as many guides as you can and read every Fodors thread on NYC and figure out where you can stay and how you can manage. Learn about New York City.

Valuable time from your stay will be wasted sitting in traffic or getting from one spot to the other..instead of waking up and walking out the door of your hotel into the streets of NY-you will be getting to a train station? driving into town?.

Howard is one of the most helpful NYers here, don't take offense, take advice.

Start with looking for cheap parking lots that you can leave the van in and forget about it for 6 days. You won't need it.
If you can afford it, this should be a non-issue.

Scarlett

My computer is acting goofy and it seems to have posted way after I wrote what I wrote LOL

So ignore the italics and Have a great stay in NYC !!!

HowardR

Hey, Scarlett....even if it ended up being belated, thanks for the kind words!